4th edition to our BN Newsletter.

1. Volume 2 Issue 3 From the Battalion Commander Inside This Issue: BN Newsletter: Page 1 HHD: Page 2 129thCo: Page 3 710thCo: Page 4 759thCo: Page 5 787th Co: Page 6 Chaplain: Page 7: FRSA: Page 8 The past few months have been extremely busy for the entire Battalion. 53EOD have made their final preparations for their deployment and we all wish them our best. They have conducted some fantastic training events and are well prepared. The HHD is in the same phase of predeployment preparations and I am very proud of the close knit team that has come together so soon since the headquarters' last deployment. Our Rear C2 element is at full steam and in the fully capable hands of MAJ Better, MAJ DeVeny and 1SG Ertle. They will continue to provide the companies and Soldiers of the Battalion with outstanding support during our deployment. I always need to thank the hard work of our FRGs and that of Tammy Flores in keeping this newsletter current and helpful to all members and spouses in the unit. We will continue to do all we can to maintain an open information flow between our deployed units and our members back here at home. Thank you for all your hard work and continued support to our Soldiers. This is what makes me honored to be part of our great organization. “NIGHTHAWKS” LTC William Downer Command Sergeant Major The battalion is making it’s final preparations for the deployment and everything is going smoothly. The Soldiers have been working hard and it doesn’t go unnoticed. I am very proud of the hard work your Soldiers have been doing in order to make this deployment as successful as possible. I hope that the time over block leave was well spent as it is important for the families to spend as much time together as possible prior to any deployment. While we are gone I encourage you to utilize Mrs. Flores for any family readiness issues that may arise. She is a great asset to the battalion and works very hard for the families and their Soldiers. Plans are in the works to conduct FRG events in the future for the families within the battalion. I encourage you to attend these events as they are a good forum for you to voice concerns, issues, and any challenges that you may have while your Soldier is away. Not to mention meet new people and have some fun. You will find that the experiences of others can and will make a difference during a long deployment period. Whether you are in the Joint Base Lewis McChord area or somewhere else in the world be strong and know that you Soldier is in good hands. “NIGHTHAWKS” CSM Robert Doig

3. 129TH COMPANY COMPANY COMMANDER The 129th would like to welcome PFC Andrew Clement, PFC Gary Dugan, PFC John Zeigler, and SGT Kenneth Matthews and his family all who arrived from NAVSCOLEOD as recent graduates from EOD School. We would also like to welcome SPC Thomas Akin and his family and SGT Lloyd Truax and his family who have moved over from within the battalion and SFC Bradley Jochen and his family and SSG Andrew Livingston who are joining us from other duty locations. Welcome to the 129th EOD Company! SSG Knight returned from ALC at Redstone Arsenal, AL and Eglin AFB, FL before we sent him out again to Fort Polk, LA which he just recently returned from. Congratulations SSG Knight and welcome back to Washington. SSG Reyes started ALC at Redstone on 5 July and will return next month. Good Luck. We also had SPC Reed and SPC Descalzi graduate WLC here at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Good job. I would like to take the time to give a heart felt farewell to SSG Addley and SGT Veltman who are departing the unit. These two NCOs have been instrumental to the activation and developing the systems that make this unit run. We would not be where we are today without them. SSG Addley is PCSing to Fort Campbell, KY and SGT Veltman will be entering the Reserves here in Washington. Thank you and good luck to both of you and your families. Mrs. Beth Jochen has volunteered to perform the duties as the FRG Leader. Thank you for taking the initiative and volunteering for this position. With the transfer of SGT Medina we will need a new FRG Secretary. If you would like to volunteer for this position, or would like to help with the FRG in any other capacity, please feel free to call the Battalion FRSA, Tammy Flores at (253) 967-9969. As we continue to grow we will have additional Volunteer opportunities. I would like to thank all the NCOs, Soldiers, and Family Members, both current and past, who have made this command successful. This has been a joint effort and I could not do it without you. I know you will continue to train up for a future deployment. I know you will be successful as a unit and I look forward to hearing great things. “Danger 6 Out” Upcoming Events 9 July – Change of Command 16 July – Hail and Farewell Post Bowling Alley 19-30 July – Team Leader Academy Welcome SPC Thomas Akin and family PFC Andrew Clement PFC Gary Dugan SFC Bradley Jochen and family SSG Andrew Livingston SGT Kenneth Matthews and family SGT Lloyd Truax and family PFC John Zeigler Promotions None Farewell CPT Jason Hite and family SSG(P) Kevin Addley and family SGT(P) Jason Veltman and family

