Nov 12 277th asb long version newsletter

Mountain Eagle Families,

Autumn is here and with it a

symbolic transition for our battal-

ion here in North Country. Dur-

ing my first four month in com-

mand, I assessed and determined

that the most important initial

battalion action was to build.

Build a team, build a culture,

build a foundation and build a

plan. I am happy to report that

our building efforts have been

extremely fruitful. The battalion,

company and key staff teams are

built with personnel plans estab-

lished for the near future. Our

families have selflessly volun-

teered to fill critical FRG posi-

tions rounding our Family Readi-

ness program. Our organiza-

tional culture is in full transfor-

mation to a combat trace outfit

centered on training. We have

defined our foundation on dignity

and respect and are aggressively

pursuing personnel actions that

safeguard this foundation and the

good order and discipline that it

aims to achieve.

During this month, we suc-

cessfully augmented both TF Six

Shooters and TF Phoenix with

maintenance, feeding, supply,

fueling, arming, and communica-

tions support during two demand-

ing National Training Center

rotations. In addition, MAJ Del

Boyer led our small task force

forward (~90 personnel) in Colo-

rado in support of the Aviation

Brigade’s high altitude mountain

training. Del has done an ex-

traordinary effort in managing

aircraft maintenance support,

fuel, feeding, ground mainte-

nance and administrative support

personnel. His team proved in-

strumental in enabling the bri-

gade to qualify over half of its

aircrews. Bravo Company put

together a brigade level quality

control inspectors course that will

help standardize how we qualify

this critical maintenance asset.

These were major muscle movers

for the brigade and the battalion

performed exceptionally well.

In all this, Alpha Company found

time to complete 100% invento-

ries and conduct a change of

command. Our new A CO Com-

mander is CPT Byron Mulder

and we welcome Mrs. Jennifer

Mulder and their young son,

Luke into the Mountain Eagle

Family.

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 N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 2 . V O L U M E I , I S S U E 3 0

H O T T O P I C S

Alpha FRG Meet-

ing: Wednesday,

November 14,

2012, 6:00pm at

Dirty Harry’s.

Bravo FRG Meet-

ing: Tuesday, No-

vember 6, 2012,

5:00pm, at Monu-

ment Ridge Com-

munity Center.

Charlie FRG Meet-

ing: Wednesday,

November 14,

2012, 4:30pm, at

Monument Ridge

Community Center.

HSC FRG Meeting:

Thursday, Novem-

ber 8, 2012, 5:00pm

at HSC Classroom, 20345 Anaconda Rd

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 Enrique Ortiz

Battalion Commander

In just a couple of days we will host

our Family Fall Fest. The goal of this

fest is to continue to build our family

unity and to give us a chance to meet

each other. I also will take the opportu-

nity to share with you where I see us

going as a battalion in the future (now

thru next summer). In the near term, we

will take advantage of November to do

some house cleaning on excess equip-

ment and storage areas that will help us

improve our readiness posture in the

future. Meanwhile, we will set condi-

tions for our big training event of the

year. Other task forces in the brigade

gear up and go to one of the maneuver

training centers to exercise and validate

their ability to perform as a battalion.

As a support battalion, we will not have

that opportunity. However, it is ex-

tremely important that we hold a similar

training event. That is why in Decem-

ber (the first two weeks) we will go to

the field as a Task Force. Of course, we

will still be providing support to the

brigade during all this time so as you

can imagine we will stay busy right into

the holiday season.

Transitions are very important. This

fall transition finds us well and on a

good path. We are growing as a family

and our training is getting us ready.

Much work remains but I can confi-

dently say we are on track. Just like

fine wine, we are getting better with

time.

Happy Halloween,

―Mountain Eagle 6‖

Family Readiness Group Advisor’s Updates

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

Did you

know that

Halloween

is one of the world’s oldest

holidays? It has gone

through many changes, but

originally around 2000

years ago it was a Celtic fes-

tival called Samhain

(pronounced sow-in), mark-

ing the end of harvest and

the beginning of the new

year (November 1st). The

Druids believed that ghosts

and spirits roamed the earth at this

time so they lit bonfires as protec-

tion. When the Romans took over

the Celtic lands; they adapted the

day to honor their own deities.

