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4-2 To Be Honored

From the City of Lakewood...

City to honor the 4-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT)

Lakewood’s Community Connection to Fort Lewis, the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division returned to Fort Lewis in June after a 15-month deployment to Iraq. The City will have a program on Monday, August 4th at 7pm (as part of the regular council meeting) to recognize the brigade’s deployment and its sacrifices. The brigade was an integral part of the Army’s “surge” effort which has been widely credited for quelling violence in Iraq.

The program will consist of the following:

➢ Introduction of the 2008 “Lakewood Idol” winner, Maureen Elias, an Army veteran and Army wife who will sing the National Anthem.
➢ A Proclamation recognizing the “2008 Army Times Soldier of the Year” winner, First Sergeant William Harlan, a Lakewood citizen and 4-2 SBCT Soldier.
➢ Comments and video by Colonel Jon Lehr, the 4-2’s brigade commander
➢ Unveiling of a memorial plaque prototype identifying the 54 soldiers (assigned and attached) who died while serving with the brigade in Iraq.
➢ A brief social period with refreshments.

Fort Lewis Soldier Tops

Army Times announced that Fort Lewis's 1st Sgt. William Harlan is the paper's Soldier of the Year Click here for the report.

Cross Base Starting

The road that will connect Spanaway with I-5 via Fort Lewis started construction this week. Click here for the WSDOT report.

Strykers Protested in Oly

Stryker equipment back from Iraq lands this week in Olympia. Expect plenty of protests. Click here for the Olympian's report.

David Hardt

Time to cross that bridge

I will always remember the last day I coached girls’ high school basketball. It was the last game of the season, and we were going against an undefeated rival team — Redlands East Valley High School. During the season, the young ladies on my team fought every game to the end. They won some remarkable games and lost some nail-biters, but they never gave up.

The season prior to my coaching the girls had a very scary record and lacked motivation and dedication. On this night as the team sat quietly in the locker room, you could sense the energy. The team knew it was the last game I would coach them, so it was important that I give a speech that I hoped they would carry with them throughout their lives. I leaned up against a locker and just looked at the girls and smiled. I knew we had come a long way and had been through more drama than a daytime soap opera. If you have ever coached girls’ sports, you know that one has to learn quickly that listening is the key and to never ever have that shocked looked. It just leads to more conversation. My assistant, Mica, who was a star player on the varsity team and later went on to be an outstanding college player, was in the locker room. I remember saying to her just before the speech, “This is it. I just hope I have the right words.” She smiled and said, “You always do.” I took a deep breath and gave the speech.
“In life everyone will cross a bridge. That bridge may be big, or it may be small, but no matter the size of that bridge, the most important thing to know is that when it is time to cross it things will be different. Never look back; always look forward. Believe in yourself and stand for what you believe in. Basketball to me is like life. Some days you will have good days, and other days may not be so grand. Everything takes practice and a lot of perseverance. I will never forget the journey and what I have learned. I will take it with me and apply it to my life.”
I didn’t intend for any of the girls to cry, but it happened. Because of that speech and during that time in my life I learned a great deal about who I was and what I was capable of doing. I was on top of the world. I had taken a team that was nothing and brought it to a place where it had a chance of beating the best team in the league, and they did.

Years later, I am sitting in CIF awaiting my name to be called to turn in my equipment. Any soldier will tell you that the process can go either way — downright terrible or unbelievably easy. Most of the time when you hear someone telling another person that he is ETSing the next words out of the other person’s mouth are usually, “Have fun at CIF.”
Lately, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about my military career — the things I have done and accomplished. So as I sit in my chair in this big open warehouse where soldiers come to in-process and receive their initial gear while others are there to turn in their equipment so they can ETS and move on into the real world, I ponder the speech I made almost six years ago. If you are wondering how I remember it all, I have it on videotape. The bridges I have crossed in my life have always brought a wide range of experiences — some bad, others wonderful. Looking back at that speech and looking at my life right now, I am about to make my way across one of the biggest bridges I will cross.
The other day my psychologist asked me some questions about where I was in the clearing process, making my way to my next destination.

