oct 12 277th asb long version newsletter
TRANSCRIPT
Mountain Eagle Families,
This has been a great month for
Mountain Eagle. We have begun
pushing and challenging our Soldiers
in an effort to get combat ready.
This push was badly needed since we
had (key word is had) an organiza-
tional climate that lacked a sense of
urgency and purpose. There were
many contributing reasons some
justified and other not but truthfully
this battalion had a tough deploy-
ment that will forever be remember
for the exceptional performance of
your loved ones. My task at hand
now is to change the cultural to a
combat ready unit. This is happen-
ing now. Although we are not there
yet I can see the transformation tak-
ing place and I hope you are seeing it
too. I have begun by focusing on the
basics. You have probably noticed
that your Soldiers are attending PT
on a more regular basis. Physical
fitness is more that just exercising
early in the morning. It builds mo-
rale, foster‘s teamwork, builds
bonds, tests our determination and
commitment and creates the founda-
tion for esprit de corps. We also
spent most of the last 30 days at the
range qualifying in crew served
weapons as well as individual weap-
ons. Confidence and proficiency in
our assigned weapon are fundamen-
tal needs to be ready. We did not
have this before but we do now. We
have also continued to provide ex-
ceptional service and support as we
sent Soldiers to the National Training
Center in California to augment Task
Force Six Shooter for their rotation.
We also just sent a significant num-
ber of the Battalion to High Altitude/
Mountain flight training in Colorado.
They will sustain the Aviation Bri-
gade as they train and qualify in one
of the toughest environmental flight
training modes – Mountain flying.
We also provided TF Phoenix, TF
Knighthawk, and TF Tigershawk
with additional people to set them up
for success in their training rotations.
So as you can see, we are doing well
with what I like to call the opera-
tional side. We are moving in the
right direction on a long journey
probably at a slower than desired
pace but we are getting better every-
day and accelerating.
I share all this with you because I
think it is important that you know
where we are doing good and where
are not. The area where I am not as
happy with our progress is our fam-
ily support program. We have made
great improvements in our Family
Readiness Group. We are starting to
get volunteers and our teams are
forming. On 26 Oct, we will have
our first battalion event at our han-
gar. I look forward to this event to
meet you and to provide all attending
families with an overview of what
Eagle Commander’s Corner
T A S K F O R C E
M O U N T A I N E A G L E
2 7 7 T H A V I A T I O N
S U P P O R T B A T T A L I O N Liberty Times O C T O B E R 2 0 1 2 . V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 9
H O T T O P I C S
Alpha FRG Meet-
ing: Thursday,
October 11,2012,
6:00pm..
Bravo FRG Meet-
ing: .Thursday,
October 11, 2012,
5:00pm, at Crescent
Woods Community
Center.
Charlie FRG Meet-
ing: Thursday,
October 11, 2012,
4:30pm, at Monu-
ment Ridge Com-
munity Center.
HSC FRG Meeting:
Thursday, October
11, 2012, 5:00pm at
HSC Classroom, 20345 Anaconda Rd
C O N T A C T S
B A T T A L I O N S T A F F
D U T Y D E S K
3 1 5 - 7 7 4 - 1 2 0 0
C H A P L A I N
( C P T ) L O V E
3 1 5 - 6 8 1 - 0 8 8 3
F A M I L Y R E A D I N E S S
S U P P O R T
A S S I S T A N T ( F R S A )
M I C H E L E G A L L O W A Y
3 1 5 - 7 7 4 - 1 2 0 6
M I L I T A R Y F A M I L Y
L I F E C O N S U L T A N T
( M F L C )
3 1 5 - 4 0 5 - 7 4 4 9
3 1 5 - 2 1 2 - 6 9 1 9
A R M Y C O M M U N I T Y
S E R V I C E ( A C S )
I N F O R M A T I O N
A N D R E F E R R A L
3 1 5 - 7 7 2 - 6 5 5 7
1 - 8 0 0 - 8 2 6 - 0 8 8 6
M I L I T A R Y
O N E S O U R C E
1 - 8 0 0 - 3 4 2 - 9 6 4 7
By LTC Enrique Ortiz
Battalion Commander
you can expect for the next year as we get
combat ready. This overview known as our
Road to War will provide you some clarity
and predictability based on what we know
now. Many other events are also on the
calendar and those we will highlight and
push out through all our communications
media. The areas that we are not doing so
well in right now are sponsorship, newborn
programs, Single Soldier activities and Face-
book friends. Here is where I need your
help. We need ideas that will jump-start
these critical programs and ultimately care
for all our Soldiers and their families better.
