sents their sacrifices as well.
While many of us can wear a few
different combat patches repre-
senting our service with different
units, our Wolverine Soldiers can
now always wear this patch with
great pride for their service and
all this patch represents.
Overall, life is good
because the missions are going
well, the Soldiers/Troopers are
doing well and the support from
home has been fantastic. Thanks
again to all of you for all that you
are taking care of us back
home so that we can focus on
our mission here.
We’ll try to get
better about posting pictures
on Facebook, so keep check-
ing and spread the word to
other families and friends. If
there is ever anything we can
be doing better, do not hesi-
tate to let us know. I remain
honored to lead the best
fighting force from Fort Drum
and privileged to have the best
support group of any Squadron/
Battalion EVER!
Ready Now! Comman-
dos! Climb to Glory!
What a great start by
all Troops and your Troopers/
Soldiers that comprise Combined
Task Force Wolverine. Shortly
after last month’s newsletter, all
forces arrived at the respective
Forward Operating Bases and
Combat Outposts. Almost imme-
diately, their determination and
commitment have made a meas-
urable difference. Members of
the Task Force have made very
favorable impressions with the
local Afghan civilian leadership,
the different facets of the Afghan
National Security Forces,
including our Afghan Na-
tional Army partners. All
have provided raving feed-
back on how professional,
competent, and motivated
our Wolverines have been
and will continue to be.
The last few
weeks, CSM Jusino and I
have been privileged to
travel around and award
10th Mountain Combat Patches
to nearly all of Soldiers. Officially
called the Soldier Sleeve Insignia
for Former Wartime Service, the
combat patch is the official rec-
ognition that a Soldier has served
a combat tour with a particular
unit. This designation is for life
and is something all of them
should be very proud to wear.
To me, this particular combat
patch is in recognition of not
only my service as the Squadron
Commander, but it serves as a
symbol of all the great men and
women who have served this
great Brigade and Division in
times of war.
Our brigade is one of
the most deployed brigades in
the entire Army since the tragic
events of September 11th. This
brigade was one of the first units
to fight on Afghan soil in the
early days of the conflict. This
patch represents that service.
Our Squadron has a
great fighting record since incep-
tion, to include the two tours to
Iraq in 2006 and 2009. Four
Wolverines paid the ultimate
sacrifice in those conflicts and
many others were wounded,
some seriously. This patch repre-
Hitting the Ground Running
I N S I D E
T H I S I S S U E :
Growing
Through vs
Getting
Through
2
Troop Up-
dates
3-5
Dietz Print 5
D E P A R T M E N T O F
D E F E N S E
The Growler M A R C H 1 5 , 2 0 1 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1 V
S P E C I A L
P O I N T S O F
I N T E R E S T :
Hitting the
Ground Run-
ning
Troop Up-
dates
Growing
Through vs
Getting
Through
P A G E 2
Growing Through vs Getting Through
By Chaplain Daniel Moen There has been a rumor out
on the street for over 60 years
that the Chinese word for
“crisis” is a combination of two
words, “crisis” and
“opportunity”. Victor H.
Mair, Professor of Chinese
Language and Literature at the
University of Pennsylvania, says
that’s simply not true. The
second word really means
“crucial point” not
“opportunity”. But why would
a rumor like that last so long?
It probably didn’t help that
President Kennedy referred to
it in a speech back in 1959.
This misunderstanding is be-
lievable because 1) we’ve all
been through some kind of
crisis and 2) we’ve all learned
something from the crisis. I’d
like to redeem this rumor and
apply the truth of the rumor to
our current “crisis”: our de-
ployment. The truth is that
there are many benefits to
crises; adversity does present
an opportunity. Deployments
present families and Soldiers
the opportunity to grow.
You may have heard people
say, “If I can just get through
this deployment...” Other peo-
ple have the attitude of wishing
the deployment away. There is
no doubt that we’d all like to
be with our family and friends.
However, if we wish the de-
ployment away or we just try
to get through it we might miss
something important for our
lives.
John Maxwell, author of Atti-
tude 101: What Every Leader
Needs to Know, offers a few
reasons we should embrace
adversity:
Adversity Creates
Resilience
Adversity Develops
Maturity
Adversity Brings
Unexpected Benefits
Adversity Motivates
Adversity creates resilience.
