April 2011

The M777A2 155mm Lightweight Towed Field

Howitzer is the latest US Military towed howitzer in

155mm replacing the M198 in Field Artillery Batteries

in the US Marines, Army, and National Guard. The

weapon system is the epitome of technological advance-

ment and US military might in the age old craft of indi-

rect fire. The Soldiers of Bravo Battery, 1st BN 119th

Field Artillery paid homage to their beloved gun while

geographically separated by the their current mission

set by replicating it in superior fashion. The model

M777A2 was constructed of various scrap materials,

carefully assembled by SGT Munoz and SPC Fasten,

and is proudly displayed on the porch of the Bravo Bat-

tery Operations Center and will serve to remind all

Artillerymen of better days to come spent employing

this weapon system‟s

great firepower.

CPT Jeffrey Austhof

For centuries the turreted castle has stood as the symbol

of the Corps of Engineers. Although the tactics, tools and tech-

nology of the Engineers have adapted over time, to meet mission

requirements, the castle has stood strong as the steadfast for-

tress that represents the strength of our corps. Born from a

concept developed by LT's Beatty and Brolsma and made possi-

ble by a local woodcrafter, the current 1436th (Delta Company)

Engineers Castle stands firmly affront the Delta Company com-

mand post. "The Castle", as it is commonly referred to, serves

as the holster for the company guidon and a rally point for the

Engineers in a world surrounded by Artillerists.

This castle is a daily reminder of the ingenuity of our

ranks and embodiment of Engineer motto "ESSAYONS" mean-

ing "Let Us Try".

1LT Matthew Brolsma

Throughout history, indirect fire (artillery) has always been

used in attempts to breech the protective barriers of a fortress;

since the early stages of the catapult all the way until now when

indirect fire is a constant threat to those serving in our forward

operating bases (FOBs) in Iraq and

Afghanistan. This storied rivalry

reached a new chapter and saw the

once opposing forces join to compose

TF 1-119th. Although the two

branches are on the same side the

friendly competition between the

castle and the cannon is a constant.

Sibling rivalry, light-hearted

ribbing, and playful banter; all of

these attributes are hallmarks of suc-

cessful integration of Soldiers into the

brotherhood of arms. Spanning the

dusty, dry, sun-baked Battalion Quad

is an often over-looked but epic stand

-off; The Cannon and The Castle.

The Cannon is a recent construct

imagined and engineered by the Sol-

diers of Bravo Company TF 1-119,

resting regally upon their sun deck, menacing the distant fortress

of their fellow Soldiers from Delta Company. It is a rather con-

vincing replica of the howitzers left behind as we deployed into

the desert, the powerful M777, the newest and most advanced

howitzer in the arsenal of the U.S. Army‟s Field Artillery.

The Castle, symbol of the mighty U. S. Army

Corps of Engineers, impregnable fortress of

strength and fortitude, stands resolute and ready

to solemnly defend their charge. The Castle, ma-

jestically resting upon the sand

standing guard, battlements

adorned with a Crimson Dragon,

brilliant red in color atop the grey,

solid walls is ready to meet any

challenge. The Castle was de-

signed and constructed to provide a

rally point of unit and Engineer

branch pride for the 1436th EN

Company. They have answered the

call to duty and have solidly inte-

grated into the BN as Soldiers of

Task Force 1-119, but their heritage

is proudly displayed in that stead-

fast monument. This rivalry, how-

ever contrived, is also a symbol; a

symbol of the depth of the true ca-

maraderie of all Soldiers in Task

Force 1-119, also standing resolute

and ready together as one.

CPT Michael Cochenour

LTC

THE XO

Red Lion families and friends,

Being from Michigan, I have experienced my share of storms and turbulent weather. I remember being caught out in the

„Great Blizzard‟ of 1978, the tornado that rocked Kalamazoo in 1980, several ice storms, and I was in Houston Texas

when Hurricane Alicia struck in the early 80s. What I never experienced before was a sandstorm.

On Friday, March 25th, Kuwait was hit with what has been reported to be one of the worst sandstorms in recent history.

Kuwait International Airport was shut down due to the storm, and all aircraft rerouted to nearby airports. The gas and

oil industry suspended all operations as well. Traffic came to a standstill, and people sought shelter from the elements.

At the height of the storm, visibility was maybe a couple feet and only if you had a light. The storm blocked out the light

from the sun.

We did not go unscathed. We suffered some structural damage to a few of our buildings, large shipping containers were

blown over, tents ripped, and several signs destroyed, but no Soldiers hurt. We are still cleaning up from the mess, and

will be for several more weeks before everything is back to normal.

We did suspend operations for approximately four hours until the worst of the storm passed. Even though many of our

Soldiers had their own areas in complete disarray, they put that all aside and continued to perform their missions. Even

before the storm had completely moved through our area, Soldiers were out preparing for their next mission, making all

their SP (start point) times. Almost half of our missions were cancelled the day after the storm, but not because our Sol-

diers were not prepared to execute, but because other agencies were not ready. I am very proud of all our Soldiers.

