3 16 fa thunder times dec-jan 2013

Seasons greeting to all from Kuwait!

We write to you on December 24th, Christmas Eve, as proud as ever of the Thunder Team and their con-tinued hard work and professionalism here in Kuwait. We’ve been deployed for just over two months now but the Soldiers of the Thunder Battalion are executing their missions with the confidence and motivation as if they’ve been doing it for years.

Spread across four locations in Kuwait, Task Force Thunder continues to have the most diverse mission set of any battalion in the Warhorse Brigade. Hardrock Battery has provided the much needed leadership and mis-sion command to make our team come together in a seamless and efficient way. Automatic Battery recently com-pleted an intense period of live fire artillery training at Camp Buehring as well as its standing security missions at other locations. Bulldog Battery has taken its unique security mission to a new level with its Soldiers expertly exe-cuting important tasks to keep U.S. and Kuwait personnel safe. Gladiator Company has truly taken on its mission as the “Mayor’s Cell” of Kuwait Naval Base and has become experts on everything from pest control to building fire extinguisher holders! Comanche Company (from 2-8 IN) has done a superb job with its security mission that re-quires them to commute to work, driving over 5,000 Kilometers per week. Unfortunately, we expect Comanche to leave the task force some time early next year in order to participate in other important tactical training with the rest of the brigade.

In the Family Readiness Group (FRG) back at Fort Carson, we’re grateful for the diligent work that Captain Derik Munoz and Sergeant First Class Reaser, as well as our several Family Readiness Liaisons, do to assist Sol-diers and Families back at home. As part of an Army and staff realignment, Mrs. Dyanne Beckman, our long time (and the best we have ever seen!) Family Readiness Support Assistant (FRSA) will be re-locating to the Brigade Headquarters to support several battalions in the brigade (including 3-16 FA). Your battery/company’s FRL re-mains your primary point of contact should you have any FRG concerns or questions. Please check out our Face-book page (link below) where we're posting “'Photos of the Day” and some great weekly 'Soldier Spotlights'. Please 'LIKE' us and spread the word to your friends and family members.

Once again, thank you for all you do to support your Soldier and the Thunder Team—we couldn’t do our job without you! I know I speak for every Thunder Soldier when I say that we miss you and look forward to being home in just a few short months.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year from the Thunder Team!

ROLLING THUNDER!! Lieutenant Colonel Keith Jarolimek & Command Sergeant Major Benito Perez

3-16 FIELD ARTILLERY REGIMENT See our Holiday Greeting video here...

http://www.facebook.com/316FieldArtilleryRegiment/ See our Holiday Greeting video here...

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The Soldiers and junior Leaders of Automatic Bat-tery continue to impress on a daily basis. Their tire-less effort to accomplish the mission in Kuwait is sim-ply remarkable. Across the board, the members of the Battery have demonstrated that they can accomplish anything asked of them. Our families and friends back home already have a lot to be proud of from their Soldiers.

Southern Kuwait experienced record-breaking rain and severe flooding in mid-November which greatly af-fected the region. Automatic Battery was asked to secure breaks in the fence where wash-outs occurred, give real-time updates to higher headquarters and provide assessments of damage throughout our Forward Operat-ing Base. Some 1st Platoon sections even assisted towing local vehicles from deep mud and water, thus ex-tending some good will to our Kuwaiti friends.

Meanwhile, 2nd Platoon continued to train on their core artillery competencies. The platoon certified and qualified cannon sections and the fire direction center by meeting all time and computational standards without incident. After qualifying, the platoon supported a brigade level Joint Air Attack Training exercise by comple-menting the close air support with their accurate cannon fire. Overall it was

an impressive display of American firepower.

We would like to thank all of the Automatic family and friends for your continuous support! We could-n’t do our jobs out here without you!

