SPARTANS IN ACTION Setting High Standards Across the board, the Spartans are continue to do great things. In the motor pool, our mechanics have been working twenty-four hours each day, despite the heat, in order to keep the battalion’s fleet fully mission capable. They have become subject matter experts on all of the unique pieces of equipment that provide intelligence, signal, and route clearance support to the battalion and the brigade. At times, they have found ingenious ways to keep those vehicles running. From manufacturing parts from scratch to repairing what was thought to be unrepairable, they have become miracle workers. On top of the maintaining portion of their job, they have managed to complete annual services for the battalion’s entire fleet, a task completed over a month and a half ahead of the brigade’s deadline and weeks ahead of our sister battalions. The medics are trucking along as well, supporting not only our own Soldiers but several attached units. Each day, you’ll find only onethird of the medics in the Aid Station because the rest are working at our ECPs, supporting route clearance packages, or supporting Soldiers living at outlying stations. The one constant when you walk down the HHC hallway is that there is always laughter coming from inside their office. Ah, the cooks. Probably the least appreciated of our sections but when we take a closer look, we find that they might just have it rougher than most. We find them doing PT at three in the morning and still, they’re greeting us at dinner 15 hours later. Our Soldiers working in the Class I Yard? If you think it’s hard grocery shopping for your family, imagine supplying the food for 10,000 Soldiers and civilians for three meals a day. On top of that, they also support multiple outlying stations. While we might often forget about them, we applaud them for their professionalism. Then there’s the hodge-podge of a section that runs the Visitor Control Center. Too big of a mission to be supported by any one of our elements, CPT Kramer and SFC Ochs are running a tight ship just like always. Like our MPs, we are putting our safety and the safety of our comrades in their hands and we have yet to be let down. The amount of contraband they prevent from coming onto this base is astounding! While 99% of what they confiscate has no real sinister purpose behind it, they each are aware that it only takes 1% for mission failure, so they take their daily mission serious.
The Fourth Quarter So, there it is. The Spartans are doing what they do best. Anything and everything. In the near future, we will begin reposturing our force in support of the drawdown. While we don’t know what exactly that is going to look like or when we will be coming home, those of us here in the command team are certain that your loved ones will perform as they always have, with professionalism, tenacity, and determination. All we ask is for your continued love, support, and understanding. - SPARTAN 6 AND SPARTAN 9 CPT Askew 1SG Izquierdo