Stone (offered free through the

military).

Lastly, I would like to acknowl-

edge SPC Andrew Damon and SPC

Patrick Morales for being selected

to receive a coin from Major Gen-

eral James W. Nuttall and Major

General Kenneth S. Dowd during

their visits of 7th Dive’s detach-

ment area.

Thanks again for all of the

support you provide to the unit and

its Soldiers daily!

SFC Harrison, SFC Prater, Doc Martinez and SPC Steffic being instructed on how to oper-

ate the Kuwait Navy’s Hyperbaric Chamber

Aloha! Everything is still going

well for 7th Dive. At this point,

over half of the unit has been to

either Iraq in support of military

bridge missions or Qatar in sup-

port for Port Force Protection

missions.

Those that have spent the

majority of their time in Kuwait

have occupied themselves by ei-

ther working with the Kuwait

Divers to learn about their cham-

ber, cleaning a few Army Landing

Craft Utility (LCU) boats, per-

forming hull inspections, training

on small-boat operations, and

training on oxy-acetylene cutting.

Regardless of where everyone

has been over the past month, 1SG

and I have continuously been im-

pressed with everyone’s motiva-

tion, good attitude and compe-

tence.

I have started receiving e-

mails asking about what to send in

care packages. I have asked

around and found the following

items have consistently been at

the top of people’s lists: baked

goods (cookies, brownies, and

other grab-and-go items), coffee

(for the unit’s coffee pot), and

Snack Bars (Granola, Energy, etc).

One thing that always im-

presses me in this unit is how

people use their spare time. Every

time I walk down to our sprung

shelter on Sunday (the unit’s day

off), I know I will see SPC Steven

Martinez, SGT Jake Cochran and

SPC Andrew Damon building some-

one a new desk or piece of furni-

ture for the office. SGT Girlie

Vicente, with the assistance of

SPC Gabriealla Nnabue, has organ-

ized a weekly Zumba class for all

of Camp Patriot through the MWR.

Many Soldiers like SSG Jeb

Duhnam, SGT John Hoover, SSG

Sean Rowley, 1LT Dave Guerdan or

SPC Kyle Steffic can be found in

the gym or running around post at

least twice a day. Meanwhile,

everyone on the team has taken

the initiative to take some form of

continued education through ei-

ther college courses or Rosetta

From the Commander’s Desk

From the First Sergeant's Desk by 1SG Scott Baumgartner

inspired many of our Soldiers to

work on their physical fitness in a

similar manner. 50 mile stationary

bike rides in the gym are not un-

common around here.

Squad rotations in and out of

Iraq are going as planned and

continue to remain the most vital

aspect of our tour so far. Missions

in other parts of the Middle East

have slowed down significantly

though.

This normalizing of our sched-

ule has even allowed the team to

7th Engineer Dive Team

Published on 31 March 2011 Issue 2: March 2011

Monthly Newsletter

Inside this issue:

XO Notes 2

PSG Notes 2

1st Squad 2

2nd Squad 3

3rd Squad 3

MWR Events 4-5

Pic of the month 6

Soldier Story 6

received so far. Packages, letters

from home, and the opportunity to

Skype with loved ones keep morale

high and brings our loved ones closer

to us in spirit.

Until next time…Alla ysal-mak (Bye)

W E ’R E ON F ACEBOOK :

“ T HE 7 TH ENGINEER

D IVE TEAM”

(Soldier’s Name)

7th Engineer Dive Team

APO, AE 09337

Care Packages Welcome!

Mailing Address:

Salam wa aleikum (peace be

upon you). As the team nears the

two month mark it finally seems

we have hit our stride with a pre-

dictable battle rhythm. Though we

are still busy, there seems to be

more time for focus on personal as

well as professional development.

The whole team has taken this

great opportunity to enroll in

continuing education of one sort or

another. Personal fitness is also a

very high priority for all the Sol-

diers of the team . SSG Rowley’s

passion for triathlon training has

participate in a few very interest-

ing MWR opportunities. SGT

Vicente, SPC Nabue, and SPC

Moore attended a “Middle East-

ern” style banquet put on by the

Association of the United States

Army (AUSA) and SFC Prater,

SSG Rowley and I were able to

attend a golf tournament/ military

appreciation banquet also put on by

the AUSA. My team didn't win the

tournament but I'm sure I ate the

most food.

All members of the team ap-

preciate all the support we have

were so impressed with our presen-

tation, they coined three members

of 1st Squad; SSG Rowley, SPC

Damon, and SPC Morales.

First Squad conducted their first

dive mission in Kuwait: boat

cleanings. We cleaned two

LCU’s and a tugboat. SPC.

Damon was the first diver in

and cleaned two large props

on an LCU. He only lost two

scrapers in the process, and

it took him a mere two hours.

We even pulled SPC Hall out

of the office and put him in

the water. He’s now leading

March has been a busy month for

1st Squad. We’ve had two Major

Generals come visit us to see how we

are operating. We briefed them on

the equipment we currently have in

country and how it is used. They

Notes from the Executive Officer by 1LT David Guerdan

1st Squad by SSG Sean Rowley

Insights from the Platoon Sergeant by SFC Milton Prater would like to say “GOOD JOB” to the

unit for 100% enrolled in college

classes or learning a new language

with Rosetta Stone.

