396TH TRANSPORTATION COMPANY

HIGH ROLLER AWARDS SGT Lowe SPC Wendt SPC Tyler SPC Daniels D SGT Soltese SPC Wilkerson, A SPC Moses

Hell On Wheels
V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 2 N O V E M B E R 2 0 T H , 2 0 1 2

One Team One Fight

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is a progress. Working together is a success. -Henry Ford. 100 days. 2,400 hours. 14,400 minutes. 8,640,000 seconds. That is how long the Soldiers of the 396 Transportation Company have been without their loved ones. There has not been tion. A valuable lesson learned this month has been the art of team work. As a company, we have accomplished many goals. We have successfully completed multiple missions and the deliverance of an assortment of multi-class supplies. A team of Soldiers participated and won the SWORD Challenge that tested their physical endurance as a team. The areas of our motor pool have underwent inspections. All sections worked efficiently as a team to uphold and set the standard not only for our battalion, but for the installation. A company wide Army Physical Fitness Test was given to ensure our Soldiers are maintaining their physical fitness and multiple ranges have been conducted to qualify Soldiers on various

Company Miles 10,152

a second that has went by that we have not thought of our friends and families holding up the home front. Holiday seasons are around the corner and the mail room is busting with excitement. Every package sent to our Soldiers are met with smiles and gratifica-

company also helped set up and create a process called the Pit Stop. This process is a staging lane that inspects and tests multiple systems on our trucks to ensure we are as safe and prepared to conduct our mission. In addition to our daily tasks, various

weapon systems. As the days continue to pass, the Soldiers of the 396th Transportation Company have relied on each other for support and comfort. As individuals we are strong, however, as a team, the 396th Transportation Company has become indestructible. -SPC Wilkerson, Ashten M.

PAGE

Commanders Corner
Another month has been successfully completed on this nine month journey, as mission requirements and performance expectations continue to increase. Since previous performance is a predictor of future results, elements within this company continually get selected for high visibility operations; constantly setting the bar higher. Soldiers within this company continue to accomplish missions with the tactical and technical expertise of seasoned veterans, always ready for the next challenge. One constant within this profession is change, which during the past 30 days has occurred in the form of mission requirements, weather, and operation tempo. With change comes opportunity, consequently 396th Transportation Company Soldiers are taking advantage of this opportunity with recognition being received at Division, Brigade, and Battalion leadership levels. These accomplishments are celebrated knowing that the support of family and friends make it possible. As Soldiers, we fully understand this fact and always appreciate the thoughts and prayers from loved ones at home. -CPT Willson

First Hand from the First Sergeant

-Staying Focused
grandson. "It is a terrible fight between two strong wolves. One What you pay attention to can wolf is evil. The other is good. make a huge difference in your The grandson thinks about this for life. It can affect how you feel, a minute. Then he asks his grandwhat you think, and what you father, "Which wolf wins?" can accomplish. In a very real The wise old Cherokee answers, sense, you are what you pay at"The one you feed." tention to. The problem is, if you're like me, There was an old Cherokee Inyou probably have far less control dian teaching his grandson about than you'd like over which wolves life. There is a battle going on you feed and which you don't. inside each of us," he tells his The truth is, you don't have to be diagnosed with an attention disorder to have an attention deficit! Staying focused and paying attention will improve your odds of staying alive. -1SG Durant

HIGH OP TANE
The month of November has truly been a challenge for the Operations Section. The company as a whole has met some demanding operational challenges with technical competence and tactical teamwork. The operations section, including communications and armament, has played a vital role in the logistical surge of three to four convoy escort teams with 96 personnel launching at the same time within a three hour time span, WOW!!!!. Then the escort teams themselves escorted over 140 vehicles all throughout Regional Commands (RC) East and Capital at the same time as well. AWESOME!!!!! The 396th Transportation Company are truly masters of their craft, and the wonderful part about this company is that we are still learning more. GO BIG WHEELS!!!!! -SFC Lapsley

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2

PAGE 3

BULLDOGS

The last few weeks, the Bulldogs have been hard at work. We were chosen to participate in a Brigade level security operation at the Salang Tunnel for a distinguished visitor. The mission was

a great success. A few soldiers were selected to help assist the Brigade PSD Team in a mission going to a Korean Forward Operating Base north of Bagram. Several Soldiers from the Bulldogs have been tasked out to assist other convoy escort teams in convoy operations. As of November first, the Bulldogs have taken over the task of guarding the local national trucks that are staged prior to leaving out on mission. We took an Army Physical Fitness Test this month and several have qualified at the M16 range. SGT Perez was chosen to participate in the Warrior Leaders Course in Kuwait. She was one of the first Soldiers from the battalion to be chosen to attend the course while in a combat zone. SGT Lewis spent two weeks at Forward Operating Base Ghazni where he was trained on how to properly oper-

ate the PUMA, a small unmanned aircraft used for surveillance. SPC Manspile from the Bulldogs participated on the winning team of the Sword Challenge which consisted of multiple rigorous physical tasks to be completed as a team. SPC Hernandez reenlisted this month and SPC Toth was chosen this month for the Highroller award, for his hard work and dedication to Love reckons the team. -PFC Adams

