This month:

Outstanding turnout to the 65th

Engineer Battalion Annual

Easter Celebration !

CPT Clarence Toussaint takes

Command of the FSC

Update from the 7th Dive Team

in Kuwait

Inside this issue:

First In: Trailblazer 6 2

A Message from Trailblazer 7 2

7th Engineer Dive Team 3

Battalion Easter Celebration 4-5

HHC Renegades 6

70th Geospatial Company 7

Forward Support Company 8

82nd Engineer Support Company 9

95th Route Clearance Company 10

Chaplain’s Corner 11

Family Readiness Group Page 12

May 2011

65th Engineer Battalion Nesletter The

TRAILBLAZER

T railblazers, Trailblazer Families and 65th Alumni,

Welcome back! We got an overwhelmingly positive response from the first edition of our news-

letter. It was great to hear from so many Soldiers, family members and former 65th Sappers. I‘m glad

you liked it and we‘ll endeavor to ensure the product

stays high quality. April has been a busy month, and May

promises to be even more so. Most of the Battalion will deploy to the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) on

the Big Island at the end of April for about a month‘s

worth of weapons ranges and field training. For many of our units, this will be the first big shake out since

redeployment, and will serve as an excellent gauge for our leaders on where we‘re strong, and what

areas need more emphasis. It will be a long, hard

month, but the training will be well worth it. We‘ve even built a ruck march to the top of Mauna Kea into

the end of the FTX. It‘s an 8 mile climb, and can be a

gut-check, but the reward for making it is the chance to see one of the Big Island‘s amazing volcanoes up

close! While HHC, FSC and the 70th are enjoying

the red dirt and lava rock at PTA, the 95th Wolfpack

will be back here prepping for combat. They‘ll qualify on every weapon system and conduct live fire exer-

cises, all preparatory for their upcoming rotation at the National Training Center. I know all of the field

training can be tough on families, but it‘s critically

important for our Soldiers. In the long run, the train-

ing pays off in combat. We‘re dedicated to completing

our missions, winning the fight, and bringing everyone

home. The harder we work here, the better off we are there, and I know that‘s a concept that everyone sup-

ports. I‘d like to take this opportunity to promote a

number of events that are coming up, and I especially

want to encourage the spouses of our deployed Sol-diers to come out and participate. Time flies when

you‘re having fun, after all! First is Engineer Week. The Brigade will hold

a number of sporting and family-oriented events dur-

ing the week of 27 June. This celebration of our Engi-neer roots will culminate on Thursday, 30 June, with an

evening luau at Paradise Cove. This is an adults-only event (in lieu of a Brigade Ball), and all ranks are en-

couraged to attend!

Second is the return of Jane Sapper Day! This was a hugely successful event last year, and we‘ve

got some great plans for this year. It was tough to

work it in with all that‘s going on this summer, but we‘ve tentatively scheduled it for Saturday, 27 August.

Spouses, please make plans to come out and be a sap-per for a day! Ask those who did it last year…you won‘t

be disappointed!

Finally, we‘ve fielded a bunch of questions about whether or not we‘re having a ball. Details are

still very sketchy, but we‘re planning our Battalion Ball to coincide with the Battalion‘s birthday in October.

We‘re looking at a number of dates and venues, but

have tentatively penciled in 21 or 22 October at the Hale Koa. Stay tuned for this one as we get closer!

As always, thank you all for what you do every day to serve our country and support our Sol-

diers. Please remember those we have deployed, and

their families back here. And by all means, if there‘s something you‘d like to see in future editions of this

newsletter, contact our new PAO, LT Kyle Suchomski. Wherever you are in the world reading this, good luck

and stay safe!

First In, Last Out!

LTC Dan Koprowski

Trailblazer 6

The 65th Engineer Battalion Newsletter Page 2

65th Engineer Battalion Commander,

Lt. Col. Dan Koprowski

Hello everyone and thank you for your support on all of April‘s events.

We would like to invite you to give us your suggestions on how we can improve on

each event, so that next time they might

be even better. We had a successful move-

ment to PTA thanks to all the Soldiers and leaders initiative and persistent to not let

other tasks get in the way. The Soldiers

are getting excellent training on all the weapons systems. Other Soldiers who

usually do not get to fire the M2, M203, MK19 will have opportunities to train

and fire those weapon systems. Morale is

high, and Soldiers are having fun training out at PTA. Rear-Ds are also getting

excellent training, as they support daily

operations, as well as support to those that are deployed or at PTA.

We look forward to more training in the future, more festivities

during holidays and special events, and

movement back to garrison. In the near future we will be taking some opportunity

block leave to spend time with all our loved ones now that school will be out.

