Charlie Battery Newsletter Volume 1 Issue 1b
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Transcript of Charlie Battery Newsletter Volume 1 Issue 1b
Cold Steel County
A group of male Soldiers assigned to an air defense artil-
lery battery here took part in an educational tour of the El
Paso County Detention Facility June 24 as part of their
unit’s “Men of Merit” mentorship program.
The Men of Merit program was initiated by Capt. De-
wayne Deener, commander of Battery C, 5th Battalion,
52nd Air Defense Artillery, as a way of helping not only
the male Soldiers in his unit, but also men in the civilian
sector who may be facing similar issues, Deener said.
Since April, Men of Merit has opened its members to dis-
cussing a wide range of topics, from how to successfully plan for the future through
goal-setting to making smart decisions using critical thinking, so the next step was to
give the Soldiers a “reality check” with a firsthand experience of the prison system,
said Deener.
“I wanted to show (the Men of Merit Soldiers) the consequences (of) bad choices and
the realities of those bad choices,” said Deener. “If you know the consequences and
see, smell, touch and understand what you will go through, you will be more inclined
to not make a decision that will put you in a bad situation.”
The Soldiers’ tour began in a classroom where they received a briefing from Officer
Priscilla Telles, a veteran officer with the El Paso County prison system. Telles dis-
cussed the ins and outs of being incarcerated and also shared some of her own expe-
riences with the group.
Continued on Pg. 2
Spc. Sergio Gonzalez prepares to
try on items worn by inmates at the
El Paso County Detention Facility.
5-52 Soldiers from ‘Men of Merit’ Mentorship Program Tour Detention Facility
“One Standard” 3 July 2014
Volume 1, Issue 1
Men of Merit continued 2
Command Team 3
Family, Friends, and Fun 4
One on One with the 5
C-Btry Donates Food 6
Heroes’ Highlights 7
Inside this issue:
A show-and-tell portion presented the Soldiers with a look at the different uniforms inmates wear and the dif-
ferent types of restraints that are used when they are transported.
Spc. Joshua Amos, a Patriot enhanced launcher station operator and maintainer assigned to Battery C, said he
gained a great deal of information from the presentation.
“I learned a lot … about being in prison,” said Amos. “I learned that inmates wear different colored clothes
depending on the type of crime they commit. Also, I learned that the prison allows certain inmates to leave for
work and come back with their work-release program.”
Following the briefing the Soldiers lined up, shoulders against the wall, and were escorted around the facility.
Along the way they experienced the unique aroma that hung in the air, and commented on the unappetizing
meals inmates were served and the less-than-hospitable accommodations they receive during their stay. The
inmates’ lack of freedom and privacy, not to mention their being constantly told what to do and when to do it,
should persuade anyone from wanting to end up in the detention facility, one Soldier said.
“It’s like being in a cage when you’re in prison,” said Amos. “I’ve never been to jail, but after today, there is no
doubt in my mind this is not a place I would want to go.”
The tour concluded with the officers giving the Soldiers a simple yet unforgettable piece of advice: “Just do the
right thing.”
Men of Merit will continue mentoring its Soldier members with a home-buying class scheduled to be held this
month.
5-52 Soldiers from ‘Men of Merit’ Men-
torship Program Tour Detention Facility
Continuation from pg. 1
Soldiers from Charlie Battery 5-52 ADA Male Mentorship group ‘Men of Merit” pose for a picture as they wait outside for the tour to begin. During the
tour they learned a lot about how one bad decision can change your life forever.
Cold Steel’s Command Team
Sergeant First Class Kevin Shaw hails from Valparaiso, Indiana and joined the Army in Octo-
ber 1995 and attended Basic Training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and Advanced Individual training
at Fort Bliss, Texas as a Patriot Missile Crewman.
His assignments include Patriot Crewmember Echo Battery 2-7 ADA Fort Bliss, TX,
Squad Leader, Echo Battery 5-52 ADA, Fort Bliss, TX, Squad Leader Echo Battery 1-43 ADA
Kunsan AB, Republic of Korea, Alpha Battery 1-1 ADA, Fort Bliss, TX, Squad Leader, Alpha
Battery 1-43 ADA, Suwon AB, Republic of Korea, Squad leader Bravo Battery 3-43 ADA, Fort
Bliss, TX, Army Recruiter, Indianapolis Recruiting BN, Platoon Sergeant Delta Battery 1-43
ADA, Fort Bliss, TX, First Sergeant Charlie Battery 5-52 ADA, Fort Bliss, TX
His awards and decorations include: Army Accommodation Medal (5OLC), Army
Achievement Medal (7OLC), Meritorious Unit Citation, Army Good Conduct Medal (6th
Award), Iraqi Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War
on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Pro-
fessional Development Ribbon (No 3), Overseas Service Ribbon (No 3), and the Army Service
Ribbon.
He is a graduate of the Primary Leadership Development Course, Basic Noncommis-
sioned Officer Course, and the Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Course. He is currently
perusing his Bachelor’s Degree from Post University.
