DISCLAIMER: THIS NEWSLETTER CONTAINS BOTH OFFICIAL & UNOFFICIAL INFORMATION. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED HEREIN ARE PURELY THE VIEWS OF THE WRITERS AND DO NOT REFLECT THE OPINIONS OF THE 27TH ENG BN (C) (A) NOR OF THE U.S. ARMY. THE INCLUSION OF SOME UNOFFICIAL INFORMATION IN THIS NEWSLETTER HAS NOT INCREASED THE COSTS TO THE GOVERNMENT, IN ACCORDANCE WITH DoD 4525.8-M, OFFICIAL MAIL MGT MANUAL.

27th ENGINEER BATTALION (C)(A), Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Commander’s Corner

4 August 2011

Tigers! I‟m proud to join the team

that you and your families have

built and I‟m incredibly grateful

for the opportunity to lead the

best battalion in the United States

Army. The past 60 days have

flown by, and every day I‟m more

impressed by your accomplish-

ments. The opportunity to spend

time with Soldiers and NCOs is

an honor that so few Americans

get to share in and I appreciate

every day and the chance it

brings. Thank you to all who

have helped Richele, our kids and

I get back to Ft Bragg and wel-

comed us into the battalion. I

truly appreciate the help from

COL Dodd and his wife Chris and

can‟t thank them enough for the

reception.

I look forward to working with

you all as we make this great bat-

talion even better. The time spent

at Ft Irwin with 34 of the battal-

ion‟s leaders confirmed that the

battalion is a well led and lethally

capable organization of profes-

sional Warriors that accomplishes

the mission under the most diffi-

cult conditions AND takes care of

our families and each other.

While there, I was moved by the

time taken to talk to those fami-

lies of Hero‟s on the 1 year mark,

often done when folks hadn‟t

talked to their own families. Fol-

lowing that trip, I had the privi-

lege to spend some time with

CPL Adam Keyes and saw the

gifts and tokens of care that were

hung and stacked around his

room. I heard from him how

CSM Message

See Page 2.

See What’s Happening

with your company.

Starting Page 4.

Change of Command

Page 6.

many of you continued to keep in

contact and could see the results

of your thoughts and prayers as

he continued his recovery. That,

more than anything else, speaks

volumes about the character of

the battalion and the pride you all

have in your team.

Since the last newsletter, we‟ve

had a bunch of folks join the Ti-

ger Battalion. Welcome to 1SG

Paradis, his wife Melony and son

William to the 57th Sapper Com-

pany. Also welcome to 1SG

Welty Lohr, 2LT Stephen Dyer

and 2LT Matthew Nichols and his

wife Allyson to 161 ESC. 2LT

William Dyer joined the Forward

Support Company, so welcome

him when you see him. Finally

welcome goes out to CPT Jarrell

Upcoming Classes.

See Page 10

July 16, 2010 July-Sep 10

CONTINUES ON PAGE 3….

FRG

See Page 8.

Page 2

Greetings to our Tiger Families,

First I want to say what an honor it is to serve as this Great Battalion's Command Sergeant

Major. I am humbled to lead the Best Soldiers in the Army that give so much everyday

while the other 99 percent of Americans enjoy the freedom they provide, However I am

even more humbled by the families that support our great American Heroes. Without your

Love, Compassion and understanding of your loved ones duty to his country we would not

be able to do the great job we do. Your job as an Army Family which I always have said

to my family and spouse Sande for 15 years is harder than what I do and it will never go

unnoticed, for this I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

It has been a busy summer with some of us completing the National Training Center mis-

sion to get our Sister Unit ready to deploy to Afghanistan and the numerous training events,

ranges and Airborne Operations your loved ones have completed to get ourselves reset to be

able to answer our nations call when needed our Tiger's have done an exceptional job. I

hope you all were able to enjoy the Block Leave period with your Soldier and got some

great family time in.

Lieutenant Colonel Ellicott and myself just returned from a trip to see Vietnam Veterans

and their families from the 20th Engineer Brigade during their reunion in Missouri and I

can tell you that the one thing that caught my eye is not only the pride those great Veterans

that paved the way for us to serve our country but the memorable sight was the spouse and

children wrapped around their arms laughing and joking with them. Those families, like

ours endured a hard time in our nation's history but still stood tall and held their chins high

and stood proudly next to their Soldier. Words could not explain how great that made me

feel.

