April 2012 277th asb newsletter

TF Mountain Eagle, another

month has gone by and we are starting to see a lot of changes

across the board. Like last

month, a lot of us are very busy

but many are still waiting for

the rest of the equipment. We

did get most of our training

equipment (trucks, generators,

etc) in March and now those

vehicles are getting the commu-

nication assets installed.

Our focus remains resetting our equipment (I talked about

the last two months). The good

news is that we are starting to

get a lot of this ‗refurbished/

updated‘ equipment back. A

good example of this is C Com-

pany getting their Joint Net-

work Node (JNN) and Com-

mand Post Nodes (CPNs) back,

inventoried with some individ-

ual training. Hopefully you read about this event in the Moun-

taineer a couple of weeks ago.

We are also going through a

lot of inspections and profes-sional development events to

improve our processes in sev-

eral areas within our organiza-

tion. The biggest of these in-

spections is the Aviation Re-

source Management Survey

(ARMS) which will take place

at the beginning of April. The

good thing about all of these

events is that they force a unit

to validate the way they do daily operations.

HSC did an exceptional job

preparing for the Army Award

for Maintenance Excellence. A

team from the Army staff came

down to inspect HSC‘s motor-

pool and armsroom – they were

highly impressed with the effort

our Soldiers put into the prepa-

ration for this inspection.

Again, this event was captured in the Mountaineer and hope-

fully you were able to read

about it.

A Company is starting to get

busier with the supply support

activity and supporting aviation

repair parts to the rest of the

Brigade and they will soon be

running the airfield refuel site

again…they setup the refueling

points in January. B Company is focusing on

preparing the Brigade for the

Eagle Commander’s Corner

T A S K F O R C E

M O U N T A I N E A G L E

2 7 7 T H A V I A T I O N

S U P P O R T B A T T A L I O N Liberty Times A P R I L 2 0 1 2 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 4

H O T T O P I C S

Alpha FRG Meet-

ing: Thursday,

April 12, 2012,

5:30pm at Rhicard

Hills Community

Center.

Bravo FRG Meet-

ing: Thursday,

April 12, 2012,

5pm at Adirondack

Creek Community

Center.

Charlie FRG Meet-

ing - Thursday,

April 12, 2012,

4:30pm at the Char-

lie Company Build-

ing.

HSC FRG Meeting:

Thursday, April

12th, 2012, 5:30pm

at 277th Battalion

Classroom.

C O N T A C T S

B A T T A L I O N S T A F F

D U T Y D E S K

3 1 5 - 7 7 4 - 1 2 0 0

C H A P L A I N

( C P T ) L O V E

3 1 5 - 6 8 1 - 0 8 8 3

F A M I L Y R E A D I N E S S

S U P P O R T

A S S I S T A N T ( F R S A )

M I C H E L E G A L L O W A Y

3 1 5 - 7 7 4 - 1 2 0 6

M I L I T A R Y F A M I L Y

L I F E C O N S U L T A N T

( M F L C )

3 1 5 - 4 0 5 - 7 4 4 9

3 1 5 - 2 1 2 - 6 9 1 9

A R M Y C O M M U N I T Y

S E R V I C E ( A C S )

I N F O R M A T I O N

A N D R E F E R R A L

3 1 5 - 7 7 2 - 6 5 5 7

1 - 8 0 0 - 8 2 6 - 0 8 8 6

M I L I T A R Y

O N E S O U R C E

1 - 8 0 0 - 3 4 2 - 9 6 4 7

By LTC Albert H. Stiller

Battalion Commander

UH-60 M-model new equipment

fielding / new equipment training. B Co is the focal point for the

aircraft tool dispersion and then

the aircraft maintenance during

the entire event.

Our training priorities still

remain focused at the Soldier

level: weapons qualification, in-

dividual medical training, drivers

training, and schools; however,

we are slowly migrating towards

some collective training events. Last month we had a lot of

farewells: This month we hail

CPT Natalie Nissen as the new

HSC company commander; she

came to us from Fort Riley. We

also hail A Company‘s new com-

pany commander, CPT Bryan

Bolin who came to us from the

Brigade S3 shop. I already hailed

CSM Carlos Escalera and 1SG

Jernigan (HSC 1SG) last month; however, I just want to highlight

the leadership changes that have

occurred over the last month.