For most service members, clearing might not mean anything, but to me it does, and my psychologist helped me understand why I was feeling the way I was. In short, I had been spending hours and hours cleaning my gear even though over the years I had always done proper cleaning at the end of the month, eliminating dirt and dust from piling up. Every day I wanted to make my way to CIF I just paused and thought, “I am not ready. I need to do more.” Some may think of this as a compulsive cleaning issue, but it was more than that. I knew deep down that making my way to CIF would bring me to a bridge that would lead me to somewhere I wasn’t completely emotional ready for. As my psychologist explained, turning in my gear would represent my time serving, the things that I had worn in combat and in training. As much as my life in the military has been an experience that I wouldn’t want to happen to anyone else, I still have a tiny pride that just maybe I could shake what was going on with me. The reality of the situation was that it was no longer time to fight a war in a far off country or go through the daily grind, but rather fix my mental and physical wounds that are so deep and need healing. I tell myself seemingly more times than not, “If I don’t face my demons now, they could forever control me.”

While at CIF, I happened to meet some really great people and learned that I wasn’t the only one moving on in life and facing challenges. In the following weeks, I will make my way to where I should have been two years ago. Once there I hope to find the resolve to rectify my life and by doing that be a responsible father to my daughter, Madison, who will be born in just 30 days, and also be a husband to my wife, Alicia, who has been there every step of the way. I finished up at CIF, but not without some bumps here and there. I know that the people at CIF deal daily with soldiers, and the stresses are sometimes immense.
I want to say thank you to some of the people who took time to listen to me while at CIF and helped me get through the process. First and foremost, the floor supervisor, also Jessica the manager, and my fabulous and funny turn in lady in lane 9, Kassidy. I have started my journey over that bridge. I don’t know what will happen, but as usual, I will bring everyone along for the ride. Enjoy!

54th MPs coming home

Fort Lewis release. — Approximately 140 Soldiers assigned to the 54th Military Police Co. “Dragon Maulers” will return from a 15-month deployment to Iraq Tuesday, July 29, and will be reunited with their families, at a ceremony to take place around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 30.

The company deployed in May, 2007, to Baghdad, to train and mentor Iraqi police.

54th M.P. Soldiers conducted Police Transition Team operations at police stations throughout central Iraq, providing oversight of station operations and training. The Police Transition Teams also provided Iraqi Police with additional manpower in the field when needed, and access to additional coalition resources and expertise.

Doc Lemmon To Blog

(TRICARE) – When military moms or dads go to war their children face unique challenges. This week on “Dot-Mil-Docs”, Maj. (Dr.) Keith M. Lemmon, from the Department of Pediatrics at Madigan Army Medical Center, explains the importance of screening military youth for deployment stress and the many resources available to help children grow up healthy in a military home. Hosted by the Department of Defense, “Dot-Mil-Docs” broadcasts at www.blogtalkradio.com/Dot-Mil-Docs Thursdays at 3 p.m. (EDT).

Captain pleads guilty

Capt. Tomoaki Iishiba from Fort Lewis admitted in a plea agreement that he illegaly exported firearms parts from the United States to Japanese. Click here for the PI's report.

Fort Lewis Soldier Prays

A Soldier’s Faith

By Staff Sgt. Bryant Maude
1st Sustainment Brigade

CAMP TAJI - Every Sunday morning at 9:15 a.m., without fail, you can hear a gospel song emanating down the hall of the 1st Sustainment Brigade headquarters building. For those faithful Sunday school members making their way down the hall into the conference room, it’s not the music that draws them, but the spiritual lesson they are about to receive.

“I trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior in January 1989 while I was a Second Lieutenant in Korea,” says Lt. Col. Chris McCurry, a Weaverville, N.C., native, and the deputy commander of the 1st SB, as he goes about teaching the class. “And if God wanted to, he could have called me home right then; but instead, I’m here to tell as many people as I can about Christ.”

As McCurry continued to grow as a Christian, he looked for opportunities to serve the Lord, and the Lord gave him a burden to serve in a full-time capacity.

“In spite of His calling, He has allowed me the privilege to continue to serve in the U.S. Army while I simultaneously serve in the Lord’s Army,” McCurry stated.

McCurry is very active in his local church in Manhattan, Kan., and as a result, did not want to take a 15-month break in his service for God. Even after joining the 1st SB, McCurry knew the Lord placed him there for a reason.

“I continued praying about how I could serve the Lord while deployed,” recalled McCurry. “Before our deployment in September 2007, my wife, Ruth, and I talked about the possibility of me starting a Bible study (or) Sunday school class in Iraq. After we deployed, I shared my burden with our brigade chaplain. He supported the idea of a Sunday school class that we could schedule to precede our traditional Protestant service each Sunday morning,” shared McCurry.

However, before he committed fully, he felt that he needed his boss to approve.

“When I asked Col. O'Connell if I could pursue the class, he fully supported the plan. We conducted our first session on 18 November 2007.”

