Oregon State Police MRT Training
- From July 8-11, 2008, four members of the 973rd COB took part in a series of training exercises with the Oregon State Police's Mobile Response Team. These photos show a little of what we did in support of the MRT.
Recent Posts
Photo Albums
Major Welch's Promotion Ceremony
- Captain Wyatt Welch, AKA Cajun Six during his tenure with C Co., 2-162, was promoted to major this past weekend. These are some of the photos taken during the ceremony.
41st Division in World War II
- The 41st Infantry Division served from 1942-1945 in the Southwest Pacific Area of Operations during World War II. The Oregon National Guard formed the nucleus of the 41st Division when it first went to war and included both the 162nd and 186th Infantry Regiments. These photos tell the story of a few of the division's hard-fought victories during the island-hopping campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines.
A Co 2-162 May 2008 Drill Weekend
- While working with Cadet Smith and the GFAD's he had brought out on the second day of the exercise, I had a chance to role-play an obnoxious photo journalist who got in everyone's way and generally caused much trouble. These photos are some of the shots I took as a firefight unfolded around the outskirts of our make-shift local national village and its marketplace.
973rd COB's in Action
- The Photos in the album demonstrate some of what we do, and the bond we share, in the 973rd. They were taken at Camp Rilea, Goshen State Police Range, and at Fort Lewis during our operations with 2-162 Infantry.
« September 2010 | Main | November 2010 »
October 2010
October 30, 2010
October 29, 2010
A Few More Photos For the 1-168 Families:
A few more photographs before I hit the rack:
Seen Around TF Steelhead
I'm working to finish up a marathon writing week that has included four articles for various newspapers and magazines. As soon as I finish the last one, I'll be posting more stories here. In the meantime, in haste here are a few more photographs from recent activities here.
Night Flight.
PFC Tobin at work on the flight line.
SFC Middleton and PFC Carter at work on a Chinook's left engine.
Captain Mendel checks on his maintainers.
Home from a long day.
Jingle Air
Afternoon test flight.
October 27, 2010
Pics of the Day
I'm working furiously to finish a series of articles, so I haven't had time to post anything beyond a few photographs. For now, here are a few more shots from the past four months:
This one's from Ft. Hood and is for the Talarico Clan.
More Scenes from the AO and 1-168
A few more photos from recent weeks:
Heading home after sunrise after a long morning's work.
1-168 delivers a swing set to a nearby village.
Over the Hindu Kush at dawn.
Adam straps on his helmet prior to a flight in early October.
October 26, 2010
October 24, 2010
October 23, 2010
Chris and Ringo
Before arriving at FOB Leatherneck, I knew nothing about route clearance operations and how it is done these days. I was surprised to learn that dogs are being used to locate IED's these days. They are trained to smell the explosives the Taliban insurgents use in these bombs.
On the day of 162 Engineer's final mission, I got a chance to talk with Lance Corporal Chris Green, Ringo's handler. Ringo is one of the most successful IED-finding dogs in the area, and so I put them both on camera just after sunrise. The video below is the unedited interview.
October 22, 2010
Faces of the 162 Engineers
Tonight I am in Bagram, spending the weekend in the Media Center's transient room for wayward embeds. It is a sweet set up. Actual desk. Comfy chair. Bunk. Fast net. A guy could get used to this!
I thought I'd take a moment and post a few final photos of the 162 Engineers. Frankly, I hated to leave them this morning. I made new friends and found old ones. I felt a kinship with them that reminded me of my time in New Orleans with 2-162's B Co. I am looking forward to seeing them all again in Independence. Steak night at Ragin' Rivers guys!!
Watchng the ground breaking ceremony for 162's new armory in Dallas. I was wrong in an earlier post. It is not on Ellendale, it is over near King's Valley Highway toward 22. Can't wait to see it.
So, as we're sitting there watching the live feed of the ceremony, Captain B. muted our end, as we were hooked up for a video/audio conference with the TAG. As soon as he did that, Sgt. Adsit quips, "Hey! We should get Armond (the company's Afghan 'terp) to get in front of the camera and say, 'Attention....we have your people....'" That brought the house down.
Sgt. Adsit gets Spc. Eberhart with another one of this classic one-liners. Ok, laughing right now thinking about what the people back in Dallas would have done if they'd seen Armond sit down in front of the camera and say that line. Senator Wyden was there. So was the Gov. and the Mayor of Dallas. "We have your people..." So wrong. So very, very wrong. Ok, my kind of humor. Totally.
Coos Bay resident Lt. Andrew Carlstrom briefs a joint platoon from the 309th Engineers (US Army Reserves) and the 162 for what was the Oregonians' final mission. The last trip out beyond the wire was designed to help the 309th learn the route clearance ropes.
Lance Corporal Green (left) with his bomb-dog savant, Ringo. Ringo has found seven IED's, plus two low order detonation IED's that left homemade explosives in the ground that the Taliban could have reused.
Ringo found a pressure plate recently and dug it out. This is not something the bomb dogs are trained to do, as it is very risky. Somehow, he didn't set it off, so I suppose Ringo's got a little cat in him and is now down to eight lives.
"Bert" and Mullins. Bert is one of those lugnut NCO's who holds everything together. He's a quiet, effective leader, very cerebral and extremely professional. When I was around him, it is easy to pick up the gravitas of his character.
My friend and co-author, SSG David Bellavia, once described combat engineers as, "infantry, but more intelligent." Lieutenant Edward Schumacher is one of those quiet, extremely intelligent engineers of which David remarked. He's a Tri-City resident and has come out with the 309th as one of their platoon leaders. He's soft spoken, and measures his words so each one has meaning. As a result, when he speaks up, he gets your undivided attention. It is a natural gift.
Green and Mullins the morning of the last mission.
Lt. Schumacher loading up. Lt. Carlstrom had the mission on the inbound portion. Lieutenant Schumacher took it on the way back.
Mentoring the 309th. The reserve unit that is taking 162's place is from Minnesota, but much of the company was pulled from their battalion's other units, including one in the northwest. As a result, there are a lot of guys from Washington and Idaho in the 309th.
Sgt. Bill Sickendick, of Dallas. I followed in his footsteps as he swept a trail with a metal detector. When I asked him how many IED's he's found over the course of the deployment, he replied, "Eight. One more than Ringo!" Here, he dug up a fifty caliber machine gun shell. A few minutes later, one of the guys from the 309th dug up a spent 7.62 bullet, which he gave to me as a souvenir.
Afghan car seat.
SSG Uhl, one of the 309th NCO's who came out on the mission. He found the 7.62 round that now sits in my pocket.
When the engineers get down and start clearing moondust to see what the detectors have found, it is called "interrogating." Here, two engineers interrogate sites. No IED's, just junk. Sometimes, the detectors will locate MRE wrappers that the Marines have tossed overboard around here.
Bill Sickendick is a 1994 grad of Dallas High School. He was the truck commander for the patrol's Buffalo, an 87,000 lb MRAP that could have only been conceived after some vehicle designers polished off a bottle of Jamison while watching "Stripes." "I know! Let's build a REAL EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle!"
0300, Highway 1. Code Yellow.
Silas Rogers drives the Urban Assault Vehicle. Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, eat yer hearts out.
Mission complete. Time to pack up and return to Oregon.