Take care, be safe, Aloha.

SGM Joe Constante

Trailblazer 7

A Message from

Trailblazer 7

First In: Trailblazer 6

Sergeant Major Joe Constante

A loha again from Kuwait! As always, the Soldiers of 7th Dive have been doing great things out here, and 1SG and I are still feeling ex-

tremely blessed to have such an amazing group of Soldiers. The highlight of April was finally getting our equipment,

which will enable us to start our dive training and pro-

viding our full list of capabilities to the CENTCOM Thea-ter. After ten long days of inventorying equipment, the

unit is now finishing up some much needed equipment maintenance and preparing to start underwater cut-

ting and welding training next week. This training couldn‘t have come soon enough as all of our divers

are biting at the bit to get back into the water. Just like last month, 7th Dive has experienced

a lot of outstanding group and individual performances. 7th Dive sent SGT Jake Cochran and SPC Andrew Damon

to the board this month, and both Soldiers represented the 7th Engineer Dive Team extremely well. We anticipate promoting

both Soldiers sometime in the very near future. Also this month, 1LT

David Guerdan took 1st Place in both the Woman‘s History Run and the Wounded Warriors‘ Run and SSG Sean Rowley took 2nd and 3rd place in

both of the previously mentioned races. As a team, Guerdan and Rowley placed first in the Mardi Gras 8K Relay Race. The 7th Dive

Dodge Ball Team consisting of SPC Patrick Morales (Team Captain), SFC Beau Woodcox, SSG Brandton Rohde, SPC Timothy Bullington, SPC

Joe Moore, SPC Robert Russell, SPC Anthony Varas, and CPT Adrian Biggerstaff also placed first in a two night tournament this month;

however, much of their success goes to the amazing diver fan-base that supported them throughout the finals. Our section of cheering

divers got the entire crowd routing for our team, and our opponents

knew they were the ―away team‖ before they even got on the court. This month was also 7th Dive‘s first opportunity to provide

force protection in Oman where SFC Milton Prater did an outstanding job of establishing our base of operation and leading a dive team

consisting of SPC Britton Hall, SPC Anthony Varas, and SPC Tim Bull-ington into the new country and returning safely after a successful

mission completion. All divers on the trip represented 7th Dive and the US Army very well throughout the course of the mission.

Our Iraq mission is still going well, and all divers eagerly await their turn to rotate into Iraq to have a chance at getting in the

Tigris River and supporting the 20th Engineer Brigade. Unfortunately, it appears our work in Qatar has come

to a close, at least for the next few

months. With any luck, we will get a new surge of work down there before we

redeploy to Hawaii.

The month of April proven to be yet again very busy for

the Soldiers of 7th Dive. April can be summed up into two things, inventories and training. Our equipment arrived during the first

week of April and after a week and a half of long days and late nights, everything has been inventoried. Not

only was everyone happy to finally get their

personal gear but everyone is also excited to be able to fully execute our many capa-

bilities. Once inventories were com-

pleted, the focus here at KNB shifted to training. For the Soldiers here, we devoted

the last two weeks of April to conducting underwater cutting and welding training.

This is one of many tasks that Soldiers must be

proficient in order to become certified Salvage Divers. SSG Geffert and SSG Rowley did a great job con-

ducting this training and gave their Soldiers an excellent opportu-

nity to work on their skills. For the guys up north in Iraq, April was a quiet month

but should pick up in May with a few already planned operations. However, during their downtime, the guys have focused on study-

ing the dive manual and working on online college courses. Whether it‘s sharpening their dive skills, knocking out college

courses, or doing ―two a days‖ in the gym, Soldiers of 7th Dive continue to make the command team proud by exemplifying the

whole Soldier concept.

Page 3

Update from the 7th Dive Team

While things are going well out here for the divers, it could be going

even better by getting care packages: 7th Engineer Dive Team,

Camp Patriot, APO AE 09337. Cookies, brownies, letters and any

other snacks or messages are welcome!

TRAILBLAZER

First in-Last out

Soldiers of the 7th Dive Team took this near the

Coast of Oman.

O n Saturday, April 16th 2011, Soldiers and families of

the 65th Engineer Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade,

celebrated the Easter season at Watt‘s Field on

Schofield Barracks. The celebration was intended to

bring Soldiers and their families together with kid-

friendly, Easter themed events. Soldiers from each of

the Battalion‘s companies turned out to the event,

bringing spouses and children to hunt for Easter eggs

and snap a photo with the elusive Easter bunny.

