Serving the Soldiers, Civilians and Families of 2nd BCT, 4th Inf. Div. Issue 27 Sept.

23, 2010

204th XO creates buzz for wounded warriors

Story by Spc. April York
2nd Brigade Combat Team PAO
Maj. Eric Reid, executive officer of the
204th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade
Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division is rais-
ing awareness for wounded warriors through
his athletic abilities.
Reid is participating in the Ironman World
Championship in Kona, Hawaii Oct. 9 and
hopes the attention of this event will help him
raise awareness for his cause, he said.
He is raising money through social media
and word of mouth for Operation Rebound, a
division of the Challenged Athletes Founda-
tion in San Diego, Calif.
“My goal is to raise $10,000 and create a
buzz for the sacrifices our Soldiers make.”
Reid has been competing in triathlons
since 2006 and this will be his 7th race.
“I enjoy the challenge,” he said.
According to Reid, the race consists of a
2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2
mile marathon run, all together it’s 140.6
miles, and the participants have 17 hours to
complete it. perfect day. The day where everything comes
Reid stated that his goal for this race and together and you get the most out of your-
for future Ironman races is to finish in fewer self.”
than 10 hours. Reid believes Operation Rebound has a
“The best time I’ve finished so far is 9 great motto: From front line to finish line.
hours and 43 minutes,” at the Ironman Coeur They help wounded warriors get the equip-
d Alene in Idaho, June 2010. ment they need to compete in sports, he said.
Finding time to train can be challenging, “Operation Rebound is a great cause
Reid admitted. “Between work and family, my because it helps wounded warriors and first
time is very limited. I’ve learned a lot of good responders get back a fulfilling life through
habits over the years. I go to bed early and I sport.”
wake up early. I wake up before 4 a.m. and get
some cycling in before PT.”
The resilience of wounded Soldiers is a big
motivation for him, he said.
“Over the past five years of competing in
triathlons I’ve seen a lot of challenged athletes
and it’s very inspiring.”
He went on to say that he wants people
to know that our Soldiers have sacrificed so
much and even when they are wounded they
still go on and compete as athletes. “They
don’t give up.”
“As an athlete I enjoy the search for the
Photo from http://TeamOperationRebound2010.kintera.org/ericreid

Command Sergeant Major’s Corner
Lonestar Family, I want to take
this opportunity to tell you how
proud I am of all the hard work
we have put in these past few
months. We have trained hard
at Pinon Canyon, West Point,
Command Sgt. Major Yolanda Tate, CSM
2nd Special Troops Battalion
Warhorse Rampage I, II, and III,
1-10 CALFEX, Engineer breech
lanes, Gunnery, and the brigade
War Fighter Exercise to name
a few. We have supported the
brigade and excelled as a battal-
ion. Your hard work is preparing
the brigade, battalion, and every
Lonestar Soldier to fight and win
the nation’s wars.
I truly want to thank our Fam-
ilies for the understanding and
support they have continuously
provided for our Soldiers while
they are busy training hard. We
recognize there have been long
nights and weekend training our
Soldiers have executed that has
taken time away from their Fam-
ilies. We have scheduled training
holidays and given back time to
our Soldiers when possible.
The battalion commander
and I have enforced the stan-
dard duty day and Thursday’s
Family time when we are in
garrison. Yet there are times
when we must execute the
mission outside of the normal
duty day and as Soldiers, we
are obligated to fulfill our
duties.
The Lonestar Family is
making every effort to com-
municate with our Families
and keep them informed. I
was pleased to see over 200
Soldiers and Family members
attend our monthly Town
Hall meeting on Sept. 13 and
welcome all of you back to our
next meeting on Oct. 18. We
also had over 100 Families at-
tend our Battalion Family Day
on Sept. 19 to show our Fami-
lies the training our Soldiers
have been completing out on
the ranges at Fort Carson.
Looking forward, we have
also scheduled our Battalion
Organization Day on Oct. 22
and a Battalion Holiday Ball
on Dec. 16.
I encourage all of our
Families to attend these
events as we feel our Soldiers’
Families are part of the team
and a big part of the Lonestar
Family. Our philosophy is
“The strength of our Soldiers
comes from the strength of
their Families”. Again, the
battalion command team truly
thanks each and every Family
member for their understand-
ing and support.
page 2 Warhorse Pride Issue 27 Sept. 23, 2010