Whatever the crisis, most
people are able to bounce back
from difficult situations be-
cause we are created to pick
up the pieces and move for-
ward. Think of the folks in
Japan after that earthquake or
the Haitians after their earth-
quake or Americans after hur-
ricane Katrina. We are wired
to bounce back. The challenge
for all of us is to find that moti-
vation to not stay seated or
defeated, but get up and do
something.
Adversity develops maturity and
perspective. In the middle of a
crisis, it’s hard to look up and
find perspective. We can find
perspective through our family,
our friends and our faith. They
are able to come alongside of
us and offer hope and objectiv-
ity. Once we get through it we
have a more mature outlook
and our character grows
stronger too. The night we
deployed a good friend gave
me some perspective. He
could tell I was sad to leave my
wife and family and he said,
“this is the hardest night; it
gets easier.” I was so thankful
for those words of encourage-
ment!
Adversity brings unexpected bene-
fits. If our head is down
throughout the deployment,
we might miss a blessing. We
have to stop and celebrate
from time to time our victories
and achievements. When the
kids have done well at school,
or you’ve accomplished some-
thing that your deployed
spouse usually does, celebrate
those moments. If we spend a
few minutes each day “hunting
the good stuff” we will benefit
in the long run. It will keep
negative and defeating thoughts
from hindering our day.
Adversity motivates. You can
either let this deployment
make you bitter or better.
Your attitude towards this
“crisis” will make it a very long
deployment or a short one.
Many folks, Soldiers and Family
members, have made deploy-
ment goals. They are measur-
able goals to keep you moti-
vated throughout the deploy-
ment. Perhaps it’s working out
regularly, losing weight, paying
the bills on time or keeping
your spirits up. Adversity can
motivate or defeat you; it’s
your choice.
We all have the opportunity to
get through this deployment or
growth through it. In the end
we can look back and see how
we took advantage of this de-
ployment or if we let it take
advantage of us. Let’s get up
and grow!
N E W S L E T T E R T I T L E
P A G E 3
Bravo Troop - Black Hawk (CSM) Jusino. They arrived to
take part in our Combat
Patching Ceremony. All
Troopers here at Super FOB
attended, those who were on
patrol or manning our control
points were presented theirs
at a later date.
A couple days later
the Brigade Commander and
his Sergeant Major arrived as
part of their battlefield circula-
tion, allowing the Brigade
Commander to familiarize
himself with his Area of Op-
erations (AO).
The Security Force
Advice and Assist Team
(SFAAT) patrol traveled fur-
It has been a very
busy month in Blackhawk
Troop. Not only are our Sol-
diers currently retrograding
material from Super FOB to
FOB Sharana but they are also
advising our Afghan partners
on how to conduct operations
and plan missions. In addition
we had our Combat Patching
Ceremony, Soldiers receive
their combat patches, and a
visit form the Brigade Com-
mander and Sergeant Major
added to our excitement.
At the beginning of
the wmonth, FOB Super Fob
was paid a visit by Lieutenant
Colonel (LTC) Griggs and
Command Sergeant Major
ther than usual, down to Kho-
shamond, south of Super FOB,
with our first Platoon Alpha
Troop as the security element.
The patrol’s purpose was to
advise and assist the ANA
personnel in that district, and
also to conduct familiarization
with the southern portion of
our AO.
All of the Troopers
here in Blackhawk are doing
well. We would like to thank
all of the families and friends
for their continuous support,
thoughts, and prayers. Until
then.
Bravo Troop Pro-
motions
N E W S L E T T E R T I T L E
Pictured from Left to Right: Alpha Troop Mortars, CPT
Farley attends a security meeting.
Charlie Troop - Crazy Horse
P A G E 4 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1 V
Crazyhorse Soldiers have
been busy the past month with
their respective Security missions
for the Security Forces Advise and
Assist
Team
(SFAAT).
These
teams
and their
security
force,
have
daily
meetings
with the Afghan Security Forces to
help train and mentor the Local
Police and Army. Additionally, the
Soldiers of Crazyhorse Troop have
been training on the range in order to improve
their marksmanship skills.