I have some ideas but they are likely not as
good as yours since teamwork always deliv-
ers the best solutions. My goal is to have
programs that ensure every family coming to
Mountain Eagle is welcomed and hosted into
Fort Drum; that every newborn and their
family get an A list treatment filled with
fond memories and joy; that our Single Sol-
diers are remembered, care and recognized
like if their own families were here caring
for them; and finally that we grow our Face-
book in the next two month to over 2000
likes (now at about 750) so that we can share
this tough and challenging journey together.
A journey that will be marked by selfless
sacrifices by those who are the Strength of
our great Soldiers – You, the Army Fami-
lies.
Please send in your ideas to our Family
Readiness Support Advisor – Michele Gallo-
way at [email protected] or
our Battalion Family Readiness Group Advi-
sor - [email protected]
I look forward to seeing you on the 26th..
Sincerely,
Mountain Eagle 6
Family Readiness Group Advisor’s Updates
For the rest of the article, go to page 8.
Dear Mountain Eagle Families,
Wonderful news! Ten babies
were born in September! Con-
gratulations to all the new
parents: HSC:
Sarah & PV2 Erik Sordillo, Kel-
sey & SPC Christopher Piper,
Corrine & SPC Jaime Contreras,
SPC Scarbrough,
Liliana & SGT Maidenbaum,
PFC Kara McKittrick & Tim
Sasina, Allison & CPT Kevin Kane.
Alpha Company:
Rachel & SGT Joel Leviten
Bravo Company:
PFC Kyle Adams
Charlie Company:
Kristine & SPC Arnold Smith
By Diana Ortiz
FRG Advisor
P A G E 2
L I B E R T Y T I M E S
Headquarters & Support Company - Talons
Families of HSC 277 ASB,
October is definitely bringing in
the fall weather. Children are in
school and holidays are around the
corner. We were pleased to wel-
come COL(P) Piatt on 12 Septem-
ber who presented the FORSCOM
Army Award for Maintenance
Excellence to Soldiers in the mo-
torpool, arms room and Chemical,
Biological, Radioactive, Nuclear
(CBRN) room.
I would like to welcome the
following Soldiers and their fami-
lies, PV2 Jediel Acevedo, CPT
Jose Balp, PV2 Peter Balzi, PFC
Cody Barnhardt, SFC Patrice
Brown, 2LT Daniel Carpenter, SPC
Paul Clerkin, PFC Heather Copen-
haver, PFC Vernon James, PFC
Brandon Jones, PV2 Jacob O‘Neal,
CPT Michael Palmieri, CPL Brittany
Roberts, SGT Allen Saito, PV1 Joey
Sam, SGT Jerry Shore and PV2 Ra-
keem Wiley.
Unfortunately we have to say
goodbye to the following Soldiers,
SGM Randolph Adams, SPC Devin
Harris, MSG Melvin Pagan, SPC
Albert Tremlett, SPC Dana
Womack, PFC Crystal Gallardo,
2LT Timothy McDonald, SGT Vic-
tor Molina, SGT Jasmine Moore,
CW3 Dari Pfeiffer, SPC Scott Stew-
art and 2LT Matthew Vishnevsky.
On 21 September we had the op-
portunity to promote SPC Alexis
Alford, SPC Matthew Jeffrey, SPC
Joshua Seal, PFC Alisha Burgess,
PFC Bryanna Gibson, PFC Richard
Owens, PV2 Londrell Campbell,
PV2 Jacob O‘Neal.
The next company FRG meeting
is on 11 October at the HSC, 277
ASB classroom, Building 20345,
Anaconda Road (on the airfield). If
families would like free child care,
please contact Ms. Michele Gallo-
way, 774-1206. Child Care Contracts
must be in thirty days prior to an
event. Names are due fifteen days
prior to an event. HSC is in need of
volunteers, specifically key callers.
Key callers are the people who have
a set amount of spouses/family mem-
bers that they are responsible for
calling when any information is
needed to be passed out and/or up-
dated. If anyone is interested, please
contact myself or our FRG leader
Dawnmarie Degrave.