As one of the local workers mentioned to one of our Soldiers as the storm approached, “Big trouble Mister, Big trouble!”,

while pointing at the storm moving in. This storm was just a reminder of the challenges that we still have throughout

this deployment but I know we shall succeed with the continued efforts put forth by our soldiers and the support of our

families back home!

LTC Lawrence E. Schloegl

Wind and Dust, Cannons and Castle‟s, A Million Miles and Half Way Home, describes a lot of the last 30 days.

The next 30 will likely be focused on ever increasing Operational Tempo, higher temperatures, anxiousness to get home

and locking in our re-deployment plans.

My wife recently mentioned a friend whose husband is also deployed, but scheduled to come home soon. The

friend was somewhat depressed, because she hadn‟t accomplished a thing! She had heard the stories of all these other

ladies remodeling, losing weight, taking a class, but she hadn‟t. Now, my wife is good friends, and knowingly reminded

her that she shouldn‟t be that depressed, she did take down the Christmas Tree last week, so she accomplished that any-

way…..my wife also reminded her friend that kidding aside, she accomplished much more. Just having to live without

someone who you regularly rely on is a big accomplishment. Handling the day to day issues, allowing your loved ones to

remain focused on the mission in harm‟s way is a HUGE accomplishment! The Red Lion Soldiers are doing exception-

ally well and in no small part because of the support from families, communities and friends back home. Allowing our

Soldiers to remain focused enhances our mission capability and helps to keep the formation safe. Yes, living in Kuwait

and working in Iraq is not fun, the dust, sand and heat takes its toll, there are still bad guys wanting to do bad things but

knowing the home front is all right is a big deal! So, knowing that families are going through some of the same anxieties

and frustrations as the Soldiers here at about this half way mark, I just wanted to take a moment and recognize and

thank you all back home continuing to support your Red Lions!

Thanks,

MAJ Scott Meyers

The XO

THE XO with THE WIFE

Heather Meyers

Alpha BTRY FRG

prepares carepack-

ages to send over,

Thank you for the

continued support!

ALPHA

BRAVO

Dear Friends and Family,

Welcome to another month! With spring now among us here in Kuwait, we have experienced a rise in temperature

and our first dust storm. The dust storm picked up quickly and was so thick that it blacked out the sun. It was some-

what like a snow blizzard back in Michigan with poor visibility and dust piling up like snow drifts. Besides the weather

changes, much remains the same here. Many of our soldiers have taken the opportunity to participate in continued

Army Training courses offered in Kuwait. Every month we send a handful of soldiers to the Warrior Leader Course

(WLC). This is a two week course for Sergeants. The course is intense, but it is a requirement to make the promotion

list to the rank of Staff Sergeant. Recently, SGT Omelianoff graduated from WLC with honors, making the comman-

dants list.. He was acknowledged for his honors down at Camp Arifjan during his WLC graduation. Other recent WLC

graduates are SGT Tasior, SGT Striggow, SGT Caddell, SGT Meadows, SGT Cooper and SGT Riske. By the end of de-

ployment we hope to have all of our Sergeants complete the

course.

Take care and thank you again for all of your support!

CPT John R. Hendrikse

Highlander Family and Friends,

March has been a busy month for all members of Bravo. 1st and 3rd Pla-

toons have been routinely tasked to capacity to support their respective

missions. They have done so with praise from the agencies they support,

and more importantly have completed all assigned missions with no injury

to our Soldiers. 2nd Platoon, in addition to completing their normally as-

signed mission, has been assuming the responsibilities of standing up con-

voy protection platforms to fill in when needed by Battalion and have been

meeting this demand with the kind of professionalism expected of High-

lander Soldiers. Beyond the normal work load, our Soldiers have been to

the range to qualify with their assigned weapons and participated in nu-

merous other training events to remain proficient in their warrior tasks

and drills.

The sandstorm that hit the camp recently was an interesting event, and luckily did not injure anyone or damage any

mission essential equipment. The damage to our operations center was mini-

mal and is already being repaired. Besides a short pause in our mission accom-

plishment, it was no more than an extremely windy day at the beach, kind of.

Thank you for your continued support during this time. As the weather heats

up, so will frustrations and the anticipation of going home. Please prepare

yourselves for such attitudes as it is almost inevitable. Your Soldiers are per-

forming admirably as always.

CPT Jeff Austhof

1SG Bennett and CPT Hendrikse with WLC

Graduates SGT Omelianoff, SGT Striggow

and SGT Tasior who were just a few of the

recent Gator WLC Grads

CHARLIE

DELTA

As we begin the down slope of this deployment, I‟m glad to say our Soldiers are staying engaged and their motiva-

tion remains high. At this point, almost every meeting that I participate in at the Battalion level includes planning for

our redeployment back to the States. It is hard to believe that we have already reached the appropriate time in the de-

ployment to begin planning the return phase. This does not mean that focus on the mission has been lost. We are main-

taining an incredible pace at which we have operated at since day one of this deployment. The Cobras have truly set the

standard for the Battalion on their convoy escort mission and I expect this trend to continue.

