591st Engineer Company (Sapper)Newsletter

February 2011- May 2011

company commander’s corner

cpt mark “the old man” welch

591ST Family, Friends, and Soldiers

A Happy Belated Mothers Day to all the mothers during the month as that is a very tough position

and well respected by this Command Team. In the future we will acknowledge the special days for the upcoming month. So with that said “Happy Father’s day to all the Dad’s out there reading the 591st update. The Company and every person within it has contributed tremendously to changes and I thank them daily and want to thank the home front for everything you do back there to support our Soldiers.

Back to the mission: since taking command the company has been working 24/7 to keep up with the operations including the inventories of every piece of equipment, moving to a new Operating Environment in North Iraq, and executing our mission as a Route Clearance Company providing safe passage for all military and civilians throughout the Iraqi Joint Operating Area.

The month of May is a blur but the 591st has left their mark in the Central Region and began our

impact in the North. Missions have begun with our Iraqi Counterpart as well as our Joint Missions with our Infantry Brothers in search of the bad guys out here doing bad things.

The platoons conducted some awesome team building events in the area of physical fitness with squad on squad completion including tug of war, tow bar carries, sandbag movements and buddy carries. We completed the Physical Fitness Test to assess our fitness level and we did well but have

some room for improvement to work on the beach body we all wish we had.Soldiers continue to go on block leave and are missed out here but deserve the break to relax and enjoy time with their loved ones to recharge the batteries. The stories they come back with are a breath of fresh air so everyone should make a plan to enjoy those days. Many opportunities are out there for reasonable vacations and we will assist any Soldier with the process to reduce costs by

planning early.As the Commander I have come to learn that this is a great group of individuals who come

together as a team at the squad and platoon level. Their support of me coming on board has enabled me to focus on the future mission as well as develop some think tanks to better support their needs. I look forward to getting involved with the FRG in the near future and would like some feedback on

what the folks back there would like to hear and see. This is a team and many contributions come from an open mind.

Til next month. Take Care, God Bless, and GO PHILLIES….

Goliath 6

Ramblings of a mad executive officer

1lt donald “gus bus” gustavson

Greeting to the family and friend’s of the 591st. I would like to say that I apologize for not getting the newsletter started earlier.

The Soldiers have had an interesting time since arriving in theater. We spent three months at Camp Taji, just north of Baghdad, conducting limited route clearance operations and conducting training. In that time we said farewell to Captain Kyle Hibbitts as here prepares for his next duty assignment and welcomed Captain Mark Welch as our new commander.

We have just completed our movement to COB Speicher and are beginning to conduct operations as we learn to “love” our new home. The Sappers of the 591st are excited and ready to accept this new challenge.

Since arriving in theatre we have added several members to the team: SSG Kerry Bryant, SSG Jerome “Doc” Talton, SGT Matthew Natur, PFC Darrell Dockery, PV2 Dennis Chua, PV2 Shane Laubshcer and PV2 Ronny Moya-Paniagua

I would also like to say congratulations and welcome the newest members of the 591st

family:-Daphne Marie was born on 5 April to Cassie Brown and SPC Emilio Brown,- Tristan Jameson born 13 April to Kathryn and P FC Quinn Gagnon-David Owen was born on 12 May to Martha Moore and SPC David Moore,-Scarlett Amber was born on 13 May to Nikki Woeltje and SGT Matthew Woeltje Until next time,Goliath 7

I feel truly blessed to be a member of the 591st and to work with the personnel I do on a daily basis. Your loved ones out here make the mix of hectic and boring times we have an enjoyable time rather than a hardship tour. Being part of the last Engineer unit to be in Iraq presents unique challenges--as Engineers we must be prepared to do any odd job big Army finds for us. Luckily this unit is up to that challenge. Most of my work deals with the headquarters and the various shops that keep the Company running. The FMT--led by the unstoppable Juggernaut SGT Woeltje--has done an incredible job of taking care of business. SGT Westbrook and new addition PFC Dockery have done an awesome job on the Supply side and PFC "Commo“ Jones keeps all of our high-speed communications equipment up and running.The operations section--which runs our Tactical Operations Center--has been expertly manned by SSG Avila and SGT Faison. SPC Everhart is the armorer in charge of every weapon system in the Company and SSG "Doc" Talton is our extremely knowledgeable Senior Medic--prepared to advise and treat all of the injuries or illnesses we might face. All of the Soldiers in Headquarters works their butt off everyday to make sure our line Platoons are as prepared as possible to conduct combat operations and I am very grateful for all thesupport you give them! All good things--1LT Donald Gustavson, Goliath 5

first sergeant’s soap box

1sg keith “rocks like slayer” skidmore

SGT Faison executes the push-up portion of the APFT during the Company’s recent physical fitness test as SSG Bryant looks on to

ensure proper form. Physical fitness must be maintained even during combat operations. SGT Faison has done an excellent job in a demanding position as night battle captain.

Company XO Donald Gustavson explains the equipment load plan in preparation for the unit’s movement to COB Speicher. The entire company worked long hours to ensure the entire set of vehicles and equipment were properly prepared to be driven or loaded for the long drive. Due to these efforts the movement and subsequent start of combat operations went smoothly.

SPC Moore, aka “Rooster,” pauses for a photo op while conducting maintenance. SPC Moore and the rest of the “Raise Hell“ motor pool have worked long hours to ensure that our fleet of up-armored Route Clearance vehicles stay up and running.

The command team after a PT session—our Company headquarters around them is nearly empty due to the upcoming move to COB Speicher. Despite the demands of preparing for the move, conducting Change of Command, and running daily operations Sappers always do PT. Apparently 1SG was working a little harder as evidenced by his t-shirt.