Included are pictures of HSC

change of command, A Company

change of command and the 1st

Annual Mountain Winter Chal-

lenge 2012. (Pictures on page

10).

Family Readiness Group Advisor’s Updates

For the rest of the article, go to page 8.

By Melissa Stiller

FRG Advisor

Greetings 277th Soldiers

and Families! I hope you

have been enjoying this

wonderful, crazy winter

weather we‘ve been having!

Is it possible we won‘t have

to shovel any more snow?

I‘ll believe it when I see it.

Happy Easter! Can you

believe it‘s already April? I

hope those of you with kids

have a nice Spring Break.

With April comes the deadline

for filing your income tax re-

turns. If you haven‘t already

filed them, think about taking

them to the Tax Assistance

P A G E 2

L I B E R T Y T I M E S

Headquarters & Support Company - Battle Penguins

Hello Families of HSC

277 ASB, first off I would like

to introduce myself. I am CPT

Natalie Nissen, the new com-

pany commander for HSC. I

am married to my amazing

husband, Matt Upward and

have two wonderful step-

children, Benjamin (13) and

Natalie (9). I am new to the

Fort Drum area, recently com-

ing from Fort Riley, KS and

working in the 541st Combat

Sustainment Support Battalion.

My family however still remains

in Kansas until later this spring.

Now I would like to con-

tinue with the best part of this

job, the Soldiers. February went

by quickly with the inspections

and changing of the entire com-

mand team. Now in March we

are focusing on getting the com-

pany into a rhythm. There will

be minor changes during the

work day but my main job is to

make sure that there are few to no

late nights and that the Soldiers

are getting the time needed to

spend with family.

Another change that will

be occurring is the search for a

new call sign and motto. There

will be a competition among the

Soldiers for a chance to no longer

be the Penguins. Currently we

are back to the historical Talons

as we transition to a new time. I

would like to instill camaraderie

and cohesion within the unit and I

think this is a good stepping stone

to do just that.

The FRG meeting is a little

later this month, March 28th, giv-

ing way for me to take enough

time to start the search for leaders

within the FRG. I hope to see

many of you there and help me

start rebuilding what could be a

great FRG organization.

I look forward to serving with

you and your Soldiers.

Natalie Nissen

Talon 6

(315)774-1465

[email protected]

By CPT Natalie Nissen

HSC Company Commander

Presently SGT Justin Lux the

Total Army Family Point of

Contact is assisting in the FRG

Leader Role. SGT Lux can be

reached at 315-396-2080

o r e m a i l a t

[email protected].

MIL There is a FRG Leader in

the wings to come forward dur-

ing the March FRG Meeting.

HSC FRG Meeting is Wednes-

day, March 28, 2012 at 5:30pm,

277th Battalion Classroom.

HSC FRG Meeting for April is

tentatively scheduled for April

12, 2012. Please stay tuned!

Please contact Michele Gallo-

way, the Battalion FRSA at 315-

774-1206 or email at Mich-

[email protected] if you

are interested in becoming FRG

Leader, Treasurer or Key Caller.

We look forward to hearing

from you soon!

HSC Family Readiness Group Notes

OPEN

HSC FRG Leader

P A G E 3 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 4

Alpha Company Family Readiness Group Updates

Alpha Company - Atlas

The FRG is a Command Program. I‘m a

volunteer liaison between the Families and

the Command Team. If you have any ques-

tions don‘t be scared to ask. I‘ve been

around the Army life for 13 years and here

at Fort Drum for 4 ½. I will do my best to

answer any questions or address any con-

cerns. If I don‘t have the answers, I will

find an answer or take it to the Command

Team for assistance.

Our Next meeting will be April 12th @

Rhicard Hills Community Center 5:30 Pot

Luck Dinner. Bring a Dinner dish and juice

or soda to share.

