It has been a month since the 536th Maintenance Support Team (MST) arrived in Camp Marmal. The MST has impacted Regional Command-North by providing maintenance capabili- ties to Coalition Forces such as the Mongolians and Croatians. Additionally, 536 th MST Soldiers are assisting other military units around Camp Marmal lacking maintenance support. The team from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii is composed of 20 Soldiers who are motivated and hungry for work. Thus far, the MST completed more work orders than the previous unit during their entire tenure at Camp Marmal. 536 th Soldiers have been extremely busy under the vehicles, fixing air conditioned jobs, conducting services on generators, weapons’ annual gauging, and maintained a grueling training schedule for theater requirements during the first month in Afghanistan. With the continuous flow of work orders coming in to 536Takes Charge TF Hannibal SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: 536 Patching Ceremony In-Gating Hairatan Day Care Perspective of a Soldier Introducing TF Hannibal S6 ‘The Daily Show’ visits 524th CSSB Mazer-e-Sharif is one of the distribu- tion hubs in Northern Afghanistan. These Soldiers closely monitor upload and download of hundreds of tanker trucks and thousands of gallons of fuel per month. Afghan truck drivers pa- tiently wait outside the base every evening for the Soldiers from Task Force Hannibal to arrive and begin the escorting process. SGT Richards, the in- gating NCOIC, leads his in-gating team outside the wire (on foot) dressed in “full battle rattle.” His Soldiers see a huddle of about 25 Afghan truck drivers waiting right out- side the gate. The drivers gather to receive instructions displaying a number and instruc- tions in English. After an initial brief through a local interpreter, drivers line up their trucks for inspection and move to the fuel point under the watchful eye of an escort. Drivers either drop off fuel and head back out for an- other fill up, or pick up fuel for distribution to outlying FOBs.Proper handling of the local drivers and keeping a friendly relation- ship with the local population can make a difference in the battalion’s abil- ity to obtain crucial information about the hostile environment surrounding our Soldiers on a daily basis. SPC Gerda Ngir- chokebai from the island of Palau is awarded Solder of the Month for HHC. SPC Ngirchokebai is cur- rently serving in the HHC Supply Section. the shop, the first month has flown by really quick. The units goal is not only to surpass the total number of jobs completed by the previous unit, but perform at higher level producing better quality repair jobs. The 536th MST really takes pride in their work. They are hoping to get their name out and assist any unit in need of help in order to accom- plish the mission here in Afghani- stan. Soldiers from the 536th pose after their Patching Ceremony Meet The “In-Gating” Team!
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Transcript
It has been a month since the
536th Maintenance Support
Team (MST) arrived in Camp
Marmal. The MST has impacted
Regional Command-North by
providing maintenance capabili-
ties to Coalition Forces such as
the Mongolians and Croatians.
Additionally, 536th MST Soldiers
are assisting other military units
around Camp Marmal lacking
maintenance support.
The team from
Schofield Barracks,
Hawaii is composed of
20 Soldiers who are
motivated and hungry
for work. Thus far, the
MST completed more
work orders than the
previous unit during their entire
tenure at Camp Marmal. 536th
Soldiers have been extremely
busy under the vehicles, fixing
air conditioned jobs, conducting
services on generators, weapons’
annual gauging, and maintained a
grueling training schedule for
theater requirements during the
first month in Afghanistan.
With the continuous
flow of work orders coming in to
536Takes Charge
TF Hannibal
S P E C I A L
P O I N T S O F
I N T E R E S T :
536 Patching
Ceremony
In-Gating
Hairatan Day
Care
Perspective of a
Soldier
Introducing TF
Hannibal S6
‘The Daily
Show’ visits
524th CSSB
Mazer-e-Sharif is one of the distribu-
tion hubs in Northern Afghanistan.
These Soldiers closely monitor upload
and download of hundreds of tanker
trucks and thousands of gallons of fuel
per month. Afghan truck drivers pa-
tiently wait outside the
base every evening for
the Soldiers from Task
Force Hannibal to arrive
and begin the escorting
process.
SGT Richards, the in-
gating NCOIC, leads his
in-gating team outside
the wire (on foot) dressed
in “full battle rattle.” His
Soldiers see a huddle of
about 25 Afghan truck
drivers waiting right out-
side the gate. The drivers
gather to receive instructions
displaying a number and instruc-
tions in English. After an initial
brief through a local interpreter,
drivers line up their trucks for
inspection and move to the fuel
point under the watchful eye of
an escort. Drivers either drop off
fuel and head back out for an-
other fill up, or pick up fuel for
distribution to outlying
FOBs.Proper handling of the local drivers and keeping a friendly relation-
ship with the local population can make a difference in the battalion’s abil-
ity to obtain crucial information about the hostile environment surrounding
our Soldiers on a daily basis.
