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Newsletter Title

1 s t S q u a d ro n 7 t h U . S . C ava lry

Special points of interest:

GARRYOWEN Soldiers Retrograde South

New Footprint in Kuwait

New Mission for 1-7 CAV

Rear D/FRG

Thanksgiving Fun

Garryowen 6 1

Hellfighter 6 4

Apache 6 5

Blackhawk 6 6

Comanche 6 7

Darkhorse 6 8

Echo 6 9

Inside this issue:

GARRYOWEN COMMAND TEAM UPDATE

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

LTC Dolph Southerland

GARRYOWEN 6

CSM Mervyn Ripley

GARRYOWEN 9

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3

THE 7’S

GARRYOWEN!

Let us take this opportunity to express how proud we are of this team’s outstanding performance over the last two months. Since our last newsletter, the Squadron made a his-toric move from Balad and Baghdad to Kuwait concluding its support for the retrograde of U.S. Forces and equipment. Shortly after arriving in Kuwait, the Squadron transitioned to a new mission to provide a response force in final days of Op-eration New Dawn. As the final U.S. troops moved out of Iraq, GARRYOWEN was there, overwatch the last U.S. forces pre-pared to react to strategic contingencies on a moment’s notice. We successfully accomplished these tasks with the same te-nacity and professionalism that continue to be the trademark of this outfit. GARRYOWEN has served our Nation well throughout OIF/OND and contributed immensely to an out-come on our terms that enables the Iraqi people to choose their own destiny.

Clearly, it has been an extremely busy period for the team. So busy, in fact, that it took us a bit longer than normal to compile this newsletter. As a result, the primary focus for this update is November and early December. However, we’ll have another update after the New Year that will include much of the Squadron’s activities throughout the second half of De-cember and January.

Now that Operation New Dawn is left for the history books, the Squadron has been tasked for yet another critical mission in support of our Nation’s strategic security objectives in the region—a mission that the Ironhorse Brigade was hand-picked to perform by our Nation’s leaders at the highest level. I am confident that we are fit for the task. Although this means that we are not there with family and loved ones for this holi-day season, trust that our Troopers will be surrounded by their GARRYOWEN teammates and we will do everything we can to make it a special day.

Let me take this opportunity to once again thank the entire GARRYOWEN family for their continued love and sup-port—we couldn’t do it without you. We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude and best wishes to everyone throughout this Holiday season and New Year.

SEVENTH FIRST!

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Camp Buehring, Kuwait— With the successful missions from the Soldiers of 1st Squadron, 7th US Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, coming to a conclusion at Joint Base Balad and Victory Base Complex, GARRYOWEN transitions into a new area of operations for the remainder of their deployment. Before this transition to Kuwait, the unit planned and executed a historic retrograde of military equipment, supplies,

and Soldiers south during a complex convoy maneuver.

Now, with this transition phase complete, the unit moves south for the winter with a new mission at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. The Soldiers will continue their training and provide security within the region and the for American

people.

The families of GARRYOWEN should be proud thoughts of their Soldiers during each phase of the deployment. 1-7 CAV displays outstanding disci-

pline and integrity to accomplish each mission placed before us.

GARRYOWEN!!

Ceremony of Remembrance/Combat Patch Ceremony

1 s t S q u a d ro n 7 t h U . S . C ava l r y

GARRYOWEN Moves South For The Winter

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

LTC Southerland and CSM Ripley receive an award from

COL Falcone and CSM Lundy from the 77th SB before

leaving Joint Base Balad, Iraq.

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Three Soldiers from 1-7 CAV received a coin from LTG Helmick, the Deputy Commanding General for Operations, United States Forces–Iraq, and is the Commanding General of the XVIII Airborne Corps out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. LTG Helmick and CSM Rice presented the coins to SPC Joshua Mafnas from Apache Troop, SPC Bryan Lyons from Comanche Troop, and PFC Timothy Clair from Blackhawk Troop.

The Soldiers received their coins for outstanding achievements during the past few months of our deployment to Operation New Dawn in Joint Base Balad and Victory Base Complex, Iraq. SPC Mafnas, Apache Troop, drove the most combat hours without an accident in his Troop. SPC Lyons, Comanche Troop, pro-vided life saving medical treatment for Iraqi local national on Main Supply Route (MSR) Tampa during a convoy mission. His actions, with those from his platoon, saved numerous Iraqi lives. Thirdly, PFC Clair, Black-hawk Troop, won the Soldiers of the month board. He awaits his promotion to Specialist.