AUTOMATIC STEEL!! CPT DAVE COLLINS 1SG WILLIE MURPHY

HARDROCK family and friends,

Happy December and we hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving and holi-

day weekend!! Everyone here in Kuwait was able to enjoy a nice Thanks-giving meal and the dining facility definitely pulled out all the stops for this year’s Thanksgiving feast. The HARDROCK family conducted a change of command ceremony 2 December 2013, where Captain Coats relinquished command to Captain Mark Connelley. As we farewell Captain Coats, he will not be far as he will be serving as a brigade assistant operations offi-cer. We welcome Captain Connelley and wish him a smooth transition as HARDROCK 6.

The HARDROCK family also wants to congratulate SGT David McShane, Medic NCOIC and SPC Andrew Acosta, Information Systems Network Manager, for being recognized as the Battalion NCO and soldier of the week and will receive Army Achieve-ment Medals (AAM). Their recognition for their hard work and tireless effort to ensure the battalion maintains its medical support and network connectivity across Kuwait is well deserved.

As Christmas approaches we want to wish all of our family and friends a safe and happy holiday this season. We want you to know that everyone here is thinking about everyone at home and we appreciate all the support from home. If there are any questions or requests you may have please feel free to email the battery Executive Officer, 1LT Mark Walters, at [email protected] and he will be happy to assist. HARDROCK!! CPT Mark Connelley 1SG Tonio Childress

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To the families, friends, and Soldiers of Golf Company: We would like to welcome Gladiator’s newest member to the family SPC Widener’s daughter Jazzlyn Adelle. She was born on Nov 27, 2013 at 0109. She is 6 lbs, 6 ozs and 19.25" long. This month we celebrated SPC Barnett, PFC Gadsen, SGT Gingrich, SGT martin, 1SG White, SPC Vando, and SPC Widener’s birthdays on the beach at Kuwaiti Naval Base by having a BBQ. At the BBQ we

also had the pleasure of promoting SPC Nelson to SGT Nelson. Lastly we would like to say Happy Holi-days! 1SG White and I can't thank you enough for what you do for our Company. We hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving celebration!

The Maintenance platoon is spread out more than any platoon in the battalion. The platoon conducts maintenance op-erations at Camp Buehring, Camp Arifjan, Kuwaiti Naval Base, and with the Amiri Guard. At all locations, the maintainers are consistently repairing the Thunder Battalion’s equipment to en-sure its capabilities of security force and contingency operations throughout Kuwait are never degraded and ready to perform. At Camp Buehring, SFC Richardson has taken his team and set the gold standard for hard work and dedication to the mission. His team’s ability to maintain his assigned fleet has truly been appreciated as the Thunder team had all equipment available to conduct firing exercises. At Camp Arifjan, 2LT Halverson, CW2 Varelas, and SFC Fultz have supported all maintenance opera-tions from a managerial position but have also directly provided maintenance support to Automatic Battery. The crew of 17 per-sonnel has repaired an aging fleet of HMMWV’s that had a readiness rate of 64% upon arrival to an astounding 95%. SSG Sanchez and SPC Harrypersad have shown off their metal work-ing skills and fabricated much needed door latch plates that have assisted in the security of the Command Team and the female living quarters at KNB. At the Kuwaiti Naval Base, SFC Day and SSG Breen have produced a maintenance team that, not only works hard, but has fun while doing it. Their Soldiers are al-ways full of smiles and can accomplish any task given to them. They have truly had the most difficult task as they are Paladin mechanics that are repairing wheeled vehicles. Their team is extremely competent and we look forward to seeing the continued growth of them all. I would like to acknowledge the work of PV2 Hamed; he is our newest SAMS clerk and has proven himself as a valuable asset to our team.