Natalie Nissen
Talon 6
(315)774-1465
By CPT Natalie Nissen
HSC Company Commander
Hello Everyone,
Hope all is well with each of
you. The warm summer is gone
and now it‘s almost fall. The
trees are getting beautiful with
their different colors. Along with
this time of year is my favorite
holiday, Halloween. We will be
doing a Halloween haunted han-
gar this year within the Battal-
ion. Some of it is kid friendly so
the little ones don't get scared.
We will also be doing a spe-
cial event for our Single Sol-
diers. For this event, we would
need some volunteers to help us
make it memorable. We really
need to come together so we can
get more ideas on what we can
do for the single Soldiers espe-
cially during the holiday season. I
am open for suggestions for any
events/ideas.
Some of our Soldiers had to go
to different areas for training
which may have caused mixed
emotions for some families. As the
FRG leader, I am prepared to help
assist and guide our families with
any and all situations that may
come up. I want the families of
HSC to know that there is support
here and we as a FRG team are
here for support any time. I be-
lieve that if the Soldiers and fami-
lies stick together through any
situation, then we as a group can
make it through anything.
On another note, if there is any-
one looking to have some volun-
teer time or just wanting to make
our team better we are in need of
Key Callers. This position is an
easy, but crucial position in order
to keep information flowing for our
families. If anyone is interested,
please contact me through email or
notify through the unit command.
Until next month,
Dawn Marie DeGrave
315-777-6152
HSC Family Readiness Group Notes
Dawn Marie DeGrave
HSC FRG Leader
P A G E 3 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 9
Alpha Company Family Readiness Group Updates
Alpha Company - Atlas
FRG meeting on Thursday October 11th at
6:00 pm. I look forward to meeting lots of
new people and getting to share thoughts
about the future of our FRG. I hope to see
many of you at the meeting and can‘t wait to
share all the great things that Alpha Com-
pany and 277 ASB Battalion have planned
for its soldiers and families in the near fu-
ture.
Our Soldiers, Our Family, On Our Shoulders
Jennifer Mulder
423-506-0034
Jennifer Mulder
A Company FRG Leader
Greetings from Alpha Company FRG!
The month of September brought some
change to our FRG. My name is Jennifer
Mulder, and I am the new FRG leader \for
Alpha Company. I am excited to be work-
ing with the wonderful soldiers and families
of Alpha Company. My husband has been
in the military for 14 years, and we are ex-
cited about our new home here in Fort
Drum, the best kept secret in the Army so
we have been told. A little about myself, I
am a Pre- K teacher at Po Valley CDC and
have a handsome 10 month old son Luke,
and 2 wonderful stepsons Jaxon and Wyatt.
We as a family are looking forward to work-
ing with all of you to make Alpha Company
a strong FRG and a great resource for our
soldiers and families. We will be having a
By CPT Bryan Bolin
A Company Commander
Soldiers and Families of Alpha Com-
pany.
This will be my last newsletter
article before my Change of Com-
mand. I want to thank all of you for
all your support over the past months.
I have enjoyed working with you and
our Soldiers and want to extend my
deepest gratitude for all your hard
work. It was a pleasure to be your
Commander and I wish all of you the
best of luck.
CPT Mulder will be replacing me.
He and his wife Jennifer are great
additions to the Alpha Company Fam-
ily. I know that Alpha Company is in
good hands and I know you will all
continue to excel.
Greetings Alpha Company Soldiers
and Family Members, my name is
CPT Byron Mulder. My wife Jennifer
and I are pleased to be joining the
Alpha Company Family. Jennifer
will be stepping in as the Alpha Com-
pany FRG Leader and we both look
forward to meeting each and every
one of you. Jennifer will be sending out
contact emails to everyone and we will
begin to schedule monthly FRG meet-
ings. I look forward to working with
everyone!
“On our shoulders!”
CPT Byron Mulder
315-774-1041
L I B E R T Y T I M E S
P A G E 4
Bravo Company - Hangar Rats By MAJ Del Boyer
B Company Commander
Greetings Hanger Rat Fami-
lies:
The summer is officially
over and the company is con-
tinuing to change in person-
nel. We‘ve had a busy couple
of weeks behind us and the
pace shows no sign of slow-
ing down. This past month
we‘ve participated in a multi-
tude of ranges and somehow
squeezed in a bit of fun.