Congratulations to these fine Cavalry Soldiers!!

LTG Helmick and CSM Rice Presents Coins to GO Troopers

Turkey Bowl „11 - The “Ultimate” Competition

1 s t S q u a d ro n 7 t h U . S . C ava l r y

LTG Helmick and CSM Rice Present Coins to GO Troopers

Two of the greatest events in mankind culminated on the barren fields of Camp Buehring, Kuwait, with the execution of the gridiron classic. 1-7 CAV combined the power of football with the ham of Thanksgiving to give the Soldiers—the ―ultimate‖ competition. Without the flare of high priced TV ads, cheerleaders, and wild fans, GARRYOWEN performed one of the greatest ultimate football tour-naments to ever hit the dusty, barren lands of Kuwait. The Soldiers demon-strated numerous games that eventually went down to the last second. Even with the ―stuffed‖ calls from the referee, Darkhorse Troop and Blackhawk Troop fought down to the last second with Blackhawk pulling out the last ―leg‖ of the tournament. ―The teams fought with tremendous honor. I couldn’t believe these highlights weren’t on

Sportscenter—the games weren’t ―canned,‖ said CH (CPT) Chris Weinrich.

Tune in next year for the rematch of these galactic Troops as they bring home the pride of the ―ultimate‖ completion.

GARRYOWEN!!

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

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HELLFIGHTER

Greetings from Camp Buehring, Kuwait! I’d like to begin by formally intro-ducing myself to the Families of HHT. I have met a few of you already and look forward to getting to know more of you as the deployment permits. My wife Katrina and I have been in the Squadron for about 16 months and have only moved a short distance from Comanche Troop. We are very excited to a part of the HHT Family over the next year. This month has seen a lot of tran-sition most notably our movement from Balad, Iraq back to Camp Buehring, Ku-wait. I know many of you were hoping that we would redeploy early to Fort Hood. I can tell you that the mission we’ve been assigned as the reserve force is ex-tremely important to the region and your Soldiers have embraced the opportunity. The road march we conducted from Iraq into Kuwait was nothing short of historic. Our planning and execution led to a flaw-less mission. We drove over 500 miles in less than three days stopping at FOB Kalsu and FOB Adder along the way. Since arriving in Kuwait, we have defi-nitely hit the ground running. The sections have set up the TOC and the Troop CP and have worked hard to get beds and wall lockers for each Soldier. We’ve man-aged to get AFN in our living tent so that we can watch football, basketball, and of course WWE wrestling. We have also sent Soldiers to ranges and conducted numerous exercises for our new mission. Our HHT Soldiers have done all this while supporting the other troops and have done an outstanding job. First Sergeant Hankal and I couldn’t be more proud of the way they have all conducted themselves during this transition period. The Soldiers have also taken ad-vantage of everything Camp Buehring offers such as the PX, Education center, MWR and the dining facility which serves three hot meals a day. We have also had the opportunity to enjoy a few concerts to include Chamillionaire, Lonestar, and Aaron Tippin. We also got to meet Kris-tanna Loken (Terminator 3), Cassidy Lehrman (Entourage), and Scott Adsit (30

Rock) while we promoted our medical offi-cer Chris Howell to First Lieutenant. With our new mission we have already re-started the leave process this month. Twelve Soldiers have already been sent off in hopes that they will be home for Thanksgiving and more will follow in the following months. This Thanksgiving we celebrated by playing in the Garryowen Turkey Bowl followed by the Commander and First Sergeant serving food to Sol-diers in the dining facility. Soldiers were able to take the day off to enjoy the holi-days. We’ve had a few promotions as well. Before leaving Iraq we had the dis-tinct pleasure of promoting SSG Eric Hoke to Sergeant First Class. This is a big step in his career as an NCO and we ex-pect him to continue to do great things. We also promoted our supply sergeant Johnathan Hawley to Sergeant through the battlefield promotion system. He will be a great addition to the NCO Corps. We also promoted Johnnie Allen to Specialist and Michael Baker, Nicholas Day and Sheldon Williams to PFC. Very well deserved! The future for HHT looks bright. Our Soldiers will continue to train and learn and prepare for our current mission. Their professionalism during this uncertain tran-sition has been exemplary and we expect them to continue working hard throughout our deployment. We also expect them to take advantage of the facilities on Camp Buehring and leave. I would finally like to thank our FRG for the work that they con-tinue to do while we are away. Please look to the HHT Facebook page and email up-dates. GarryOwen! CPT Brad Koerner