SPC Gerda Ngir-
chokebai from the island of Palau is
awarded Solder of the
Month for HHC. SPC Ngirchokebai is cur-
rently serving in the
HHC Supply Section.
the shop, the first month has
flown by really quick. The units
goal is not only to surpass the
total number of jobs completed by
the previous unit, but perform at
higher level producing better
quality repair jobs. The 536th
MST really takes pride in their
work. They are hoping to get
their name out and assist any unit
in need of help in order to accom-
plish the mission here in Afghani-
stan.
Soldiers from the 536th pose after
their Patching Ceremony
Meet The “In-Gating” Team!
Message from the Commander P A G E 2
Hello to our
family and
friends back
home! As
we work to-
wards finish-
ing up our
third month
here in Af-
ghanistan, your Soldiers continue to per-
form exceptionally well as they continue to
provide superb support to all units and coa-
lition forces throughout Regional Command
- North (RC-N). As you might guess, our
efforts focus on sustaining ongoing opera-
tions. We have also been working dili-
gently to reduce the amount of excess mate-
riel within our area. TF Hannibal is the
lead organization for managing retrograde
of materiel and containers throughout
Northern Afghanistan. We have made very
good progress to date and expect to make
achieve greater amounts of cargo moved
through the rest of our time here.
TF Hannibal recently completed what
might possibly be the single greatest con-
tribution to coalition forces that we make
during our deployment. As several coor-
dination activities failed, our Dutch part-
ners found themselves in jeopardy of
meeting their redeployment window.
With 65 20ft containers of cargo and sev-
eral armored vehicles left to move from
an outlying Forward Operating Base back
to Camp Marmal, the battalion staff and
the 1245th Transportation Company
planned and executed a short notice mis-
sion to bring the cargo and vehicles back
in time for redeployment. That convoy
represented the largest single movement
of cargo to date for the 1245th TC and the
mission was executed flawlessly. Many
and much larger convoys have been exe-
cuted regularly throughout the Army's
history, but the challenges of poor and
narrow roadways here in Afghanistan
make convoy operations difficult at best.
We continue to take care of and support
each other here. Everyone seems to be
doing well and in good spirits. We hope
things are going well there as well. We
all speak regularly about our families
back home and appreciate the difficulties
you face, particularly those who are go-
ing through pregnancies, are facing
health issues and those who are wran-
gling kids without your spouse there to
support. In many ways, you're job is
much more difficult. If you have a good
support system of family members and/
or neighbors great! I would like to con-
tinue to offer those who are not leverag-
ing the FRG system and/or Operation
Home Fires to please do so. FRG mem-
bers and our Rear Detachment personnel
will continue to reach out as they are
there to support you, our families.
We truly appreciate the support from our
friends and family back home and con-
tinue to look forward to our reunion next
Spring.
Take care and God bless.
LTC D
The Soldiers of the 524th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion con-
tinue to sustain operations in Regional Command-North through selfless
service and dedication. Despite the physical and mental challenges associ-
ated with deployment, our Soldiers continue to persevere and meeting
each challenge with excellence. In addition to primary military duties, our
Soldiers are continuing their self development through college and mili-
tary correspondence courses, GT improvement, and required training certi-
fications. Our Soldiers also continue to strive for physical excellence. Every member of the 524 th CSSB is lean and mean and seek to
improve the current 281 company Army Physical Fitness Test average. Several of our Soldiers are expecting new editions to their
families in the coming days and weeks. Although, they cannot be physically present, we are all anxiously waiting and supporting each
other as we wait for the birth of the newest members of the Make Away family.
On 1 September 2013, we will promote SSG Charles Smith to Sergeant First Class and SPC Angelica Blair to Sergeant. Congratu-
lations to both, these promotions are long overdue, and well deserved. SSG Smith will also reenlist on his promotion day. SGT Erika
Carranza and SPC Angelica Blair won the last NCO and Soldier of the Month boards and will participate in the 101st Sustainment
Brigade Quarter boards in October at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.