SGT Woeltje leads the commander through Change of Command inventories in the motor pool. While not the most glamorous aspect of our operations every piece of property had to be shown to the Commander before he signs for it. Every member of the company worked hard to ensure it went smoothly.

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Hey, hope all is well back home and that everyone is enjoying the beautiful spring weather back there. The weather has been warming up over here; and so has life for 591st and especially first platoon. We have been doing a lot of missions, training, and moving. We just completed our move from Camp Taji to COB Speicher; it wasn’t easy but we got it done. Everyone is starting to get adjusted to life here and things are starting to fall into place. Along with the move, we have also completed a lot of training. Speaking of training, I would like to recognize PFC Ross for shooting 39 out of 40 at the range and also SGT Casoose and PFC Clark for scoring perfect on their APFT. We also have started our new partnership with the Iraqi Army. It was good seeing soldiers being soldiers, no matter which country they were from. But anyways, nobody likes to read a lot so below are some pictures from the last month. I hope everything is going well on the home front and we all miss you over here. Take care and enjoy the pictures. Goliath16

FIRST Platoon1lt ryan “rocco” o’connor sfc michael “where’s my dip” comfort

Some pictures from the platoon PT event we did. It consisted of pushups, situ-ups, pull-ups, carrying a litter with a squad member in it, carrying a 300

pound tow bar, running a mile, and flipping a 500 pound tire. It was first squad vs. second squad and was back and forth the whole event, however first squad just pulled out the victory.

FIRST Platoon

The platoon having fun with the birthday boys. Specialist Lohndorf and Private Brown tried hiding the fact that it was their birthday and this was the

end result. Next time, I don’t think they will try hiding it as much.

2nd squad conducting a little training on movement techniques and security.

Doing a little robot training. Don’t worry everyone, that is a fake round sitting beside the rock.

SPC McConnell and PV2 King rest in the back of the MaxxPro after arriving in Joint Base Balad . SPC McConnell is also demonstrating the other use of the stretcher in the rear of the CASEVAC vehicle, while PV2 King was not so fortunate in his accommodations for rest.

The soldiers of 2nd Platoon work hard and they play hard. The final event in the Platoon Battle Ready Physical Training Day on 07MAY11 was a

tug-of-war contest complete with a mud pit. Even while being dragged through the mud, PV2 Membreno and PV2 Brooks still fight to the last as 2nd Squad Leader of 2nd Platoon, SGT Kavanagh, and the PLT Medic, SPC “Doc”

Roberts, cheer them on.

PV2 Booth helps the new Platoon Leader, 2LT Lowe, build a relationship with the local Iraqi Army responsible for the security of main supply

routes

SECOND Platoon2lt james “tf lowe” lowe ssg seth “iron man” walls

SECOND Platoon

SGT Slivinski controls traffic and secures the south side of the As Sindiyah Bridge site along with an IP counterpart. SGT “Ski” is the A Team Leader of 2nd

Squad, 2nd Platoon. His work on the ground maintained order at the site while elements of the 299th MRBC conducted necessary repairs.

1LT MacArthur, the outgoing Platoon Leader of 2nd

Platoon, and SGT Garza, the 1st Squad Leader of 2nd

Platoon, take a second to rest on a Mine Roller

back in Joint Base Balad after a successful

SGT May: To my family and friends; miss and love you guys very much. And to my special wife I love you too the moon and back and I can’t wait till you are in my arms once again. I’m getting really excited about our daughter joining us soon.

Hello to all of you back home. We miss you a great deal and talk of you often and fondly amongst ourselves. It lifts our spirits and makes the days that much better. It has been a long road getting here and en even longer one traveled while in country. We could not have gotten here without the cohesion we have as a unit and the unwavering support of the family members there. The pride that we feel in our families, our unit, our mission, our accomplishments, our Leaders and Soldiers is a feeling that is almost impossible to express in plain words. Things have been very busy for us over the past four months and will begin to pick up speed even more so in the coming. Not only has the mission here transitioned from Combat Operations to supporting the Iraq’s but we have also had several distinct movements and additions to our job sets as well. The fact that the operation name changed is just the tip of the iceberg for us. Every new location and challenge is met by your leaders and Soldiers head on and with a ferocity and tenaciousness that we have not seen in the past. It is amazing to watch them all work and we would never want to be surrounded by any other group of Soldiers than these. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers, know that you are in ours and expect great things from us in the very near future and throughout our deployment. Until next time, be safe and well and count the days as we do. - SFC Tippett

THIRD Platoon1lt benjamin “hughey” schmidt sfc aaron “mcveigh” tippett

SPC Dannible : What's going on dad and bro. miss you guys. I’m working really hard which makes the time go by quick. See you soon. Love you guys

PFC Gonzalez : I wanna say hi to all my family and friends in the EP. Love and miss you guys. I wanna give a special lil shout out to my wife and daughter Corinne and Audrey. Hay baby you are getting so big, daddy will be home soon. To my mom thanks for always being there for me and my Bro Jesus for always being there to talk to. Love you and see you soon

PFC Watson: Hello mom, I love you and I'll see you when I get home on R&R. Tell Alex I love her and miss her, and ill baby sit for a night when I get home. Love and miss everyone see you guys soon.

Third Platoon

DEPLOYMENT COINS

“WE STRIKE”

Deployment Coin

In the future, this will be considered as an item for purchase to assist the FRG if there is a

desire.

Soldiers will currently earn these by their actions during the Deployment and be

presented by the 1SG and myself.

These coins will become a highly coveted item here in theater shortly.