4. 710TH COMPANY From the Command Team Happy Spring! The 710th continues its busy schedule as we prepare for the next deployment. Highlights from last quarter include the continuation of the HLD mission. Every Team Leader and Team Member gain valuable experience as each unique response mission is conducted and concluded. As we continue to train our Team Members to be Team Leaders one of our NCO’s, SSG Rommel Antonio, achieved his certification. Congratulations. Congratulations are in order for more recent achievements and events. SGT Gary Huhn and SPC Chelsea Strawser were both promoted. SSG Roy Crowel was awarded the John D. Woodyard Leadership Award upon graduation of the Advanced Leader’s Course at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. SGT Pual Kinyon, the company mechanic has been accepted to EOD School and will attend in May. Finally, congratulations to SPC Lance Mitchel and his wife Anna on their recent marriage. We wish you all the best. The command would like to say farewell to 1LT Sanjay Jha and his wife Aubrey and his son Nicholai. Thank you for all your support to the 710th and best wishes for your future position with the 3rd EOD Battalion HHD and beyond. SSG Mathew Loebs graduated to civilian life. Thank you and your family for your efforts in support of the 710th. Good luck in your future endeavors. Before next newsletter we will farewell SGT Sherrard and SGT Carr, our two dedicated Supply NCO’s. SGT Sherrard makes her transition to civilian life in March and SGT Carr in April. Thank you for your service and we wish you the best of luck in your future. Over the last two months we have had four new arrivals to the company. Welcome to the team SSG Rodney Kern, 1LT Andrew Chung, SPC William Fischer and SGT Timothy Vernooy. CPT Ty G. Dawson 1SG Jeremy P. Daniels

5. 759th Company The deployed members of our unit continue to work diligently with their counterparts from 203rd Military Intelligence Battalion as part of the Weapons Intelligence Team (WIT) Task Force. The soldiers are dispersed throughout Iraq and are busy conducting battlefield forensic investigations to aid in the counter IED fight. Their work provides valuable intelligence used to develop trends and aid in the capture suspected bomb makers. 1SG Simeroth as been working closely with FOXC while CPT Ralston prepares to assumes OIC duties at CEXC. The Company rear detachment continues to support NTC and the Homeland Defense mission at Fort Irwin. This past quarter has seen the 759th engage in Joint Training Exercises with Canadian EOD teams from TF 1-10 C-IED, and more recently with the Marines of 1st Company EOD out of Camp Pendleton. The training has been both production and very informative for our unit, as we continue to try and help NTC “train the force”. Jana Ralston, the Company FRG Leader , continues to assist the families of the 759th. 1LT Bryan R Sand