On 14 September we had a
great turnout for our company
fun day with 58 Soldiers
working on their team build-
ing and communication skills
while whitewater rafting
down the Black River.
The company distributed
multiple awards this past
month to Soldiers as they de-
parted the unit in route to
their next duty station and to
those leaving the Army. The
Army Commendation Medal
and the Army Achievement
Medal were awarded respec-
tively to SGT Sanders and PFC
Kopper as they transitioned out
of the Army. The Army
Achievement Medal was also
awarded to SPC Havens for his
PCS.
We also received and wel-
comed outstanding Soldiers to
our formation this summer. We
welcomed 1LT Donohue, SPC
Haney, PFC Reuger, PFC Muel-
ler and PV2 Quintero. Our
newest additions are greatly
welcomed to the family.
In addition to our new Sol-
diers we wel-
come a new
child into our
Army family.
Eli Brook, at a
healthy 5 lbs 9
oz, was born 20 September 2012
at Samaritan Hospital to PFC
David Brook and his wife
Melissa. Congratulations!
1SG Snyder guiding his boat
into the raging might of the
Black River while SFC Spak
takes the bull by the horns and
SSG Tarlton fears for her life.
Bravo Company Family Readiness Group Updates
Karri Boyer
B Company FRG Leader
Bravo Company Happenings!!!
On September 14, Bravo Com-
pany took to the water! 58 rafters
enjoyed the waves and many more
rallied together at the Dexter raft-
ing company grounds to BBQ,
play, and socialize together. All
together 150 or so from the Bravo
family enjoyed a late summer day
on the river! Thanks to the BBQ
experts for cooking! Thanks to all
families who joined us & those that
provided sides/food & drinks! It
was a wonderful north-country
afternoon together.
Our next company outing is
tenatively set for the new Clayton
riverside pavillion in mid- October
—TBA.
We‘d like welcome a new addi-
tion to our Bravo family. Eli
Brook, at a healthy 5 lbs 9 oz, was
born 20 September 2012 at Samari-
tan Hospital to PFC David Brook
and his wife Melissa. Congratula-
tions!
FRG Meeting: The next meeting
will be OCT 11 @ 1700 at the
Crescent Woods Community Cen-
ter, on Arbor Lane-just behind the
PX and commissary. At this meet-
ing expect to meet & greet others,
maybe win a prize, celebrate new-
comers, new babies, and plan for
fun events over the holidays on the
way! Pastry chefs, bakers, and
candy-makers ~ please bring a little
of the sweet goodness from your
home. Dessert pot-luck for anyone
interested in sharing. Hot and cold
drinks + table wares will be pro-
vided. Childcare is free at all
FRG meetings! Our FRSA needs
30 days notice, with names two
weeks prior to each FRG meeting
event. Please Email
more information ASAP.
Volunteers Big thanks to any-
one who said they wanted to help
with key-calling! Many spouses
came out to ACS to train and oth-
ers are signed up to train at the
next class; which is November 9th
@ 2 or 5 PM at ACS. Calls will
be happening to ‗test‘ our call
roster. If you are interested in
helping Bravo company, call ACS
to register for the next class, 772-
0470/2848.
Mrs. Boyer, FRG leader, is al-
ways ready to hear from you – use
the above email.
MAJ Del P. Boyer
Hangar Rat 6
(315) 772-4239
Charlie Company - Ravens
P A G E 5 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 9
By CPT Matthew Thompson
C Company Commander Fall is in the air, but it might feel more like winter to those just returning from training in the
hot Mojave Desert at our National Training Center
(NTC) in Fort Irwin, California. Sergeant Aaron Kalinowski‘s Command Post Node team spent the
month of September providing communications
support to our brigade‘s Task Force Six Shooter, who was providing Aviation support to the 1st
Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
during rotation 12-10. It was a great training op-portunity for the team, which also consists of Ser-
geant Steven Williams, Specialist Edward God-
frey, and Specialist Shereena Martinek and was augmented by our High-Capacity Line of Site
(HCLOS) team, consisting of Specialist Adela Lira
and Specialist Ramona Gately. The team did an
outstanding job deploying their equipment and providing critical communications that allowed
Task Force Six Shooter to effectively support the
ground maneuver elements preparing for future combat operations during the training exercise.
