Dreadnaught Newsletter downrange Dec

Dreadnaught Newsletter

Family and Friends of the Dreadnaughts,

As we complete compiling this final newsletter for the deployment, our

proud battalion can be found spread between Ft. Riley, Kansas; Manus, Kyr-

gyzstan; Kandahar Airfield, and FOB Sarkari Karez (Ramrod). Redeploy-

ment is very much upon us and we have welcomed our successors here in

Maiwand, 3-71 CAV. They have been doing several operations with us for

weeks now and stand ready to take on the battlespace.

CSM McDwyer and I are completing Command Information Briefs for all

Soldiers as they flow out of our FOB and towards home. These briefs have

given us the chance to highlight the countless successes during the deploy-

ment and all the areas in which they can be immensely proud of themselves

and their units. There is not enough space on this page or this newsletter to

possibly list all those achievements; I will simply say that the Command

Sergeant Major and I are incredibly proud.

All the successes for the battalion, especially in the last fighting month of

November have come at an incredible cost. Last month we saw three of our

best Soldiers, PFC Cody Norris, SFC Dennis Murray and SGT Ryan Sharp,

pay the ultimate sacrifice while operating on the farthest reaches of the dis-

trict. These men were not simply well known, but loved, by most of the bat-

talion - their memories will never leave us.

As we bring the remainder of the battalion home, I want to thank everyone

for their support and patience during the last nine months. It has been a

long enough deployment for Soldiers and Families – lives have changed dur-

ing this period and it will take the next few months of joyous reunion to

properly reintegrate. I am firmly convinced that the Families back home

have had a much greater challenge over the last year – while the conditions

were different, the responsibility to care for children and one another can be

no greater. Thank you so much and thanks to your peer spouses who

stepped up as leaders among you during the hardest times.

Fear God, Dreadnaught.

LTC Chris Kidd

Company Arti-

cles

Pg 2 -

Pg 7

Rear D. Pgs 8

Pictures from

the Front

Pg 9-

10

Inside this issue:

Battalion Commander

December 2011

2-34 Armor CAB

8462 Kitty Drive

Fort Riley, KS 66442


HEADQUARTERS AND HEADQUARTERS COMPANY 2ND BN 34TH ARMOR REGIMENT

DEC 2011

HOPLITES Homeward

Greetings Hoplite Nation!

As many of you know redeployment

is just around the corner. Your

HOPLITE Soldier’s homecoming is

indeed a special time. Tears of joy

will be shed, “I love you” will be

said and hugs will be plentiful. I can

say with absolute confidence it has

been an honor serving with your

Soldier. They are direct reflection

of what makes America great. It is

humbling watching them in action,

in their daily struggles and tri-

umphs. No task is too daunting, as

these Soldiers continuously rise to

any occasion with the kind of opti-

mism and pride that is distinctly

American!

When you finally embrace your

HOPLITE Soldier once again, know

that they have done their job with

professionalism and honor. The men

and women of HHC have truly made

a positive influence here in Af-

ghanistan.

Redeployments can also be a diffi-

cult time as you and your Soldier.

“Getting back to normal” can take

some time. From my own experi-

ences with redeployments, patience

and communication are the two

most important things you can

have with your loved ones. Myself

and my company leadership will do

all that we can to ensure you and

your Soldier have as many rede-

ployment re-sources available as

necessary. “Getting back to normal”

can be relatively

quick and pleasant for some families.

For some families it could just be

spending quality time together during

an afternoon off. Other families might

utilize resources like our Battalion

Chaplain and still others might seek

out professional help. Regard-less of

your situation please remember that

we will assist any HOPLITE family as

much as necessary.

For specific redeployment information

I encourage you to contact our FRG

Leader, Mrs. Angie Mares or CPT Ricky

Brown our Rear- Detachment com-

mander. They hold regular meetings

and put out very specific information

regarding the dates of redeployment

flights, ceremonies, etc. If you are not

in the Fort Riley area please e-mail

myself or the Rear-Detachment Com-

mander to be added to our e-mail dis-

tro lists.