One of these, Pomona, was the

goddess of fruit and trees and was

By Diana Ortiz

FRG Advisor

P A G E 2

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

Headquarters & Support Company - Talons

Families of HSC 277 ASB,

November is the time to give

thanks and to spend quality time

with family and friends. It will

be busy month as there are many

holidays and limited work days

as we focus on cleaning up the

storage areas and preparing for

the field in December. As a re-

minder, HSC will be going to the

field to conduct training from 3

to 11 December which will af-

fect the weekend as well.

I would like to welcome the

following Soldiers and their fami-

lies, SGT Frank Aguilar, SFC Ben-

jamin Azah, SFC Jason Boyer,

SFC John Brown, PV2 John Buck-

ingham, CPT Joel Finney, SPC

Brian Herington, SGT Herminio

Hernandezbuso, PFC Christian

Jordan, SFC Donna Laduke, SPC

James Lee, PFC Clara Miranda,

PV1 Christopher Mitchell, SPC

Chanz Paddack, 1LT Jamie

Payton, CPT Ikuseghan Pryce,

PV2 Kristopher Russell, SGM

Matthew Shoemake, PFC Aaron

Smith, SPC Lucas Stauffer and

SFC Norman Tosta. Now its time

to say goodbye to these fellow Sol-

diers as they move on to other

units or back into the civilian life,

CW3 Christina Anderson, SPC

Jose Cruz, SPC Shawna Cunning-

ham, SPC Reneangel Mena, 2LT

Timothy Reichert, SPC Matthew

Smith, SSG David Barnette and

1LT Michael Dixon. On 12 Octo-

ber we had the opportunity to pro-

mote SPC James Lee and SPC Lu-

cas Stauffer.

The next company FRG meet-

ing is on 8 November at the HSC,

277 ASB classroom, Building

20345, Anaconda Road (on the

airfield). HSC is in need of volun-

teers, specifically for key callers.

Key callers are the people who

have a set amount of spouses/

family members that they are re-

sponsible for calling when any in-

formation is needed to be passed

out. If anyone is interested, please

contact myself or our FRG leader

Dawnmarie Degrave.

Natalie Nissen

Talon 6

(315)774-1465

[email protected]

By CPT Natalie Nissen

HSC Company Commander

Hello all HSC Families,

I do hope everyone is

healthy and getting ready for

Halloween. We are having a

Halloween function for Sol-

diers and their families on the

26th. Bring your costume and

maybe win a prize. I hope eve-

ryone has a great time, I know I

will...........lol.

There are lots and lots of

things coming up in the follow-

ing months, Thanksgiving is

right around the corner and

then Holy Cow it will be

Christmas. The stores are al-

ready filling with Christmas

stuff. If you are an early shop-

per, now would be the time to

do it, instead of fighting the

crowds. That is never any fun.

We will be doing some cook-

outs at lunchtime for a couple of

days. Hamburgers, hotdogs,

chips and drinks for a relatively

cheap price. We would like to

raise some funds so we can do

more fun things, Let’s think of

fundraisers we could do. Don't

forget the craft fair on the seven-

teenth of November.

We have some wonderful volun-

teers to help us bake. We are go-

ing to need some volunteers for

the booth that day as well, if in-

terested please get in touch with

Captain Nissen or myself. My

e m a i l i s d a w n d e -

[email protected]. I am always

available if our families need

anything.

Our single soldiers, you are

always included in every FRG

function. You are family and we

do not want you to feel left out of

anything. If you would like to

bake, then by all means bake for

our booth at the craft show. If

you have any ideas for fundrais-

ers, please let me know.

I hope this finds everyone

healthy and happy oh and

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Until next month,

Dawn Marie DeGrave

315-777-6152

[email protected]

HSC Family Readiness Group Notes

Dawn Marie DeGrave

HSC FRG Leader

P A G E 3 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 3 0

Alpha Company Family Readiness Group Updates

Alpha Company - Atlas

and as always we welcome our soldiers,

spouses and children. We want Alpha

FRG to be a family unit, from the sol-

dier to the youngest child.

I look forward to seeing many of you

there. We will be welcoming Captain

Mulder to Alpha FRG and will also be

welcoming any new soldiers or families.

