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5-2 Activation

The 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division officially activates at Fort Lewis Friday during a 10 a.m. ceremony at Soldiers Field House.

The 5th Brigade is the third and last Stryker Brigade to organize here. Currently the 3rd and 4th Brigades are deployed in Iraq.

Flu at Fort Lewis

Time Magazine has a news note from Dec. 16, 1940 discussing a mild flu outbreak that affected troops at Fort Lewis.

42nd MP's Honored

By Nancy Covert

The 42nd MP Brigade at Ft. Lewis was honored recently by Steilacoom Historical School District No. 1 and the Town of Steilacoom for its many contributions to the district and the town during the past decade.
Representatives from the Brigade received a Community Leadership Award, as part of a Washington Association of School Administrators ceremony on April 27. The award “for meritorious volunteer service to the school district and the town,” was presented by SHSD Superintendent Dr. Art Himmler and Steilacoom Mayor Ron Lucas at the early morning event, held at the Fife School District Administrative Center.

Community Leadership Awards also were presented to honorees from area school districts, including Clover Park and University Place.

In presenting the honor to the 42nd MP Brigade, Dr. Himmler said, “for more than ten years, the 42nd MP Brigade has been active in our town and in our schools.

“They serve in collective and individual roles, from the most menial (clean-up duties) to
highly labor-intensive (painting building exteriors) to the most important (tutoring students).
“They are in the highest sense of the term ‘citizen volunteers’—giving of their time and efforts willingly and generously.

“A comprehensive listing of their support activities,” Dr. Himmler said “would be much to lengthy to recite.”

Highlights of their service included: participating in the District’s Presidential Fitness Program with students; planning, supporting and physically placing the decorative walking stones for the recently completed labyrinth at Cherrydale Primary School; organizing a walk/run for diabetes with students, carrying out large-scale ‘policing the grounds’ activities around the schools; participating in the Paint Tacoma/Pierce Beautiful project; assisting the Town of Steilacoom with selection and delivery of the town’s winter holiday tree; re-decking the Pioneer Park bandstand and policing the grounds at the park during National Make A Difference Day; and providing logistical, labor and participatory support during the 4th of July parade.

The Friday presentation was the “first time” in WASA’s history that a military group was honored, and the group received a standing ovation, Dr. Himmler said.

5-20 PHOTOS

Here are some photos of 5-20 Strykers from Fort Lewis operating in and around Baqouba, Iraq last week.

Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Labrosse, a platoon sergeant in Company B, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, scans rooftops in Baqouba, Iraq, for insurgent activity April 23. Soldiers of 5-20 Inf. Regt., 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., began the clearing operation with Iraqi Army soldiers April 23 to rid the Tahrir neighborhood of insurgents. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

Spc. Edwin Kane of Company B, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, and a soldier from 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, move through a gate in Baquba, Iraq, April 23. Soldiers of 5-20 Inf. Regt., 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., began the clearing operation with Iraqi Army soldiers April 23 to rid the Tahrir neighborhood of insurgents. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

Capt. Antony Gore, second from left, talks to a family in Baqubah, Iraq, April 24. Capt. Gore is the commander of Company B, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment. Soldiers of 5-20 Inf. Regt., 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., began the clearing operation with Iraqi Army soldiers April 23 to rid the Tahrir neighborhood of insurgents. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

497th Trans Company

Sgt. Louis Olvera, a palletized load list specialist from Davidson, Okla., 497th Transportation Company out of Fort Lewis, Wash., processes parts received from the SSA in Al Asad, Iraq. (US Army photo by Sgt. KaRonda Fleming, 210th MPAD)

By Sgt. KaRonda Fleming, 13th SC(E), LSA ANACONDA PAO

The 497th Maintenance Company, 630th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 593rd Corps Support Group, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), has a 98 percent organizational equipment readiness in which their vehicles are equipped to go outside the wire at any time, said Sgt. 1st Class Mel Glenister, the motor maintenance supervisor.