Our Soldiers, Our Family, On Our

Shoulders!

Sarah Popp

937-541-6371

[email protected]

Sarah Popp

A Company FRG Leader

Hello Alpha Families, welcome North

Country spring. Time to break out those flip

flops if you haven‘t done so already. Hope

everybody had or is having a great spring

break. Thank you to everybody that came

out to our March FRG meeting. I was a bit

nervous since it was my first official meet-

ing. But we had a great turn out and I‘m

glad that I got to meet a few of the new

spouses and welcome them to our Family.

This is just the beginning of a whole new

chapter of our Alpha Family history. Re-

building is the key right now to keep our Alpha Family strong, We are still looking

for some more volunteers, Key callers, a

treasurer, event planners, etc.. If you are

interested, please contact me.

Virtual FRG (vFRG)

Access

Visit the website:

www.armyfrg.org

Click on ―Find an FRG‖

Click on New York

Scroll down under Fort

Drum and click on ―277th

ASB/TF Mountain Eagle‖

Enter your personal infor-

mation and your Soldier’s

last four SSN

For issues or problems log-

ging in, contact the 10th

CAB FRSA, Jackie Sharpe at

3 1 5 - 7 7 4 - 1 1 0 4

[email protected]

By CPT Bryan Bolin

A Company Commander

I want to take this opportu-

nity to introduce myself to

those who have not met me. I

arrived at Fort Drum in August

of 2011 and worked with the

Rear Detachment as the assis-

tant BDE S3. I started my ca-

reer in 2004 as a platoon leader

in the Oregon National Guard.

In 2006 I was deployed to Af-

ghanistan as a maintenance con-

trol officer. I then spent time as

the XO for a field maintenance

company. In 2009 I was de-

ployed to Iraq as the BN S4.

Finally, in 2010 I was an assis-

tant BDE S4 before arriving to

Fort Drum.

It has been almost a month

since I took command of A

Company and I can safely say

that A Company has some of the

best Soldiers in the Army. I am

very pleased with what I have

seen so far and I know that we

will only get better as time goes

by. Right now we are transition-

ing from resetting the Company to

individual training. It feels like

we are going a million miles an

hour at the moment, but once we

get things set up and our proc-

esses in place it will calm down

some. This summer will be busy,

but will still allow time for Sol-

diers to be with their families.

We are continuing our opera-

tion of the refueling point and the

warehouse. In the coming months

we will also support the Brigade

gunnery by manning an ammuni-

tion holding area and operating

the refueling point for the dura-

tion. Additionally, we are run-

ning ranges, to include a mounted

machine gun range and

participating in a convoy

live fire exercise. These

are some very worthwhile

training opportunities and I know

we will excel.

This Company has an out-

standing reputation, which is di-

rectly attributable to the superb

leadership of each Soldier. I look

forward to mentoring and learning

from the Soldiers of A Company.

L I B E R T Y T I M E S

P A G E 4

Bravo Company - Hangar Rats By MAJ Ryan Guthrie

B Company Commander

Greetings Hangar Rat

Families: The short and mild

winter is transitioning into an

early spring. I know most

spouses are not happy that it

seems like we are always de-

ployed during the worst win-

ters. Enjoy the weather and

the countless warm weather

activities available to Soldiers

and Families in the North

Country this season.

The company distributed

multiple awards this month.

The Certificate of Achieve-

ment was awarded to PFC

Peter Gilbert and the Army

Achievement Medal was

awarded to PFC Joel Rempillo

for service while assigned to

the Rear-Detachment. Many

PCS awards were given to our

departing Soldiers to include

the Army Commendation

Medal to SGT Jesse Horrocks

and the Army Achievement

Medal to SPC Andrew Allen,

SPC Brent Brooks, SPC Eric

Roudybush, SPC Hector

Villegas, SGT Jason Katayama,

SPC Justin Corwin, and SPC

Thomas Schramm.

We promoted three Soldiers

this month. PFC Lott, SPC Bel-

castro, SPC Jordan, and SPC

Gogue. We reenlisted SPC Efta

this month for continued mili-

tary service. Re-enlistment is

getting tougher for Soldiers as

the Army attempts to draw down

its forces. Only the best get the

privilege of continued service.