If you know a family in Alpha Com-

pany, please feel free to invite them to

join you at our meeting. We will be fo-

cusing on getting committees together

and also working to plan some possible

fundraising events. We are always look-

ing for new ideas to support our FRG,

So if you have an idea, please share it!

I will do my best to send you one

weekly email on Thursdays. My goal is

to not fill up your inboxes, but give you

Jennifer Mulder

A Company FRG Leader

Hello Alpha FRG members!

I want to take the time to thank eve-

ryone that came to our FRG meeting on

Thursday October 11th. It was great to

see so many of you interested in the

FRG and it was great to meet the sol-

diers and family members of Alpha

Company.

I am happy to invite you to our next

FRG meeting on Wednesday November

14th at 6:00. We will be holding it at the

same location of Dirty Harry's Sports-

man's Lodge. The address is 11115 Iraqi

Freedom Road. It is in the MWR com-

plex near the Firestone Tire store. We

will be having a potluck dinner again

By CPT Bryan Bolin

A Company Commander

Greetings Alpha Company

families!

The next couple of months

are going to be demanding as

we approach the holidays. We

have several support missions

and tasking that aid and support

other Task Forces within the

Brigade. Our recent FRG meet-

ing went very well. We will

continue to expand and improve

our FRG. FRG is not only for

married couples and children,

but FRG is also there for our

single Soldiers as well and

those that are single soldier par-

ents too.

If anyone is interested in

volunteering to be a part of our

Alpha Eagles FRG feel free to

stop by the office and talk with

me. Alpha FRG would like to

have greeter volunteers, a wel-

come committee volunteers,

and most importantly key callers.

I want to take this opportunity to

thank all of the families of Alpha

Company for all that you do and

all your support. We could not do

what we have to do if it weren’t

for the families supporting us.

―On our shoulders!‖

C P T B y r o n M u l d e r

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

[email protected]

a day that you can expect to re-

ceive FRG information. If you

have questions or would like to

volunteer please feel free to

email me anytime.

I look forward to seeing you

at our FRG meeting on Wednes-

day November 14th.

Our Soldiers, Our Family, On

Our Shoulders

Jennifer Mulder

423-506-0034

[email protected]

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

P A G E 4

Bravo Company - Hangar Rats By MAJ Del Boyer

B Company Commander

Greetings Hanger Rat

Families:

.

Bravo Company contin-

ues to train and execute

aircraft maintenance on the

Brigades fleet at Fort Car-

son Colorado. Major Boyer

and a team of 40 Soldiers

are currently conducting

mission in the Colorado

landscape with outstanding

results so far. The wide

variety of MOS’s within

the company have allowed

for this Battalion to fix just

about anything…not just

due to all the cool tools!

Our Soldiers continue to set

the standard with aviation

maintenance and have main-

tained an incredible state of

morale. Recently, they all

had the opportunity to con-

duct some DART missions

and the expectations were

exceedingly met. Also, the

company was able to train on

several of the airframes that

we normally don’t work on

back at Drum. Our AH-64

and OH-58 teams rarely see

much work. That has not

been the case here in Colo-

rado. For the AH-64 team

we were able to conduct two

250 hour inspections, where

we have not done one in

years! It was completed in

the exact amount of planned

time and it set the unit up for

success. With confidence

high, our

abilities are

growing and

the perception

is that Bravo

Company 277th ASB are the

―go-to‖ folks to get the job

done right the first time. We

could not be more proud of

the team that we have here.

They continue to strive for

excellence and have not let

their guard down the entire

time.

Bravo Company Family Readiness Group Updates

Karri Boyer

B Company FRG Leader

Bravo Company Happenings!!!

Bravo Cmpany held a chili

cook-off on 19OCT. (See pic-

ture on page 9). It was huge suc-

cess and many hungry soldiers,

as well as family members, were

fed. First place for best tasting

chili was Henderson. Hottest

chili went to Vasquez; with Hen-

derson placing second in Hottest

also! Thanks to all who cooked

& came out to participate it an

excellent event.

Next company fun event is 26

OCT @ the hanger at 1500.

Bravo company is being asked

bring main dishes and help deco-

rate doors for children to trick or

treat. We are decorating a por-

tion of the haunted house hall-

way—anyone is welcome to

help. Kids can also go through a

Chinook as static display. Other

companies are decorating and

bringing food as well and all of

277 are welcome to come out for

a fun fall afternoon.