Back here at Fort Drum, the Ravens have been
all over, supporting numerous aerial gunnery exer-cises, combat lifesaver training, military vehicle
driver‘s training, running rifle ranges, and prepar-
ing and deploying another CPN to NTC to provide communications to our brigade‘s Task Force Phoe-
nix who is supporting our 2nd Brigade Combat
Team during rotation 13-01. We also sent a team to support the brigade‘s Tactical Command Post
(TAC) providing reach back communications to
our Joint Network Node (JNN) team supporting the
brigade‘s Tactical Operation‘s Center here on the
airfield to enable Mission Command for the bri-
gade‘s Aviators conducting High Altitude Moun-tain Environmental Training at Fort Carson, Colo-
rado.
I‘d especially like to thank all of our family member‘s that turned out last month for our FRG
meeting at the company. This month we will be
having our meeting at the Monument Ridge Com-munity Center, on Thursday, October 11, 2012.
We will release at 1530 (3:30 PM) and then meet at
the community center at 1630 (4:30 PM). We will have a potluck, so please put on your baking or
cooking hat and make a special treat and come out
to enjoy some great food, and hopefully great desserts!
There is also an indoor playground for children. If
you don‘t think you can make it right at 4:30, that‘s ok, the first hour will just be a social hour to enjoy the
food, so show up when you can! I hope to see all of
you there. As some of you know, our FRG Leader, Megan
Wilson, has had a challenging pregnancy and we‘ve
asked for a co-leader to step in to help her out. Jamie Elkhill, Specialist Kevin Elkhill‘s wife, has agreed to
step in and help out. So I‘d like to personally thank
and recognize her for volunteering her time to help us out and help get the whole team ready to deploy. We
are also looking for some Key Callers to help with the
monthly call out. Fortunately, the Raven‘s are a small band of brothers and sisters, so that doesn‘t take too
much time, but is still critical to getting the message
out, especially once we deploy.
We are in a demanding time, an intensive training
cycle, which has kept us working long hours and
spending time away from home. It is definitely chal-lenging, but its purpose is to get us ready to go to the
fight and to ensure we all come home safe. That said,
I do sincerely thank all of you for the support you give to your Soldier, it takes the whole team to fight and
win, and each of you are a part of that team, and I
recognize the sacrifices that come with that commit-ment, so again, thank you! And I hope to see you all
at the FRG meeting at Monument Ridge on the 11th!
Visit www.myarmyonesource.com
There are options to Login with your
username and password or Register if
you don‘t have a profile.
Fill out your information.
When you‘ve created a profile, click on
―Volunteer‖ on the top right section of
the page. This will take you to the Vol-
unteer Management Information System
(VMIS)
Click on ―Opportunity Locator‖
Select ―Fort Drum‖ under Military
Community and ―FRG: 10 AVN– 277‖
under the Organization and click Search.
Choose the volunteer position you‘d like
to apply for. When the new page loads,
click Apply.
Online VMIS FRG Volunteer Registration
Check out the FRSA Flash! The 277th ASB FRSA Flash has lots of
in-formation and is our Bi-weekly News-
letter for our Family Members and Sol-
diers. If you are not receiving the FRSA
Flash, please contact the 277th FRSA
Michele Galloway at 315-774-1206 or
Charlie Company Family Readiness Group Updates
By Jamie Elkhill
C Company Co-FRG Leader
Hello everyone!
My name is Jamie Elkhill and I
am from Hampton, Virginia. My
husband is SPC Elkhill and we have a
three month old German shepherd
puppy named Peanut. We have been
at Fort Drum since June of this year.
I have almost completed an associ-
ate‘s degree in psychology and would
like to continue on to a Bachelors and
Masters degree in the same field.
Eventually, I would like to be a coun-
selor for both Soldiers and Military
Families.
My ultimate goal is to provide aid
and encouragement to our Soldiers
who have served overseas and are
wounded in a way no one can see
directly. I‘m stepping in to help out
Megan while she finishes up her
pregnancy and I‘m excited to get to
know everyone and be part of the
Raven FRG team!
Looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday,
October 11th, 4:30pm at Monument Ridge
Community Center. Please consider becoming
a Key Caller for our unit. Communication is
vital to our unit being a strong family.
Until next month-
Jamie Elkhill
757-759-1086
P A G E 6
L I B E R T Y T I M E S
D I D Y O U K N O W ?