Soldiers of the 65th Engineer Battalion began

preparing for the event weeks in advance with prepa-

rations culminating with hiding plastic eggs the morn-

ing of the event. When asked why he was helping to

hide Easter eggs, SGT Cedric Burton of the 65th Engi-

neer Battalion‘s Forward Support Company said, ―It‘s

an unwritten rule that we‘re supposed to be giving

back to the children, and that‘s what I‘m doing here‖.

Similarly, SGT James Reeder of the FSC said, ―I‘m

single and living in the barracks, so I wanted to take

some of the burden off of others with families.‖

Specialist Derek Jones of the Battalion‘s 70th

Geospatial Company and his son Davyn participated in

several of the Easter celebration‘s events, including

aptly named ―Chubby Bunny Challenge‖. The challenge

asked participants to stuff as many marshmallows into their mouths as possible. Specialist Jones won

the adult competition with a grand total of eleven

marshmallows at one time. Many children partici-

pated in the Easter egg hunt, with prizes ranging from candy treats to three and four day passes for par-

ents. One of these children included four year-old

Page 4 The 65th Engineer Battalion Newsletter

65th Engineer Battalion Easter Celebration

As always, the 65th Engineer Battalion‘s ―bouncy castle‖ was enjoyed by

numerous children at its Easter Celebration. Kids had a blast jumping and

bounding in the inflatable attraction.

Many 65th volunteers offered their time and services throughout the event. The Easter

egg dying station was particularly popular. Children chose a hardboiled egg, their

favorite colors and set off on dying a festive Easter souvenir. The bunny ears station

was also a successful undertaking, and gave kids the opportunity to create construc-

tion paper rabbit ears that they could wear home.

“It’s an unwritten rule that we’re supposed to

be giving back to the children, and that’s what

I’m doing here”

- SGT Cedric Burton, FSC

(Continued on next page)

Page 5 TRAILBLAZER

First in-Last out

Soldiers and family members of the 65th Engineer Battalion line up for an egg

and spoon race. Children enjoyed the quality time spent with parents.

The ―Chubby Bunny‖ challenge was one of several

events at the Easter Celebration. Competitors were

challenged to stuff as many marshmallows as pos-

sible into their mouths. The event was equally en-

tertaining for onlookers and participants.

Jaren and his father, 1LT Doren Kolasa of the Bat-

talion‘s Forward Support Company.

Families were truly at the center of the

day‘s events, which began with a bounce house

and Easter egg hunt for children, and ended with

old-fashioned egg tosses and spoon races. When

asked about some of his favorite Easter traditions,

Specialist Kelly Bond of the 95th Route Clearance

Company replied ―hanging out with my wife and

children, and cooking all day.‖ Specialist Jason

Weaver of HHC, 65th Engineer Battalion attended

the event with his

with his wife

Samantha and

young daughter

Adaline. This will be

the family‘s first

Easter together, and he says although it is ―tough

being away from family, it makes us cherish the

moments at home‖.

Although it is “tough being away

from family, it makes us cherish the

moments at home”.

- SPC Jason Weaver, HHC

(Continued from previous page)

A loha Sappers!

Not a lot of news this month as April blew in like a lion

and is already closing. The Renegades ship out for Pohakuloa

Training Area on the big island on the 25th and begin to execute

our training cycle. Everyone will get the opportunity to fire on

all of our weapon systems from M16A2 to the M2 .50 caliber

machine gun. Our collective training will help to transition the

battalion headquarters into a smoother running operation and

further refine our SOPs while deployed. By the end of May we

will have fired over 20,000 rounds of ammunition climbed to

the top of Hawaii and crossed a volcano. Stay tuned to next month‘s newsletter to see how all of

that turns out. With that in mind April

was spent doing not only our daily op-

erations of command and control but

the added tasks associated with deploy-ing the battalion while simultaneously

doing all the support work for the 95th Route Clearance Company upcoming

deployment. We also continued to rep-

resent the battalion at the Brigade En-durance Challenge with LT Sanchez

winning the female competition. Rene-

gades getting the job done!

HHC would like to recognize Heather Mertes, Donna

Gonzales, and Samantha Weaver for stepping forward to take

the reins of the Family Readiness Group as co leaders and treasurer. They have picked up the ball and are beginning to

run with it. Thank you ladies,

PTA will be your

first opportunity to test your

systems.

Congratulations and Salutations:

1SG Workman and I would also like to congratulate the

Hanakahi family as they delivered Atele Fetuilelagi Hanakahi

and the Finn family as they welcome aboard Araceli Marie Finn. And to CPT Mike Campbell and his new bride Crystal welcome

to the Renegade family.