As we continue to write new chapters in the Best Engineer Battalion

in the Army; I can only continue to say thank you for the support that

our families give our Soldiers of the Tiger Battalion, because without

you we could not

accomplish our mission.

Sincerely,

Randolph Delapena

Page 3

This quarter, Hardcore worked to improve the welfare of sol-

diers throughout the brigade. Soldiers enjoyed two weeks of

block leave in July, and those who stayed were afforded more

time off of work. Our Vertical Construction Platoon, aka

BACKBONE, completed renovation of the Brigade Aid Sta-

tion allowing soldiers to have greatly improved and more

comfortable medical services. Additionally, we worked to

reset the battalion and reestablish our shops for superior sup-

port to the Tiger Battalion.

Soldiers of HHC have been working hard during PT, includ-

ing their =exhausting "Crossfit Fridays" as well as training for

company and battalion level training exercises in the month of

August. Soldiers continue to lead the way in attitude and be-

July has been an exciting and busy month for the Workhorse

family. The Soldiers of Workhorse had the opportunity to take

some well deserved block leave during the first two weeks of

July. As soon as we returned from spending time with our

friends and families it was right back to work preparing for

FSC‟s first Field Training Exercise. The final week of July

gave us the opportunity to practice setting up a Battalion Sup-

port Area, conduct field feeding (prime rib with fresh cupcakes

on our final night was a nice treat), drive using night vision

goggles, as well as performing weapons and recovery training.

While it was a lot of hard work in hot weather with little sleep

it proved to be great training that will help ensure we are pre-

pared to perform any mission required of us.

As we look forward, August 4th FSC will have the opportu-

nity to finally participate in a Warrior Adventure Quest. We

will be white water rafting and have the chance to also try out

other activities such as rock climbing, zip lining, and kayaking.

We hope this will be a fun day and give Workhorse Soldiers

the opportunity to work as a team and further build our esprit

de corps.

One last note: we will be having a Family Readiness

Group meeting on August 23. We are still looking for volun-

teers that can help our FRG to become an outstanding organi-

zation that will serve as a resource for our Soldiers and family

members. We still need a treasurer, key callers, and general

volunteers who would like to help out whenever they are

available. Anyone who is interested in learning more can

contact our FRG Leader Natalie Dean and come out on Au-

gust 23 at 6 p.m.

Thank you to the Soldiers and families for all you do serv-

ing our country and making FSC the outstanding organization

it is.

TIGER!!

CPT Kevin Dean

cuts to come from the

Department of Defense.

This survey is our way to

tell the Department of

Defense what programs

we value.

www.myarmyonesource.

com/

FamilyProgramsSurvey2

TIGERS!

LTC E

Horsley and his daughter Amari, MAJ Zach Miller

and his wife Beth and kids Nathaniel and Evelyn,

MAJ Dom Ciaramitaro and his wife Renee and

WO1 Anani Quezada, her husband Jean Claude and

son Jean Claude Jr all of whom joined HHC.

One last quick note for the Tiger Families - please

log onto the link at the end and take the online sur-

vey. The country is struggling with fiscal priorities,

and has designated a portion of the spending

Commander‟s Corner (continues from page 1….)

havior as HHC has earned the most 3-day weekends for good

behavior than any company in the battalion. We welcomed

SFC Christopher Roseberry to the Hardcore family as the

Company First Sergeant and 1LT Maxine Gourley in May as

the Company Executive Officer. We look forward to getting

after it in the 4th Quarter. Hardcore Soldiers continue

to amaze me every day with their ability to adapt to change

and serve their country.

Hardcore lead the way!!!

CPT Michael Dames

Page 4

The month of July was a good month for the sappers of 2nd

platoon. We started our month with 2 weeks of some much

needed off time during block leave. Upon returning from block

leave, 2nd platoons leadership was reorganized to better meet

our combat mission. We also sent 10 Soldiers to combative

training and had 4 Soldiers go to Fort Leonard wood, MO for

R2C2. We will be ending the month with some refresher train-

ing on IED/mine awareness. We are looking forward to the

month of August where we will be continuously training

throughout the entire month with a couple of overnight field

exercises and multiple training events during the duty day.

This month 3rd Platoon came back from Block leave and hit the

training hard. We have been be focusing on dismounted IED

training and preparing for sapper stakes. LT Scott welcomed a

baby boy. The platoon got a new Platoon Sergeant SFC Hill .