Army Community Service
(ACS) has clinical Military
Family Life Consultants
(MFLCs) available for walk-
in confidential consults? If
you feel you need some-
one to talk to or are hav-
ing marital problems,
please call them at 315-212
-6919 or just stop by M-F
8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
ACS also has a Financial
Readiness Program that
provides free counseling or
advice on financial matters?
They can provide all types
of financial assistance: pull
credit reports, budgeting,
debt management, invest-
ing, etc. Call 772-0050 for
more info.
Behavioral Health Con-
tacts: Suicide Resources/
Hotlines Connor Clinic Appoint-
ment Line: 315-772-2778
After Hours Emergency
Services (Holidays and
Weekends) Before 9:00
pm: Acute Care Clinic,
315-772-5236
After 9:00 pm: Samaritan
Medical Center Emer-
gency Department: 315-
785-4100
Local 24-Hour Crisis Line:
315-785-4516
National Suicide Preven-
tion Lifeline: 1-800-273-
TALK
Suicide Prevention Action
Network (SPAN):
ww.spanusa.org
By SPC Holle, Christopher
Chaplain‘s Assistant
"Forgiveness is God's inven-
tion for coming to terms with a
world in which, despite their
best intentions, people are un-
fair to each other and hurt each
other deeply. He began by for-
giving us. And he invites us all
to forgive each other." Lewis
B. Smedes
There‘s always going to be
someone that upsets us and we
don‘t want to forgive them. But
this creates a root of bitterness
that can grow in a person be-
cause of unforgiveness. This
root of bitterness can block the
flow of any peace from getting
into your heart. It also blocks
the flow of God through you,
making it difficult to experi-
ence God's love for others.
Failing to forgive can lead to
depression. Many people have
yet to forgive others and are
unaware of the side effects of
that are occurring deep inside.
Sometimes people do and say
things that hurt us very deeply.
Sometimes people make mistakes
that upset us. But we must for-
give them or we carry the heavy
consequence unforgiveness
brings.
To forgive someone you must
fully forgive them. Some aren‘t
clear on how to completely for-
give. It is not forgiveness if you
say ―I forgive the person but I
will let God deal with them.‖ If
you want God to judge and pun-
ish them, that is not forgiveness.
If you say things like, ―I forgive
the person but I do not want to
see them or talk to them again.‖
What if God said to you I forgive
you but I am going to avoid you
and not speak to you, would you
feel forgiven? Saying you for-
give a person but still holding
anger and hateful feelings to-
wards them is not forgiveness.
When you fully forgive someone,
anger is replaced with pity for
them.
We must forgive everyone that
offends us, and everyone that sins
against us. For if you forgive men
when they sin against you, your
heavenly Father will also forgive
you. But if you do not forgive
men their sins, your Father will
not forgive your sins. (Matthew
6:14-15 NIV) It‘s apparent from
God‘s word that we must forgive
others because our God and Fa-
ther forgives. "Do not judge and
you will not be judged. Do not
condemn, and you will not be
condemned. Forgive, and you will
be forgiven. Give and it will be
given to you. A good measure,
pressed down, shaken together
and running over, will be poured
into your lap. For with the same
measure you use, it will be meas-
ured to you." (Luke 6:37-38 NIV)
Start fully forgiving and you will
see the change it will make in
your life. Above all, love each
other deeply, because love covers
over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter
NIV)
Until next month,
SPC Holle, Chaplain‘s Assistant
FORGIVING
CONTACT INFORMATION BN Staff Duty 774-1200
24-hour BDE Staff Duty 774-1100
FRSA 774-1206 email [email protected]
FRG Leaders
HSC – Dawn Marie DeGrave cell: 315-777-6152;
A Co – Jennifer Mulder, cell 423-506-0034, [email protected]
B Co—Karri Boyer-cell: 315-767-6067, [email protected]
C Co—Jaime Elkhill cell: 757-759-1086; [email protected]
Megan Wilson-cell: 818-279-3927, [email protected]
FRG Advisors
Marion Harris - cell: 315-955-9106; [email protected]
Diana Ortiz – cell: 571-228-1962, email [email protected]
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH
LUPUS AWARENESS MONTH
NATIONAL DIABETES MONTH
STAY HEALTHY THIS MONTH!
V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 9
October 2012
P A G E 7
Family Night Every Tuesday, 5-9pm, at
the Commons.
Oktoberfest Dinner Special, October
3, 5-9pm, at the Commons.