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Hello from the Kuwaiti Desert,

The last month has been extremely busy for Apache Troop. Your Troopers have been doing an amazing job adapting and remaining flexible to accomplish many missions. The most significant change occurred with our repositioning to Kuwait following the end of an extremely successful mission in Iraq. Over the course of our time at Joint Base Balad, Apache Troop, drove over 100,000 miles moving supplies and equipment to bases throughout Iraq. They spent more time on the roads than most units in Iraq and did so safely and professionally. Your Troopers’ hard work in support of Operation New Dawn was part of the historic effort to transition security to Iraqi Forces; they met and exceeded all expectations.

Because of the Troopers’ hard work and dedication, Apache Troop, earned the distinguished honor to be the lead element for the Squadron road march out of Iraq. As the lead element for GarryOwen, Apache Troop, cleared the highways, verified the route, and provided valuable reconnaissance information to follow-on elements.

APACHE

1 s t S q u a d ro n 7 t h U . S . C ava l r y VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

A special highlight this month was a visit to the Squadron by LTG Helmick, 18th Airb orne Corps Commander. During his visit, LTG Helmick recognized three GarryOwen Troopers, including Apache’s, SPC Mafnas. SPC Mafnas was recog-nized for personally driving over 3,000 miles during operations in Iraq and for always performing above and beyond expectations in maintenance and standards for his vehicle. Well done SPC Mafnas! As of the start of December, Apache Troop is established on Camp Buehring and has begun a rigorous training cycle to prepare for any future mission. While we may not be home as quickly as we would like, it is still an honor to be selected for the CENTCOM reserve. Your Apache Troopers, as part of GarryOwen and the Ironhorse Brigade, have shown time and time again they have what it takes to get the job done when their nation calls. As always, thank you for your support and dedication. -Apache 6 CPT Marc W. Jason

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BLACKHAWK

November saw Blackhawk in a state of transition. First, we left our home away from home at Victory Base Complex and road-marched hundreds of miles to Camp Buehring, Kuwait. Blackhawk Troopers executed flawlessly, with no accidents or loss during the tough three day move. Once at Camp Buehring, Blackhawk quickly went about setting up for our new mission.

The Troopers of Blackhawk quickly set up our work and living areas, making the best of the infrastructure that Kuwait has to offer. At the same time, we began planning, executing training, prepping our vehicles and equipment for the transition to the new mission of Strategic Reserve for United States Forces Iraq.

During November Blackhawk executed two ranges, a zero range that saw every Trooper qualified on their M4 and a complex

PLT live fire range executed on extremely short notice. Platoons later executed a convoy live fire exercise, showing their professionalism and extreme competency by executing the range ―live‖ the first time they saw it. Blackhawk proved they rank among the best by showing their ability to transition from a convoy escort mission to a more enemy focused mission with very little notice.

November also saw Blackhawk leading the way by being the first Troop in the Squadron to assume Strategic Reserve duties, executing two short notice TNG drills to ensure readiness. Morale continues to stay high, even with the tough times of operating with limited information in a forever changing environment. Blackhawk Troopers continue to prove they deserve their high reputation while exceeding the standard in everything they do. Blackhawk Leads the Way!

1 s t S q u a d ro n 7 t h U . S . C ava l r y VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

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Comanche Troop Families and Friends, For most, this may be the first

newsletter you have seen since I, CPT Benjamin A. Welch, took the guidon in late September. My wife Tiffany and I are honored to become part of the Comanche Troop Family and Garryowen Team, and we look forward to working with and meeting each and every one of you. To the outgoing Commander CPT Brad Koerner and his wife Katie Koerner, thanks for all the hard work and a smooth transition, you handed off Comanche Troop rock solid and fully mission capable.

