June 26, 2009

FOB DELTA – Joint Security Station Aziziyah is now un-der Iraqi Army control aft er a ceremony here June 23.

Batt ery C, 1st Batt alion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, 172nd Brigade Combat Team handed over the JSS to 2nd Company, 2nd Batt alion, 32nd Iraqi Army Brigade.

“This ceremony symbolizes the progress made over the past month,” said Col. Dick Francey, 41st Fires Brigade com-mander and commander of American troops in Wasit prov-ince.

Francey said he had confi dence the Iraqis would continue the security in the area.

“I know you will do wonderful things,” said Francey. “Insurgencies in the area have gone to the ground and they bett er stay down or the Iraqi Army will take them down again.”

“We are very happy to receive this station,” said Brig. Gen. Abed Gabr Mazloum, 32nd IA Brigade commander.

The Cobra Batt ery Soldiers moved onto the JSS in March and improved the living conditions alongside rotating Iraqi Army units.

Capt. Timothy Stephenson, Btry. C commander, signed the JSS over to Receivership Secretariat Sameer Al-Haddad, a representative of the prime minister.

This is the fourth JSS in Wasit province to be returned to Iraqi control. The other three were manned by 2nd Batt al-ion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment aft er the departure of the Georgian Army in August 2008.

Combat Outpost Summers, currently manned by 1st Bn., 77th FA Regt. Soldiers, is scheduled to be given back to the Iraqis later this month.

By Sgt. Allison Churchill41st FB

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Sameer Al-Haddad, receivership secretariat and representative to the prime minister, and Capt. Timothy Stephenson, commander, Btry. C, 1st Bn. 77th FA Regt., 172nd BCT, commemorate the signing over of JSS Aziziyah from the U.S. Army to the Iraqi Army June 23.

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Photo by Sgt. Allison Churchill

IA takes reigns of JSS Aziziyah

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June 26, 2009 Page 2The Red Bull Report

172nd Brigade Combat Team2nd BCT, 4th Infantry Division4th BCT, 1st Armored Division 41st Fires Brigade343rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment193rd Military Police BattalionSpecial Troops Battalion, 34th Inf. Div.Task Force 28450th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne)

Media Queries please contact 34th Inf. Div. Public Affairs Offi ce at MND-S_PAO@iraq.centcom.mil

The Red Bull Report is an authorized publication for members of MND-S. Contents of The Red Bull Report are not necessarily offi cial views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, Department of the Army or the 34th Infantry Division. All editorial content of The Red Bull Report is prepared, edited provided and approved by the 34th Infantry Division Public Affairs Offi ce.

34th Inf. Div. PAO: Lt. Col. Kevin OlsonOIC, Command Information: Maj. Page BaldwinNCOIC: Staff Sgt. Dave LankfordManaging Editor: Staff Sgt. Derek SmithAssignment Editor: Sgt. Debralee P. Crankshaw Graphics Designer: Sgt. Eric JungelsPhoto Editor: Spc. Tyler MauldingLayout/Design: Spc. Stephanie CassinosStaff Writers: Sgt. Frank Vaughn,Sgt. Brandon LeFlore, Spc. Darryl Montgomery,Pfc. J. Princeville Lawrence

COB BASRA –– With towering vocals that defy her small stature, Sgt. Brenda Bushera, a member of the 34th Red Bull Infantry Band, has made a connection with the people of Iraq.

The Wausaukee, Wis. native has sung the Iraqi national anthem at a number of events since deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, including a transfer of authority ceremony at Contingency Operating Base Basra, as well as a TOA ceremony and an end-of-mission ceremony at COB Adder celebrating the contributions of the now-departed Romanian forces in providing support during OIF.

Bushera said singing the Iraqi anthem is the easy part. Learning it, however, was a daunting process that required extensive work with interpreters to learn the pronuncia-tion and diction of the Arabic words in the song.

“I worked with a British interpreter and an Iraqi inter-preter to learn the anthem,” said Bushera, who now lives in Chicago. “The interpreters wrote the words out pho-netically for me and I had to work extensively with them to get the diction right.”

Bushera, who plays saxophone in the Red Bull Band, approached Chief Warrant Offi cer 3 Trygve Skaar, the band leader, fi ve days before the TOA ceremony and told him she was ready to sing the Iraqi national anthem.