Three specialists passed the board and are now promotable,

SPC Beshers, SPC Wessell, SPC Rocca. SPC Rocca wel-

comed his wife and 3 kids to Fort Bragg. SGT Blevins and

SGT Rangel are now both promotable to Staff Sergeant.

After a much deserved 2 weeks of block leave, 1st Platoon

gets back into training at the MRAP Virtual Drivers Course.

This training allows the Soldiers to get MRAP driving experi-

ence in a Virtual setting along a challenging course. The

course tests their driving skills in adverse weather conditions,

along a dangerous route. Shown in the picture are the trainers,

SGT Nuttle and SGT Yates, as they guide and evaluate Sol-

diers along the course" Forth Platoon came block leave re-

freshed and energized ready to train. They welcome a new pla-

toon Sergeant SFC Sigler. They are starting to focus on area

clearance using the D7 dozer. LT Smith just graduated airborne

school. They are excited about winning Sapper Stakes, and

doing mine clearance.

On 29 July 2011, 264th Clearance Company FRG sponsored

the company‟s organization day at Waldo‟s beach. 290 Sol-

diers and family members attended the event. There were

many enjoyable and interesting activities at Waldo‟s, Soldiers

and Family members canned balled from swinging ropes into

lake Waldo‟s and boy did SPC Riker send the Soldiers Air-

borne on the Blob. There were also many attractions for the

kids, from building sand castles to sliding down the 50ft slide

into the pool. Bottom-Line, if you didn‟t attend, you missed a

awesome time!!

SPARTANS!

CPT Clinton Acklin

57th Sapper Company continues to excel in training! The new

command team is eagerly looking forward to meeting the

Rough Terrain Families on the 11th and 12th of AUG for our

first FRG function. Our first function will be an informal

family meet and greet with your Soldier‟s signing up for a

block of time for their family to come and see where they

work and meet the Commander and First Sergeant‟s families.

We are also looking to fill several of our volunteer positions.

The Rough Terrain Soldiers are starting to focus training on

our Rough Terrain Mission! Some say you have to be crazy

to jump out of an airplane…, but to jump out of an airplane

into trees takes a ROUGH TERRAIN SAPPER! The com-

pany will be conducting a week long train up in September

with follow on jumps in October.

Rough Terrain!

CPT Benjamin Shean

Page 5

The month of July has been a busy month and the Rock has

been steady “getting after it!” With the first two weeks of the

month allocated to block leave, Soldiers seem to have re-

freshed and refitted with activities, trips, and personal rest and

relaxation. Needless to say, this will be a benefit to what ap-

pears to be a busy finish of the end of summer days.

While 1st platoon took block leave at the end of June, they

have assumed the mission of Global Response Force (GRF).

This mission will require that Soldiers be mission deployable

within a 96 hour timeline. During the month, they have

worked vigorously to prepare themselves and their equipment

for the tenure of their obligation.

We are excited at the fact that many of our families have en-

joyed the opportunity to continue their resiliency by partici-

pating in marriage retreats to Myrtle Beach and Beech Moun-

tain trips with the chaplains program. This has allowed many

of our young families to enjoy time together, as well as, learn-

ing the values of building strong families.

As we move into the hottest days of summer, continue to hy-

drate and take shelter from the unforgiving heat.

It is always hard to say good-bye, but it has been a tradition

for many years now, that Army families move on from time

to time. The Rock bid farewell to the following families: the

Abright‟s, the Marsh‟s, the Bunch Family, Todd Hennis, and

the Tumbaco‟s.

With the departures it is a pleasure to welcome the Lathan

family, the Richley family, the Caballero family, and the

McDonough family. We are excited to have them on board!

With the summer days being busy, the Rock would like to

recognize Janet Laugand as our “family member of the

month”. She has worked tirelessly with coordinating events

and activities for the FRG program am we are so fortunate to

have her on board.

Many of our Soldiers have worked hard to complete all the

missions that are ask of them. For that we would like to

thanks 2nd and 3rd platoon for an outstanding job on their

mission to upgrade the Nijmegen Drop Zone. There were

many days and nights that seemed to have no end, but they

pushed through and did a great job ensuring that the mission

was completed timely.

Rock Hard!