For the Troop, the past month has been extremely busy for our Soldiers. As most of you know by now, the Troop moved unexpectedly, from Joint Base Balad, Iraq, to Camp Buehring, Kuwait. The mission was a huge success, and our Soldiers executed the move safe, swiftly and with ease. Upon arrival at the new location in Kuwait, Comanche Troop focused their efforts on building new living areas for the Soldiers. The first couple of weeks were spent sleeping on cots, while our irreplaceable Troop Executive Officer, LT Cody Fritz, scoured the desert to find better beds and furniture for our Troopers. After countless hours of construction and assembly, we now have bunk beds and wall lockers of our own. Everyone is finally settling in to the new environment. Our Soldiers are happy to have hot showers, most of the time, real food and of course internet capability. All is good, in Kuwait.

The Troop just celebrated

Thanksgiving here in Kuwait, ―Comanche

Style‖. Our Troopers spent the day

sleeping in and watching football games.

Oh….. and let’s not forget the food.

Eventually everyone made the long walk to

the Dining Facility and indulged on turkey,

ham, stuffing, yams and everything else.

Most importantly, the Troop took a tactical

pause and allowed everyone to call or chat

with loved ones back in the states.

COMANCHE

1 s t S q u a d ro n 7 t h U . S . C ava l r y NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3

Amongst our busy November schedule, Comanche Troop allowed the dust to settle enough to find time to pro-mote some outstanding Soldiers. I want to take this opportunity to publicly recognize and congratulate the following Troopers on their well deserved promotion. PV2 Sammy Rosa, PFC Brennan Ayres, PFC Thomas Moore, PFC Jordan Ehpel, PFC Daniel Thomas, SPC Nolan Bonnstetter, SPC Matthew Eickoff, SPC Jose Rodri-guez, SGT Daniel Emblen, SGT Diego Paniagualleras. These Soldiers have proven themselves both in garrison opera-tions and in combat, overall strengthening and preparing Comanche Troop for suc-cess in future operations. I also would like to take this opportunity to say thanks and farewell to, SPC Richard Murphy. Coman-che will miss you and your dedication to the Troop. We wish you well on your ETS and future endeavors. Overall, Comanche Troop is fine

here in Camp Buehring, Kuwait. The days

are sunny and the nights have been cool

and calm. Our Soldiers stay busy training

during the day and have ample time in the

evening to call home or chat online with

friends and families. Our Soldiers con-

tinue to keep their heads high and look

forward to finishing their mission.

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DARKHORSE

diers’ ability to stay positive and continue

to give 100%, even in tough times of transi-

tion. Feed 'em! Move 'em! Fix 'em! DARK-

HORSE!

CPT Dave Sherck

1 s t S q u a d ro n 7 t h U . S . C ava l r y VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

This month saw a number of

transitions in Darkhorse Troop. At the

beginning of the month the Troop left

Joint Base Balad in Iraq and moved to

Kuwait. En-route we picked up 1SG

Brett Swinton to bring on board as the

new First Sergeant of Darkhorse. I

am both grateful for MSG Russell

Munson’s contributions to the Troop,

his assistance in getting me on board

as the new commander, and his great

job handing off responsibilities to 1SG

Swinton.

It is not a total loss to the Iron-

horse Brigade as MSG Munson will

continue to be a presence elsewhere

in the Brigade. When we arrived in

Kuwait it was time to rebuild our main-

tenance and support capacity in the

Troop, so we began to re-attach Sol-

diers to Darkhorse that had been help-

ing out other places in the Squadron.

As part of this transition some

changes were made to the composi-

tion of the maintenance teams sup-

porting each Troop, so be sure to

check out the Facebook pages of

each Troop for shots of your Soldiers

as well as the 1-7 CAV page. Speak-

ing of Facebook, the Darkhorse Face-

book page is finally up and running

(search Darkhorse FST, 1-7 CAV) with

some great pictures thanks to Chief

Jobe.

Finally the Trooper's of

Darkhorse have been working hard

this month making our tents in Ku-

wait a little more livable, putting to-

gether bunk beds, wall lockers and

hauling furniture all over the base.

The Soldiers have been working hard

to get the Troop and Squadron set up

here, both in living and working space.