Finally a ―hoo-ah‖ to Rob Finn and Chris Gensler as

they get promoted to Captain and again to Chris for winning

Best Engineer Lieutenant of the Year prior to his promotion. HHC welcomed the following Soldiers and their families;

LT Borchik, SGT Chamberlin, CPT Finn, SGT Halley, SPC Howard,

WO1 Inchausti, LT Marthy, CPT Mockus, CPT Nguyen, SPC

Obando, SSG Pangelinan, SGT Richardson, LT Robertson, LT

Spencer, LT Suchomski, SGT Talley, SGT Turley, and LT Walsh And we bid farewell to the following;

LT Dahle, CPT Etter, SPC Goodwin, SPC Lawrence, PFC

Lippmann, LT Sanchez, and CPT Sann

Until next month,

Renegade 6 out.

Page 6 The 65th Engineer Battalion Newsletter

HHC Renegades

65th Engineer Battalion Soldiers listen to the Endurance Challenge

brief prior to beginning the competition. 1LT Brigida Sanchez brought home a win for HHC.

Staff Sergeant Leslie carries a piece of lumber as

Soldiers from HHC and FSC load vehicles onto an LSV bound for PTA.

Congratulations to the Hanakahi family

as they delivered Atele Fetuilelagi

Hanakahi and the Finn family as they

welcome aboard Araceli Marie Finn

A loha friends and family from the 70th

Engineer Company. It is my pleasure to take the time to

write a quick note and mention a few of the missions completed recently and the amazing job that the Sol-

diers have been doing; in addition each Platoon Leader

in the company wanted to mention a few things as well.

Looking back since the last news letter the number of events that the

company has participated

seems never-ending. The

events range from competing in the Brigade Endurance

Challenge (SPC Agee, SPC

Golden, and PFC Suddeth),

attending the Warrior Leader Course, supporting Operation

Tomodachi in Japan, com-

pleting company tasked

geospatial products and simultaneously getting ready

to deploy to Pohakuloa Train-

ing area (PTA) for the Battal-

ion Field Training exercise. In addition to getting ready to

deploy to PTA we were also able to send some Soldiers

and their spouse‘s to the Ko‘olina resort with the Bat-talion Chaplin for a marriage workshop.

From 1st Platoon leader, 1LT James

Crisp, on the marriage workshop:

Over the ten years of involvement in the Global War on

Terrorism, families have equally shouldered the burden of national security. There isn‘t a BCT or AIT for

spouses and children to learn the common tasks and

drills needed to sustain healthy families over repeated separations.

The Army knows the key role our families

play in mission readiness. So the Army developed the

Strong Bonds program. It is a unit-based, chaplain-led program which assists commanders in building individ-

ual resiliency by strengthening the Army Family. The

core mission of the Strong Bonds program is to in-

crease individual Soldier and Family member readiness through relationship education and skills training.

The Chaplain Ministry Team of 65th Engineer Battalion

(Combat Effects) hosted 60 couples for a marriage

retreat at the beautiful Ihilani Ko Olina resort hotel. Strong Bonds instructors, Chaplain (Capt.) John Sed-

wick and Sergeant Amanda Rivera, guided couples

through the Relationship Attachment Model (RAM) and

the ―Laugh Your Way to A Better Marriage‖ seminar se-

ries, by Mark Gungor.

―What wouldn‘t you do for just 15 minutes

more with your loved ones?‖, asked Chaplain Sedwick. He emphasized that ―the time, togetherness and talk (3T‘s)

couples share is critical to endure separations during

deployment.‖ To ensure couples had maximum time to

focus on their relationships, child care was provided through Kama‘aina Kids.

On the first day, parents were learn-

ing about the contents of ―the nothing

box‖, while the children learned about contents of the ocean at the Sea Life

Park. The second day, parents were

afforded a date night while the chil-

dren enjoyed Camp Timberline. The third day closing session gave the

attending couples an opportunity to

express lessons learned.

PFC Emanuel Lewis and his spouse, Catrese, were especially grateful for

the opportunity to attend the retreat.

―We‘ve only been married two weeks

and we spent most of our engagement separated because of basic training,

AIT, and the PCS to Hawaii‖ explained PFC Lewis. ―This

seminar and learning the 3T‘s have greatly improved our communication.‖

For Soldiers and Families wanting additional information

about the Strong Bonds program, please visit

www.strongbonds.org.

From 2nd Platoon Leader, 1LT Albert Cho,

remarks on getting ready for PTA:

For the past few weeks

2nd Platoon of the 70th Engineers Company

has been rapidly tran-

sitioning from geospa-

tial training to pre deployment activities.

We have been busily

assessing, inventorying, and packing most of our Geospa-

tial Engineer equipment in order to perform 24 hour

operations at PTA. 2nd Platoon currently has a two day

exercise to Hilo planned in order utilize skills we have

learned from the Sergeant's Time Training. Undoubtedly

we are very excited to travel to PTA to test our Geospatial Skills and to fire numerous weapon systems.