We recommend not sending any mail to

your HOPLITE after 1 DEC. It will

probably not reach your Soldier be-

fore they redeploy. Contact your Sol-

dier for specific information on their

redeployment timeline.

Again it has been an absolute honor to

be deployed with your HOPLITE Sol-

dier!

CPT Benjamin Ryder “HOPLITE 6”

ABOVE: CPT Ryder inside an old

British Fort from the 1880’s.

THE HOPLITE HERALD

Soldiers, Family Members, and Supporters of the Orphans,

Time continues to rapidly pass us by as November has come and gone– before we know it’ll be January and we’ll be on

our way home. It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the loss of another one of our brothers, PFC Cody Norris, who was killed in

action on 09 NOV 11 while working to establish a new COP after we had transitioned our COP last month. We also wish a

speedy recovery for PV2 Randall Donovan who was wounded in an IED strike on 21 NOV 11. With our move to Sarkari Kariz this

month, we’ve seen a significant change in our pace of operations and way of living. Now based out of a larger FOB, we are able

to get larger support for different things and our operations have changed from focusing on one specific area to moving across

several areas to conduct operations. With this change of operations, we are also now temporarily under a new headquarters, 3-

71 CAV. Our reception by their commander, LTC Kirkpatrick, and their staff has been exceptional; they have been very suppor-

tive in our integration into the squadron’s missions. While these larger operations across the battalion area can be daunting and

challenging at times, we continue to execute with a high level of proficiency as we know that we are setting up our follow-on units

for success with our hard work and continue to make Afghanistan a better place. While there is still plenty of work to be done, we

remain focused on our mission and with a little more than a month and a half left to go, the thought of home continues to keep

each man pushing to the end.

-CPT Donald E. Sedivy, “Orphan 6

Orphan Families and Friends,

Another month has come and gone, hope everyone is doing well. We are now into our last months of the deployment and

continuing to push forward until we get home. As most of you know by now we have transitioned over our COP and now consoli-

dated with the BN on Sarkari Karez. Our OPTEMPO will continue as we transition our battle space over to the new owners;

please be patient if you don’t hear from your spouse in a couple of days. November was a good and bad month for us; a lot more

of your spouses got promoted. It was a bad one for us as we had a WIA and one fallen hero. I ask you to keep the loved ones of

our fallen Warrior in your thoughts and prayers as we will. All of you should be tracking on the dates of our return home; we will be

flying by companies minus the TORCH and ADVON personnel. All hard dates will be published and placed on the VFRG web-

page, so if you haven’t signed up please get with the FRG Leader and do so. As we continue to push for-

ward you do the same and take care of yourselves and each other. - Orphan 7 out

-1SG Tony Reese “Orphan 7”

Alpha Company - ORPHANS

1SG Reese handling business to make sure the company is ready to accomplish any mis-

sion.

CPT Sedivy wishing a fond farewell to Elders at COP Atta Mohammad as we finished our transi-

tion to FOB SK .

Bravo Company - BLACK DRAGONS


DRAGON FAMILIES, This is our last letter from deployment and its amazing how fast the last eight months have gone for Dragon Company. Also, at the time of this writing, the entire company is finally back under one roof. As of last week, 3rd Platoon has moved back to FOB Azizullah and is part of Dragon Company again. We did have to give up our adopted Ar-tillery platoon, but we still see them on a daily basis. Now that 3rd Platoon’s mission at COP AJK is complete, we have started integrating them back into the Company organization and preparing containers for shipment back to Fort Riley. But our mission is not quite done yet. We still have a few missions that our Soldiers will be pouring more hard work into before it’s all done. Needless to say, though, that the Dragons are working hard to ensure that we get as much done as we can and set up future units that work here in the Kandahar province with the best possible chance at success. The weather has cooled off here, which makes operations much more bearable, but it’s no where near as cold as we see from the weather reports from Fort Riley. The Soldiers of Dragon Company are in for a shock when we return home. It seems like we left just when winter was ending and it’s going to be interesting to come home back into the bitter cold months. But nothing, not even the cold, is stopping the Soldiers from looking forward to being home again. Despite all the hard work and accomplishments over the past eight months, we are still looking forward to being back with our friends and families. And spending some time on Leave! Thanks again to all of our supporters who have helped us through the deployment your encouragement and words have reminded us of what we fight for. Thank you again for all you have done and we look forward to seeing you all again. DRAGONS! CPT Fechter