We also received and wel-

comed outstanding Soldiers to

our formation in March. We

welcomed CW4 Relland Jones

and his wife, SGT Thomas

Sadler and his wife, PFC Greg-

ory King, PFC Darius Powell,

PFC Ronald Barton, SPC Benja-

min Jenkins, SPC Ronald Kuiper

and his wife, SPC Lance Person

and his wife, SPC Devin Stran-

anthan, and

PFC Greg-

ory Vaillan-

court.

Final ly,

the Com-

pany bid

farewell to some of our finest.

The company bid farewell to

CW5 Shawn Cummings who

started his retirement leave on 1

March 2012. We also bid fare-

well to SPC Andrew Allen, SPC

Dion Francis, and SPC Evan

Phillips. They will be missed

and we wish them the best in

their future endeavors. All of

our departed Soldiers received

an airframe plaque as a token of

our appreciation for the honored

service while in B Company,

277 ASB.

Until next month,

Major Ryan A Guthrie

Hangar Rat 6

(315) 772-4239

[email protected]

Bravo Company Family Readiness Group Updates

Gigi Tomsu

B Company FRG Leader Hello Bravo Soldiers and

Families! Another month has gone

by and April is finally here. Let‘s

get ready for spring and the out-

doors. There are many activities to

find on-post. There are walking

trails throughout post and play-

grounds for the family. A great

source to locate events going on at

Fort Drum is the MWR. They

have information on the Army

Community Service, BOSS, clubs

and restaurants, recreations, and

much more. Just go to

www.drummwr.com to see what

might interest you.

Our first company FRG meet-

ing on March 8th was enjoyable. It

was a small turn out, but I was

delighted to have more one on one

time with some new spouses. Cur-

rently, I am looking for ideas for

the future of our FRG whether it

be for our meetings, fundraising,

or other activities. This is the time

you can make a difference for our

FRG. I need your help because I

cannot do this alone. If you have

any thoughts or suggestions feel

free to contact me.

As a reminder, we still need key

callers. It is not a time consuming

position. It is also a great way to

connect with other spouses in our

company. The next key caller

training is April 11th from 10-

11:30am or 2-3:30pm at the ACS.

Call 315-772-0470/2848 to regis-

ter. Call early for reservations,

however childcare is not available.

Our next FRG meeting will be

on April 12th at 5:30pm. It will

be at the Adirondack Creek Com-

munity Center located on main

post. This meeting is a potluck!

Bring refreshments, sides, or des-

serts and join us for a good eve-

ning. It is not required to bring

food so still come by and join us.

There will also be a speaker from

the ACS joining us to give an

overview of what the ACS has to

offer. Bring your family along

for some free food and informa-

tive announcements. I hope to

see you at the next FRG meeting.

Take care!

Gigi Tomsu

315-777-6521

[email protected]

Charlie Company - Ravens

P A G E 5 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 4

By CPT Matthew Thompson

C Company Commander

We had our first company FRG

meeting since our return from

Afghanistan on Tuesday, March

13th. It was a pot luck at the

company and we had a pretty

decent turn out and some great

tasting snacks for our first meet-

ing. We talked about the way

ahead for the FRG and we de-

cided to set a monthly rhythm for

our FRG meetings and conduct

them on the second Thursday of

each month from 4:30-5:30 pm. So

our next meeting will be here at the

company on Thursday, April 12th.

Once the weather warms up we

plan on conducting our meetings at

parks around the community to en-

joy the great weather here in the

summer.

This month we finished up the

validation exercise for all of our

WIN-T communications equip-

ment. The CECOM team of engi-

neers commended the company as

having been one of the most pre-

pared and helpful units they had

ever encountered. That is abso-

lutely a result of all the hard work

2LT Elizabeth Cummins, our new

JNN Platoon Leader, and all of your

Ravens did to prepare for the exer-

cise. I can‘t thank each of you

enough for the support you provide to

your Soldier to allow that to happen.