Page 7

70th Geospatial Company

TRAILBLAZER

First in-Last out

Soldiers of the 70th Geospatial Company listen to a brief on how to

load their equipment onto an LSV headed for PTA.

A panorama of the loading docks, where Soldiers of the 70th have staged their vehicles for movement to the PTA field exercise.

From 3rd Platoon Leader, 2LT Phillip Dab-

baugh, remarks on getting ready for PTA:

In gearing up for the Battalion‘s deployment to PTA, 3rd

Platoon, 70th Engineer Company (Geospatial) had its own

unique challenges that cropped up in the days, weeks and months leading up to the deployment. SFC Lester Scher-

merhorn, Platoon Sergeant for 3rd Platoon, puts it suc-

cinctly when he says, ―Being the platoon in the company that was on Green Cycle for the month of April, our pri-

mary challenges for the PTA deployment was striking a

careful balance between having the manpower necessary

to accomplish not just our normal tasks in the battle

rhythm, which included creating various products for

PACOM, but also making sure we had people who could

also get all of our vehicles ready, containers packed, and

making sure that everything got to the Training Area safely and fully mission capable.‖ Other Soldiers in the

platoon saw the challenges inherent in the preparations,

but were glad to be able to take such an important part in

the platoon, Company, and Battalion Mission. SPC Jae Chan Choi, of 1st Squad, remarked, ― There were some long

days and late nights throughout this month, but the fact

that we were able to get everything together and finish all

of our normal tasks really astounded me.‖ Throughout this past month, with the preparations that 3rd Platoon

made for their deployment to PTA in May2011 will pay off in

dividends once they are ―wheels-up‖ and ready to go

forth with their mission. Before ending this news letter I would like to

give a special ―thank you‖ to the Family Readiness Group

and everyone that volunteers to make it the best volun-

teer organization within the Army. The FRG Breakfast was amazing and the sheer ingenuity of getting it put together

on the Lanai of the Company was a

true testament of your dedication to supporting the unit. I think I

could very easily get comfortable

with eating a FRG breakfast like

what you served up that morning, delicious. In addition to the break-

fast the Easter egg hunt event and

the Fun fest would not have been the success that it was

if it was not for everyone who chipped in and offered their free time and energy in making it so memorable. These

FRG events have had minimal oversight and direction and

yet always come together as a huge victory; thank-you.

Until we return from PTA,

Hammer 6 out.

I would like to give a special “thank you” to

the Family Readiness Group and everyone

that volunteers to make it the best

volunteer organization within the Army.

end of the festivities; so here‘s to making next year‘s event even bet-

ter than this year‘s!! Hope to see you all there.

The next week, the FSC FRG represented 65th Engineer Battalion at the Spring Fun Festival on Sills field. Soldiers and Family

members painted almost 250 faces of children and adults alike to the delight of many present. There was hardly an empty chair as parents

and children lined up even after the official end of the Fun Fest, asking

for their faces to be painted. As I recall there was only one unwilling participant to the face painting. Not that I‘m personally upset that he

sat in my chair and didn‘t want to sit still. Oh well, as I recall, he was too young to be Batman anyway; maybe he‘s more suited to be Robin…

Our deployment takes us from the end of April through the

end of May. Then we‘ll return home to the waiting arms of loved ones on Oahu. The Soldiers are in high spirits and willingly accept and ac-

complish any task that‘s been set before them. The PTA operations sergeant MSG Millus Williams III complimented the unit on conducting

safe and efficient port operations as FSC Soldiers downloaded the

battalion‘s equipment at Ka‘wai‘hai Harbor. MSG Williams said ―This is the best operation I‘ve seen so far since I‘ve been at PTA; and I‘ve

seen entire brigades come through here before.‖ So when your loved

ones come home remember to give them that extra hug for a job well done so far.

Like new sands deposited on the Hawaiian shores- life is a more enduring constant in this universe. So I‘ll take a moment to

celebrate life and welcome new members of the Workhorse Family-

SGT and Mrs. Reier had a beautiful 7lb 8 oz baby girl.

Both mother and baby are doing fine at home and SGT

Reier is taking some much

needed time off to support his bride and enjoy his

beautiful new baby. We also welcome SPC Brandi Finch with her Family and SPC Zavious Muhammad and his Family to the Trailblazer / Work-

horse household. We‘re glad to have you aboard. And we say a fond

‗Mahalo for your service‘ to members of the Workhorse clan who‘re departing the unit and for some the Army- but not our lives: SGT

Anselmo Harris, SGT Melinda Nixon, SGT Rashard Brown, SGT Cedric Burton, SGT Eric Rengil, SPC Franklin Obour and SPC Ross Albritton.

