SteelWarrior Newsletter

The Steel Warrior Battalion is

pleased to announce the joining of a

new team member. On 27 February

2013, LTC Jon Paul Maddaloni as-

sumed command of our wonderful,

fast paced organization.

LTC Maddaloni comes to Fort

Sill via Fort Carson CO where he

was part of our parent unit 4ID. At

Fort Carson, LTC Maddaloni served

as 4ID and Fort Carson Chief of Op-

erations (CHOPS) and the G3 FU-

OPS Chief.

The battalion would also like

to welcome his lovely wife Avery

and his two children Faith and Kate,

who will be joining him very soon.

The Steel Warrior did not

give our new leader a time to

take a breath as they took

him to the field on 1-4

March for a live field exer-

cise. During this exercise the

Battalion learned skills that

will help during the upcom-

ing deployment. Speaking of

the deployment. There will

be two FRG Deployment

Briefing on 3 April 2013 at the Kerwin Auditorium in Snow Hall. Once at 1300 and again

at 1800. Please try to attend one of these briefs. Mailing address, resources and other in-

formation will be given out.

Issue 1 March 2013

Steel Warrior

Color Guard

Transfer of the Guidon from MAJ Posey to

LTC Maddaloni

Assumption of Command

d

Phoenix Warriors and family.

The Phoenix News will be sent out every month. It will contain perti-

nent information on upcoming events in the 578th FSC FRG and in

the Lawton/Ft. Sill area.

Single Soldiers please let your family know that they are considered

part of the 578th FRG. The new FRG Leader is Ms. Vanessa Nor-

man. Please feel free to contact her with any questions, comments,

concerns, or ideas related to FRG.

As we move closer to the deployment, ensure that you’ve made ar-

rangements for someone to manage affairs for you and your family

while you are away.

Use your time off to be around your loved ones. Remember to be

safe and responsible while traveling. Good decision making is vital

to an incident free block leave.

Phoenix 6

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PHOENIX

We Need Volun-

teers! In order to meet your

needs, we need your

help! Please volunteer

for any of the follow-

ing:

FRG Secretary

FRG Treasurer

Key Callers

Care Team

Fundraising Committee

Event Planning Com-

mittee

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the $20

dollar bill up. He then asked, "who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. Well, he replied, "what if I do this?" And he

dropped it on the ground and tarted to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now who still

wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson," he said, "no matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did

not decrease in value. It was still worth $20."

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come

our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened, or what will happen, you will never lose your value.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless ... and especially to those who love you. The worth of our lives comes

not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE. "You are special - Don't EVER forget it." Count your blessings, not your

problems. Never be afraid to try something new.

15 March 2013

The past month has been very busy for Bravo Battery, 1-14FA. On 21 February,

we conducted a change of command. We said farewell to CPT Brandon Martin and wel-

comed CPT Justin Thorkildsen as the new Battery Commander. CPT Thorkildsen came

from Fort Lewis, Washington where he served as a Fire Direction Officer, Fire Support

Officer, Platoon Leader, and Battery Executive Officer. He deployed to Iraq in support

of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2009-2010. More recently, he deployed to Afghanistan

with the 214 FA Security Forces Assistance Teams in 2012.

After the change of command, the first FRG meeting was held on 27 February at

the Battalion FRG room in order to introduce CPT Thorkildsen and the new Bravo Bat-

tery FRG leader, Kristen Custer. Kristen Custer is the wife of 2LT Clinton Custer, 1st

Fires Platoon Leader. That week was also when Bravo conducted final preparations for

the 1-14 FA Culminating Training Event (CTE). The CTE ran from 28 February to 4

March. Soldiers did an outstanding job throughout, qualifying eight launcher crews, re-

hearsing air load operations, conducting rocket pod loading and unloading and firing 48

live rockets.

With the conclusion of the CTE, Bravo Battery Soldiers are prepared for the up-

coming deployment. They unquestionably proved themselves both physically and men-

tally. With a much earned 2 week leave, Soldiers are catching their breath before the fi-

nal deployment preparations. The time leading up to deployment there will be a Battal-

ion FRG deployment briefing on 3 April to provide information to families about the up-

coming events. Additionally, Bravo Battery FRG will be conducting a meeting on 30

April. At that time there will be a presentation given by the Military and Family Life

Consultant on Children and Separation Issues of Deployment.

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BLACKHORSE