Despite the long work days, our soldiers still find time to participate in other
activities. CPT Frank Guizar, SFC Tyronn Green, SGT Brandon McDowell, and
Breyanna Romero volunteer at the USO to help build morale for all coalition
forces, DOD civilians, and contractors on Camp Marmal. SPC Mariah Keen and
LT Kashayla Stanford participated and won the Woman’s 500 Pound Club lift-
ing competition for their prospective weight categories. SSG Charles Smith won
the USO three point shoot out and HHC beat the 536th Maintenance Support
Team during the battalion basketball tournament.
I would like to close by thanking the families back home for all you do, care
packages, and letters you have been sending. Keep them coming!
Make A Way
“Hannibal 7”
Message from the CSM
Hairatan Port
Daycare
Afghanistan that we are here to
assist. Additionally, these inter-
actions can provide the female
citizens with healthy/positive
female role models.
It’s vital for coalition forces
to maintain these types of engagements, create a good working
relationship with the Afghans and continue to enhance our com-
munity relations which will hopefully give the Afghans a hope-
ful outlook towards their financial and educational future once
US/Coalition forces depart. By MAJ Lashell Davis
In late July, Taskforce Lifeliner and Hannibal fe-
males visited the Hairatan, Afghanistan Port Daycare.
This visit was an effort for JCOP Hairatan Soldiers to
show their support for the citizens of Hairatan.
The Hairatan Port Daycare is utilized by both port em-
ployees and local residents. The center currently serves 50
children ranging in the ages
from infants to 11 years old.
The center offers an educational
curriculum consisting of read-
ing, writing, math, history and
languages.
The purpose of the visit was
twofold: first, for female Sol-
diers to interact with female
Afghans that work outside of
home. The other purpose was to
deliver school supplies to the
daycare and distribute candy to
the children.
This event was good for the
Soldiers because it gave them
the opportunity to have positive
interaction with the people of
Afghanistan and it also pro-
moted the continuous relationship building with the citizens, in
particular Afghanistan women who work outside the home.
By conducting these types of key leadership engagements/
humanitarian assistant efforts and interacting with the Af-
ghanistan citizens, we can foster/promote a clear, honest and
compassionate working relationship to show the people of
P A G E 4
Straight from the Top! Soldiers, Family and Friends of
HHC 524TH, CSSB
I hope all is well back home.
We have made it through an-
other month, which means we
are one month closer to coming
home. Once again I have to re-
port that your Soldiers are doing
well and making amazing pro-
gress on trying to get US forces
to a point we can meet the con-
ditions of pulling out of Af-
ghanistan.
As I look around our area of
operation, I am constantly
amazed at the amount of STUFF
we have moved out of theater. It
is our primary job to move
“logistics” in, around, and out of
theater. Your Soldiers are re-
sponsible for making that hap-
pen, at least in northern Af-
ghanistan. Your Soldiers may
not realize the progress, but
from my position I get to see the
bigger picture. You all should be
proud of what your Soldiers
have accomplished so far; I
know the Commander and I are.
We seem to have Soldiers
scattered all over the Camp
Marmal/Pratt area doing a
plethora of things in support
of this operation. Some of
these areas include but are
not limited to, In-gating
(escorting) Afghan fuel and
supply trucks, oversight of
food, fuel, and every other
class of supply that is cur-
rently under contract by
FLUOR.
I cannot express my many
thanks for all the support that
you are providing your Soldiers
here in Afghanistan. To see the
smiles on their faces daily when
they receive their mail from
back home is amazing; you truly
are their backbone which keeps
them going.
SFC David E. Briggs, HHC,
524th CSSB First Sergeant.
August proved to be quite the
month here in Afghanistan for the
Warrior team. As the temperature
climbed so did the workload and
the successes of each section
within HHC. HHC began the month with a successful change of command, fare welling CPT
Rainey who immediately following flew back to Hawaii to join his wife for the birth of his
son and begin his new job at the 45th Sustainment Brigade. The Support Operations section
continues to plan and coordinate the important mission of organizing and moving equipment
out of Afghanistan as this war draws to a close. Our food service personnel continue to en-
sure the quality of nutrition that our warriors and all other service members here at Camp
Marmal receive is of the highest quality. Our Soldiers continue to act as Force Protection
enforcers, safeguarding this camp and protecting against insider-threats that have been mak-
ing the news recently. Just this past week, The Daily Show host, John Oliver and some of his
comedian friends stopped by and paid the 524th a visit. They were only scheduled to stay
with us for an hour but ended up staying much longer as they were impressed and amazed at
the professionalism and technical expertise that the HHC Soldiers demonstrated to them.
Finally, I would like to remind everyone that if you have any questions at all, feel free to con-