WELCOME HOME!!!!

Guess who is on his way back to the states?! Our favorite soldier is scheduled to land in CO today! He will have 48 hours of leave and then will stay at Fort Carson for 5-10 days for debriefing and then he will have some time off at home. So everyone get ready!

WELCOME HOME RORY! We've missed you!!!

Spring's Here!

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. There is a new letter from Lt. Col. Fant which I am posting below. There are also some new pictures of 2-17 SVC Battery getting their purple hearts. Have a great week!
_________________________
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
Headquarters, 2d Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment
Unit# 15418
APO AE 09395-5418

March 22 , 2005


Office of the Commander


Dear family and friends of the Steel Battalion,

I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits. Your Soldiers have performed well in the last two months as we continue with our part in the global war on terrorism and I am proud of them.
The weather here in Ramadi was chilly for what seems a long time, but the winter is finally coming to a close. We have also dealt with rain and lots of mud, and for awhile it almost felt like Korea again. The entire command focused this winter on improving the living conditions for our Soldiers and we saw many walkways built through muddy areas, many heaters purchased and installed, and we continued with cold weather training. It is just starting to get warm now; the days are beautifully sunny and we are getting just a hint of the summer to come.
In February we rotated jobs amongst the batteries again. Alpha Battery is back to our traditional Artillery mission—manning the guns as they do so well. Bravo Battery is now manning outposts and traffic control points, and Charlie Battery is defending our forward operating base against the enemy. Headquarters and Service still perform a wide variety of missions, everything from manning outposts and securing the base, to logistically supporting the battalion. They all are doing well in their respective missions.
Though it may seem a long way away, we are planning for our deployment to Ft Carson. The uniqueness of this situation (having come from Korea to Kuwait to Iraq and to the states) is prominent in our planning. We will run into issues we have never seen before, and we are committed to dealing with them quickly and efficiently in order to minimize the turbulence in our Soldiers’ lives. One way in which we are accomplishing this was by sending a team in early March from Iraq back to Ft Carson. This team has accomplished a lot in preparing Carson for our arrival, and when they return to Iraq we will have detailed information from them on our move. The goal here is ensure our Soldiers and families will be good to go upon our deployment back to the US.
In March we received a visit from a reporter and photographer from the Army Times (www.armytimes.com). Gina Cavallero and Rick Kozak spent much time with your Soldiers, interviewing them, photographing them, and building friendships. Some photos of your Soldiers have already appeared on the Army Times website and I hope you get the chance to see them; hopefully soon we will see some stories in the print edition as well. You can find the print edition at most post exchanges and if you live near one, keep an eye out for stories about your Soldiers. Special thanks to Gina and Rick for their visit!
On a much sadder note, we lost one of our Steel brothers in March. Specialist Francisco Martinez was a fire support specialist attached to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment. Steel Soldiers have very diverse missions, and his was to support an Infantry company by calling indirect fire on the enemy. Francisco was killed in action in Ar Ramadi on March 20th, 2005, while conducting a civil affairs patrol to help the people of Iraq. He will be sorely missed, and our prayers are with his family during this terrible time.
Once again, allow me to thank you for your continued support of our Steel Soldiers; we miss you very much and look forward to seeing you soon.


STEEL!


John S. Fant
Lieutenant Colonel, US Army
Commanding

Happy Easter!

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Habbaniyah Forecast 3/22/05

Well, things continue to remain pretty quiet in Rory's neck of the woods. It is starting to warm up a bit over there and we will soon be approaching chocolate melting season. Because R has not taken leave he may be home as soon as July, but since we're dealing with the Army anything can change at any time.

2-17 has posted some new pictures on their site, including some fun ones of Lt. Kaspar in the Ramadi "coffee shop". Rory wasn't in any of them though as the majority of these are from the guys still in Ramadi.

I did find this article in the Seattle Times interesting. It describes how some Iraqis are taking action against insurgents themselves.

Rory we miss you and can't wait foryou to come home!

Mid March

Sorry the updates have been few and far between, but there hasn't been too much to report--which is for the most part a good thing I think. I personally haven't heard anything directly from Rory in sometime but know he is in touch with the family and Sarah and know from the other guys that he is okay. Many families of 2-17 soldiers are getting ready to move to Fort Carson, CO where the guys will be headed after their deployment is over this fall.

The guys continue to complain about being "bored". Chris Huff who is in Rory's battery recently headed back to the sandbox from leave. Here is a picture from Rory's new camp that he was able to share with us:


I understand that the food is not as good as at Ramadi, but the fact that it is safer is a nice thing. Central Iraq got a downpour last week, so I am sure the guys were sloshing about a bit in the mud. At least it is suppose to be sunny over there for the next week. Rory we hope you all are staying dry!

Habbaniyah Weather Forecast 2/22/2005 4:44 pm

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Operation River Blitz

Not a lot of new news to report since Rory has moved to the new camp. Since it is safer and there are no reporters embedded there I don't expect too much to report while he is there. The guys in his unit continue to report that they are "bored". I continue to maintain that "bored and safe" is better than the alternative. His unit mate Chris Huff is on his way home for leave though, so I'm still holding out hope that maybe Rory will get leave too.

There is some news about goings on in nearby Ramadi with Operation River Blitz, where checkpoints have been set up and a curfew imposed in Ramadi, and raids have been conducted in several cities including Ramadi, Hit, Baghdadi and Haditha. More information on this can be found here and here.

Rory has Moved

I heard from Lisa, Chris Huff's mom (who is in Rory's platoon) that the guys have moved and have arrived safely at their new camp. They are in the Habbinayah area which is situated on a lake and is near TQ airbase. Their camp is smaller than Ramadi but they do have the basic amenities. Chris says that the PX shelves were pretty empty and they won't take checks. They do have a local "Hajji" shop next door, with plenty of toys (Xboxes, camera, memory cards, etc....) and a little food. He expects to be able to explore the TQ camp soon, and has heard the PX is better stocked.

They also have a little more room to spread out their belongings. There is a microwave available, but Chris wasn’t sure who it belonged to, as soon as the other group is done moving out he'll let us know! (SO, don't start sending microwavable food just yet.)

He said the place is "weird". In Ramadi there is apparently hardly a plant to be found. Now there are tons of trees--I guess that is what a little water will do in the desert. I'm glad that Rory got there safely.

In other news, I don't know how many of you watched the SuperBowl, but if you did, you would have seen this ad (click on the ad titled "Thank You"), it brought a tear to my eye. I can't wait for that to be Rory coming home!

Hump Day

Hi all there's a new update from Sarah here. Rory apparently had a day off! :) Once he has safely moved to his new camp we will tell you the name and a little about it. Two days away from the weekend!