This month we also did some re-

fresher cold weather training since we

have been out of the Fort Drum area

for so long. We broke out our tents

and heaters and conducted some

classes on how to survive in the ex-

treme cold that typically happens dur-

ing Fort Drum‘s winters. Lucky for

us, this was a mild winter. In April,

we will be preparing to support the

CAB‘s helicopter gunnery exercises

occurring in May with communica-

tions support from our WIN-T equip-

ment. Hope to see more of you at the

next FRG meeting!

Visit www.myarmyonesource.com

There are options to Login with your

username and password or Register if

you don‘t have a profile.

Fill out your information.

When you‘ve created a profile, click

on ―Volunteer‖ on the top right sec-

tion of the page. This will take you to

the Volunteer Management Informa-

tion System (VMIS)

Click on ―Opportunity Locator‖

Select ―Fort Drum‖ under Military

Community and ―FRG: 10 AVN–

277‖ under the Organization and click

Search.

Choose the volunteer position you‘d

like to apply for. When the new page

loads, click Apply.

Online VMIS FRG Volunteer Registration

Check out the vFRG! The 277th ASB vFRG has lots of informa-

tion and links to Fort Drum and military

resources! Link directly to CYS, ACS,

Military OneSource, My Army Benefits and

more! Check out AFTB and Mobilization

and Deployment training schedules! See

page 3 of this month’s newsletter log in

instructions!

Charlie Company FRG Notes Megan Wilson

C Company FRG Leader

Hello Everyone,

It‘s winter again! LOL! Spring will

come ―again‖ soon, hopefully. Thank

you all who came to our last FRG Meet-

ing in March. Our next FRG Meeting is

Thursday, April 12, 2012, 4:30pm at

Charlie Company.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Megan Wilson

818-279-3927

[email protected]

P A G E 6

L I B E R T Y T I M E S

D I D Y O U K N O W ?

Army Community Service

(ACS) has clinical Military

Family Life Consultants

(MFLCs) available for walk-

in confidential consults? If

you feel you need some-

one to talk to or are hav-

ing marital problems,

please call them at 315-212

-6919 or just stop by M-F

8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

ACS also has a Financial

Readiness Program that

provides free counseling or

advice on financial matters?

They can provide all types

of financial assistance: pull

credit reports, budgeting,

debt management, invest-

ing, etc. Call 772-0050 for

more info.

Behavioral Health Con-

tacts: Suicide Resources/

Hotlines Connor Clinic Appoint-

ment Line: 315-772-2778

After Hours Emergency

Services (Holidays and

Weekends) Before 9:00

pm: Acute Care Clinic,

315-772-5236

After 9:00 pm: Samaritan

Medical Center Emer-

gency Department: 315-

785-4100

Local 24-Hour Crisis Line:

315-785-4516

National Suicide Preven-

tion Lifeline: 1-800-273-

TALK

Suicide Prevention Action

Network (SPAN):

ww.spanusa.org

By CPT Steven Love

―He who answers before listening-

that is his folly and his shame.‖

Proverbs 18:13

If we are being honest we

would admit that there are times

we do not listen very well. Re-

cently I was able to spend some

good time with couples as well as

singles, talking about relationships

over Strong Bond events. I was

glad to take part in these events

with some great people. One of the

positives of a Strong Bonds get-

away is that people usually come

away saying/thinking that it is good

to equip myself to grow, succeed

and thrive in relationships.

For the married couple relation-

ships are work but by attending and

participating in Strong Bonds they

acknowledge relationships are

worth working on. For the singles,

besides getting to go to Niagara

Falls, they took some time to think

about how to prevent themselves

from getting involved with a jerk

or jerkette. Relationships are one of

the greatest parts of our lives and

also one of the greatest pains of our

lives.

One overwhelming reason why I

(along with other Chaplains and

counselors) find work never ending is

because ―love is blind‖. Researchers

at the University College London

found feelings of love lead to a sup-

pression of activity in the areas of the

brain controlling analytical thinking.