Middle School Dance, Grades 6-8, Oc-
tober 6, 7-10pm at the Youth Center.
EFMP Support Group, October 9,
6pm, at ACS.
Federal Employment Workshop, Oc-
tober 11, 9:30-1130am, at ACS.
Clothing Give Away Drop Off, Octo-
ber 1-14, 8:00am - 4:30pm, at ACS.
Community Events Need Help? Call or visit Military
OneSource to find infor-
mation about taxes, par-
enting, deployments,
finances, taxes, counsel-
ing, PCS moves & more!
Upcoming Key Caller
Class Dates: October 9th
All Classes are at ACS from
2-3:30 p.m. or 5-6:30p.m.
Call Mobilization and Deployment to
register at 315-772-0470.
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 DONSA 6
7 8 HOLIDAY 9 KEY CALLER CLASS
10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 BN ORG DAY
27
28 29 30 31 HALLOWEEN
Training/Classes
FRG Suspenses
BDE/BN/CO FRG Meet-
ings/Training/Events
Personal Financial Counselor is avail-
able . Call him at 315-523-3765 to
help set up a budget, check your
credit, develop a plan to get out of
debt, get started investing, or what-
ever you need assistance with. You
can also always call Financial Readi-
ness at 772-0050 for this same type of
assistance.
Family Readiness Group Advisor’s Updates, continued
P A G E 8
L I B E R T Y T I M E S
Receiving these joyous news and a
call from a dear military spouse who is
now expecting her fourth child in Thai-
land made me think about how military
families experience these important mo-
ments in life in all kinds of places and
circumstances. It makes a big difference
to a pregnant spouse to have a good sup-
port system when she is moving her home
from base to base. Sometimes the only
reliable support a family has nearby is the
FRG and its members.
In our case our family moved seven
times in the past 10 years and I was a
pregnant spouse in three very different
Family Readiness Groups. In one I was
called, welcomed and immediately
thrown a baby shower so I got to know
other spouses two weeks after arriving in
AL. In KS I remember meeting a young
pregnant girl while our husbands were on
duty the same weekend and only a few
weeks later she called me up the night she
went into labor offering me the option to
hold her hand and be inside the room
while she gave birth to her first son at
nineteen years of age. It was an unforget-
table moment and very dear to my heart.
For me it was an exciting first view to the
birth of a baby and for her a needed
friend in a new place and new stage of
her life. A year later that FRG group in
KS prepared for me a baby shower even
though my husband had received orders
and we were supposed to move two
months later. In TX the FRG prepared
wonderful baby blankets that had a cozy
soft neutral fabric on one side and the
military pattern with the Company crest
on the other side. Three amazing volun-
teers created 20 of these very useful blan-
kets for all the babies born within a year
in that Company.
The most recent and different experi-
ence while pregnant was last year in
South Korea. There we had no active
FRG so two friends and myself decided
to throw our own baby shower and we
supported each other during the exciting
nine months. Looking back it was not easy
to expect your baby in a foreign country
where most hospitals are off post; they
mostly speak Korean and have other tradi-
tions when it comes to delivering a baby
and dealing with pain (the Korean culture
does not believe in pain management). Also
your family is very far away to visit and
support you before and after the delivery. I
encountered situations in which very young
spouses had literally no one and called me
the day of the delivery of their baby asking
me to look after their first son or daughter
while they rush to the hospital. Another
family called me from the government pro-
vided temporary rooms on post sharing with
me that they had somehow spend their sav-
ings and had no money left. I took what I
could find in our fridge and pantry to make
sure they would have a healthy meal in ad-
dition we invited them over for dinner. We
left more food and other necessary items at
that shelter to support other expecting moth-
ers while they were all alone waiting for the
contractions to start and to deliver their
maybe first child. All in all, I look back
today and realize that although there was no
active FRG, our family and other neighbors
acted as a small FRG for many spouses.
What a difference it makes to an expecting
military spouse or a female Soldier to have
people celebrating and supporting them
during this special time! FRG members can
be a second family if the first family is far
away or unavailable to travel.
So many small actions can be done!
Here are some ideas - supporting an expect-
ing mother during the last months if she
needs bed rest, visiting newly parents at the
hospital, sending a note, bringing a small
gift, leaving some balloons at their home
entrance or offering a meal for the first days
- just to name a few.