They have been doing a great job. I

continue to be impressed by our Sol-

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It has been a fast paced month

here in the Rear. On the 29th, the

Squadron pulled off a wildly successful

"Haunted Headquarters" during the 1

BCT Trunk or Treat, sending over 500

people through the Squadron in a

windy, scary adventure - including field

surgery and real live dummies. The

focus during the month of November

surrounded the preparation for 25 of

our Soldiers to deploy, ensured their

training was current, and re-certified

anyone who had expired. During this

time, E Troop executed just under 40

funeral details, setting the stage for the

Brigade in the Rear to execute more

funerals during a one month window

than when the Brigade is not deployed.

As Thanksgiving rapidly approaches,

the Squadron is working individual

leave for deployers and providing them

much needed time to spend with their

families. Blackhawk, Comanche,

Darkhorse, and Hellfighter have all

conducted small meetings, working to

ensure their Families are informed and

involved as we re-energize them to

continue in light of the Brigade's re-

mission in support of CENTCOM.

CPT Jed Sargent

E Troop Commander

ECHO TROOP—REAR DETACHMENT

1 s t S q u a d ro n 7 t h U . S . C ava l r y NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3

Mailing addresses:

1-7 CAV (E TRP) — Fort Hood, TX

37005 Old Ironsides Ave.

Ft. Hood, TX 76544

1-7 CAV (FWD) — Iraq

Name of Soldier

TRP/1-7 CAV

Camp Buehring, Kuwait

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GARRYOWEN Promotes Five LTs!!

1 s t S q u a d ro n 7 t h U . S . C ava l r y VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

On November 22nd, 2011, 1-7 CAV promoted five outstanding leaders to the rank of 1st Lieu-tenant at Camp Buehring, Ku-

wait. They are:

1LT Howell—HHT

1LT Lash—A TRP

1LT Sale– A TRP

1LT Philbin– B TRP

1LT Whitehouse– C TRP

Gentlemen, congratulations from your Soldiers and the families of 1-7 CAV for your dedication and leadership to the finest Cavalry Troopers in the

US Army.

GARRYOWEN!!

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GO PADRE Happy GARRYOWEN Thanksgiving!!

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

1 s t S q u a d ro n 7 t h U . S . C ava l r y

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The Biblical Scriptures give many descrip-tions of thanksgiving to our Creator and those around us. In our reply to either, we appreciate saying and hearing the word ―thanks.‖ We tell our Soldiers, our loved ones, and those around us, thanks for help-ing with this situation or problem. Though, if we take a deeper look into the word, we find something greater about ourselves. For many people, saying thanks brings a close bond between two or more persons. During the past few weeks, our Soldiers attended some outstanding MWR concerts at Camp Buehring. The Charlie Wilson band enter-tained the Soldiers with their music from the previous decades. Afterwards, Charlie talked about his appreciation for the Sol-diers and told them thank you for their ser-vice. Now, for many Soldiers, Charlie Wil-son’s statement of thanks brought a sense of belonging and devotion in what they ac-complish each day. It brought them and Charlie closer together after the entertaining concert.

What are we thankful for during this season of the year? We give thanks for our family, son, daughter, father, mother, and Soldier for his/her service to the greatest nation. GARRYOWEN family, what can you tell someone thanks for this holiday season and watch your bond continue to fuse together? Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving!!

GO PADRE

Military Care Packages Sites:

www.adoptaussoldier.org

soldiersangels.org

adoptasoldierplatoon.org

www.hugsforoursoldiers.org

troopcarepack.com

Military Deployment Resources:

www.militaryonesource.com

Call 1-800-342-9647

www.myarmyonesource.com

Call 877-811-ARMY

New Mailing Address:

Name of Soldier

TRP/1-7 CAV, 1BCT, 1CD

Camp Buehring, Kuwait

APO AE 09330

GO PADRE

GARRYOWEN CORNER

―Like” the GARRYOWEN page at

“1-7 CAV, 1BCT, 1CD”

1 s t S q u a d ro n 7 t h U . S . C ava l r y

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

In the years that followed, the Regiment was part of the Army of Pacification in Cuba and helped suppress the Philippines Insurrec-tion on Luzon Island from 1906 till 1907. After fighting in these locations, the Regiment joined Brigadier General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing in the Mexican Punitive Expedition against the legendary Bandit, Pancho Villa in 1916.

Serving with the 1st Cavalry Division dur-ing World War II, the Regiment earned cam-paign streamers for New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Leyte and the Luzon campaigns as well as the Presidential Unit Citation for An-tipolo, Luzon and the Philippines Presidential Unit Citation.