1st Recon Bn. October Update       Provided by LtCol. Higgins

C.O.’s Message:


CO’s Message: Ladies and gentlemen, in some ways it seems hard to believe but this will be the last update we provide from Iraq and the Marines of 1st Recon Battalion will be home in less than 3 weeks. Our time here often seems drawn out day to day, but in looking back it has really flown by. The most amazing thing is how much things have changed out here in a relatively short 6 months period. When we arrived the kinetic fight with enemy elements was still very much ongoing and the Marines and Sailors of the Battalion represented themselves in stellar fashion all over the battlefield of Iraq. As we turn over our operation to the Marines and Sailors of 2nd Recon Battalion it is a much different fight than the one that we entered into in April. In my recent brief with Col Simcock who is the Commanding Officer of the Regiment that we work for (RCT-6), he stated that Recon has in many ways worked themselves out of a job which is a very good thing indeed. I have said before that we are seen as fire fighters out here that are sent into the hot spots that pop up. At this point in time all the big fires have been put out, and while there are some smoldering areas still remaining, things have really become quiet on the whole. In the big picture what we have done is help set the security conditions so that the Iraqi government and military can take and maintain the lead role in the fight out here. And while we certainly cannot leave Iraq yet, things in Al Anbar Province are significantly improved and clearly on the right track. Hopefully this will allow for more Marines to return home in the months ahead as the Iraqis assume responsibility of the day to day security and governance with Coalition Forces assisting as required. I cannot thank all of you enough for the support and prayers you have provided over the past few months and I look forward to thanking you all in person as the opportunity arises in the weeks ahead.

Semper Fidelis,

LtCol Higgins

 

 

Sgt. Major’s Message:

Everything is in order the Cubs are in the playoffs, the Packers are 4-0; Oh you thought I was going to write about our deployment ending gotcha.!! I wrote in an earlier newsletter (when the leaves turn brown the boys will be back in town). We are all looking forward to our replacements arrival the Marines have gone out of their way to ensure a successful turn over. We wish them all the best! Congratulations to all the Marines who have received promotions, awards, Marine and NCO of the Quarters honors over the last seven months. I think we have left a lasting impression with 2 MEF and RCT 6. I know for sure we have some of the finest Marines, men, sons, husbands, fathers that America and the Corps has to offer. The Marines seem excited about the upcoming Birthday Ball and an Ice Cold Budweiser. Cubs Win! Cubs Win! (CO’s edit, Cubs lost, but the Pack is Back!!!)



SgtMaj

Marine of the issue:

“Corporals course was one of many tasks that occupied my time when I was off-duty. Keeping your mind fresh is vital for a smooth deployment. Idle minds breed complacency.” Cpl. Quitevis has a long list of accomplishments for this deployment from earning his brown belt in MCMAP to becoming the Honor grad of Cpl’s Course. Looking forward into the future Cpl. Quitevis has put in for a officers package and is standing by for its approval.

 

In Bravo Co.’s World:


