Good Afternoon Brothers & Sisters,

Please see the e-mail below. The 39th is being deployed for the first time since Vietnam and we as veterans of the 39th have been invited to attend their Organizational Day on April 15, 2016 as part of their send-off. Carolyn and I are going to try and make it and it is my sincere hope that some of you whom are close to Fort Campbell will also be able to be there. I have attached the flyer I received from Battalion that explains the activities of the day and it is also mentioned in our newsletter that should be in the mail by weeks end.

Please let me know as soon as possible if you plan on attending at the number or e-mail listed below so I can let Battalion know a head count.

Take care and hope to see you there.

BROTHERS THEN, BROTHERS NOW, BROTHERS FOREVER

Bill Ray

President

39th ENG BN (CBT) Alumni Association

817-239-0787 (Cell)

bill39th@sbcglobal.net

 

So when I emailed the band director (who knew I played trombone) to ask when tickets were available for the Christmas Concert (yes, actually Christmas and not "Holiday") he said, "Anytime. Hope to see you there. Do you want to sit in? Please?" The regular bass trombone player was on the sound board so I got to play with the band!! How 'bout that! After 20 years from when I told the recruiter I wasn't joining the USMC band so I could go to college, I'm finally playing in the band!! One more concert to go (Saturday) and I will have done all four concerts. What a shot of motivation for an old guy like me!!!

The rest of the photos are here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/104745627018165888181/MeAtTheIIIMEFBandConcert

Up until recently, I have never been to Hawaii for USMC business (or anything, for that matter). But last week, I had to go there for a conference at Pacific Command (PACOM) regarding the Joint Strike Fighter, aka the F-35. My stake in that (and by extension the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing's - or is it the other way around) is that to get something that transmits a radio signal used in Japan, it has to go through an evaluation process at Japan's Ministry of Interior Affairs and Communications (MIC). The guy who works the documents required for this (DD-1494s if you care) was the one coming to PACOM so I went to get in on the meeting and meet with him afterward. Maybe that's interesting and maybe it isn't, but while I was there, I got to go to Ford Island and visit the historic sites there. I must tell you it was a dream come true. Among the sites I saw were the USS Utah memorial, the USS Missouri, the USS Oklahoma memorial and the USS Arizona. I will post some pictures here but you can see them all at my Picasa site here.

The Utah Memorial

Better shot of what is left of the ship

The Oklahoma memorial

Markers for each man who died

Mighty Mo!

16" whoop-ass!

Mind blowing 1/96th scale model now in the Ward Room

In her WWII configuration

The Combat Engagement Center - used in the movie Battleship

The Marine Mount 5"

I don't think I need to remind anyone who comes to this site about the cost of war. Two more engineers from Ft Hood have recently died as a result of an IED attack in Afghanistan. Just a reminder that dead is dead in a full scale war, police action or even as your country "responsibly" ends a war. I got this from a DoD news update I get daily.

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

They died Dec. 12, in Parwan Province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when the enemy attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device. These soldiers were assigned to 3rd Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Killed were:

Sgt. 1st Class Ramon S. Morris, 37, of New York, New York; and

Spc. Wyatt J. Martin, 22, of Mesa, Arizona.

Let's dedicate this to all those at Fort Hood!

You may have caught a comment or two on other posts, but I wanted to tell everyone about my latest (and last) trip on the MEU. We have been at sea for about a month now and have spent the time do exercise in the vicinity of Okinawa. The first two weeks was "get back together with the Navy" training called Amphibious Integration Training (AIT). We normally don't get that much AIT in the 31st MEU, but we were lucky to get it this time. Sometimes it's two days of some basic functions - not even ops - and then it's off to do our big exercise. If you are wondering, some of those "basic funcitons" are "splash and recoveries" when we launch the Combat Rubber Raiding Crafts (Little rubber boats - CRRCs) or the AMTRACKs. Another basic function is something called "Call-aways". This is when an an element of the MEU is called to be on "alert". Basically, elements that you have that are subject to be called to board aircraft or landing craft are things like the Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP - think Scott O'Grady), a reinforcing element (Bald Eagle - company reinforcement, Sparrow-hawk - platoon reinforcement), or a mass casulaty team (Nightengale). During some missions you have one or more of those on alert. Depending on the likelyhood of needing them, you may have them on Alert 120 or Alert 60, the number indicating the reaction time from call to launch. This is more complex then you might think. Once you call one of those groups to be on alert, they have to have their full kit, weapon issued, ammo issued, and get staged by serials for embark on what type of craft (normally aircraft) is available. They also need to know where to go and that isn't as easy as it would seem - especially if it is your first time on an Amphib (as in, amphibious ship). Alert 120 means they can be hanging out in the berthing and Alert 60 means they need to be "on the ramp" and they have to know that, too. I take the time to explain that because it is not something people would ever think about being something to even do, let alone rehearse.