The first team has been rotated

out of Iraq from their 31 day cycle

and I would like to say good job to

SSG Geffert and his team. The

team taking their place has big shoes

to fill, but I am sure that SSG Rohde

and his squad will have no problem

doing so. Good luck.

Over the last month the unit has

been waiting anxiously for our equip-

ment. While waiting we have been

very busy keeping up with training

and preparing training for after it

arrives. The time has not been mis-

used. It has kept them busy and lets

the time go by faster. In that time

they have continued to complete the

Divers’ Gym. It really only needs the

roof on to be completed. It is look-

ing really good and when it is com-

pleted we will post the pictures.

It seems as everyone has finally

settled in and has started a daily

routine with work, PT and school. I

Page 2 Monthly Newsletter

To many people, the month of March

might mean the beginning of Spring

and the start of allergy season, or

the long awaited wild and crazy

Spring Break parties, or the oppor-

tunity to get back outside and enjoy

sporting events...to some of the

Soldiers of 7th Dive, March means

one thing and one thing only, “March

Madness.”

This outstanding American tradi-

tion that without fail sweeps the

nation every year has also made its

presence known within our unit. As

shown in the picture below, many

Soldiers filled out brackets and have

enjoyed tracking all the victories and

loses that resulted from tournament

action. Unfortunately for 7th Dive,

the popular choice for winning it all

was the University of Texas, who

was ousted early from the tourna-

ment in the second round. Despite

this loss, Soldiers are still eager to

follow the tournament and see who

the victor is in the end.

Other than cheering for our fa-

vorite college basketball teams, over

the past month, many of the addi-

tional duties sections have been

working tirelessly on developing new

and changing existing standard oper-

ating procedures (SOPs) and systems

to ensure smooth operations for the

coming months.

Operations in Iraq, Qatar, and

here at KNB continue to keep every-

one busy. In addition to cleaning a

few LCUs (Landing Craft Utility

boats) in the port here at KNB, we

have also had the opportunity to

entertain several distinguish guests

and inform them of both our exis-

tence and our capabilities.

The month of April will yet again

prove to be another fast and furious

month full of new challenges. With

the arrival of our equipment just

around the corner, everyone is gear-

ing up for inventories and excited

about the fact that they will soon

have all the stuff they shipped over.

the Dive Team with the most Bottom

Time at 169 minutes. The most

difficult part of the mission was

trying to fit SPC. Morales, AKA “MO

-MO”, into a LARGE wetsuit. It took

45 minutes and three extra person-

nel to squeeze MO-MO into

his gear. The zipper was

strained and neoprene

stretched, but we got him

in there and accomplished

the mission.

1st Squad also led the

charge in training with

small boat ops and surface

cutting. We meticulously

SPC Steffic, SGT Hoover and SPC Hall

prepare for a dive

cut out and mounted the name of our

gym, “DEEP SEA STUDY HALL”. We

were also trained and evaluated on

our operation of small boats. We

took our two Boston Whalers out for

2nd Squad’s first month in theater can

be summed up by no other word than “success.”

As boots hit the ground, missions were immedi-

ately being conducted in conjunction with the

299th MRBC. Operations were conducted through-

out our unit’s area of operation, in the vicinities

of Camp Taji and Kalsu. During these cooperative

assignments, units worked together seamlessly to

perform inspections on 10 bridge sites. 2nd

Squad’s skills were put to good use during the

cleaning and inspec-

tions of several an-

chor lines, as well as

clearing dirt and

debris from bridge

locks for the purpose

of detachment. Dead

cows along with

murky water did

nothing to subdue

making sure the

above tasks were

completed to the

highest safety and

work performance

standards.

Spare

time was filled with

hours of quality dive

training. Soldiers of

the 2nd Squad had the

opportunity to do

familiarization dives with super masks; with the

intent to identify whether or not these would be

suitable for swift water diving operations. Much

time was also dedicated to the Hyperlite Portable

Chamber System. Divers worked hand in hand with

MEDEVAC crews to ensure safe transport was

possible, in the rare case of a diving related in-

jury, despite the large size of this necessary life-

saving medical equipment. Time was also dedicated

to the repetitive setup and breakdown of this

chamber to ensure it could be performed in

timely manner in the case of a real world diving

casualty. Classes were prepared and presented

as well by several of the troops on subjects to

include: dangerous marine life, gas laws and

diving, commonly used block explosives in mili-

tary operations and set up/operation of the

Hyperlite Chamber System.

2nd Squad by SPC Robert Russell

3rd Squad by SGT John Hoover terribly excited about the doors

this new tasking opens. SPC Ste-

ven “Not a Real Doctor” Martinez

stretched his creative muscles,

painting decorations on several of

the desks, to boost morale and

beautify 7th Dive’s AO (Area of

Operation). SPC Joe “Lil’ Soldier”

Moore has been working hard

trying to fix all of the computer

issues plaguing 7th Dive while we

are setting up our workstations.