Hello again to our family and friends. October has finally arrived and Bravo Company will soon be back in Camp Pendleton before you know it! We are winding things down here and eagerly awaiting the arrival of 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion. Things continue to go well, recently Bravo Company finally was able to operate as an entire company for the first time and the men performed admirably. Once again we got to visit our favorite abandoned lakefront casino; it seems the company can not get away (literally) from this place (there is a story behind this, but there is no way I could possibly do it justice here, you will have to wait for your Marine or Doc to tell you about it). We were able to (finally) take a company photo, Master Sergeant Hans Gruber was the catalyst for getting this photo taken and set up all the logistics. Those of you that know Hans are aware that he is a man of pomp and circumstance, spit and polish, and a keeper of tradition (and if you believe this, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I will sell you). 'Congratulations to Sergeant Richard Fitzgerald, Sergeant King Ritchie III, and Sergeant Jason Westerman on their selections to Staff Sergeant! Congratulations also to their better halves, Stephanie Fitzgerald, Jessica Ritchie, and Jennifer Westerman. Their selections are well deserved and a testament to their dedication and commitment to our Corps!' Kudos to Corporal Mike ‘Drews’ Andrews on his reenlistment. We recently promoted the following Marines to Sergeant: Rich Baldinell, Travis Bell, Clayton Dykes, Michael Lopez, Josh Matthews, James ‘Mac’ McMillin, Taylor Morgan, Aaron Tenorio, and Jeremy Yingling. We also awarded Good Conduct Medals to Sergeants Rich Baldinell, Michael Lopez, Josh Matthews, James McMillin, Peter ‘Petey’ Nealen, and Corporal Brian Kolo. A bunch of the company’s senior leadership (AKA: the really old guys) were also awarded Good Conduct Medals: Master Sergeant Hans Gruber (6th award), and Gunnery Sergeants Jimmy Stahl (5th award) and Rodger Turner (5th award). Sergeant Garrett Scharffer was recently selected as the Battalion’s Noncommissioned Officer of the Quarter this past quarter for his outstanding performance and awarded a Certificate of Commendation! This marks the fourth consecutive quarter that an NCO from Bravo Company has been awarded this prestigious honor, it seems that Bravo Company has taken ‘ownership’ of this award. As, I have mentioned time and time before, Captain Nichols and I are truly spoiled, and we have a great bunch of Marines and Sailors, you should be very proud of them, we are! Sadly we recently said good bye to A-3 (as the British said in WWII, ‘we were glad to see them come…but then we were bloody glad to see them go’) who is under the leadership of Captain Jay Armas and Staff Sergeant Brett Penner. It is almost like the 13th MEU never left, we hear from them time to time. The Marines and Sailors here are excited that their beloved Red Sox finished with the best record in MLB, they all have pennant fever! They are more excited about the Battalion Ball that is just right around the corner (November 9th). Gunny Turner claims he can get the Tampa Bay Buccaneer cheerleaders to attend the Ball, but we’ll see? During the past year Bravo Company has trained hard and worked even harder, soon it will be time for them to party hard! They are all looking forward to putting on their ‘Blues’ and tearing it up in downtown San Diego, we should be OK, as we will have TWO Sergeants Major to keep us out of trouble! Just in case, does any one have a number to a bail bondsman for the San Diego area? Thanks again to the KVN and the RBE for all their hard work, particularly on putting the Ball together. As always, please feel to contact me, First Sergeant Carlo Gaita, at carlo.gaita@gcemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil if you need anything from our end. Go Patriots! First Sergeant Carlo Gaita, at carlo.gaita@gcemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil if you need anything from our end.


 

In Charlie Co.’s Corner:


Friends and family of Company C, greetings again from Camp Fallujah. This is the last newsletter before our homecoming and although things have slowed down your Marines and Sailors continue to do great things. I can tell you we are very excited to be handing over our duties to the capable hands of the Marines from 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion and are very much looking forward to their arrival. Also we are very happy to report the fact that it is rapidly cooling off here and we continue to enjoy the relative cool days of only 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The Marines and Sailors of the company are occupying their free time by trying to regain lost fitness in the gym and on the road; they are also trying to regain the weight they lost during the summer months by eating plenty in the dinning facilities. Well, in closing we all look forward to seeing or friends and families and I speak for the entire company in again thanking everyone for their continued support with mail and care packages. The support and care that we have received from the home front throughout the deployment has been tremendous and has meant so much to the entire company We could not accomplish our mission with out your support and the peace of mind that you provide is priceless. From all of the Marines in the company please take care and we will see you in the near future.






Cpl Johnson admiring his handy work while holding 20 lbs of C4.

 

Standing tall in H&S Co.:


Well it’s finally here. Headquarters and Service Company is still staying busy supporting the line companies but we are also changing over with our 2nd Recon counterparts. Although most of the Marines have been staying busy with the change over the extra work doesn’t seem to be bothering anyone. We recently were paid a visit by the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps and he spoke to many of the Marines on Camp Fallujah. Corporal Quitevis was chosen to receive a coin from the Sergeant Major. We had many things happen on the 1st day of October with temps below 100 degrees for the first time in months, we promoted twelve Marines to Corporal, three to Sergeant and Captain Dinsmore pinned on Major. Congrats to all of the newly promoted Marines. I would like to thank you all for supporting your Marines during this deployment. Without that support on the home front it makes deployments harder then they already are. I know that they appreciated everything and are looking forward to seeing you all upon our return. Thanks again, 1stSgt Smith 1stSgt Smith

On Camp Fallujah: :


After getting ambushed with water balloons and water guns Chief got the upper hand on his sailors with a hose. Visiting Camp Fallujah two weeks ago Chuck Norris met with Marines shaking hands and taking pictures with all. Last week the 16th SgtMaj. of the Marine Corps, SgtMaj. Kent came to see the Marines here on Camp Fallujah answering any questions Marines had for him. A friendly reminder to all the friends and family from the mail clerk-hold on to mail from this point on because it will not reach us in time before we reach home. “It’s been a pleasure serving all of you, I hope everyone enjoyed the News letters!”

Cpl. Hruby.