Take Care of yourselves, your Families and never, ever, quit. We wish

you all the best in your future endeavors.

With that I bid you all ―Aloha, a hui hou‖ from the Pohakuloa

Training Area on the big Island of Hawaii!!

Workhorse-6 signing out…

A loha to all the Soldiers, family, and friends of the FSC, 65th EN

BN. This is my first time officially writing as the commander of the men and women of the Forward Support Company, 65th Engi-

neer Battalion. It is indeed a pleasure and an honor to command the finest unit in the Army (if I do say so myself). Let me take this

opportunity to bid a fond farewell to CPT Jimmy Quilon. CPT Quilon

willingly accepted the mantle of company commander and led the FSC through a tough transition after they returned from deploy-

ment. Now he‘s off to do bigger and better things for the Army and our nation. On behalf of the Soldiers, non-commissioned offi-

cers, officers and Families of the Forward Support Company;

Jimmy, you‘ll be missed by us all – so don‘t change your number!! By the time you‘re reading this, the FSC will be for-

ward deployed to the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) on the big island of Hawaii. Before we left for our mission the FSC Family

showed some true unit spirit while participating at the battalion

Easter Fun Fest. Thanks go out to the Distribution Platoon Leader- LT James Beebe as the best bunny all season long. (He only man-

aged to scare one child, we‘ve got to work on that for next year –

oops wrong season that‘s Halloween). What‘s an Easter Fun Fest without the Easter Egg Hunt? Thanks go out to SFC Nicole Wash-

ington and her army of volunteers for putting together an exciting egg hunt. This year‘s egg hunt was held without the normal melee

of younger children being massacred for treats by adults or big-

ger children. Special thanks to the Executive Officer, 1LT Doren Kolasa, SSG Myrick Lewis, SGT Angela Taylor, SGT Rashard Brown,

SPC Christine Stephenson and PV2 Britney Tyus for ensuring this year‘s festivities were well conducted. One could tell a great time

was had by all because Families were reluctant to go home at the

Page 8 The 65th Engineer Battalion Newsletter

Forward Support Company

So, when your loved ones come

home remember to give them that

extra hug for a job well done so far.

Incoming FSC Commander, Capt. Clarence Toussaint poses

with outgoing commander, Capt. Jimmy Quilon.

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – The 82nd Engineer

Support Company (ESC) of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, assumed authority from the 617th ESC of

Fort Lewis, Washington, during a Transfer of Authority (TOA) ceremony that took place on

April 15, 2011.

The 82nd ESC known as Wolverines at

their home station has been forced to change

their call sign and com-pany motto to Grave

Diggers due to call sign restrictions. The 82nd ESC, Grave

Diggers, will also continue the mis-sion of the 617th ESC in support

of Operation New Dawn (OND). The 82nd ESC

will serve as the last

remaining con-

struction company throughout Iraq.

Prior to their arrival in Iraq, the 82nd ESC completed months of weapon ranges, indi-

vidual task training, Squad and Platoon

level mission readi-

ness exercises, a National Training

Center rotation, and a final load-out of

equipment in order to prepare themselves

for OND. CPT

Joshua Long (Grave Digger 6) com-

mander of the 82nd ESC, said that he was

honored to continue the job begun by the 617th

ESC. CPT Long took command of the 82nd ESC in May of 2010 and has led the Company through

many exercises prior to their arrival in Iraq. CPT Long said, ―It is an exciting and

excellent oppor-tunity that we

have today, gen-tlemen, and we

gladly accept the tremendous

honor and re-

sponsibility as the last construction company to serve in Op-

eration New Dawn.‖ This is not the first deployment the

82nd ESC has served. The company also served in the Al-Anbar province based out of Ramadi

during 2007 through 2008 in support of Opera-

Page 9

82nd Engineer Support Company

Assumes Authority of Construction

Operations in Iraq

CPT Long said, “It is an exciting and excellent

opportunity that we have today, gentlemen,

and we gladly accept the tremendous honor

and responsibility as the last construction

company to serve in Operation New Dawn.”

TRAILBLAZER

First in-Last out

tion Iraqi Freedom. The company gained much

accolade from other companies as well as from the Battalion they served under during the

deployment. CPT Long said

―We will clear

and rebuild our way through

this country leaving nothing

behind but ex-cellence and

good founda-tions. The Iraqi

people will look up to us as

great examples of what their

construction projects should look and operate

like. Operating together with the Iraqi Engi-neers, we will leave behind the knowledge and

know-how spirit to allow their efforts to be-come much more fruitful than they have been

in the past.‖

The 82nd ESC is standing on the

shoulders of the giants before them, and they

are ready to close out the U.S. Militaries con-

struction efforts in Iraq with honor and dignity.