“That was a goal we had,” said Skaar. “We wanted to connect with the Iraqi public in a meaningful way. What bett er way to do that than through their national an-them?”

Bushera, who has a master’s degree in vocal perfor-mance from Northwestern University in Chicago, said she

Sgt. Brenda Bushera isn’t the only musical talent to come out of Wausaukee, Wisc. Jazz musician,

Lyle Mays of the Pat Methany Group also calls Wausaukee his home town.

American Soldier connects to Iraqi citizens with national anthem

Sgt. Brenda Bushera, saxophone player and vocalist for the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division Band, sings the Iraqi national anthem during a recording session at Contingency Operating Base Basra June 20. Bushera, a native of Wausaukee, Wis., learned the song by working extensively with both a British and Iraqi interpreter to master the pronunciation and diction of the Arabic words in the song.

Photo by Sgt. Frank Vaughn

By Sgt. Frank VaughnMND-S

worked as hard as she did to learn the anthem because she believes the Iraqi people should hear their anthem and take pride in it.

“Their anthem is relatively new,” Bushera said. “Many of them don’t even know it. I felt it was extremely important for the Iraqi people to hear their anthem and have pride in it. This was a good way for them to have pride in their freedom.”

“It builds nationalism,” Skaar added. “You can see the emo-tion on their faces when they hear the song. When we did it at the Romanian ceremony at Adder, some of them actually broke into applause when it was fi nished!”

Skaar gives a lot of credit to Bushera for the hard work she put into making this goal a reality.

“She is one of the Army’s best, both on the saxophone and vocally,” Skaar said. “She’s an amazing talent and we are for-tunate to have her.”

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COB BASRA – “Sometimes when I go on stage I feel awkward, but once I start playing I get into a zone where nothing else really matt ers and all I can hear is the sound of my voice,” said Cpl. Sara Thornton, a Stockton, Calif., native and civil aff airs specialist with the 445th Civil Aff airs Batt alion, at-tached to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

Thornton performed one of her own songs, “Endlessly,” to a captivated au-dience during the Basra’s Got Talent competition on Contingency Operat-ing Base Basra June 20.

“She’s an amazing artist,” said Chief Warrant Offi cer 2 Robert Meeks, a

Baltimore native and organizer of the Basra’s Got Talent competition. “I fi rst noticed how talented she was when I heard her in the Basra’s Idol competi-tion a few weeks ago.”

“She wasn’t able to compete in the fi nals because she went on leave, so I asked her to perform in this one,” Meeks added.

Thornton found inspiration for “Endlessly” when a family member’s decision caused her frustration and sadness.

“One of my family members abort-ed her unborn child, we were all a litt le hurt by that,” said Thornton. “We said we’d support her and if she didn’t want the child we’d adopt it from her, she was young and she went ahead and

aborted it anyway.”She wrote the song to refl ect the feel-

ings she had at the time and what she’d read in a bible verse – Psalm 139.

“There’s a verse that basically says God designed you before you were a thought in your mother’s mind, and it inspired me to write ‘Endlessly,’” said Thornton.

She said she fi nds herself inspired by any and everything around her.

“Sometimes people will say some-thing and I’ll catch it, write it down, and then write a song about it, or some-thing will make me angry and I’ll write a song about that too,” she said.

This musician fi nds most of her mo-

The Red Bull Report June 26, 2009 Page 3

SONGWRITERPage 6

Cpl. Sara Thornton, civil affairs specialist with the 445th Civil Affairs Bn., performs one of her own songs, “Endlessly,” before a captivated audience during the Basra’s Got Talent competition June 20. Thornton’s performance won her a spot in the fi nals.

Photo by Sgt. Brandon LeFlore

Soldier, singer, songwriter performs at Basra’s Got TalentBy Sgt. Brandon LeFloreMND-S

Sometim

The Red Bull Report June 26, 2009 Page 4

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The Red Bull Report June 26, 2009 Page 5

The familiar refrain of, “There’s nothing to do around here aft er work!” is an endangered species here at Con-tingency Operating Base Basra.

