LONGRIFLEs WEEKLYA publication of the 2/138th FAR

Since this is the last Newsletter, everyone needs to keep up the hard work and finish strong whether it’s working out or just work. Relief in place is upon us and the replacing units need as much help and information as possible to be successful in the next few

months after we leave. Much can be gained from just leaning forward a bit more and charging on. Several of our Soldiers in the battalion still demonstrate this by volunteering their time at the local Djiboutian college playing the local high school team. Since the end of the intramural season, members of camp who enjoyed basketball organized together and planned several events, occurring about once a week, playing the local team to help develop their abilities and to continue playing themselves. Soldiers have continued the efforts to improve and build relationships with our partner countries especially our host nation. Therefore I wish to commend those not only from my unit, but the entire battalion for being ambassadors to Djibouti in their own way by building for the future and helping drive the young people here to excel and make a better future for them. It has been an honor to serve with you all. ~Capt. William Riley

CPT’s Corner

As we transition from deployment back to M-day status, I’m sure many of you are wondering which path to take in your military career. Some of you are considering ETSing, some are considering pursuing careers as a commisioned officer

or warrant officer and some are considering changing their MOS to open up more avenues for promotion.With the structure of the Army and even more specifically, the battalion changing in the near future, I would strongly recommend each of you to take a close look at how these changes will possibly affect your path for upward mobility. If you are someone who has made up your mind to stay in your current unit and progress to the top, it may not be as easy for you as it has been for others during the past 10 years. I highly encourage each of you (especially E-4s and below) to sit down with your Squad Leader/Platoon Sergeant/First Sergeant and come up with a solid course of action for you to follow.In closing, I would like to congratulate CPL Hopson of the FSC in becoming the 2-138th FAR Soldier of the Year. This is an outstanding accomplishment and I have no doubt he will make us proud when he competes in the 138th FiB Soldier of the Year board. ~ 1st Sgt. Marty Cottrell

1SG Thoughts

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KY National Guard Soldiers Work and Train with African

SoldiersStory and photo by Capt. Daniel Van Horn, 2-138th FAR PAO

June 8, 2013Volume 1, Issue 33

CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti – Preventative maintenance checks and services (PMCS) are the key to maintaining mil-itary vehicles used on a daily basis. The 12 mechanics that make up the Task Force Longrifles maintenance section are some of the most experienced in the Kentucky Army National Guard and collectively can diagnose and fix any problem on any military vehicle.

So it is no surprise that Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa reached out to Task Force Longrifles to support a re-cent military-to-military engagement focused on how to con-duct a PMCS with Djiboutian military mechanics.

The maintenance section accepted the mission and provided two of their best mechanics to lead the class, Sgt. 1st Class David Corbin from Lawrenceburg, Ky., and Staff Sgt. Michael Miers from Vine Grove, Ky.

Corbin has been an Army mechanic for 16 years and was as-signed as the mission commander responsible for planning and coordinating the 3-day engagement. Miers served as as-sistant commander for the task, bringing 11 more years of professional mechanic experience.

Overall, the engagement began with introductions, hand-shakes, and a tour of the maintenance shop, followed by the group circling around a high mobility multi-wheeled vehicle to begin the first part of the PMCS class.

“About 45 minutes into the class, one of the Djiboutian me-chanics began asking questions about transfer case exchange

Longrifles WeeklyPage 2

Chaplain ReflectionsThe D-Day invasion was both an end and a beginning. This fact was experienced firsthand by the men of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. They not only parachuted into Normandy for D-Day and Holland for Operation Market

Garden; they also fought the Germans and the freezing cold during the Battle of the Bulge, liberated concentration camps, and secured the Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s mountaintop retreat.Once 16 million strong, there are now fewer than 2 million veterans of the Second World War still alive, and they are dying at a rate of 1,000 a day. Of the 366 men who at one point or another were part of WWII’s Easy Company, only about 30 are still living today. I have one particular WWII veteran in mind today. His name was Gene Cline. Gene passed away a couple of years ago. His family asked if I would help with his funeral; Gene was a friend. At Gene’s funeral, I found out he had 5 Bronze Stars. He never talked about it. In almost every case our WWII Veterans never bragged about their service when they returned home. Instead, they simply got to work building a life for themselves–enjoying their families, participating in their communities, and relishing the simple things in life. This weekend would be an excellent time to pause and remember the valiant Soldiers of World II who taught us so much by example and leadership. May God bless their families; and may God bless the nation for which they sacrificed so much. ~ Chaplain Mark East

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ratios,” Corbin said.

“This was an extremely advanced question and took me by surprise. I suddenly realized that our class was way too basic for these guys and we would need to change the focus of our class immediately.”

Corbin and his team decided to ask the Djiboutian mechanics exactly what they wanted to know more about.

The team was surprised to learn that in 2005 the US govern-ment had provided three maintenance support devices (MSD)to the Djiboutian military mechanics to help them trouble-shoot and fix engine problems in their own HMMWVs.

However, the group never received the proper training on how to effectively use the computers, so the computers just sat around in their shop collecting dust.

“We use the MSD computers every day, and they are an es-sential tool when it comes to working on our HMMWVs,” Miers said.

“Teaching them (Djiboutian military) how to use these com-puters would make a lasting impact for their entire mainte-nance section and tremendously help them identify problems their vehicles are having.”

For their part, the Djiboutian soldiers were thrilled to learn how each computer worked and huddled around the devices taking meticulous notes. After each question, Miers or Corbin would coach them through the process of using the MSD to correctly identify the problem.

“By the end of the first day we knew that this mission had already been a huge success,” Corbin said.

Warrant Officer Abdourazak Djibril, the Djiboutian chief mechanic was very glad for the interaction with the US me-chanics.

“This mission has been very beneficial,” Djibril said. “I look forward to future partnerships where we can exchange more lessons about vehicle maintenance.”

At the conclusion of the mission, the Djiboutians were pre-sented with graduation certificates and a joint picture of ev-eryone standing together in front of a HMMWV.

For Corbin though, it wasn’t just a picture.

“It symbolized the many lessons we learned from each other and serves as a reminder of what we can do when we all work together.”

Quotations to live by...• “Start with what is right rather than what is

acceptable.” ~Peter F. Drucker• “Few things can help an individual more than to

place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.” ~Booker T. Washington

• “If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito.” ~ Unknown

• “The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.” ~Thomas Paine