Members of the Distribution Platoon have been hard at work making sure Camp Patriot functions every day. The billeting office has ensured that all transient service members of all branches have housing, to include sometimes as many as 500 Marines. The MWR office has accomplished getting the Camp Patriot Cultural and Morale Event trips back on track for all tenants of Camp Patriot. Cultural and Morale events allow Sol-diers to experience the culture of Kuwait every Monday and Wednesday. PFC Ponce has worked hard to maintain the Flag Program on Camp Patriot, allowing service members to dedicate US flags flown on Camp Patriot. The Camp Patriot Projects Office and Base Support Operations have been working diligently to make sure improvements are constantly being made. SSG Medico and SSG Young are always on ground to ensure projects are properly inspected before and after a project is completed. 2LT Biondo has joined CPT Figueroa in many senior leader engagements with our Kuwaiti Naval Force partners and we have even started playing soccer with them. Trying to stay strong for their family members back home, Distribution Pla-toon organized weekly Master Resiliency Training to help Soldiers develop themselves into strong and resil-ient warriors. Pictures are always taken to ensure family and friends back home can stay in the loop of all of the amazing work their Soldiers are doing here during their deployment.

GLADIATORS!! CPT CARLOS FIGUEROA 1SG TONY WHITE

Task Force Thunder has returned to the sands of Ku-wait. This time the Soldiers of Bravo Battery, 3-16 Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team secures, protects, and partners with the Kuwait Naval Base (KNB) located South of Kuwait City. The mission is multifaceted, with security at the forefront. The Rolling Thunder Battalion has the opportunity to partner with the Kuwaiti Naval Academy and its’ security forces. For Bravo Battery, led by CPT James Mason and 1SG Amin Henriquez, this means balancing the tacti-cal security mission while enhancing our understanding and the capabilities of the Kuwaiti Security Forces through partnership.

Bravo Battery Bulldogs have been deployed now for more than thirty days. CPT Mason’s intent remains clear; Soldiers must stay vigilant in securing and protecting the critical assets of the Kuwaiti Naval Base and Camp Patriot, while simultaneously being prepared to provide close, timely, and accu-

rate fires in support of 2ABCT contingency operations. Bravo Battery’s two line platoons and one 2STB Engineer platoon comprise the Security Force (SECFOR) for the Kuwaiti Naval Base. Elements of SECFOR conduct continuous roving patrols, control access to the facility, and partner with Kuwaiti secu-rity personnel to ensure the stability and protection of this dual-national base.

Life on Camp Patriot has fallen into a routine; the days are filled with G.T.L: Guard, Training, and Laundry. Bulldogs know when they work, train, and have time off. Our uniformed readers can re-late to a reliable schedule to base the day.

Camp Patriot (CPAT) is an ideal sized camp. It has the necessary amount of amenities and popu-lation density. Everything from the gym, DFAC, MWR building, the Combatives room, the PX, phones, the mail room, laundry, and Soldier sleep-ing quarters are all within walking distance of each other. Unlike Camp Buehring or Camp Arifjan’s city sized landscape, CPAT is like a small town. Sol-diers do not have to waste precious down time riding on multiple buses or navigating zones of vastness to get to the PX or gym. CPAT’s DFAC is its’ own meeting hall; Bulldogs can always spot an outsider. CPAT isn’t home to just our Bulldogs, elements of the US Navy, Coast Guard, Army Deep Sea Divers, Air Force, Marines and various DOD civilians also make use of what CPAT has to offer.

The Bulldogs of Bravo Battery, 3-16 FA remain vigilant as sentinels, ready to provide accurate and responsive fires when called, and ever steadfast and loyal.

BULLDOG NATION!! CPT JAMES MASON 1SG AMIN HENRIQUEZ

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The Thunder times is an authorized online publication for the members of the Department of Defense. Contents of the Thunder Times are not necessarily official views of or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, DoD, or Department of the Army. The editorial content of this monthly publication is the responsibility of the 3rd

Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment.

Start saving for retirement as early as you can. 10-15% of your base pay is ideal, but even $20 a month is better than nothing. Because your investment builds interest, and that interest makes more interest; the earlier you start, the better. If you’re using the TSP, know that it is defaulted to the “G” Fund. You want to use the “L” Fund, or diversify your money across the funds for the best results.

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