They are prepared to carry on the excellent

traditions of the 326th Engineer Battalion (Air

Assault), the 20th Engineer Brigade (Airborne),

and the Engineer Regiment.

Captain Joshua Long, Company

Commander of the 82nd Engineer Support Company. Soldiers of the 82nd Engineer Support Company prior to

deploying in support of operations in Iraq.

and deployment is difficult and they have truly under-

stood, knowing that every bit of training we can get will

help keep the Wolfpack safe when we head to Afghanistan.

From 1SG Cruz and I and the rest of the Wolfpack,

thank you for your continued support.

We‘ve been active on the family front

as well. We had the chance to do a BN FRG fund-

raiser in partnership with our sister company,

70th Geospatial, at the Schofield Barracks annual

Fun-Fest just

a couple

weeks ago. It

was a warm,

sunny day

that helped

the lines at

our shaved

ice booth stay long all day. Everybody loves

shaved ice, and towards the end we had enough

shaved ice left over to get into an impromptu

snowball fight. We had a lot of people helping out

to make it a successful event, so if you made it

out, thanks for the help and tanks for the patron-

age! It was a great day for everyone, especially the chil-

dren.

Looking into the future, May will stay busy as

we get our Soldiers back to Hawaii and continue the train-

up to NTC and deployment. PT is always ramping up and

will continue to expand and challenge. If you see a com-

pany sized element rucking or running with body armor

on in the mornings,

chances are it‘s the

Wolfpack. We are still

sending Sappers to

quality training, and

everyone in the company

will learn a new skill to

add to the team effort.

We‘ve got a lot of ranges

coming as well. As I write

this, the Wolfpack is hard

at work doing what we do

best- putting together

explosive breaching

charges at the demoli-

tions range to blow stuff

up. We‘ll also be doing a three day convoy live fire exer-

cise and we‘ll get to shoot every weapons system in the

company one more time before we head out to NTC. We‘ve

got a couple special teams coming in to get us trained in

Afghanistan culture and customs, and most importantly,

we‘ll be preparing to load-out and send our equipment to

Afghanistan by the end of the month. We‘ll be having an

Aloha to the Sappers, families, and friends of the Wolf-

pack!

Things in April picked up speed as the Wolf-

pack gets closer to deployment to the National Training

Center and eventually

Afghanistan. It‘s hard to

believe that we were

officially notified of the

pending deployment less

than 2 months ago….we‘ve

done so much since then!

As you know,

the Wolfpack will be

headed to Afghanistan later this year, and our training

has been ramping up every day. April saw a large portion

of the company head back to Fort Leonard Wood, the

home of the Engineers, for some crucial training. With a

lot of assistance from our higher headquarters, we were

able to maximize our training there in a very short time.

We‘ve got over half of our Sappers Route Reconnais-

sance/Clearance trained, probably the most important

training we can get before we deploy. We were able to

send Sappers to other courses as well, the Army‘s inter-

mediate search course is at Fort Leonard Wood as well as

the Area clearance course, large robotics, explosive

hazards planning course, and many other schools, both

here in Hawaii and back on the

mainland. Needless to say, we had a

lot of our Sappers moving in a lot of

different directions and using engi-

neer adaptability and ingenuity to

make things happen. At one point, we

had over 110 of our guys on the

ground at the schoolhouse training

and one in Best Sapper- LT Tom

Bazemore and his teammate, CPT

Dusty Turner from the mighty HHC

Renegades, placed 6th out of 37

teams after 60 hours and 57 miles of

grueling effort with little or no sleep.

At the end of it, there were only 10

teams left standing, and the Trail-

blazer team was one of them. Well Done!

We have to take a minute and give sincere

thanks the families of the Wolfpack. Many families saw

their loved ones leave for training on the mainland on

short notice. Most training was from two to over four

weeks. Taking time away from families so close to NTC

Page 10 The 65th Engineer Battalion Newsletter

95th Route Clearance Company

ILT Tom Bazemore takes a much needed break

during the Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

FRG meeting or two in May to make sure we have every-

one in the loop as we push out to NTC in June. Please

take the initiative to make sure we have Powers of Attor-

ney and other items in

place to ensure our fami-

lies and loved ones are

taken care of as they

send their Sapper down-

range to NTC and beyond.

If you have questions, call

the company or get ahold

of the FRG.