6. 787th EOD Company To all the family and friends of 787th EOD, I’d like to start off my comments with a few notes of good news from within the ranks. Recently, we saw the return of two of our warriors from deployed operations in Iraq, and I’m pleased to say that MSG John Green and SFC Jeremiah Gorsuch returned safely from Baghdad and are in the process of reintegrating themselves back into garrison life. I would ask that your thoughts and prayers go out to those remaining in Iraq, as 1LT Amir Abu-Akeel, SFC Paul Ness, and SSG Bryan Layne will not be returning until sometime in the March/early April timeframe. As most of you already know, as we welcome those back from Iraq, we are also in the final stretch to deploy a platoon in support of 53rd EOD for their rotation to Afghanistan. As their deployment draws near, I would like to reemphasize that, as always, my door is open to spouses, significant others, parents, etc who have any questions or concerns for this deployment. Please do not hesitate to contact either myself or Sue Ho if you require any assistance either before or throughout your Soldiers’ deployment, as we will most likely not have a formal meeting for the platoons’ departure due to the short timeline. Sue Ho will be communicating with the 53rd FRG as well to keep you all up to speed on your Soldiers as their deployment progresses. In other news, the company continues to reorganize from deployment and establish new training programs on Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Operational requirements and personnel have also necessitated long TDY assignments of our EOD team leaders on missions ranging from backstop of Yakima Training Center and Fort Irwin, to extended VIP missions with the Secret Service. I cannot thank you enough for all of your patience and understanding as you continue to support your Soldiers as they execute these vital EOD missions across the BN, taking away even more time that you get to spend with them outside of deployment. These and other missions will likely continue to take a majority of our EOD Soldiers and leadership away from Lewis, however myself and acting 1SG, SFC Burns, are doing everything we can to minimize these absences and give the families as much time with your Soldier as possible. As always, please accept my deepest gratitude for the support you continue to give this command and your loved ones. We can’t do it without you, and I speak for everyone when I say that without you, all of our hard work would be for not – as for in the end, it’s all about protecting those we love and our future generations to the best of our ability from future hardship and tyranny at home and abroad. Officially, we only have one volunteer on orders within the FRG (FRG leader - Sue Ho). If you are interested in officially volunteering to work with Sue and the FRG please let her know by email at hos@theho-family.com or phone 208-866-4689 as well as myself so that we can do up appointment orders for you and point you to any recommended resources and training venues for that position. Respectfully, Luke C. Moen CPT, OD Commanding

7. By Chaplain (CPT) Stephan H. Buchanan Unit Ministry Team The time is near, two of our companies will be out the door in the near future, one is currently deployed and another is preparing for a deployment later this year. I wish I could say that this is a rare event, but as we all know, deployments are commonplace in today’s Army. Before I go on, I ask that everyone continue to keep your thoughts and Prayers on the battalion as a whole. I ask myself, with frequent deployments, how can we best take care of our families in today’s Army. Last month the 3d EOD Battalion Unit Ministry Team lead a 3 day 2 night Couples retreat at Skamania Lodge, in Stevenson, WA. This retreat was open to all married couples in the Battalion. We had 16 couples join us, all of which had a great time. You might be asking yourself, “why is the chaplain going on about this retreat thing?” That is a great question!!! These retreats are NOT religious in nature. Rather, we provide practical tools that help couples effectively communicate with each other. I strongly believe that couples who can communicate together well, can solve problems together well. With deployments on the horizon, communication is vital. Communication. becoming a huge hit in the Army. If your spouse is here, a couples retreat is just for you!!!! OH did I mention that all of these retreats have free Child Care?? What are other people saying about 3d EOD Battalion couples retreats? “I really enjoyed the time to spend with my spouse without having to worry about cooking, cleaning, caring for the kids or other distractions. It gave us the opportunity to talk and reconnect. The course was put together well. The speakers were great and I liked that humor was used appropriately.” - Spouse “I greatly appreciated the structured time to communicate. The tools for our tool box really work. We were able to practice the communication skills with the kids in child care. The great thing, this led to amazing sex!!!!! Thanks for a great weekend.” - Soldier Chaplain Support For the duration of the HHD’s deployment. We will have a Rear D Chaplain. The contact information for CH Brady Frederick is below. Thank you and God Bless!!!! does not / should not stop when the service member is deployed, but it does change. How communication changes when deployed is up to the individual couple. Are you going to Skype, write letters by hand, send emails, make phone calls, or something else. The ways you can communicate with each other are limited only by your own imagination. Are there Future Retreats Planned? 3d EOD Battalion is planning at least 3 different retreats for the next 12 months. The dates are not yet set, but the tentative schedule is below: NOV 2010 – “Families of Deployed Soldiers” NOV – DEC 2010 Couples Retreats June 2011 Couples Retreat I highly encourage everyone to attend one of the above retreats. If your spouse is deployed, the Families of Deployed Soldiers retreat has your name on it. This is a recent addition to the Unit Ministry Team’s repertoire and is PROTESTANT RELIGIOUS SERVICES Chapel next sun 1000 Four Chaplains Memorial Chapel Liturgical Sun 0800 Main post Chapel Protestant sun 1000 Main Post Chapel Protestant Sun 1030 Soldiers Chapel Contemporary Sun 1100 McChord Chapel Gospel Sun 1100 North Fort Chapel CATHOLIC RELIGIOUS SERVICES Reconciliation Sat 1600 Main Post Chapel Mass Sat 1700 Main Post Chapel Mass Sun 09000 North Fort Chapel Mass Sun 1200 Main Post Chapel Mass Daily 1150 Main Post Chapel Chaplain Stephan H. Buchanan Email: stephan.h.buchanan@us.army.mil Phone Numbers: Office: (253) 966-6651 Cell: (253) 973-3428 SGT Clarence D. Slaughter Email: Clarence.slaughter@us.army.mil Phone Number: Cell: (253) 548-4883