Lonestar Soldiers volunteer in the community items as they were unloaded from a donator’s
Story and photo by Capt. Michael Grant and the American Red Cross.
2nd Special Troops Battalion vehicle, and organizing and cleaning the items Overall there are nine different Goodwill
Delta Company, 2nd Special Troops Bat- on the floor. locations in the Fort Carson and Colorado
talion’s Community Outreach Program was Overall, six Soldiers from Delta Company Springs community. The mission of the
initiated to offer transitioning Soldiers the participated in the volunteer event and two Goodwill is to help people who are looking
opportunity to support the local community Soldiers from the 4th Special Troops Battalion for work or better jobs so that they can better
and build rapport with the Fort Carson and volunteered as well. provide for their Families.
Colorado Springs community. Their Community Outreach Program has
A volunteer event with Goodwill was sched- been partnering Soldiers with local venues
uled on Sept. 10 to afford the employees at throughout the Colorado Springs area in an
Goodwill, located at South Circle, some extra effort to further develop the character of the
help during their busiest hours of the week. outgoing Soldiers.
The event began at 9 a.m. with the opening Some of the areas/programs where Delta
of the venue to the general public and ended Company will be volunteering to assist in the
at noon after the massive influx of donations community are: the adopt-a-schools program
were processed. Soldiers helped the Goodwill with Fountain-Fort Carson High School,
employees in a variety of ways: sorting vari- Goodwill, the Humane Society, VA Hospital, Sgt. Dawdy and a Soldier from 4STB hang incoming clothes onto ‘Z
ous items and prepping their movement to Habitat for Humanity, local Soup Kitchens, Racks’. Later they will be sorted by category of clothing in order to
the floor for display, organizing and cleaning and on-post organizations such as ACS, USO, finalize them for the show room floor.

2nd STB trains with 1-2 Aviation Chaplain’s Corner

Story and photo by Capt. Samuel Nuxoll
2nd Special Troops Battalion
engage and destroy the enemy.
Some helicopters have even been equipped
Stay humble, ask ?’s
The Warhorse Brigade’s only Shadow UAS to take control of the Shadow temporarily A mentor of mine often used the line “There
Platoon, “Mongoose,” conducted Air to Air while they conduct the engagement. During are no stupid questions”. His point was to
Integration training with 1st Battalion, 2nd this field training, Warhorse UAS Soldiers illustrate that what often holds a person back is
Aviation Regiment from Sept. 9-16. identified targets on Fort Carson, then passed the inability to ask for help.
As combat operations in Iraq and Afghani- them off to Apaches from 1-2 AVN. The Most of us, myself included, struggle with
stan continue, seamless integration of combat Apaches swept in and engaged these targets risking our image as a person who has it all
units on the ground and in the air is exceed- with their 30mm machine gun. together. We prefer to have people see us as
ingly critical. This includes a new concept, “This was a great training event,” said Sgt. having the right answer and thereby fail to ask
Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) 1st Class Charles Trayer. “We spend a lot of questions.
which is being field tested across the Army. time supporting ground Soldiers but rarely do That struggle is with pride and often it can
The Mongoose Platoon had a rare opportu- we get to spot for another aviation unit. I had lead to a failure in a role of leadership.
nity with 1-2 AVN to conduct some MUM-T a lot of fun.” Leaders must be willing to put their pride
Training. aside for the sake of becoming a better leader.
“It’s exciting to be on the leading edge In my spiritual belief system I look to Jesus
of the Army,” said Spc. Salvador Garduno. as a primary example who, as God, was willing
“Most of the guys I went to AIT with haven’t to sacrifice his pride and even dignity for the
done anything like this before.” sake of helping others.
MUM-T occurs when manned aviation May we all be so humble as leaders to look
platforms like Apaches or Kiowa Warriors past our own image so that we may become
work hand-in-hand with unmanned aviation better servants of those we lead.
platforms like the Shadow or Hunter UAS. Blessings
The unarmed UAS’ will go first to conduct Sgt. Jason Bowman, Spc. Salvador Garduno, Sgt. Jacob Schmitt
Chaplain (Capt.) Joel W. Payne
reconnaissance while the helicopters come prepare to catapult the Shadow off its launcher at the Camp Red 204th Brigade Support Battalion
behind and utilize their weapon systems to Devil Airstrip. “Rough Riders”

Warhorse Pride
Col. John S. Kolasheski..................2nd BCT Commander
Command Sgt. Maj. Ralph Delosa............2nd BCT CSM
Maj. Kevin Toner...............................................2nd BCT PAO
Spc. April York........................................Layout and Design
Sgt. Seth Barham............................................................Editor
Sgt. Ruth Pagan...............................................................Editor
The Warhorse Pride is produced in the interest of the fairs Office.
Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry The Warhorse Pride welcomes articles, commen-
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