The local United Service Organization offi ce and the Morale, Welfare and Recreation coordinator for 34th Red Bull Infantry Division are teaming up to create an oasis in the middle of the Basra desert for service members and civilians to escape the pressure of operations here from time to time.

Sarah McConnell, USO director for COB Basra, said they have already instituted a “soft opening,” meaning there are some services already available at the facility, which is housed in the former Dining Facility 1.

“We have 13 internet stations set up already, along with 18 phone lines for people to call home,” said Mc-Connell. “Both services are free of charge to anyone who uses them.”

These services are available weekdays from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. and weekends from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. The internet stations have a usage time limit of 45 minutes and the phones are available for 30 minutes at a time.

“We wanted to get something started for the troops here right away,” McConnell said. “We’re not fully func-tional yet, but we got the computers and phones set up so we could at least off er some services.”

The USO services to be off ered here have been de-signed on the same template as the facility housed at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, according to Col. Ronald Al-brecht, deputy chief of staff for 34th Inf. Div.

The USO will be sharing space in the facility with MWR, said Albrecht.

Sgt. 1st Class Deborah Allen, MWR and event coor-dinator for 34th Inf. Div., said the fi tness center is under construction now and has a target opening date of July 1.

In addition to the cardiovascular machines already in place, the fi tness center will feature nautilus equipment, free weights and ample spaces for aerobic training and various self-defense classes, including Modern Army Combatives, she added.

“We will be putt ing padding on the fl oors and walls in one of the large rooms for combatives training,” said Allen. “We will still have a large amount of space on the other side of the room for additional fi tness machines.”

Albrecht said the fi tness center will be an important part of 34th Inf. Div.’s emphasis on physical fi tness.

“We wanted to create a clean environment for Soldiers to work out,” Albrecht said. “We’ll have all new machines in place for them to train.”

Though the USO and MWR areas will be separated

by a wall, extensive cooperation between the two has already marked a positive beginning for the cohabitants.

“Cooperation with (the USO) has been splendid!” said Allen. “I really look forward to working with them in this building.”

McConnell added that she is very appreciative of the help she has received from the military in making the USO presence a possibility here.

“I am very grateful to the military leadership here for the generous space allott ed to the USO,” she said. “Thanks to them, their Soldiers will have a place to es-cape when they are able.”

Soldiers also have an opportunity to volunteer at the USO, according to McConnell.

“The USO thrives on volunteers,” she said. “They are the backbone of everything we do.”

Soldiers who are interested in volunteering may sign up at the center. The USO has a recognition program to reward Soldiers who give their time to assist in the opera-tion of the center, McConnell added.

McConnell said the USO is completely understanding of the operational requirements Soldiers have. Those who volunteer should not feel bad if their missions take away from their time at the center.

“I will be grateful to anyone who volunteers and what-ever time they can give me,” she said.

Anyone who is interested in volunteering may contact McConnell via email at smcconnell@uso.org.

By Sgt. Frank VaughnMND-S

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USO, MWR join forces to “Improve our Foxhole”

Questions or Comments about our Foxhole? Leave them at:www.TheRedBulls.org/ImprovingOurFoxhole

Workers install padding on the fl oor of the new Morale, Welfare and Recreation fi tness center located at the former Dining Facility 1 June 24. The fi tness center is slated to open July 1and is one of the services MWR will offer in cooperation with United Service Organization, which is also housed in the building.

Photo by Sgt. Frank Vaughn

The Red Bull Report June 26, 2009 Page 6The Red Bull Report

tivation comes from her parents. “My parents have always inspired me. They always

work hard in everything they do,” said Thornton. “They always did everything they could to put me and my siblings fi rst.”

Thornton hails from a long line of musical profes-sionals. Both of her parents are musicians and song-writers, all of her siblings are in music and her grand-parents on both sides played instruments and were singers. In fact, her grandfather retired from the Air Force Band aft er 27 years of service.

“My entire family is very musical, we’re kind of like the ‘Partridge family,’” she said jokingly.

In addition to playing the guitar, Thornton also plays the piano, the drums and bass. Though she started playing the drums at the age of nine, she says she didn’t really start taking her music seriously until about six years ago.

