591st July Newsletter

8/6/2019 591st July Newsletter

1/12

OUR MAILING ADDRESSRank, Last Name, First Name

591st EN CO (SAPPER)

COB Speicher

APO AE 09393

Example:

CPT Welch, Mark

591st EN CO (SAPPER)

COB Speicher

APO AE 09393

In this Issue:

First Sergeants

Soap Box 5

XOs Two Cents 6

1st Platoon 7

2nd Platoon 9

3rd Platoon 11

Company Commanders CornerCPT Mark H. Welch

Greetings Families, Vets, and Supporters of the 591st EN CO SAPPERS

Time seems to have jumped for the Sappers of the 591st

during the last 30days. My Rest and Recuperation was over in a blink of an eye and went tofast. I want to thank all the members of the Family Readiness Group whocame out on the 6th of July. Seeing the faces on the supporters of the menI work with helps me remember quickly that this is a mission and the livesof my company members will always remain in my mind as we planmissions and make critical decisions. It was a pleasure to recognize someefforts of the ladies by presenting Company Coins to Mrs. Highsmith, Mrs.Skidmore, Mrs. Garza, Mrs. Tippett, and Mrs. DeWeese. I appreciateeverything all of the FRG is doing and cannot wait to get back and havesome wonderful gatherings. For those that want to attend there is a TownHall meeting with the Battalion Commander and the Way there Bar-B-

Que coming up soon. So contact Bethany Highsmith about the details.Thank you for being on the 326th and 591st Teams

6 July 2011, 591st FRG meeting, Great gathering to meet the

families, the FRG Leader, Bethany Highsmith and answer questions.

I hope to have more answers in the future.


2/12

MSG Gramig and CPT Hibbitts attended the 591st Reunion and were

proud to present an Engineer Flag signed by all the members of the current company to

the members of the companies from the past. A proud moment to see those we are

following after. Coins were presented to the Vets and MSG Gramig could not put into

words how much it meant to them. The past and the present gathered and had a

wonderful time in Branson and all I can say is WE STRIKE, and Thank you to those

who served before us.

MSG Gramig presenting the signed Engineer Flag from the current 591stmembers in COB Speicher while walking through a slide show of the troops to explain

what we are doing at this time in the fight. Many of the 591st Eng Association members

remain tied to the current operations thru letters, emails, and the Face-book page on a

daily basis.

In my absence the newly promoted CPT Donald Gustavson did a terrific job doubling his

duties and he made a difference supporting the 1-5 CAV Task Force, the 4th ID Counter-

Improvised Explosive Device Defeat team, and the unit as its leader while I was gone.

He will be a very strong future leader somewhere and from what I gather many of those

who leave the 326th

seem to return at one time or another as the unit and FortCampbell have so much to offer. Thank you CPT Gustavson for guiding the Team.

Back to Awesome 591st Story- the unit had so many Soldiers earn company coins,

promotable status, and continue executing their missions I have been and always will

be proud to be the Commander. The 1SG will identify those personnel but as a

company we grow on a daily basis and remained focused on our task at hand and that is

the mission requirement for the draw-down of US Forces and driven efforts on Route

Clearance Operations and reduce the IEDs in USD-N.


3/12

I want to remind everyone that the unit appreciates the care packages that build unit

morale, the communication on the internet, and their thoughts and prayers for a safe

return. Last, but certainly not least I want to let a few special people know that I love

them, miss them, and had a wonderful time on my Rest and Recuperation. They are my

Children and Grandson (Taylor, Christian, Paighton, Chandler, and Mason). I am nowstronger than ever with their support and my ability given through God. Ready for the

challenges, successes, and the road ahead leading the company home to the USA

My home team: Paighton, Myself, Chandler, Taylor, and Mason (the little Guy).

Until Next Month, Take Care, GOD Bless, and Go Phillies


4/12

This is a piece of memorabilia that is being considered for resale to raise funds for the unit. If you areinterested in having a memory forever of this time please email me as I gather the interest so we candetermine if this is an action we want to begin. The product is a US Flag encased in wood holder(22x18x18) with a Company Coin (this example is the Brigade Coin) held in place by two gold hooks and acertificate of Authenticity (Company Certificate) of the time and location flown in honor of our presencein the country of Iraq. Generally, we will be looking at producing up to 50 of these at a price at or under75$ with a certain amount going to the funds to reduce ticket prices for the Ball we will have in the first 3

months of 2012. Responses can be sent to [email protected] I presented this to theBrownsburg Indiana Connection Point Church as they have supported me prior to the deployment andsent many packages for the support of the unit while deployed. A wonderful moment and my pleasure torepresent the 591st and the 20th Engineer Brigade who donated the coin and produced the certificate ofappreciation.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


5/12

Greeting to all.

Yes, the arrival of this newsletter brings us another month closer to coming home.But just a reminder, or maybe a heads up if you have not got the word yet, the postoffice, or the APO as it is sometimes called here, will be closing the 10th of September.As we get closer to closing this period in our history the living conditions will become alittle rougher. Sapper will have to do without Burger King, Subway, and Green BeanCoffee for a few months until we find our way home, but it will all be worth it in theend.

