COMPANY B, 2ND BATTALION (ASSAULT)
224TH AVIATION REGIMENT
OPERATION JOINT FORGE, COMANCHE BASE
TUZLA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
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COMPANY B, 2ND BATTALION (ASSAULT) |
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“The Wings of Normandy”
2 November 2001
Although some of us have been in country over 2 months,
Bravo Company has just completed its 1st “official” month carrying
the soldiers and leaders of Task Force Eagle throughout the Balkan region. It
has been an extremely busy and successful time for the Beasts of Burden. We
have launched over 380 missions and logged over 800 flight hours while
conducting 24-hour operations. The incredibly hard work of our superb Crew
Chiefs has kept our Operational Readiness Rate at an astounding 91-94% (well
over the Army standard)! With approximately 5 months remaining on our
deployment, we expect to continue this high operational tempo (with a few snow
days slowing us down slightly).
We have flown to cities and towns with names you will
recognize, such as Sarajevo and Zagreb, Croatia. Others you may not recognize, but are equally as important to the
history and the future of this region such as, Srebrenica, Banja Luka,
Bijelina, Brcko, Doboj, Glamoc, Gorazda, Mostar, Sokolac, Uglevic, Visoko, and
Zenicia. We have also had the
opportunity to fly to Taszar, Hungary. We have had the privilege to work with
excellent soldiers from around the world.
The Portuguese, Russians, Dutch, Polish, and the famous Ghurkas from
India are among them.
Our aircrews continue to train hard on what they do
best; fix & fly Black Hawks. We recently participated in a multi-national,
combined arms live fire exercise which was covered in the Task Force Eagle
magazine ‘Talon’. The article was accompanied by several great photos including
one of SGT D.J. “I AM smiling”
Holmes in action. As B Co’s new Master Gunner, D.J. has done an outstanding job
preparing us for another upcoming Door Gunnery qualification. Another B Co celebrity Crew Chief, SGT
Warren “I’m the total package” Middlekauff has had his mug placed on the news
site at Yahoo.com.
I would like to encourage everyone to read CW2 Darel
“How do I say PROMOTE ME in Russian”
Gallagher’s trip report to the refuge camp that the Bravo Beasts are
sponsoring. We are also helping to sponsor an elementary school. These are people
that were driven from their homes during the war and lack the basic necessities
of everyday life. Those of you interested in helping through your church,
community association, or individually, please contact our Webmaster through
this site. We are privileged to help them improve their standard of living, as
well as regain their dignity. The pictures say it all!
We had the pleasure of hosting CPT David Bresser
during his week long recon of Comanche Base a couple of weeks ago. CPT Bresser
is the Commander of A Co, 2-25th Aviation from the 25th
Infantry Division in Hawaii. His company will be replacing us for the SFOR 11
rotation beginning next Spring. Needless to say, he received a warm welcome and
a “hurry back” from the Beasts!
We have been inspired by a terrific high school
(pre-military!) photo of SGT Johnny “That IS
my real hair” Rivera, and will be adding a new segment to our web site, so I
encourage you to mail a picture from your soldier’s early days to me for the
site. Thank you Mrs. Rivera! As soon as we get our scanner operational we will
begin posting these photos (& those of the B Co ladies) to the site.
Next week we will have a formation to promote Marvin
McKenney & Mark Becker to CW3, Jay Beauvais to CW4, and Jeff Laing to 1LT.
All four officers are well deserving of these promotions. We will also
recognize our 2 newest Pilots-In-Command; CW4 Jay “Please don’t make me fly
with Peterson again” Beauvais and CW2 Kevin “Will somebody PLEASE translate what the Michigan boys are saying!” Edwards.
After completing their mission training we are pleased
to welcome into the Virginia Night Fighter ranks: SGT Tony “The Lions ARE a pro team” Kruckeberg, SGT Lew “I
don’t do anything silly, so I don’t have a nickname” Swift, SGT Troy “Frampton
Live” Patterson, SGT Paul “Moose” Radford, SPC Paul “Mini-Moose” Sheridan, SPC
Bob “Billy Goat” Gavurnik, CW3 Donnie Rice, CW2 Darel Gallagher, CW2 Kevin
Edwards, CW2 Mike Krueger, and CW4 Jim McGuffey. We will promptly post photos
of the ceremony to the web site for all to see. To all of them go hearty
congratulations for this well deserved recognition of their aviation skills!
Very special congratulations go to Jesse and Chelsey
Ramirez on the birth of their 6 lb 7 oz son, Sebastian Mitchell on 4 OCT.
Our condolences go out to SSG Harry Newman’s family on
the loss of his step-mother.
Our love goes out to all of our family and friends. We hope you had a fun Halloween & are preparing for a wonderful Thanksgiving. Although we are temporarily separated from you, know that as Americans, we should all be thankful for all of the opportunities that our great country affords us. We hope to see your messages in the guest book!
NEAL J.
EDMONDS
CPT, Aviation
Commanding
“Bravo carries the Task Force!”
Commanders Newsletter #6
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