“I was at a tough time in my life and I didn’t really have many friends, so my guitar was my outlet,” she

said. “I started writing songs at 16.”Thornton said she enjoyed playing music

and at that point in her life she started to get more se-rious. She started taking classes and practicing a lot more.When the worship team at her church needed someone to sing and play the guitar, Thornton volun-teered to fi ll that need.

Only two years later, aft er fi nishing high school she decided to att end a songwriter’s retreat, where she learned a great deal about writing music and was given a professional critique of her own music-writing skills.

“I was a young songwriter then and there were a lot of people there who had writt en tons of songs,” said Thornton. “Listening to their words and music style helped me understand how music is structured … or not structured.”

Thornton said she listens to a wide variety of music to study diff erent types of musical style.

“On my iPOD you’ll fi nd everything from Natalie Cole to Robert Downey Jr. and 30-Seconds to Mars,” she said. “‘Seatt le,’ by The Classic Crime, is one of my favorite songs right now. It’s an acoustic song but I love the way it is writt en and constructed.”

The artist said she has about 16 songs writt en right now and as soon as she gets home plans to put togeth-er a solid demo.

Thornton’s song ‘Endlessly’ won her a spot at the Basra’s Got Talent fi nal competition June 26. Only four contestants remain. Come out to the Morale, Welfare and Recreation stage at 6 p.m. to see who wins.

From Page 3SONGWRITER

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41. Faster Than Light42. Utilize again43. Devilfi sh44. Rodents46. Wood fastener47. Knight’s “suit”49. Genuine51. Gluey54. Back then55. Solitary56. Diner

63. Not tricked by64. Erratum65. A type of bear66. South American country67. Not fat68. Classical music theatre69. Greek god of love70. Slave71. Destitute

1. Magma2. Absent without leave3. Pause4. “Good going!”5. Record player6. Pieces of information

7. Sixty-two in Ro-man numerals8. Countertenor9. Minuscule10. The same throughout11. Approximately

12. Relating to audible sound13. What we chew with 21. Cobras25. Russian emperor26. Streetcar

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The Red Bull Report June 26, 2009 Page 7

World News: MEXICO CITY - Mexico vowed to keep looking for a mysterious island that could extend its off shore oil claims aft er university researchers said they couldn’t fi nd it. “The island doesn’t exist” in the area where it was shown on maps, a Na-tional Autonomous University of Mexico study concluded aft er conducting studies with underwater sensing devices and aerial reconnaissance in the area. “Isla Bermeja” appeared on maps from the 1700s as a speck of land off the northwest coast of the Yucatan peninsula. A group of Mexican legislators hoped the island would help their decade-long eff ort to fend off what they describe as U.S. encroachment on their nation’s oil claims in the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. News:BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - A video shows a 16-year-old boy lying on the fl oor, body convulsing, as elders of a small Connecticut church cast a “homosexual demon” from his body. “Rip it from his throat!” a woman yells. “Come on, you homosexual demon! You homosexual spirit, we call you out right now! Loose your grip, Lucifer!” The 20-minute video posted on YouTube by Mani-fested Glory Ministries is being called abuse by gay and youth advocates, who are demanding an investigation. A church offi cial this week denied the teenager was injured or the church is prejudiced. “We have nothing against homosexuals,” said Rev. Patricia McKinney. “I just don’t agree with their lifestyle.”

Sports News:BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa - The U.S. soccer team is in the fi nal of the Confederations Cup, beating Spain 2-0. Even more stunning, the Americans were on the verge of elimination and ready to head home last weekend before a reversal of fortune. On June 24, goals by Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey led to an upset of the planet’s top-ranked team. Call it a miracle on grass, an American soccer echo of the U.S. hockey team’s upset of the Soviet Union at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. By winning, the ma-ligned U.S. advanced to its fi rst men’s FIFA fi nal since starting play in 1916.

Odd News:VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Canadian police were on the search on June 22 for a brazen thief who snatched a take-away meal while making a naked run past a fast food restaurant’s drive-though window. An employee of a Langley, British Columbia, Wendy’s restaurant was handing food to a customer waiting in her car when a naked man ran between them, taking off with her fries, and leaving litt le evidence behind, according to police. “Other than an age range, neither woman could provide further description,” police said in a press release. The man, believed to be in his 20s, jumped into a waiting van, which sped away from the scene during the weekend incident, police said.

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