It seems that once we get close to a

person, there is a reduction in the

activity used in the brain. Romantic

love suppresses neural activity associ-

ated with one‘s ability to be a good

judge of a partner. In addition, mas-

sive releases of oxytocin, dopamine

and other hormones and neuropep-

tides in the brain create euphoric

feelings that further cloud analytic

judgments, masking those repeating

offenses that should be obvious warn-

ing signals of problems to come.

(Science Proves That Love is Blind,

BBC News Report on article from

Neurolmage. June 14,2004.)

Why are we having those prob-

lems? Well, those hormones have

come down (some more than others).

In the beginning of relationships if we

would slow the chemistry (the inti-

macy, passion and touch) down and

take time to know who we are drawn

to we might avoid an inevitable train

wreck. In many cases of premarital

counseling I find the couple has a

very limited capacity to listen. I hear

things that cry warning, warning! But

they don‘t hear any warnings, they

just ―feel that they are in love‖ and

everything will work out.

What can you do? Glad you asked.

Be aware of these three areas of social

skills that can hurt relationships:

Lack of insight how he or she comes

across to others. How are their inter-

personal skills or basic social skills?

Lack of emotional control or stability.

Are they up then down and all over

the place? Lack of basic relationship

skills. They don‘t apologize or they

have poor communication skills.

If you really want to enjoy a rela-

tionship for ―more than a minute‖ let

a good friend or a wise Pastor, Chap-

lain or counselor speak into your life

regarding these three areas. Then do

something that a wise person does,

listen to them. For it is a folly and a

shame to walk straight into trouble

when it can be avoided.

Love Big, Live Well

Chaplain Love

Love Is Blind

CONTACT INFORMATION BN Staff Duty 774-1200

24-hour BDE Staff Duty 774-1100

FRSA 774-1206 email [email protected]

FRG Leaders

HSC – OPEN/Acting FRG Ldr SGT Lux cell: 315-396-2080;

[email protected]

A Co – Sarah Popp-cell: 937-541-6371, [email protected]

B Co—GiGi Tomsu-cell: 315-777-6521, [email protected]

C Co—Megan Wilson-cell: 818-279-3927, [email protected]

FRG Advisors

Melissa Stiller – home 681-6734, email [email protected]

NATIONAL HUMOR MONTH

STRESS AWARENESS MONTH

APRIL 8, 2012 EASTER SUNDAY

APRIL 20, 2012 VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION DAY

APRIL 25, 2012 EXECUTIVE ADMIN DAY

V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 4

April 2012

P A G E 7

Mar. 24/25/31/Apr. 1 - Maple Days

(watch maple syrup being made on

post)- 10am—2pm at 45th Infantry Hill

Water Tower.

Mar. 29– Childcare names due.

Mar. 30– Arts and Crafts Center

closes permanently.

Apr. 2-6—Local Schools Spring Break.

Apr. 16-20 - Ft Drum Volunteer Ap-

preciation Week, 7am - 4:30pm at

ACS

Apr. 28 - USO Ice Cream Social - 2pm

-4pm at USO

Apr. 10/30 - Thrift Savings Plan Class–

2pm-2:30pm at ACS.

Community Events Need Help? Call or visit Military

OneSource to find infor-

mation about taxes, par-

enting, deployments,

finances, taxes, counsel-

ing, PCS moves & more!

Upcoming Key Caller

Class Dates: April 11th

All Classes are at ACS from

10-11:30am or 2-3:30 p.m.

Call Mobilization and Deployment to

register at 315-772-0470.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6 DONSA 7

8 EASTER 9 DONSA 10 11 Key Caller

Class 10-

11:30am/2-

3:30pm

12 FRG Mtgs

HSC, 5:30pm;

A, 5:30pm;

B, 5pm;

C, 4:30pm .

13 14

15 16 Treasurer

Report Due

Newsletter

Submission

Due

17 18 19 20 21

22 23 Key Caller

Advanced 1-

2:30pm

24 25 26 27 28

29 30 OPSEC

10:30am–

12pm

Training/Classes

FRG Suspenses

BDE/BN/CO FRG Meet-

ings/Training/Events

Joe Wietecha, Personal Financial

Counselor, is back and here to help

until April 13, 2012. Call him at 586-

350-7650 to help set up a budget,

check your credit, develop a plan to

get out of debt, get started investing,

or whatever you need assistance with.