Bravo Company is also excited

to welcome our soldiers home

from Colorado later this month.

These soldiers have worked tire-

less over the last month to ensure

10TH CAB aircraft remain

―mission ready‖ for the intense

training occurring in Ft. Carson,

and Eagle, CO. Back home our

soldiers have also put in long

hours to ensure a CH-47 Chi-

nook in need of major mainte-

nance is returned to flying

status in a timely manner.

The next Bravo FRG meeting

will be 6 NOV @ 1800 at

Monument Ridge Community

Center. Bunco & a craft/vender

fair will be the focus of this

meeting. Anyone is welcome

to sell or demonstrate as a ven-

dor by contacting me. Vendor /

demonstration areas will be

along the walls with Bunco be-

ing in the center. All are wel-

come to participate in any way

they like—come out to see all

of the Bravo talent & have fun.

Email me if you are interested:

[email protected]. .

MAJ Del P. Boyer

Hangar Rat 6

(315) 772-4239

[email protected]

Charlie Company - Ravens

P A G E 5 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 3 0

By CPT Matthew Thompson

C Company Commander If you were able to make our October

FRG meeting at Monument Ridge Commu-

nity Center, then you got to hear all the

great things that our Military Family Life

Consultants, or MFLCs, do for us. We had

a guest speaker, Christine LaFreniere, join

us and she told us all about the program and

explained how this wonderful asset is avail-

able to both Soldiers and Family members.

The MFLCs provide immediately available,

and confidential, counseling to Soldiers or

Family members that are in need of some-

one to talk to and are experts in coordinating

other, more specialized, assistance as re-

quired. There are also Financial MFLCs

available who focus specifically on assisting

Soldiers and Family members in developing

budgets, savings plans, and general financial

guidance for those who would like to better

manage their finances. Our meetings are

open to all Soldiers and Family members,

single and married, the Ravens are one Fam-

ily, so come out and join us for the next one!

For the month of November, we will

have our FRG meeting on the 14th, from

1630-1800 (4:30-6:00 PM), again at Monu-

ment Ridge, and our guest speaker will be

Carrie Kate-Meyer from the Division Family

Program. We will have a pot-luck social

hour from 4:30-5:30 to allow everyone time

to arrive, so come out and bring a tasty treat!

Our Command Post Node team support-

ing Task Force Phoenix returned from their

training exercise at the National Training

Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California. The

team was lead by Sergeant Frank Ervin, and

also consists of Specialist Gregory Kendall

and Privates First Class Andrew Sorensen

and Damian Eure. The team provided criti-

cal tactical voice and data over satellite to

the Aviation task force and allowed them to

effectively communicate with the 10th

Mountain Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat

Team. The team received accolades from

the unit for their outstanding support during

the month long exercise. These types of

training events are critical in preparing units

for the entire deployment process since the unit

must also deploy all of its equipment and per-

sonnel to another location to execute the train-

ing. NTC is a challenging environment to op-

erate communications equipment and the team

is bringing back a lot of lessons they learned to

share with the rest of the company to improve

how we operate. This month, our team sup-

porting Task Force Knighthawk is also on its

way down to the Joint Readiness Training Cen-

ter (JRTC) at Fort Polk, Louisiana for a similar

month long exercise. That team is lead by Ser-

geant Julio Loaiza, and consists of Specialist

Daniel Dever and Private First Class Davey

Martin. Be proud of what your Ravens are

accomplishing!

The month of November will be especially

busy for the Ravens. Our equipment is being

upgraded and many of us will be in classes for

a couple of weeks learning about the changes to

our Warfighter Information Network-Tactical,

or WIN-T, systems. Once the upgrade has

been performed, we will then have to spend the

next few weeks testing and validating the

equipment to ensure it is fully mission ready.

Remember to stay safe on the roads as the

weather gets colder and it starts to get slippery!

If you are in the area on the 14th of November, I

hope to see you at our next meeting!

CPT Matthew Thompson

(315) 774-1056

[email protected]

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 section of

the page. This will take you to the Vol-

unteer Management Information 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 FRSA Flash! The 277th ASB FRSA Flash has lots of

in-formation and is our Bi-weekly News-

letter for our Family Members and Sol-

diers. If you are not receiving the FRSA

Flash, please contact the 277th FRSA

Michele Galloway at 315-774-1206 or

[email protected].