CPT Andrew Glenn

Nasty Families,

It has truly been a Nasty month, or NAS-TASTIC. The Nasty

troopers have been stepping up to every challenge and accom-

plishing every mission they could get their hands on and I for

one and proud of them. The Nasty has conducted small arms

ranges, the obstacle course, spent the night in the field (a cou-

ple times) and laid blade to dirt, exercising the equipment and

building marvels out of mud. Most recently my Nasty troop-

ers Jumped into Luzon Drop Zone and worked into the late

hours of the night recovering parachutes after a heavy drop

and then went on to build a field artillery firing position. It is

that Get After It attitude that makes the Nasty what it is today.

Now, that I have said all of that awesome... The Nasty said

farewell to SFC Davis who served as the Nasty 1SG for the

past six months. It was an absolute pleasure to work aside

such a great Nasty 1SG. We welcomed 1SG Welty Lohr into

the 1SG position 1 JUL „11 and I believe he is a great addition

to the Nasty team.

Another great even that took place was the Nasty Family Fun

Day. The event was held at Bower Park in Hope Mills and we

had a blast. Thanks to all of the families that were able to

attend and look forward to having more events in the near

future.

STAY NASTY!!!

CPT Justin Roy

Sicily jump

“Nasty” Officers

“Nasty” Cake by Kim Roy

Artillery Firing Position

Page 8

Change

Of

Command

Page 7

1 June 2011

1SG

Christopher C Rafferty

Field

Page 8

Congratulations to Jennifer Mitchell!

Jennifer is the battalion’s Care Team Leader. In the past few

months, she has been working with the FRSA and her husband,

CH Mitchell, to update the Care Team Manual, scripts and how

the Care Team is trained.

Her forward way of thinking led to a change in the Standard

Operating Procedures for the Care Team, which now includes

the care of Soldiers and Family Members whether it is deploy-

ment time or not. With these changes, the battalion will now

have the ability to activate the care team to assist a Family

Member if he/she has a medical emergency or someone in their

family does. The Soldiers’ Family Members are still cared for

when an injury or death happens. There is a change to this, as

well.

Prior to and during the deployment, care was only offered to

Family Members of injured Soldiers and Fallen Heroes for the

first 72 hours after the incident. A new Partnership Program

now gives the Care Team the

Ability to support the

spouse/family member for

a longer period of time

determined by the need of the

family.

All of these positive changes

became part of the Standard

Operating Procedures because

Jenn not only lead the Care

Team during the deployment, but because she took the

initiative to step forward and say that changes had to be

made for the best interest of the Soldiers and Family Mem-

bers within the battalion.

For this, Jennifer Mitchell has earned the

Battalion Volunteer of the Quarter.

*If any changes are made, they will go out through e-mail via your FRG Leaders.

MEETINGS

STEERING COMMITTEE: COMPANY:

9 August - Battalion Classroom HHC: 57th: Company Drop-in 8/11 & 8/12

13 September - Battalion Classroom FSC: 6 pm 8/23 161st:

11 October - Battalion Classroom 264th: 618th:

ACTIVITY:

Back to School Bash August 13 Pope AAF

Page 9

The Family Advocacy Program is here to help strengthen relationships of parents and families through a wide

variety of prevention, outreach, and treatment programs. A key role of the program is to respond to situations

involving the abuse of neglect of military spouses and children by providing effective assessment, treatment

and ensuring all personnel on the installation are trained on how to find help for victims. All personnel on the

installation are required to report suspected instances of spouse and child abuse or neglect to law enforce-

ment and Womack Army Medical Center (WAMC) Department of Social Work (DSW) to ensure victims receive

prompt assistance. Other information about the program is outlined in AR 608-18.

Family Advocacy Program provides many services to the installation.

Workshops: Parenting Strategies

Couples Communication

Co-parenting children of divorce

Anger Management

Stress Management

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families

Self-defense for women

And many more

Workshops are FREE and often child care is offered.

New Parent Support Program (NPSP): offered to Army families to enhance parent and infant attachment, in-

crease knowledge of child development. NPSP will provide connections to support services that allow parents

to become nurturing and capable caregivers. NPSP staff consists of registered nurses and licensed social

workers who provide in-home parenting education, support and resource linkage. Army families that are preg-

nant or with children up to age three are eligible.

24 hour Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victim’s Hotline (322-3418): provides information, referral

and direct support to persons involved in a sexual assault or an abusive relationship. Often persons in these

situations do not know where to turn for help and are uncertain what they should do. Trained advocates are

available 24 hours a day to answer questions and help victims come up with solutions and direct help to be-

come safe. This help can include staying with the victim in the Emergency Room, helping them obtain a pro-

tective order, housing, transportation, food or accompany them to court. Services are FREE. Active duty vic-

tims of sexual assault have the choice to either report the abuse to law enforcement or to seek medical, advo-

cate or other help without making a law enforcement report.