I have to admit that in between of the
many moves and various deployments I have been lucky to have my husband by my
side when I gave birth to our children but I
do know many who had their husband on
the phone or saw them through Skype
while delivering their baby. Many of
these communication channels were pre-
pared through the FRG, as they made
sure that the Soldier was on the phone or next to the computer and could at least be
in some way closer to his wife when the
baby arrived. Also when Soldiers are
deployed and their spouses have new-
borns or young children at home it is
comforting for them to know that they
can reach out to the FRG in case of a
family emergency. Through these and
many more actions the FRG members
can help the expecting mothers feel a bit
more sheltered at home no matter where she is.
Currently, we have over 30+ Soldiers
and spouses pregnant in our Battalion.
Lets create a strong team of volunteers to
support expecting families during the
coming months! If you have something
you would like to do like for example
you can sew blankets, babysit for a few
hours, like to organize Baby Showers or
prepare meals then please share your
interests, gifts and wishes with your FRG leader. They will be excited to let you
know how you can make a difference!
If you are one of the expecting spouses
and need help in any way, please do not
hesitate to contact either your Company
FRG leader or our FRSA Michele. If we
know your needs - we can help!
Wishing you all a wonderful end of
summer and beginning of fall & will see
you all again at our Battalion Fall Organ-
izational Day (October 26th from 2-6pm mark your calendars!)
Military Coloring Page for Kids –
Contest! Have your kids color the Eagle
Drawing on page 13 in any creative way.
Write her/his name & age and bring or
email the colored Eagle to our FRSA
Michele Galloway. Our Command Team
will choose the 1st and 2nd best & unique
page.
Until next month,
Diana
P A G E 9 BRAVO PICTURES
SPC Becker clearly not having fun at a company
function.
MAJ Boyer, living proof that mid-thigh, baby blue
Hawaiian swim suits are in fact still fashionable.
SPC Henderson and crew cooked for the
event. SPC Torres and wife.
P A G E 1 0 CHARLIE PICTURES
230: Specialist David Reynoso graduates from Air Assault
school and is awarded his qualification badge by his pla-
toon sergeant Sergeant First Class Ramon Collazo.
206: Private First Class Alexander Troung receives pre-
liminary marksmanship instruction on the M16 rifle before
firing at the range.
197: Private First Class Landon Griffin and Specialist
Kevin Elkhill set up the Satellite Terminal Tactical
(STT) for their Command Post Node.
223: Sergeant Frank Ervin makes adjustments to his
front sight post while zeroing his M16 rifle at the
range.
P A G E 1 1 ALPHA PICTURES
Top Left: AH-64 Apache Helicopter re-
fueled by Alpha Company Soldiers.
OH-58D Kiowa Helicopter leaving Al-
pha Company refuel point.
Bottom Left: UH-60 Black Hawk
Helicopter refueled by Alpha Company.
P A G E 1 2 HSC PICTURES
PICTURES FROM HSC ORG DAY!
TOP LEFT: FRSA, FRG ADVISOR, FRG
LEADER, HSC COMMANDER AND
BATTALION S1 OIC
TOP RIGHT: LITTLE BOY WHO HAS
HAD HIS FACE PAINTED
MIDDLE LEFT: OUR SOLDIERS AS-
SISTING IN THE GREAT HSC BBQ.
BOTTOM: FAMILIES AND SOLDIERS
PLAYING DOMINOS.
P A G E 1 3 EAGLE PICTURE CONTEST
277th Aviation Support Battalion History
In February 2006, the 277th Aviation Support Battalion
deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring
Freedom VII, where it provided combat service and support
to the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Falcon.
The Unit redeployed in February of 2007 after earning the
Lieutenant General Ellis D. Parker Award for best Aviation
Battalion in 2006 and the Meritorious Unit Commendation.
In October 2008, the 277th ASB deployed to Iraq in sup-
port of Operation Iraqi Freedom 09-11, where it provided
support and combat services to the 10th CAB, Task Force
Lightning. The unit redeployed in October 2009 and earned
the Lieutenant General Ellis D. Parker award for the Best
Combat Service Support Battalion for the work performed
during its 2008-2009 deployment.
20125 Hangar Access Road
Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield
Fort Drum, NY 13602
Phone: 315-774-1206
Fax: 315-774-1231
E-mail: [email protected]
277th Aviation Support Battalion
10th Combat Aviation Brigade
“Freedom and Liberty”
P A G E 1 4