Charlie Company Family Readiness Group Updates

By Sarah Ellis

C Company FRG Leader

Hi y’all! Fall is nice and settled in

now and I’m sure many of you are notic-

ing the chilly weather has come along

with it. For those of you who are new to

Ft. Drum, the cold is good. The colder it

is, the less lake effect snow we will get.

And why am I already talking about

snow? It’s not unusual to start get flurries

in the end of October and have our actual

first snowfall in the first two weeks of

November. Be prepared for the snow –

make sure you have salt and plenty of

shovels, as well as, emergency supplies

in your vehicles. For all those with little

ones, stock up on mittens, hats, scarves,

boots, and snow pants!

But enough about snow, we had a great

FRG meeting on 11 Oct at the Monument

Ridge Community Center. Christine La-

Freniere with the Ft. Drum MFLC spoke to

us about the Military Family Life Consult-

ant program and the benefits of it.

Our next FRG meeting is Wednesday, 14

Nov at the Monument Ridge Community

Center at 1630. Our guest speaker will be

Carrie Kate-Meyer from the Division Fam-

ily Program. Remember our meetings are

normally potlucks, unless announced other-

wise, so check with your platoon sergeants

to see what kind of food your platoon is

bringing. Thanks so much!

Sarah Ellis

865-621-2621

[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 MAJ Jerry Johnson

10th CAB Chaplain

Greetings to everyone

from here at the Brigade of-

fices. As I write this I am

excited to tell my friends in

277 ASB that you will soon

have a Chaplain, Steve Rin-

dahl. He is a very senior

CPT who may have his pro-

motable status when he ar-

rives. Steve is a hospital

chaplain with a wealth of

experience in combat trauma

ministry, as well as a back-

ground in parachute rigging

and Special Forces. You

shall enjoy him a lot. In De-

cember we will have Strong

Bonds events on the two

weekends before Block

Leave (29 November – 2

December and 7-9 Decem-

ber). I am aiming for Lake

Placid, but stay tuned. We

have 40 slots per event so we

should get everyone in. Sin-

gles, we have two events for

you as well, 6-7 and 13-14

December. Again, fliers are

forthcoming soon.

There are many programs

out there that can help us stay

strong as couples. One of my

favorite marriage books is

Willard Harley’s His Needs,

Her Needs. Dr. Harley has

been a counselor and therapist

in the Minneapolis area for

more than three decades. This

program focuses on the posi-

tive, while his companion vol-

ume Love Busters focuses on

what happens when couples

stop caring for each other and

act in destructive ways that

destroy their marriage. I hope

we do not have to face that

when we return home in the

fall. Harley’s premise is sim-

ple, and based on counseling

thousands of couples: if both

husband and wife intentionally

attempt to make each other

happy, they will have an irre-

sistible love for each other.

Harley says that in general

there are five basic needs that

men and women consider to be

most important.

Essentially, each of the five

needs for the husband is bal-

anced by a corresponding need

that is expressed by the wife.

Harley acknowledges that in

perhaps 20 percent of mar-

riages a woman’s need mirrors

or is greater than the husband

in one of these five areas, and

vice versa, so he does not want

us to stereotype anything.

Also, while it is true that men

have five needs that are the

most common and women do

as well, the partner should still

try to express that characteristic

toward the other regardless of

gender. This is Harley’s

―Marital Golden Rule.‖ Stay

tuned for Part Two: Husbands

and Wives Needs.

THE CHAPLAIN’S CORNER: PART ONE

CONTACT INFORMATION BN Staff Duty 774-1200

24-hour BDE Staff Duty 774-1100

FRSA 774-1206 email [email protected]

FRG Leaders

HSC – Dawn Marie DeGrave cell: 315-777-6152; [email protected]

A Co – Jennifer Mulder, cell 423-506-0034, [email protected]

B Co—Karri Boyer-cell: 315-767-6067, [email protected]

C Co—Sarah Ellis-cell: 865-621-262, [email protected]

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

FRG Advisors

Diana Ortiz – cell: 571-228-1962, email [email protected] Marion Harris - cell: 315-955-9106; [email protected]

HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!