While last week saw Crazyhorse troop
get settled in, this week has seen an increase in
the workload for the Soldiers. Whether it is pull-
ing security for the FOB, running convoys to Sha-
rana, or providing security for the SFAAT advis-
ers, the Soldiers of Crazyhorse continue to excel.
Charlie Troop Soldiers have spent most of their
downtime watching movies, playing video games
and cards, and talking with their families. We ap-
preciate all of the support from families and
friends back home.
mally require a platoon to com-
plete, however Delta Company
Headquarters has continued to
weather this storm with only a
hand full of Soldiers.
FLE 3 is attached to Bravo Troop 1-
89 CAV at Super FOB. Super FOB
is about 30 kilometers south of
FOB Sharana. FLE 3 only has 11
Soldiers but it supporting a FOB of
over 250 people with cooking food,
fuel operations, conducting mainte-
nance on generators, weapons, and
vehicles, and sustaining the ammo
supply. FLE 4 is attached to Alpha
Troop 1-89 CAV at FOB Sar
Howza which is about 16 kilome-
ters east of FOB Sharana, and has
12 Soldiers on ground. Alpha and
Bravo Troop along with their at-
tachments are increasing their pa-
trols outside the wire as the
weather gets warmer, which means
there is an increase is all operations
to support them. FLE 3 and FLE 4
will continue to support the Troop-
ers on both FOBs as they prepare
and conduct retrograde of all US
Army and US civilian equipment
back to FOB Sharana.
Delta also has a detachment of 4
Soldiers at FOB Rushmore, where
they are combined with other units
in support of 2nd BSTB (Brigade
Support Battalion) and C Troop, 1-
89 CAV. All Soldiers in the FLEs
and detachments have had the op-
portunity to work with Afghan
civilians and ANA Soldiers. From
downloading fuel from civilian
trucks and assisting in weapons
repair, all the way to traveling out-
side the FOB to recover a civilian
truck that was stuck in the mud.
Each section of Delta is essential to
the completion of 1-89 CAV and 2nd
Brigade’s mission during our de-
ployment.
Delta Company will ramp up its
output over the next couple of
months to complete the retrograde
missions across the battle space and
support of all 1-89 CAV units. Al-
though there is a lot to do, Delta
continues to train for all scenarios.
We continue to test our physical
fitness by completing the MAW
(Mountain Athlete Warrior) test,
and through the month of March all
Delta Soldiers will refresh and re-
fine their skills in marksmanship,
trauma care, and communications
equipment.
It has been a crazy
month. February saw all of our
Delta Soldiers finally making it to
their final destinations across the
Battle Space along with many
changes to the roster. Once 2BCT
got their feet under them, many
Soldiers across the Brigade were
moved to different locations and
different units to better support the
Afghan National Army and retro-
grade of equipment so the 2nd Bri-
gade can close it’s FOBs (Forward
Operating Bases). Delta has been
exposed to all of these changes, but
like always, Darkhorse continues to
support CTF Wolverine.
Delta Company Headquarters has
been diligently working to support
the requests of the FLEs (Forward
Logistics Element) with parts, per-
sonnel, and equipment so the FLEs
can keep CTF Wolverine vehicles
and personnel ready to fight. While
completing the constant requests
from Delta’s forward elements,
they also had to move Delta’s en-
tire operation from one side of
FOB Sharana to the other. This was
done in preparation for the even-
tual closing of FOB Sharana. All
these tasks have demanded much
time and effort, which would nor-
1LT Dan
Warner if
front of the
Arms
room.
Delta Company - Dark Horse
Hellcat continues day
-to-day operations but likes to
take time out to recognize
great Soldiers who choose to
continue their
Army Career!
Pic-
tured to the left
is SGT Gregory
who climbed a
five story tower
that overlooks
Paktika to
‘reenlist.’ The
Hellcats are very
proud of SGT Gregory for all
of his hard work. SGT Gregory
currently serves as a force
protection sergeant on the
personnel access point (PCP)
on FOB Sharana.
Headquarters - Hellcats
Want a Dietz Print? Please Contact CPT Andrew Radbill