BONECRUSHERS
This month the Bone Crusher element spent a lot of time on the road, a welcome change after being on guard detail the month prior! Our mission took us south where we conducted retrograde convoys for nearly two weeks. SPC Lyle Carter spent much time with our interpreter, Gus, and even started to pick up a few Pashtun phrases for dealing with the local drivers. Our time in the south allowed the team to continue to grow; PFC Tayler Rovere commonly refers to CET 2 as his family and home away from home. As the weather continues to get colder, everyone bundles up to escape the chill. SPC Kevin Marquez, a native of Puerto Rico, has never seen snow; he anxiously awaits the first flakes to fall. -1LT Powers

hours for months, and days for years; and every little absence is an age. - John Dryden

OUTLAWS
For the month of November the Outlaws have been hard at work in a continued effort to maintain combat efficiency. The Outlaws conducted weapons training on various weapon systems. We have been conducting PAC BOT (it is like Wall-E) training and recently completed the Army Physical Fitness Test. We have spent a lot of time on our assigned vehicles to ensure that they are 100% mission capable. We would like to congratulate SPC Dustin Gill for her participation and subsequent win during the Battalions Sword Challenge, earning an Army Achievement Medal for her efforts. We would like to recognize SGT Shawn Hillman, SPC Dustin Gill and PFC Ja Kees Wheeler for participating in the Army 10 Miler shadow run conducted here on Bagram. Congratulations to Matthew Soltese for his recent promotion to Sergeant. SGT Soltese has worked extremely hard to keep the Outlaws vehicle fleet at 100 percent mission ready; his is a promotion that is well deserved. We would like to give a shout out to SGT Soltese and SPC Antonio Tyler for being recognized with the Company High Roller award for the month of November. Just a reminder to friends and family back home, we love and miss you. We would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. -SSG Bowden

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2

PAGE 4

DOG POUND
The days are long and the nights are even longer as the Dog Pound element moves along the streets of Afghanistan. We have accomplished a lot in the past 30 days. Numerous missions were ran from RC East and Capital areas moving multi class supplies. The Dog Pound was charged with escorting the Battalion Commander to our second home on Ghazni. With three months down and six to go, the Soldiers of the Dog Pound element are keeping busy. Our newest member of the team, PFC Williams, conducted CROWS training (a machine gun employed using a video monitor inside the keep our trucks road worthy. Our Mission Commander, SGT Riley, has become proficient with his job of controlling all supplies that we escort, making our missions a success. On the behalf of the Dog Pound team we would like to tell our loved ones back home Happy Thanksgiving. With the Holiday season right around the corner Soldiers of this team are thankful for the support from their Every loved ones. -SPC Wilkerson, A.

vehicle) in order to join our team on the road. SPC Wilkerson, A. was awarded the High Roller of the Month award. Our maintenance team, SGT Mcinnis and SPC Hunter have been working diligently with our operators to

ROUGH RIDERS
This month the Rough Riders had their names came out on the promo- up their E-5 rank. Our High Roller our first mission south and were tion list and are working diligently to of the month award went to SPC the first team from 396th TC to meet their point requirements to pick Wendt who earned the award for his travel to Forward Operating hard work and dedication to Base Warrior. We successfully prepare himself and his team escorted over 50 local national for all upcoming missions. trucks throughout RC-East. From all of the Rough Riders The Rough Riders had two Solwe want to wish everyone a diers, SPC Ray and SPC TonHappy Thanksgiving! neson, go to the promotion -2LT Liberator board in November; they did an outstanding job! Both Soldiers are eagerly waiting to see if

parting is a form of death, as every union is a type of heaven. ~Tryon Edwards

Maintenance
The month of November has been very busy for the 396th Maintenance Platoon with missions going on a weekly basis and services due. In all, there were multiple services completed and starting the next month with high expectations. The Soldiers in the platoon are constantly busy with going on missions and also working on the equipment when they return. But nevertheless they never complain or show any sign of giving up. Our clerks worked tirelessly to prepare for Battalion Inspection and passed with flying colors; PFC Flores is constantly impressing our Battalion. Leadership had a Hazmat Inspection as well and worked days and nights on their areas, easily scoring 100% From this point on there is no turning back. -SGT Wilkerson

396th held their annual Friday Night Lights celebrating everyones birthdays for the month of October by sharing cake and singing them all Happy Birthday!

November Birthdays
SGT Soltese SGT Love SPC Voth SPC Halls SSG Grimes SGT Wilkerson, D SPC Coakley SPC Fortune SPC White SPC Carter SPC Salinas PFC Rovere

Congratulations to those who re-enlisted!

SPC Hernandez SPC Velasquez SPC Wilkerson, R.