Serving the Soldiers, Civilians and Families of 2nd BCT, 4th Inf. Div. Issue 94 Mar. 10, 2012

100 reasons to do one good thingStory by Sgt. April York2nd BCT, 4th Inf. Div., PAO

Good deeds go un-noticed all over the world, but not this

time. Two Soldiers from the “Warhorse” Brigade decided to take a stand and grab some attention to promote good deeds. Sgt. 1st Class Spencer Polwort, noncommissioned officer in charge of fire sup-port with 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, and Staff Sgt. Casey Mceuin, the night operations noncom-missioned officer in charge for 2nd BCT, 4th Inf. Div., de-cided to ride 100 miles on sta-tionary bikes while deployed to Afghanistan to encourage others to either give to charity or do one good deed. “Life is short, and it takes very little to inspire or make someone smile,” Polwort said. “Sometimes it just requires

minimal effort to make some-one feel better or to make a difference in a life.” “You can make a person’s day by just saying hello and have a great day,” Mceuin said. “If you have never tried it, do it! When I am home in the states, at times when I go through a drive thru, I will buy the person’s order behind me.”

In preparation for this project they put together a logo, a Facebook fan page and many hours of training. They reached out to organizations to make donations to any charity of their choice while Mceuin and Polwort rode the 100 miles. There was no

Sgt. 1st Class Spencer Polwort, noncom-missioned officer in charge of fire sup-port with 2nd BCT, 4th Inf. Div., glistens with sweat and determination as he rides 100 miles on a stationary bike at the gym on Camp Nathan Smith, March 3 during a charity event to raise awareness of good deeds.

Staff Sgt. Casey Mceuin, the night operations noncommissioned officer in charge for 2nd BCT, 4th . Div., wipes the sweat off of his forehead as he rides 100 miles on a stationary bike at the gym on Camp Nathan Smith, March 3.

money collected for the event--it was purely to promote good deeds. With varying schedules and work still to be done, Polwort and Mceuin were unable to ride the 100 miles together. Mceuin started at 11:50 a.m. and updates were posted to their fan page of his progress throughout his ride. Sweat was pouring down into his eyes as he finished in 3 hours and 13 minutes. “I was driven to finish by thoughts of my wife and kids,” he said. “They are my inspira-tion to do everything I do.” Polwort now not only had the determination to complete the ride but a time to beat. He started his 100 miles at 12:00 a.m. Live updates were also posted to the fan page during his ride. With sheer determination propelling him, he finished in 3 hours and 4 minutes. “In the end I was exhaust-ed but I felt good,” he said. The event raised attention to many organization and individuals across the globe. “We had donations to TESSA Colorado Springs (Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Shelter), Multiple Scle-rosis Society, Wounded War-rior Project, and the American Heart Association just to name a few,” Polwort said. “Our numbers show the page was shared in seven different countries, more than 20 cities,

Photo by Master Sgt. Thomas Allen

Photo by Master Sgt. Thomas Allen

and in three languages.” “We trained for about 2 months,” Polwort said. “I think at the end, we were more curious whether the odometer would roll from 99.9 to 100.0 or back to zero—it was zero.” “I hope this event helps people take a moment to self reflect and really look at what they can do locally to help their neighbors or com-munity out and to make it a better place,” Polwort said. “Next year, our plan is to walk completely around Fort Car-son from Gate 1 all the way around the perimeter back to Gate 1. We have initially estimated the distance at 75 miles. We envision this to be an annual event.”

“We envision this to be an annual event.”-Sgt. 1st Class Spencer Polwort

Warhorse PridePage 2 Issue 94 Mar. 10, 2012

The Warhorse Pride is produced in the interest of the Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. The Warhorse Pide is an Army-funded news-letter authorized under provision of AR 360-1. Contents of the Warhorse Pride are not necessarily the view of, nor endorsed by the U.S. government, Department of Defense, Department of the Army or the 4th Infantry Division. All editorial content of The Warhorse Pride is prepared, edited, provided and approved by the 2nd Brigade Combat Team Public

Affairs Office. The Warhorse Pride welcomes articles, commentary and photos from readers. The Warhorse Pride reserves the right to edit submissions selected for the publication. All issues of The Warhorse Pride can be viewed online from your home computer at www.facebook.com/2bct4id Submissions should be e-mailed to the editor:seth.barham@afghan.swa.army.mil

Col. John S. Kolasheski...................2nd BCT CommanderCommand Sgt. Maj. Ralph Delosa..............2nd BCT CSMMaj. Kevin Toner................................................2nd BCT PAOSgt. Seth Barham..................................................PAO NCOICSgt. Ruth Pagan......................................Layout and DesignSgt. April York.........................................Layout and Design

Warhorse Pride

to administer his oath of re-enlistment,” said Chief Warrant Officer Rick Tyson, the bri-gade all source intelligence chief with HHT. “It’s interesting, this is my first time. I’ve done re-enlistments in a combat zone before but this will be my first one in the air-- I hope he can hear me.” In order for the oath to be heard, both Beko and Tyson were fitted with headsets. The re-enlistment and flight went off without a hitch. “It was freakin’ awesome,” Beko said after landing. “It was my first time riding in a Blackhawk and it was fun. I’m glad every-thing worked out great. I got lucky and it was a very unique experience.”

Warhorse Soldier re-enlists over Kandahar CityStory and photo by Sgt. Ruth Pagan2nd BCT, 4th Inf. Div., PAO

As the two Blackhawk helicopters touched down, the cool wind whipped at the Soldiers who had

been patiently waiting for their ride. This particular ride was not going to be very long and its only destination was up in the air to circle around then land right back down. But for one Soldier, this would be an unforget-table once in a lifetime ride. Spc. Rodger Beko, an intelligence analyst with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, re-enlisted to stay in the Army for another three years in a helicopter hovering above Kandahar City, Mar. 7. “It’s his first re-enlistment and first deployment so we wanted to do something memorable,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Sullivan, the intelligence operations noncommissioned officer in charge with HHT. “He’s a great Soldier, probably one of the best Soldiers I’ve had so far, and we wanted to do something to show him we appreciate the hard work he’s doing out here.” “Nobody had any problems with this guy being re-enlisted,” said Master Sgt. Stephen Acord, the brigade intelligence NCOIC with HHT. “He is ‘Jonny on the spot;’ he is a great intel analyst.” When Soldiers decide to raise their right hand and re-take the Oath of Enlistment it

is also their choice where they will say that oath.Sullivan informed Beko of the different places he could choose from. “I’ve never gotten the opportunity to ride in a Blackhawk and the option was pre-sented to me and I took it,” Beko said. “Staff. Sgt. Sullivan said he would do what he had to, to make it happen and he did.”Sullivan coordinated everything to get the helicopter, but because of missions and weather, it wasn’t 100 percent guaranteed until the helicopter actually arrived. A total of seven Soldiers accompanied Beko for his re-enlistment. “I’m happy and proud that he chose me

Spc. Nicholas Champange, a Soldier with 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, prepares to breach a “glass house” with his Afghan Uniformed Police partner during a training exercise.

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