Fighting Aces Families,

It has been another busy month for the Fighting Aces here in Afghanistan. This month the Aces con-

ducted numerous air assaults, countless patrols and even had an outstanding Thanksgiving Dinner.

There were four Fighting Aces promoted this month;

SGT Schoonover (3rd PLT), SGT Doyle (3rd PLT), SGT

Elrod (4th PLT), and 1LT Rey (HQ Plt). These Soldiers

have performed exceptionally during the deployment

and truly deserve their promotions.

With all the hard work from the Cooks, Thanksgiving

dinner was a big success. As tradition, during Thanks-

giving all Officers and Senior Enlisted serve the Sol-

diers. This year LTC Kidd, CSM McDwyer, and MAJ

Ayers came to COP Hutal and served along with the

Aces Company leadership.

As the month of November comes to a close, we are edging closer and closer to redeployment. I ask all of

our Families to stay connected to the Family Readiness Group for the latest and greatest information.

December will be, as usual, a very busy time for the Company. We will continue our patrols, pack up

equipment, and welcome the replacing unit. I wish everyone a happy holiday season and a happy New

Year.

Aces 6-

From the Commander’s Desk

Delta Company - DAUNTLESS


Friends and Family of

DAUNTLESS,

As the month of November has

moved past and we move into the

holiday season, dauntless

has maintained our high opera-

tional tempo. Several more Air

Assaults have been completed

along with a 96 hour operation

that finished on the morning of

Thanksgiving. Through it all,

your Soldiers have proven why

they are the most mobile and agile

force in the Brigade Combat

Team.

It pains me to announce the

loss of SFC Dennis Murray, who

was heroically killed in action.

His actions saved many Soldiers.

We held the memorial for SFC

Murray on the evening of the 26th

to a beautiful sun-set, truly fitting

the man we memorialized. It will

be your Soldiers future actions,

endeavors, and leadership that

will be the true memorial to him.

We also had several wounded

in action to include SGT Perez,

SSG Alvarez, CPL Sharp, PFC

Kemp, SSG Vickers (attached

EOD), and 1SG Mosher. We all

send prayers for a good and

speedy recovery knowing how

tough and mentally strong each of

them are.

There is no doubt that our op-

erations are dangerous, however

you must know that each and

every Soldier in Dauntless

and our attachments have per-

formed flawlessly, with

courage and honor. We continue

to fight a tough enemy who can

only hope to take our fighting

spirit away from us in order to

intimidate the population of Af-

ghanistan.

Through the trials we have

endured, encouraging signs

abound. Though we are missing

several of our key leaders, many

younger NCO’s and Soldiers have

stepped up to ensure our contin-

ued success in all of our missions.

As we close in on the final

weeks of our deployment, I could

not be prouder of each and every

Soldier in this formation. Your

loved ones are truly courageous

and have kept the true meaning of

DAUNTLESS. Each man has

contributed more than his share to

our continued success throughout

the deployment.

Our spirits remain high as the

Christmas season closes upon us.

Several care packages enclosed

decorations that immediately went

up after Thanksgiving, just like

they would in the U.S. We know

that many of us will not be with

our families this Christmas, how-

ever each of us knows that the

family that is Dauntless

company will celebrate in every

way we can. Our greatest Christ-

mas present will be the upcoming

trip home to Ft. Riley.