So far we haven't done anything new necessarily so I have not been taking many pictures. That is soon to change.

In a couple of days, we are going to transfer to the USS Denver. This is because for the exercise we are doing, we are being subsummed into a larger unit. We are going to go from being a footloose and fancy-free MEU to being the Ground Combat Element (GCE) for a MEB. A MEB is like a MEU but it is based around a infantry regimental landing team (RLT) whereas a MEU is based around a battalion landing team (BLT). So that higher headquarters is kicking us out of the USS Bonhomme Richard (BHR) and we are having to displace to LSD 9 - the venerable USS Denver. The fact that it participated in Operation Frequent Wind (the evacuation of Viet Nam in 1975) when the ship was 7 years old should give you an idea of how long in the tooth the old gal is. As a matter of fact, she is the oldest ship still in use by the Navy. This is reflected in the fact that they generally don't spend a whole lot of dollars fixer her very often. Of course, as the commo, I still need to be able to get comm up - it's just going to be a challenge.

After that we go to Korea to participate in the exercise that is irking the North Koreans so much. I'll take lots of pictures there.

Anyway, I'm outta here - got a meeting to get to. Here's a pic of me in one of the Navy's MH-60 helicopters (the Navy version of the Black Hawk).

http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2013/1113_haiyan/

Check this out. It is an article about Marines building bridges recently.

http://www.1stmlg.marines.mil/News/NewsArticleDisplay/tabid/8628/Article/146436/7th-esb-marines-deploy-improved-ribbon-bridge-from-the-air.aspx

7/18/2013 -- CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – The steady hum of a helicopter grew louder as it approached the harbor. A heavy payload underneath weighed the helicopter down until it dropped the steel structure into the blue Pacific water. Immediately, the Marines went into action.

Marines with Bridge Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, conducted improved ribbon bridge training aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., July 16, 2013.

During the exercise, five IRBs were transported and delivered by a CH-53E Sea Stallion and dropped into Oceanside Harbor. Being one of only two bridge companies in the Marine Corps, it was the first time for the West Coast battalion to have the IRB deployed in this manner.

“The purpose of today’s training is to show the capabilities of air operations in conjunction with the bridge platoon itself and its capabilities for the MLG,” said Staff Sgt. Timothy J. Liners, Bridge Co. gunnery sergeant, 7th ESB, 1st MLG. “The setup within the basin area was pretty swift. I can definitely say that this platoon has worked hard to lead up to this moment.”

The IRB is a transportable and floating bridge that is easily deployable on any calm body of water. It can be used as a ferry to transport military equipment and vehicles across water or act as a bridge between land to continuously transport Marine forces, which can aid in anything from combat missions to humanitarian operations.

“These bridges are easily deployable in water to support the mobility of other units,” said Cpl. Alexander D. Krieger, a combat engineer with Bridge Co., 7th ESB, 1st MLG. “We can ferry tanks or whatever you want, or even make bridges to span rivers.”

Using Bridge Erection Boats, a small twin-jet aluminum vessel that can push the bridges, ropes and a few tools, the Marines were able to deploy, move and assemble the bridges into a five-piece IRB raft that includes three interior pieces and two ramps on the ends.

This was the first experience with the IRB for many of the Marines. It allowed cross-training between the different occupational specialties within the company.

“The training today was a really good time,” said Cpl. Alexander C. Alberter, a combat engineer with Bridge Co., 7th ESB, 1st MLG. “I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot and it was something I’ve never done before.”

After the five-piece bridge was finished, the Marines maneuvered the bridge to the shore in order to test its integrity. Tactical vehicles were driven on the bridge and shuttled into the bay in order to demonstrate its capabilities. After the Marines could see the structure was sound, the disassembling process began.

As the sun was setting over the Pacific Ocean, the Marines finished their training. For the first time off the west coast, an IRB raft was constructed via helicopter insertion and a new set of Marines were trained to become the Marine Corps' next bridge team.

From May 23, 2007 column

Fridays at the Pentagon

A little known tradition which occurs...

Congrats Col Savre. Such wonderful news.

For those who don't know or don't remember, the Colonel was the commander of the 36th Engineer Brigade!