The main repairs handled by the maintenance shop, also known as the ‘rough riders’ are level I maintenance, in which there is an exchange of parts, for example an engine, starter, or tire axle, said 1st Lt. Warren T. Posey, equipment readiness officer from Durham N.C.

Posey said over the last eight months, he has noticed several vehicles being hit by improvised explosive devises and electronically formed projectiles.

Depending on the damages, he said many of the vehicles are able to be given back to the fleet. An estimated cost of damage determines whether vehicles are coded out or repaired.

“We are a maintenance section comprised of about 15 mechanics coming out of Fort Lewis, Wash.,” Glenister said.

Generally, the company fixes five-ton medium-light vehicles; however, since their arrival to Iraq, they have been working on the heavy equipment of 10-tons and above, he said.

Glenister said “The biggest hurdle we had to get over was having to adjust fire from working on five-tons to working on 10-ton vehicles.”

We do all kinds of maintenance repairs for palletized loading systems and heavy equipment transporters, said Staff Sgt. William R. Mobley, PLS supervisor from Sacramento, Calif.

“We do a lot of moving around equipment from one place to a different place,” Mobley said. “If we don’t get it done, then there’s no one else here to get it done. We have to keep it rolling so servicemembers can get their mission accomplished.”

Having a good maintenance shop doesn’t come single-handedly. Servicemembers must also remember to keep their vehicles in good shape by checking them on a routine basis.

“The most important thing for Soldiers is to perform preventive maintenance checks and services on their vehicles by the book, by the manual, no shortcuts,” Posey said.

“The technical manuals the Army provide for us for every piece of equipment has a lot of engineering and a lot of data that you can’t memorize,” he said. “So, PMCS by the book, to the standard, is the foundation and the key to our success here.”

MORE PHOTOS
CLICK HERE TO SEE SIX OTHER 497TH PHOTOS AT BLACK ANTHEM.

Sister's Journal

The Everett Herald has a piece on a local soldier's sister who kept a journal of her brother's experiences in Iraq.

Soldier's Suicide

The Seattle Times has a piece this morning on the suicide of David Ramsey.

Cleaning Crew

Soldiers from Fort Lewis helped folks in Olympia spruce up the streets during an annual cleanup. The Olympian has a report here.

Choppers From Post Stir Up Community

The Daily World in Aberdeen has a story on Fort Lewis Blackhawks than landed in Grays Harbor Thursday during a training exercise.

Farewell, Sir

I will miss Lt. Gen. Dubik.

He will relinquish command of I Corps and Fort Lewis to Brig. Gen. William Troy, the post’s deputy commanding general, on Monday, April 26th.

Dubik has been assigned to take over leadership of the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq.  He faces a daunting task … to accelerate the training of the Iraqi Police and the Iraqi Army while building the institutions required to sustain them.

Dubik sought the job, one that general officers from other branches of service sought as well.  Dubik, however, was chosen and confirmed by the Senate.  He assumes his new responsibilities in the middle of May.

“I am glad and honored to be selected,” he said.

And very humble; he is well aware of the human cost.

At this moment, ninety-nine Fort Lewis soldiers have died in Iraq.  When asked if there would be any significance to the loss of the post’s 100th soldier, Dubik quietly said no.

“Numbers don’t carry the human weight of a single death,” he added.

But Dubik made it clear that if the ideology and attendant force of terrorism are not confronted, they will continue to be a threat to our children.

“On behalf of my grandchildren, I want it stopped,” stated Dubik.

And he is grateful for the sacrifices made by the soldiers under his command and their family members.  He knows they have been asked to sacrifice much. 

“They know the demands are important; that it is worth their sacrifices,” he added. 

And they know that he cares.

God’s Speed, Sir.

J.M. Simpson

If you would like to wish Lt. Gen. Dubik and his wife, Ms. Sharon Basso, farewell, please feel free to comment.