You can also always call Financial

Readiness at 772-0050 for this same

type of assistance.

Family Readiness Group Advisor’s Updates, continued

P A G E 8

Eye On The Eagle

L I B E R T Y T I M E S

Center. Call or stop by after 1 pm

(772-6727/3635) to get an appoint-

ment for the next day, or if you do it

on a Friday after 1 pm, you can make

an appointment for the next week. It

might take a few minutes of calling

to get through, but this is a FREE

service for Soldiers and their Fami-

lies. Take advantage of it and don‘t

go pay H&R Block or someone else

to do your taxes. You deserve that

money you worked hard for, not

them! Now that many of you will be

getting a nice chunk of money back

from the government, think about

how you can use it to help yourself.

Resist the temptation to go spend it

and make a plan to put that money to

use. Pay off some debt, or start in-

vesting for specific goals (have you

made financial goals?), to buy a

house, or for your retirement. The

people at Financial Readiness, a

branch of ACS (Army Community

Service), 772-0050, and our Financial

MFLC (currently Joe Wietecha until

mid April) are here to provide free fi-

nancial advice. I‘ve worked with them

and they are really good financial

counselors. Anyone can become

wealthy, but it takes work- you have to

make a plan, make a budget, and start

saving now, even if just in small

amounts to begin with. Don‘t put it off.

Starting young puts you at a great ad-

vantage to develop that wealth because

of the amount of time your money has

to grow. I don‘t mean to preach, but I

really want each of you to be finan-

cially successful because I know it‘s

within your grasp! Think save (instead

of spending) and be rich!

Lastly, April is National Volunteer

Month. I‘d like to thank all our won-

derful volunteers in the 277th! The

FRG cannot be successful without you,

and we sure appreciate your helpful-

ness and dedication. Remember to stop

by ACS and get a gift for your vol-

unteer hours. I‘d especially like to

thank our terrific FRG Leaders;

Sarah Popp, Gigi Tomsu, and Megan

Wilson. You guys are great for doing

all that you do! I know it‘s a bit chal-

lenging right now since we are lack-

ing so many volunteers, but hang in

there and I‘m sure more people will

step up to help soon.

To the rest of you, please take the

time to say thank you to your FRG

Leader and Key Caller. They dedi-

cate their personal time to help keep

you informed. Thank you 277th Vol-

unteers!

B 277th ASB, TF Mtn Eagle.

SPC Efta was reenlisted by

CW3 Lonnie Leggett.

ARMY PHOTO BY CPT Melinda Walden

P A G E 9

SSG Pearson and SGT Rivera, Charlie Company’s platoon sergeants set up for a class on heaters duing cold

weather training.

RAVENS

Ravens setting up a medium size tent as part of our cold weather training.

P A G E 1 0 PICTURES CONTINUED

P A G E 11

277th Aviation Support Battalion History

In February 2006, the 277th Aviation Support Battalion

deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring

Freedom VII, where it provided combat service and support

to the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Falcon.

The Unit redeployed in February of 2007 after earning the

Lieutenant General Ellis D. Parker Award for best Aviation

Battalion in 2006 and the Meritorious Unit Commendation.

In October 2008, the 277th ASB deployed to Iraq in sup-

port of Operation Iraqi Freedom 09-11, where it provided

support and combat services to the 10th CAB, Task Force

Lightning. The unit redeployed in October 2009 and earned

the Lieutenant General Ellis D. Parker award for the Best

Combat Service Support Battalion for the work performed

during its 2008-2009 deployment.

20125 Hangar Access Road

Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield

Fort Drum, NY 13602

Phone: 315-774-1206

Fax: 315-774-1231

E-mail: [email protected]

277th Aviation Support Battalion

10th Combat Aviation Brigade

“Freedom and Liberty”

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