8. Family Readiness Support Assistant newsletter Having to say Goodbye! As many of you are aware, CPT Hite and his Wife, Ellen Hite from 129th is leaving Fort Lewis. They are moving onto bigger and better things. We wish you both the best. Ellen,Thank You for stepping up as the FRG Leader and doing such a wonderful job. Your hard work and dedication to the Unit has not gone unnoticed. We couldn’t do our job, without your love and support. We are certainly going to miss you. "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Elmo and the cast of other Sesame Street characters are coming to Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Aug 25th (3 & 6 p.m.) and Aug 26th (12& 3:00 p.m.) They will be here to help teach military children about ways to deal with the hardships of deployments and separations from loved ones. During each show there is approximately 30 minutes of singing and dancing. Plus they will be giving away free prizes, and outreach materials. It is by first come first serve seating, so make sure to get there early to save your seats. It's all part of the Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families, a free traveling USO show based on Sesame Workshop's award-winning Talk, Listen, Connect initiative. The free show features live character performances by Zoe, Elmo, Rosita, Cookie Monster and Grover Training , Classes & lessons FRG Treasurers Training: Aug12th 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. To register for this class, please call the FRC at 253-967-9496. This is a mandatory training class for all Treasurer’s within each of the Company’s. Free Salsa and Merengue Dance Lessons Dance the night away with free salsa and merengue dance lessons each Friday at Latin Sensations. Learn the moves of merengue, salsa, bachata, and cha-cha dance lessons , July 16th from 9 to 11 p.m. The club has a $5 cover charge. Dance lessons are free. Latin Sensations is located inside Madigan Cafe, which is open for breakfast and lunch during the week. For more information call 253-964-4054. Argosy Cruise/Youth Deployment Trips July 17th @ 8:30 a.m. Cruise around the Puget Sound passing several sights to include Bill Gate's house. A DJ is on board and lunch is included. The entire ships is reserved for those registered for this trip. The fun trips will be open to youth of deployed Soldiers. We are requiring that the children be CYSS registered, however, there will be no fee attached with the registrations or the trips. Trips leave from the CYSS Central Registration, Bldg. 2295, 12th and Bitar. For more information call 253-967-4441. ARMY 101 FOR SPOUSES Tired of not understanding acronyms ? Do you know what resources are available ? Do you understand your spouses role in the Military? If not, ARMY FAMILY TEAM BUILDING CAN HELP. Call or email me to set up a 2 day training course for your FRG Groups. (limited childcare can be arranged)