The month of July brought us some new NCOs to fill the ranks. I would like towelcome Staff Sergeant Nicholas Reed, Sergeant Russell Pope, Sergeant Shawn Hayesand their families to the Company. All three of these NCOs have completed their

penance in HHC and the Command Sergeant Major decided to release them. I alsowant to say congratulations to Sergeant Stephen Casoose and his wife Airika on thearrival of their daughter Kayleigh Faith on 15 July!

The Company also seen a few promotions this month. The XO received his Captains

bars, Jamahl Lucas and Michael McConnell joined the NCO ranks as both werepromoted to Sergeant, Nicholas Gonzalez , Christopher Hunt and Daniel Jones-Edwardswere promoted to Specialist and Shane Laubscher was promoted to Private FirstClass.Specialists Cascio and Weeks also were awarded the Good Conduct Medal thismonth.

Until next month, be safe

First Sergeants Soap Boxby 1SG K. Teddy Bear Skidmore


6/12

Hello to all of our friends and families back home; wherever that may be. All of ourhearts were back in the States for the 4th of July; we tried to enjoy it as much as possible

without yall but of course it wasnt quite the same. At least next year at this time we

know that we wont be in Iraq, hanging out in 127 degree weather try to remember

January 21st and how much time seemed looming ahead of us; and now it is almost

August. It doesnt seem that long ago and if we as a Company put our heads down and

work through it the time will go by even faster.

We all keep each other sane out here the same way we work as a functioning

Company to take care of our combat mission. The bottom line of a good team is that

we all have each others back. At any rate, all is well out here. I am extremely blessed tohave the people I do working for me and well all thank you for your support from the

States.

All Good Things,

CPT Gus

Ramblings of a Mad XOby CPT Donald A. Gus Gustavson

Summertime in Speicher

Are you serious?


7/12


8/12

FIRST Platoon

The newly arrived, SSG Reed, and

the newly promoted, SGT Lucas

SPC Brown

locked,

stocked, and

ready to

rockor at

least he is

putting out

the illusion

that he is.

SFC Comfort being taught how to salute

by the Major.thought ex-drill

sergeants were suppose to already

know how to do this?

SFC Comfort and SGT

Deweese doing what

they do besttalking

SPC Brown and one of the Iraqi

Majors sharing a moment.


9/12

SHOUT OUTS!

PFC Matthew Lutringer

Hope everyone back home is

doing well! Everything is good

over here, but it's getting HOT! I

want to say hi to Mom, Dad,

Brother and Sis. I'll be homebefore you know it. LOVE YALL

SECOND Platoon2LT JAMES TF LOWE LOWE SFC ERIC RANGER RICK PRESCOTT

PFC Lutringer assists an Iraqi Army Soldier establish

communications during preparation for a Joint Route

Clearance Patrol.

SPC Christopher McConnell

To all my friends and family back home, I'm doing well.

Everyone in my platoon is working well together and

staying busy.

SPC McConnell drives to the

hoop during a Platoon BBQ

day. One day SPC McConnell

believes he will be named

among the greats like Michael

Jordan and Dennis Rodman..


10/12


11/12

This month has been a flurry of missions and activities. There have been many Soldiers and leaders

gone on R&R, at classes, or with other issues that have kept them from being present at times. The

Soldiers and leaders of the Platoon have covered down and completed all missions and tasksregardless. We could not be more proud of them and of their many accomplishments,

determination, and tireless work ethic. We conducted Robot training, with a culminating and fun

end of training exercise. 3rd Platoon is like a second family to most of us. Whenever there is a

death, birth, illness, or hardship back in the states or here, we seem to band together more tightly

and collectively deal with it. SGT May has a baby due in early AUG and PFC Barnes has a baby due in

SEP. PFC Gagnons son is now four months old and growing fast. We are so glad that Boadis mother

is recovering from her stroke and that he will be returning to us this month. We also conducted

weapons fire with the Iraqi Army Soldiers, combined patrols with other units on our camp, 4 th of July

BBQ, machine gun range, and of course many route clearance patrols as usual. Through it all, ourSoldiers have stayed vigilant and motivated no matter how tired they may have been at times. We

also have many Soldiers within the Platoon that are trying to better themselves through civilian

college education, correspondence courses, military online training, and we even have two that will

be becoming U.S. citizens in the very near future. We dont yet know for sure when we are coming

home, but we are preparing for several scenarios which will bring us to you again. Be safe and

happy until we next see you.

THIRD Platoon1LT BENJAMIN HUGHEY SCHMIDT SFC AARON SMART TIPPETT

This is our

Chua. He says

Hi!

1LT Schmidt and Iraqi Police

PFC Flanagan, SPC Martin and our IA counterparts.


12/12

THIRD Platoon1LT BENJAMIN HUGHEY SCHMIDT SFC AARON SMART TIPPETT

SPC Dannible fires the .50 cal as SSG Oakesand SFC Tippett share a smile

PFC Gagnon removing stitches from

SPC Ingarras hand

PFC Laubscher

wearing the

special helmet.

PFC Anglin, SPC Watson, PFC Hollister, and

PFC Chua watch as SGT May gives a class on

the .50 cal machine gun

PFCs Anglin, Gagnon, Flanagan, and SPC

Holzinger conduct robot training

591st July Newsletter

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