As we look to transition be-

tween combat operations and the

long trip home, your continued

support will be vital in ensuring

your Soldiers focus and drive. I

can-not thank each and every one

of you enough for your sup-port

throughout the deployment and I

know your work will not stop as

we continue our journey. Even as

we be-gin to arrive home, the sup-

port you provide will need to con-

tinue. The enduring test that will

continue is how we take care of

each other.

I will also ask your patience

with the redeployment process

and know that the FRG will be in

touch with our leaders here to

ensure the most accurate and up-

to-date information is being dis-

seminated.

Again, I cannot be prouder of

each and every Solider in

Dauntless. They have

shown true faith and courage in

the face of battle and will be

stronger for the trials they have

had while completing this deploy-

ment. The work they have done

has gone far to save American and

Afghani lives. Dauntless

Soldiers will forever be written in

the history as the most flexible,

mo-bile, and agile force in West-

ern Kandahar.

I look forward to being able to

meet each of you as we come

home and maintain the large fam-

ily that Dauntless has be-

come.

Jared

December 2011 Newsletter

HQ:

Happy Holidays to the family and friends of Headquarters Platoon. During the month of November SSG Mi-

chael Tschudi and his family welcomed their new daughter Brittany Joelle. She was born 09NOV11 weighing

8lbs and 19in. Headquarters Platoon has kept very busy preparing for redeployment back to Fort Riley. We

recently downsized and moved into a new office location making room for the new incoming unit. The orderly

room is now headed up by newly promoted SGT Xuan Zhao and SPC Shoel Uddin is the new orderly room

clerk. SSG Shanikque Nappier and PFC Tina Spieghts are working hard to get all of the company equipment

ready to be inventoried and transferred so Fox Company can begin movement back to Fort Riley at the end of

December.

1LT Nederhoed

Auto:

Auto Platoon is working hard to finish services and repairs for the battalion’s vehicle and generator fleet as

they prepare for redeployment. Auto Platoon recently completed their most extensive maintenance project, the

rebuild of M-ATV Charlie 11. The vehicle had received massive front end damage from an IED and with

Bradley mechanic SPC Jared Kuhns leading the project, the M-ATV was rebuilt to” like new” condition. SPC

Donte Sinkler has also kept very busy this month putting his artistic skills to work painting Dreadnaught

plaques for the battalion that were welded from scratch by CPL Daniel Wilkinson. These plaques of the Dread-

naught crest took over 15 man hours to compete 1 and this team produced nearly 27 plaques. Over the next

month Auto Platoon will continue its hard work in the motor pool and begin to prep for redeployment.

1LT Nederhoed

Distro Platoon:

Hello again for the last time from FOB Sarkari Karez! Distro Platoon switched gears this month from back-

hauling equipment at A Co. Orphans old COP, to moving all classes of supply to C Troop 3-71’s new home at

Pa’in Kelay. We’re continuing to support the Battalion with checkpoint builds, emplacing security barriers,

and of course making our regular scheduled logistical runs. One notable project completed this month was the

delivery of 1100 bags of wheat seed to the District Center in Hutal. This seed will be given to select Afghan

farmers to plant in their fields instead of growing poppy or marijuana. On top of everything that has been go-

ing on this month the platoon has had some memorable moments: Congratulations to Mrs. Price and Mrs. Wier

on the birth of children and to SPC Wier and SPC Lira for being promoted to Sergeant!

2LT Chris Ciman

Fox Company would like to thank all of our family, friends and sponsors for all of the thoughts, prayers and

generous support we have received. We are truly grateful to have such a supportive network of

people who genuinely care for our Soldiers. From everyone in the FSC, we collectively say,

“Thank You”.