He and his girlfriend Jessilyn Nagel have four daughters Kaitlin, Makenna, Heidi, and
CPT Dewayne L. Deener was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. He joined the
United States Army in 1993, and after Basic Training and AIT his first duty station was
United States National Support Element (Land) Karlsruhe, Germany. He attended Officer
Candidate School in Fort Benning, Georgia and graduated March 2010 as a Second Lieu-
tenant in the Air Defense Artillery. CPT Deener earned a Bachelor of Science from
Franklin University.
CPT Deener’s military education includes Warrior Leader Course, Advanced Leader
Course, Senior Leader Course, Combatives Level 1 and 2, Officer Candidate School, and
the Air Defense Officer Basic Course. Upon graduation from the Officer Basic Course in
August 2010, CPT Deener was assigned the Delta Battery, 5th Battalion, 52nd Air De-
fense Artillery where he served as a Platoon Leader.
CPT Deener’s awards and decorations include: the Defense meritorious Service Medal,
the Meritorious Medal (1 OLC), the Army Commendation Medal (4 OLC), the Army
Achievement Medal, the Meritorious Unit Citation, the Army Good Conduct Medal (4th
Knot Device), the National Defense Service Medal (2nd Bronze Star Device), the Global
War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Ko-
rean Defense Service Medal, the Army Noncommissioned Officer Professional Develop-
ment Ribbon (Numeral 3), the Overseas Service Ribbon (Numeral 5), the Combat Action
Badge, and he is a Sergeant Audie Murphy Club inductee.
CPT Deener has three wonderful children Tatyana (15), Tianna (13), and Dewayne (9).
Commander
1SG
Family, Friends, and Fun
One on One With The Commander
1) What is the male mentorship program? My way of ensuring we are helping
not only the Soldier, but the person. The female Soldiers have a mentorship
program and I decided that the males should have one also to address issues
they may have.
2) What made you start this program? To show the male Soldier of Charlie
battery that we care about them as a person and are here for them.
Is this the first of its kind? When we started I did not know of another
program of this kind in the military but I have since learned that D 2-43
has a mentorship program they have been doing for about two months now.
3) What is the intent of the program? I firmly believe that a good person
make good decisions and the more tools and options we can provide it only
makes doing the right thing easier.
Or what do you hope to achieve with this program? Help the future leaders in
the formation understand that helping Soldiers is more than helping them
with strictly Army related issues. If you teach people how to be successful
and achieve their goals, they will do the same for others. We should support
and congratulate each other's success and only compete to be the best by
positive actions and not negative ones. If you strive to be the best person
you can be, positive things will happen in your career as a result.
4) What was the purpose of the visit to the El Paso county prison? We spoke
about goals, critical thinking, relationships, and the next step was to show
the consequences for bad choices and the realities of those bad choices. If
you know the consequences and see, smell, touch, and understand what you
will go through, you will be more inclined to not make a decision that will
put you in that position.
5) What did you learn and what do you hope everyone else learned? I learned
that jail is not somewhere I would want to be and how one bad decision can
put your entire freedom in jeopardy forever. I think the Soldiers learned
the same and by being up close with the inmates you see the reality of being
in jail and the environment as a whole.
A battery of Soldiers assigned to an air defense artillery unit here donated more
than 15 cases of canned goods May 9 to go toward feeding the homeless in
downtown El Paso.
The food, collected by Soldiers assigned to Battery C, 5th Battalion, 52nd Air
Defense Artillery, was given to the Opportunity Center in downtown El Paso.
The Opportunity Center is a nonprofit organization whose mission it is to help
homeless men of all ages receive the basic necessities of food, shelter and water,
while providing them with medical care and a case worker to help them find em-
ployment.
Spc. Marcus Smith, a Patriot launching station operator and maintainer assigned
to Battery C, said he has taken part in sever-
al charity events since coming to 5th Bn.,
52nd ADA, three months ago. Throughout
the course of his volunteer work, Smith said
his mentality has changed after seeing
firsthand the immense impact his actions have on those he has helped.
“I really enjoy volunteering,” said Smith. “In the beginning I was just trying
to figure out if this is something I wanted to do or not. After doing it multi-
ple times I’ve realized giving back is something I love to do.”
Yvonne Herrera, the kitchen manager at the Opportunity Center, has
worked at the center for eight years and said she knows the importance of
any donations, regardless of the quantity or monetary value.
“We cook three meals a day, seven days a week, and provide an array of ser-
vices for these men,” said Herrera. “So we accept anything a person is will-
ing to give. These donations help us to ensure we can constantly provide
services and food for these men.”
Herrera said she also wants everyone to know that donations are always welcome, especially items like coffee,
sugar and spices that are used daily and are always in short supply.
5-52 Soldiers donate 15 cases of food to feed homeless in El Paso
Soldiers from Charlie Battery 5-52 ADA
helps bring in cases of food that was donated
by Soldiers of the unit.
Page 6 Cold Steel County Volume 1, I ssue 1
Soldiers from Charlie Battery 5-52 ADA
helps upload food that was donated by the
Soldiers of the unit.
Heroes’ Highlights