Promotions:


1. LCpl. Beinar                        31. Cpl. Naylor                        61. Sgt. Olsen
2. LCpl. Bohlinger                    32. Cpl. Nelson                       62. Sgt. Patterson
3. LCpl. Peters                        33. Cpl. Ovando                      63. Sgt. Ramussen
4. Cpl. Blank                           34. Cpl. Peel                          64. Sgt. Reynolds
5. Cpl. Brown                          35. Cpl. Peters                        65. Sgt. Rhett
6. Cpl. Burke                          36. Cpl. Phillips                        66 Sgt. Schmutzer
7. Cpl. Cameron                      37. Cpl. Rodeffer                       67. Sgt. Sprague
8. Cpl. Campbell                     38. Cpl. Smith                          68. Sgt. Stephan
9. Cpl. Cook                           39. Cpl. Springer                       69. Sgt Sytsma
10. Cpl. Dasso                        40. Cpl. Terpstra                       70. Sgt Tenorio
11. Cpl. Doyle                         41. Cpl. Tumbrink                     71. Sgt. Yingling
12. Cpl. Everett                        42. Cpl. Weaver                       72. Maj. Dinsmore
13. Cpl. Ewers                         43. Cpl. Weisrock
14. Cpl. Fullwood                     44. Sgt. Almeida
15. Cpl. Garcia                        45. Sgt. Alonso
16. Cpl. Green                         46. Sgt. Baldinell
17. Cpl. Gullo                          47. Sgt. Bell
18. Cpl. Hannula                      48. Sgt. Broeder
19. Cpl. Heggen                       49. Sgt. Caldas
20. Cpl. Herig                          50. Sgt. Clark
21. Cpl. Iglesias                               51. Sgt. Dykes
22. Cpl. Irwin                                     52. Sgt. Gomez
23. Cpl. Jerman                                53. Sgt. Hartzheim
24. Cpl. Johnson J.                          54 Sgt. Hinkson
25. Cpl. Jonhson W.                        55. Sgt. Honcoop
26. Cpl. Kallin                                   56. Sgt. Leal
27. Cpl. Lee                                      57. Sgt. Lopez Heredia
28. Cpl. Loyd                                    58. Sgt. Mathews
29. Cpl. Maxedon                            59. Sgt. McGrew
30. Cpl. Munn                                  60. Sgt. Morgan

 

Reenlistments:

 

1. Sgt. Davis
2. Sgt. Rivera
3. MSgt. Hanus


FIRST ROW: SSGT PENA, GYSGT TURNER, GYSGT STAHL, GYSGT WILLIAMS, MSGT GRUBER, 1STSGT GAITA, CAPT NICHOLS, CAPT ABELL, CAPT TARANTA, CAPT ADAMS, CAPT BAKER, HM1 HARBISON.
SECOND ROW: LCPL DENNEY, SGT DOYLE, SGT SANDERFORD, CPL ANDREWS, SSGT BOTTEMA, SGT BLACKWELL, SGT FITZGERALD, SGT WESTERMAN, SGT SMITH, SGT MCMILLIN, SGT BYERS, SGT RITCHIE, SSGT BRUKARDT.
THIRD ROW: SGT MCINTOSH, CPL GRIGER, CPL JOHNSTED, CPL VACULIK, CPL BESEKE, CPL FOLTERMANN, CPL LOPEZ, CPL CRANE, CPL MILLER, CPL CLOVER, CPL POLLOCK-JACOBSEN.
FOURTH ROW: SGT MOULTON, SGT LEE, CPL SEAVER, HM3 JOHNSON, SGT MATTAMAL, SGT COWIN, SGT WATKINS, HM2 SARRAZIN, CPL BRADLEY, CPL FOWLER, HM3 LEE.
FIFTH ROW: CPL TENORIO, CPL KLOBNAK, CPL BALDINELL, CPL MATTHEWS, SGT NEALEN, CPL SWITZER, CPL PETRO, CPL BECKERLEG, CPL MURATORI, CPL PARKER.
SIXTH ROW: CPL GRIFFIS, CPL JUNGERS, CPL PIHL, CPL SCHUSTER, SGT SCHARFFER, CPL MARVIN, CPL BELCHER, CPL ANDERSON J, CPL DEMORET, SGT GIEGER.
SEVENTH ROW: SGT BERRIOS, CPL STRAUSS, CPL BELL, SGT TEMPLIN, CPL MORGAN, CPL KOLO, CPL ZUMMALLEN.
EIGHT ROW: HM2 LEMAR, HM3 RAYMOND, CPL FULLER, CPL PAPE, CPL ANDERSON D., CPL ZIMMERMAN, CPL YINGLING, CPL DYKES, CPL HEBERT, SGT MORRIS.