CPT Swinford

Forward Support Company - TWO GUN

Friends and Families of the Dreadnaught Battalion,

As I look back on November, I cannot help but reflect that it was a long month. Despite the fact that we had

two very important holidays during those 30 days, it was a long month. It was a month I will not soon for-

get… and more importantly, I will never forget the men and the sacrifices made during this long month. I’d

like to take a moment to acknowledge the sacrifices of our fallen heroes, PFC Cody R. Norris, SFC Dennis R.

Murray, and SGT Ryan D. Sharp. Please keep their families in your thoughts and prayers. These men paid the

ultimate sacrifice. Many and more men were injured and I would entreat everyone to keep them in your

thoughts and prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery.

The first holiday that was recognized this past month was Veterans Day… probably a very poignant holiday

for anyone reading these remarks. Originally recognized as Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World

War I, it has since become the holiday to honor all Veterans of all wars fought by the United States. For those

of us in uniform, it is a day to reflect on what we represent, why we do what we do, and the places we have

been. But there is no federal holiday for the families of these proud Soldiers who also have to carry quite the

burden of supporting and loving a veteran. We recognized it with heavy hearts and took the time to ponder

the meaning of such a solemn holiday.

Next, we observed the Thanksgiving Holiday. I, personally, had the opportunity to serve our 2-34 Rear De-

tachment Soldiers among others from within the Brigade and across Fort Riley, Thanksgiving Dinner in the

Devil’s Den Dining Facility. It was a truly rewarding experience following a long week. I hope you all did as

I did and took the time to show thanks for the things we do have and for the Soldiers that serve. Although I, as

well as most of the Dreadnaught Soldiers, were away from our biological nuclear families, I, as well as the

Soldiers currently in Afghanistan, spent the holiday with adopted family, with our brothers and sisters in arms

and gave thanks for the bonds that unite us as Soldiers in the United States Army. Although this is an often

thankless job, we continue to serve dutifully because we are an honor bound organization that will never quit

until the fight is won!

I hope that my words have not been too somber, because we have plenty to be thankful for and rejoice

about! Our first set of Redeployers will be coming back within a few short weeks and I truly look forward to

welcoming them home. After that, it will only be a few more quick weeks until all Dreadnaughts are home

and then we will truly celebrate!

Fear God, Dreadnaught!

Ricky L. Brown

CPT, EN

Commander

E CO, 2-34 AR

Work: 785-239-1763

BB: 785-213-0588

Rear Detachment - SENTINELS


The Ft Riley Enlisted Spouses Club is hosting a Christmas

Mocktail party from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at McClellan Place

Neighborhood Center on December 15, 2010. There will be a gift

exchange, games, mocktails, and great door prizes. Please bring

a $10 cocktail themed gift for the gift exchange. We are asking

that you com...e in cocktail attire. There is free childcare for all

ESC members to take advantage of during our meetings. Chil-

dren must be registered with the ASYMCA. Please RSVP by

December 8, 2010 to [email protected] or

http://fortrileyesc.web.officelive.com/ (ESC members: Include

names and ages of children if needing the childcare at the

ASYMCA).

Thank you, Tracey Duffy

PICTURES FROM THE FRONT

Page 9 Dreadnaught Newsletter

http://fortrileyesc.web.officelive.com/


The Ft Riley Enlisted Spouses Club is hosting a Christmas

Mocktail party from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at McClellan Place

Neighborhood Center on December 15, 2010. There will be a gift

exchange, games, mocktails, and great door prizes. Please bring

a $10 cocktail themed gift for the gift exchange. We are asking

that you com...e in cocktail attire. There is free childcare for all

ESC members to take advantage of during our meetings. Chil-

dren must be registered with the ASYMCA. Please RSVP by

December 8, 2010 to [email protected] or

http://fortrileyesc.web.officelive.com/ (ESC members: Include

names and ages of children if needing the childcare at the

ASYMCA).

Thank you, Tracey Duffy

PICTURES FROM THE FRONT

Page 10 Dreadnaught Newsletter

http://fortrileyesc.web.officelive.com/

Dreadnaught Newsletter downrange Dec

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