“I’ve been attending since the first day it started,” said Maj. Susan Arnett, an Oklahoma native, and the deputy operations officer for the 1st SB. “I come for the fellowship with other Christians. Our class is a combination of people in all ranks, different and varied backgrounds, but we all share a love for the Lord. We are not all at the same place in our maturity as a Christian, so there is always the opportunity to learn from one another.”

McCurry has two primary goals for the class.

“First, and most importantly, I want every student to have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, thus ensuring their eternal destination is heaven. Secondly, for those students that are already Christians, I desire for them to have a closer, daily walk with the Lord. This walk should include reading, studying, and memorizing Bible scriptures, a consistent prayer life, and a burden to share their testimony of Christ with others,” states McCurry.

The material used in the class is written by several pastors in the states who prepare and publish Bible study curriculums for classes like this. Each of the curriculums has 13 lessons, which makes 13 weeks of material.

“So far, we have studied about having a victorious Christian life and about the life of Joseph (from Genesis); we are currently learning about the truths that every Christian needs to know.

“I have learned a lot about new ways to get closer to God, the Holy Spirit and how it dwells within us,” said 1st Lt. Cory Burnett, a, Plymouth, N.C., native, and postal officer for the 2nd Platoon, 22nd Human Resources Company out of Ft. Lewis, Wash.

For Spc. Bryan Fadely, a Raymondville, Texas, native, and gunner on the brigade’s personal security detail, the class is something he looks forward to and is proud to be a part of. “This has truly helped ease the burden of the deployment (and) helped show me that this is just where God wants me right now,” stated Fadely.

Each class runs about one hour and the class’ average attendance is about 11 students. The highest attendance has been 17 on one Sunday, which was exciting. With occasional work commitments, emergency leave situations, and R&R, the attendance fluctuates a little. The class has been blessed with a good core group that tries to be as faithful as possible.

Since all of the material costs money, McCurry and Maj. Terrence Hayes, a Grants Pass, Ore., native, and the brigade chaplain, prayed about how they could fund the Sunday school class. About the same time as they were praying for finances, McCurry communicated with his Pastor in Kansas, Stephen Henderson, about the idea for the Sunday school class.

“Pastor Henderson graciously offered for our local church, Harvest Baptist Church, to buy the needed curriculums. In addition to the support we have received from my church, several missionaries that have ministries to the military offered to help. Mr. Bob Ingram, from the Christian Service Center at Fort Benning, and Col. Tyler Ryberg, from Worldwide Military Baptist Missions, both sent us other material, to include free Bibles, for the class,” recalled McCurry.

As the weeks go by and the end of the deployment draws near, Soldiers will be reunited with their families soon. With that in mind, McCurry has decided his final series will be a study about having a household built on faith.

“I think this will be very helpful for all of us as we reunite with our Families after this period of separation,” concluded McCurry.

Getting out the 81st Bde vote

WA Sec of State Release – The Secretary of State’s Elections Division is coordinating a three-week project to help ensure that Iraq-bound National Guard soldiers are properly registered and designated as military voters before they leave Washington in August.

Elections Division staffers, along with County Auditors’ Offices and volunteers, are working at the Yakima Training Center to help about 2,400 citizen soldiers belonging to the state’s largest National Guard unit, the 81st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, with their voter registration changes before they are deployed to Iraq later this year. The unit is being sent to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin next month for further training before going to Iraq.

Secretary of State Sam Reed said this project is crucial so the National Guard members have the opportunity to vote this fall. Most of these soldiers were previously classified as civilian voters. By updating their registrations to show that they are military voters, the ballots for these soldiers will be placed in the mail earlier than they would be as civilian voters.

“We want to make sure that the 81st Brigade members are able to exercise one of our country’s most sacred rights,” Reed said. “As they go to Iraq to help give Iraqis the freedom to vote, we need to make sure our soldiers have the opportunity to vote in our elections.

“They are scheduled to leave Wisconsin in October, very soon after the military ballots for the General Election go in the mail. It is quite possible that if they don’t receive their ballots in Wisconsin, it will be too late by the time the ballots catch up to them in Iraq. That’s why it’s so important to make sure these National Guard members are registered and designated as military voters so they can take part in the General Election,” Reed added.

State law requires that the latest day for mailing ballots to military or civilian overseas voters is 30 days before an election. Regular absentee and mail ballots must be placed in the mail to such voters at least 18 days before Election Day.

The voter registration project for the National Guard members began July 10 and is expected to end August 3.

“It’s crucial to take all steps possible so all of our military voters can cast their ballot, no matter where they are,” Reed said. “It doesn’t matter if our voters are located in Washington or halfway around the world; we need to ensure that their voices are heard in each election.”