Help for victims of partner abuse or sexual assault:

MP Desk 396-0391/0392

Ft Bragg’s 24 Hr. Victim Hotline 322-3418

WAMC Social Work 907-7869

WAMC Emergency Room 907-6559

Child Abuse or Neglect Reporting 677-2450

Domestic Abuse Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)

Family Advocacy is located on the 3rd Floor of the Soldier Support Center. Phone: 396-5521

FAMILY ADVOCACY PROGRAMS SCHEDULED CLASSES

Dads 101

Sep 7

1400-1630

Dads 201

Oct 5

1400-1630

Parenting 1-4 Year Olds

Oct 6, 11, 18

0900-1100

Sep 1, 7, 15

1300-1500

Parenting 5-12 Year Olds

0900-1130

Sep 12, 19, 26

1300-1530

Oct 3, 10, 24

Parenting Teenagers

Sep 6, 13

1300-1530

Co-Parenting Children

Sep 13

Oct 11

0900-1200

Active Parenting

Oct 4, 10, 24

0900-1200

Life Choices for Teens

Aug 27

Sep 24 Oct 22

0900-1200

Couple’s Communication

Aug 24

Sep 28 Oct 26

0900-1600

Steward of Children

Oct 11

1300-1500

Anger Management

Aug 23 Sep 6, 14 Oct 5

0830-1230

Aug 10 Sep 14 Oct 12, 26

1230-1630

Stress Management

Sep 7 Oct 13

0900-1200

Aug 17 Sep 21 Oct 28

1300-1600

Registration is required for all classes. Childcare is available for most classes. Please register at least two weeks in advance. Soldier Support Center, 3rd Floor, Normandy Drive, Fort Bragg.

To register, please call (910) 396-5521 or online www.fortbraggmwr.com/fap/php

AUG. - OCT. SCHEDULE:

LEVEL I: (One Day) Sept 10

(Spanish) Sept 1

LEVEL I: (Two Day) Aug 3 & 4

Oct 5 & 6

LEVEL II: (Three Day) Oct 25, 26, 27

LEVEL III: (Three Day) Aug 16, 17, & 18

INSTRUCTORS TRAINING COURSE:

(Three Day) Aug 24, 25, 26

Registration is required Limited FREE childcare is available.

Please call in advance; 910-396-2382.

www.fortbraggmwr.com/aftb.php

AUG. - OCT.

FRG TRAINING SCHEDULE:

ESSENTIALS :

Aug 4 6:00 - 9:00 pm Aug 20 8:00 -11:00 am

Sept 8 9:00 -12:00 pm Sept 24 8:00 -11:00 am KEY CALLER:

Aug 9 6:00 -7:00 pm Aug 20 11:30 -12:30 pm Sept 13 9:00 -10:00 am Sept 24 11:30 -12:30 pm TREASURER:

Aug 9 9:00 -11:00 am. Aug 20 1:00 -3:00 pm Sept 13 6:00 -8:00 pm Sept 24 1:00 -3:00 pm

Registration is required Limited FREE childcare is available.

Call 432-3742 for details or go to

www.fortbraggmwr.com/classreg.php to register.

In the past few weeks, I have come to know many new

volunteers. I have seen their enthusiasm with volunteer-

ing for the FRG. They truly wish to make it a family.

One that will not only ready families for military life,

but one that will support families in the good and bad

times.

I would like to recognize these new volunteers.

Battalion FRG Senior Advisors/Leaders: Richele Elli-

cott, Sandra Delapena

Battalion Treasurers: Lisa Chatterjee, Ginny Korth

Battalion Secretary: Erin Brooks

Company FRG Senior Advisors and/or Leaders: Julia

Dames, April Mika, Katie Colby, Natalie Dean, Jennifer

Shean, Lenay Acklin, Kimberly Roy and Carleton Riser

Company Treasurers: Heather Harris, Anisha Bradley,

Vanessa Blevines, Yolanda Latiff, Jessica Oliva

Company Key Callers: Heather Harris, Yolanda Latiff,

Melissa Brewer, Cherie Hernandez, Melina Escatell

Company Secretary: Melina Escatell

Welcome to the Tiger Family and to the Army Volunteer

Corps!

Building the FRG ONE FAMILY at a time!

Kimberly Hughes, FRSA

Page 10