The greatest point of excite-

ment came when 3rd Squad was

called upon to salvage some keys a

US Coast Guard service member

dropped over the side of his ves-

sel while it was in port. The squad

sprang into action and saved the

day, but what else would you ex-

pect, that is the 3rd squad way.

March has been the most ac-

tive month 3rd squad has had

since the start of Operation New

Dawn. SSG Brandton “Road-Dog”

Rohde fulfilled a 10 year goal to

be a part of an OCONUS (Outside

the Continental United States)

TDY when he led a four man team

to Qatar in support of port secu-

rity mission. The team, composed

of SGT John “Hebrew Hammer”

Hoover, SPC Wesley “Dragon

Master” Wilson and SPC Kyle

“Gator Don’t Play” Steffic, per-

formed with the utmost profes-

sionalism and skill on all of their

dive missions.

Back at KNB SSG Jeb “Crazy

Can-auk” Dunham became the

unit’s new SHARP (Sexual Harass-

ment Assault Response and Pre-

vention) representative and he is

Page 3 Issue 2: March 2011

2nd squad prepares to roll out for bridge inspection operations. SPC Bullington clears debris from an-

chor line just outside of Kalsu, Iraq.

SPC Wilson after finding Coast Guard Keys

SHE

by SPC Gabriealla Nnabue

She does all things with grace

But when she does it better, She is looked at with disgrace

She finds herself asking, WHAT THE WORLD BE WITHOUT ME???

She does is all

Regardless of if she fails or falls

The odds were against her from the very start

She was told as a child to consider herself a lesser version of her male counterpart

But this girl, this girl she was full of heart

I guess that’s why she choose to set herself apart

Being her in unending work

She has to be tender and tough

Strong-minded and determined

Intelligent and independent

A mother and A Soldier

She is immaculate, She is enduring, She is all things worthy

She is YOU, She is ME, She is US!!!!!!!!!!!

In Honor of Women’s History Month

SPC Nnabue wrote this poem and performed it at the Camp Patriot Women’s History Month Celebration

on 9 March 2011.

More Pictures!

at the end of the days. They are basically at work at all times, even when they’re “off”. So these times in Kuwait tend to be the worst for the troops, but there are some ways that they have learned to compen-sate. First, each person’s room is personalized the way they like. If you were to enter the rooms you would find family photos posted everywhere, computers for Skyping, and the occasional TV or computer set up for watching videos. If there was a competition between rooms to see who had the most family photos up, it would take too long to judge between all of the married Soldiers. SSGs Rowley and Rohde are sharing a room and have turned it into the secondary meeting place. They have hung a dart board and made the area to feel more inviting. SPCs Moore, Karraker, and Bullington have sectioned off their room into two areas, giving Moore half a room. SSG Dunham and SGT Hoover share a room, but have it so sectioned off that they don’t have

To the spouses, family members and friends of the Soldiers at 7th Engineer Dive Team: In the last month the Soldiers of 7th Dive have found ways to keep themselves busy and entertained. The perils of deployments such as this one doesn’t always come from the ideal war time scenario. As you all may be aware, the major-ity of us are in Kuwait Naval Base (KNB) and the usual safety concerns of getting attacked and blown up are not an issue here. However, that does not mean that it doesn’t cause undue stress on the Soldiers sta-tioned here. Sometimes the lack of missions can take its toll on a per-son. Times like these leave the Soldier to think back on all the pleasantries that we took for granted in the states. Thinking about the birthdays, holidays, and other memorable moments that are going to be missed throughout the year is often the Soldiers’ past time. There are no personally owned vehicles, no family, and no alcohol to calm the nerves or settle the troop

to see one another; however, I do believe Dunham has cut holes in the wall to see Hoover. I was lucky enough to room with our medic (SPC Martinez) who is probably one of the most courteous guys on the team and we also sectioned off the room so that we only see one an-other at the refrigerator (I’m there more often than he). So I will have no problems with sleeping, unless I get Bed bugs or something of that nature. SGT Bays and SSG Geffert have roomed together and have a some-what comfortable area, a little loud with their “JIVE” music, but comfy. SPCs Varas, Russell, and Steffic have the “hippie-music-room” which fortunately only houses two at a time, seeing that they are moving squads out on missions. The heart-breaking thing from that situation is that Russell and Steffic haven’t been able to spend more than one night with each other since we’ve been here (they were very close in Hawaii). But the rest of us are also away from our loved ones: while

Life Deployed by SFC “Woody” Woodcox (language, content and jokes edited by CPT Biggerstaff...sorry)

Picture of the Month

SFC Woodcox

SPC Wilson before saving the day for the Coast Guard at Kuwait Naval Base (picture by LTJG Stew Sibert)

Steffic has been away, Russell has found a past time buy playing sad songs on his base guitar and having “Sun-Tan Sundays” with SPC Bulling-ton. Getting mail and swapping sto-ries are getting us by with smiles and laughter most nights. It’s only two months in, but it is good to see that the guys have not lost stride. While life isn’t too bad out here,

everyone still misses home and

appreciates all the support and

contact we receive from everyone.