AVIATION HISTORY MONTH

CHILD SAFETY PROTECTION MONTH

NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

NATIONAL ADOPTION AWARENESS MONTH

V O L U M E I , I S S U E 3 0

November 2012

P A G E 7

Family Night Every Tuesday, 5-9pm, at

the Commons.

English Speaking Class Thursday, 1

Nov, 9am-Noon, ACS Relocation Of-

fice, every Tuesday and Thursday.

McEwen Library Sale 2,3,5 Nov

(Books, CDs, Movies)

Teen Movie Day, Youth Center, Satur-

day, 3 Nov, 3-6pm.

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: November 13th

All Classes are at ACS from

10-11:30am. or 2-3:30pm

Call Mobilization and Deployment to

register at 315-772-0470.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3

4 5 6 BRAVO FRG MTG

7 FRG LDR

TRAINING/

INFORMAL

FUNDS 9AM-

3PM ACS

8 HSC FRG MTG

9 10

11 12 VETER-

ANS DAY

HOLIDAY!!!

13 DONSA 14 ALPHA/CHARLIE FRG MTGS

15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 DONSA 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 Training/Classes

FRG Suspenses

BDE/BN/CO FRG Meet-

ings/Training/Events

Personal Financial Counselor is avail-

able . Call him at 315-523-3765 to

help set up a budget, check your

credit, develop a plan to get out of

debt, get started investing, or what-

ever you need assistance with. You

can also always call Financial Readi-

ness at 772-0050 for this same type of

assistance.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 277TH!!!

Family Readiness Group Advisor’s Updates, continued

P A G E 8

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

represented by an apple. This may be

why we mostly use apples at Hallow-

een parties today! Eventually, the

Roman Catholic Church adapted the

day as All Saints', or All Hallows'

Day, to honor saints who did not

have a specific feast day of their

own. The name gradually changed to

Halloween. Did you know where the

activity ―Trick-or-treating‖ comes

from? During the Celtic festival

Samhain, fairies were believed to

roam the land, dressed as beggars

asking for food door to door. Those

that gave food to the fairies were

rewarded while the fairies punished

those that did not give. Another re-

ported origin of the modern "trick or

treat" practice dates back to ―All

Souls Days‖ parades in England.

Villagers gave poor people ―soul

cakes‖ in return for prayers for their

dead relatives. In 1920s America,

kids began going trick-or-treating in

their neighborhoods. By this time,

Halloween lost its religious meaning

and became a holiday where people

could wear costumes and become, for

one night, something fantastical. It

also became an inexpensive way for

communities to celebrate together.

Jack o' Lanterns is a Halloween sta-

ple today. The early Pagan Celtic peo-

ples used hollowed out turnips, gourds,

or rutabagas to hold an ember from the

sacred bonfire, so they could light their

home fires from the sacred bonfire.

Did you know that by the mid twen-

tieth century, Halloween turned into a

secular holiday, community centered,

with parties’ citywide, parades, and

great costumes? Halloween is mostly

aimed at children, but young and old

enjoy this holiday, with events and par-

ties for both children and adults. Start-

ing in 1950, the United Nations Chil-

dren's Fund (UNICEF) started a cam-

paign for children to collect money at

Halloween for underprivileged chil-

dren around the world. Halloween is

the United States' second largest com-

mercial holiday, spending approxi-

mately $6.9 billion a year.

I hope I could surprise some of

you with these historic facts and tra-

ditions for the upcoming Halloween

events. Wishing you all a fun and

safe Halloween Celebration!

Diana Ortiz

THE SHERIFF AND PIRATE ARE IN TOWN!!!

P A G E 9 BRAVO PICTURES

Bottom: SGT Halverson, a CH-47 Technical Inspector, ad-

vises PFC Jeremy Allen on how to make repairs to the aft

rotor.

CHILLI COOKOFF!!

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P A G E 1 0 CHARLIE PICTURES

R

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FUN

FALL

FESTIVAL

P A G E 1 1 ALPHA PICTURES

ALPHA COOKING AT ORG DAY FALL FESTIVAL

P A G E 1 2 HSC PICTURES

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P A G E 1 3 OUR CHILDREN@FALL FESTIVAL

SO MUCH FUN!!!

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”

P A G E 1 4