The FRG is

really starting to come

together, and with the

addition of Katie Oliver,

Sarah Williams, Janine

Hansen, Allison Carberry

and a number of others,

we are doing our very

best to take care of our

families in the months

leading up to and through

the deployment. Come one, come all, there‘s always

room with the FRG, and it‘s a fun organization that does-

n‘t require a lot of time. If you‘re not on the Wolfpack

email list, the send a note to 95thcofrg@gmail.com.

That‘s the company FRG email address. Don‘t forget to

keep looking at the Trailblazer facebook page and be-

come friends of the Wolkpack FRG facebook page. It‘s

easy to find, just search for Wolfpack FRG and you‘ll see

the company logo.

In closing, we have to say congratulations to

CPT Davis (already promoted), 1LT(P) Oney, SSG(P) Delira

and SSG(P) Shaffer for selection for promotion and bid

farewell to many outstanding Soldiers and NCOs. We bid

a tearful farewell to a fine Sapper family, SFC Inch and

his wife Sadie, as they move on and hands the reins of 1st

PLT over to the capable hands of SSG(P) Delira. We also

send Aloha with SSG Pangelinan, SSG Tenorio, SSG Rodri-

guez, SGT Chamberlin, SGT Mann, SGT Schumm, SGT

Richardson and many others as they transition to bigger

and better things. We welcome many, including SFC

Johnston and his wife Jackie to 3rd PLT, SGT Postol, SGT

Davis, SGT Buniag, SGT Jackson, and SGT Purdis among

other Sappers arriving to swell the ranks of the Wolf-

pack. Welcome on board and we look forward to raising

the standard together.

See you on the high ground,

Wolfpack 6 out.

We have to take a minute and give sincere thanks the

families of the Wolfpack. Many families saw their loved

ones leave for training on the mainland on short notice..

From 1SG Cruz and I and the rest of the Wolfpack, thank

you for your continued support!

Soldiers of the 95th at a recent

FTX. The 95th will be headed to NTC in June.

that particular event FEAR NOT: we will be

offering many other marriage enrichment

retreats in the months following our return

from PTA on the Big Island. For

our single Soldiers reading this

newsletter, your Unit Ministry

Team will be presenting at least

one Single Soldier Retreat each

quarter—usually at a beach-

front hotel in downtown Waikiki!

I also want to encourage our married cou-

ples to call me at (808) 497-0956 if you

feel your relationship might benefit from

some marriage counseling. I provide each

couple I counsel with a copy of the ―Five

Love Languages,‖ a wonderful, easy-to-

read book written by Dr. Gary Chapman, a

world-renowned relationship expert and

Baptist minister. Even if you feel your mar-

riage is in ―tip top shape,‖ I can share

some ideas on how to conduct a weekly

G reetings to all Soldiers and family

members of the 65th Engineer Battalion! In

last month‘s column I told you about the

three Army Chaplain missions: Honor the

Dead, Comfort the Wounded, and Nurture

the Living. This month I want

to spend a few minutes

talking about ―Nurturing the

Living,‖ which includes mar-

riage counseling, marriage

enrichment and Single Sol-

dier retreats. Hopefully more than a hand-

ful of you received the great opportunity

to attend the 65th Engineer Battalion‘s

Marriage Enrichment Retreat at Ko‘Olina

from 13-15 April. If you didn‘t get to attend

Page 11 TRAILBLAZER

First in-Last out

―check up‖ to ensure that you and your

spouse can keep your ―love tanks‖ full! If

you are a Single Soldier who believes you

just met your

future spouse,

please stop by

and arrange

for some pre-

marital coun-

seling. I will

provide five or six sessions to you and your

future spouse to ensure that you are mak-

ing the right decision. If you attend the pre-

marital counseling sessions faithfully, I will

even offer to conduct your wedding cere-

mony! I will conclude this month‘s column

by re-stating that any and all communica-

tion between us is considered privileged: I

cannot reveal anything you say to me to

anyone at any time.

Until next month, may God richly bless you

and your family!

Chaplain Mark Sedwick

Army Chaplains: ―Bringing Soldiers to God

and God to Soliers!‖

Remember: Any and all

communication between us is

considered privileged: I cannot

reveal anything you say to me

to anyone at any time

I want to encourage our married cou-

ples to call me at (808) 497-0956 if

you feel your relationship might benefit

from some marriage counseling.

If you would like to speak with Chaplain

Sedwick, he may be reached at: Cell: (808) 497-0956

Office: (808) 655-8838

Family Readiness Group Page

For More Information: Bridget Shioshita,

Family Readiness Support Advisor (FRSA) 65th Engineer Battalion

874 Williston Ave, Bldg 773 Room 107

Office: (808) 655-6559

Hours: 0800-1630 www.armyfrg.org

Page 12

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