The Battalion recently participated in the PDSS (Pre-deployment Site Survey) for the unit that will be replacing us.

This allowed our replacements to send representatives to Kuwait to see the mission that they will soon be responsible for.

The PDSS was a huge success and I am certain the incoming unit received valuable knowledge that will prepare them for

their deployment.

I would like to applaud SFC Windgaston and SSG

Jolley whose Convoy Escort Teams (CETs) were both se-

lected to participate in the PDSS. They both took PDSS

participants from the Brigade and Battalion level north

on mission to Iraq. They preformed their duties so well

that many of their CET members received coins of excel-

lence from their passengers.

I would like to thank everyone for their continued

support. I firmly believe that one of the reasons the Co-

bras are doing so well is because of the support we receive

from our loved ones.

-CPT Matthew Carroll

It‟s been another exciting month here at Camp Virginia. As a

battalion we had a celebration with a great big cake to recognize our

convoy teams conducting One Million miles traveled on mission. It was

quite an event and real eye opener to how much we have really accom-

plished since we arrived. Later on in the month First Platoon was kind

enough to invite me along on their MWR trip to Kuwait City. We vis-

ited the Gulf War Museum, which was a very exciting tribute to the co-

operation between U.S. and Kuwaiti forces in liberating Kuwait from

Iraq in 1991. Then we ate the best meal of our deployment at the Ku-

wait Towers (pictured bottom left). It was very fancy, and we made

sure to take advantage of the all you can eat buffet. After lunch we vis-

ited the Science Museum, which was very interesting. I think I would

have learned a lot more if I could

have read Arabic though! Also this

month each platoon conducted a Machine Gun Range at the Udari Range Com-

plex. We are very fortunate to have such a great training asset right down the

road. Everyone got to shoot the M240B Machine Gun, and some even got to shoot

the big “Ma Deuce” .50 Cal Machine Gun. Altogether the company fired over

35,000 rounds. Boy do I love the smell of gunpowder in the morning! Just a few

days ago we had a crazy dust storm, it was like something right out of the movies

(pictured right). We had sand everywhere, it took us a few days to get everything

cleaned up back to normal. The winds were so strong that it blew the roof right

off our sister company‟s headquarters, but the Delta Company Castle stood firm,

with not a scratch on it! Those Engineers sure know how to build right. Well, it‟s

getting hot, and I‟ve got to get ready for Mission. Until next time,

-SGT Plank

HHC

For any requests or comments concerning the Newsletter please contact

2LT Adam Stephens at Adam.Stephens@kuwait.swa.army.mil

Family, Friends, and Community Supporters of HQ Company, 1-119 Field Artillery, Greetings!

Expertise and excellence always come at a great cost. To be the best, to execute flawlessly, to perform our missions

admirably and without fail; these things require a great deal of hard work and a great deal of personal sacrifice. The

Soldiers of Headquarters Company continue to display these qualities, unyielding and without question in their daily

tasks. Our mission here has reached a pinnacle, a half-way point, which we can all be proud of. Our leaders have

stressed safety and integrity in all of our tasks, to ensure that we do our job, complete our tasks, and come home whole

and healthy.

This month allowed yet another opportunity to accompany and honor two of our finest Soldiers as they

proudly graduated from their advanced leadership course. I‟d like to recognize and congratulate SGT Kurt Buell from

the S-2 section and SGT Desmer Walch from the Maintenance Platoon for their dedication and absolute drive to excel. A

special note of congratulations is in order for SGT Walch, who was duly recognized at the ceremony for being included

on the Commandant‟s List, an honor attributed to Soldiers who earn and maintain over 90% proficiency score on all

academic and warrior leader tasks. Well done!

Excellence is attained with sweat, hard work, and personal sacrifice; but can only be maintained with a solid

balance of down-time and fun activities. We were presented with an outstanding opportunity to attend the unveiling of

Camp Virginia‟s own remote controlled (RC) racetrack, „Sunshine Raceway‟. We were privileged to take part in and be

the first spectators in what turned out to be a nail-biting, harrowing race of growling, dust spitting remote controlled

monsters tearing across the convoluted, sweeping raceway in a non-stop race for dominance on the track. Three of our

Maintenance Platoon Soldiers spent countless hours toiling in the desert sun to create this raceway, and should be duly

recognized for their passion and diligence; SGT Seth Hart, SPC Justin Groff, and SPC John Eash combined their love

for the sport with the old military standard of constant position improvement to perfect the raceway and provide us all

with entertainment and fun-filled down-time. They should be commended for their excellent work! We all definitely

look forward to the next race!

Our mid-point for deployment has come and passed, the Soldiers of Headquarters Company, 1-119 FA will soldier

ever onward towards our goal of mission success and a well-deserved home-coming. I want to thank all of our Soldiers

for their dedication to duty, and thank all of the Family members and supporters for their continued support!

Michael J. Cochenour

Captain, U.S. Army

Commanding Officer

The starting line

The racers with their vehicles. No

drinking and driving SPC Parker, oh

that‟s just a near beer.