steelwarrior newsletter
DESCRIPTION
Newsletter for 1st qtr 2013TRANSCRIPT
The Steel Warrior Battalion is
pleased to announce the joining of a
new team member. On 27 February
2013, LTC Jon Paul Maddaloni as-
sumed command of our wonderful,
fast paced organization.
LTC Maddaloni comes to Fort
Sill via Fort Carson CO where he
was part of our parent unit 4ID. At
Fort Carson, LTC Maddaloni served
as 4ID and Fort Carson Chief of Op-
erations (CHOPS) and the G3 FU-
OPS Chief.
The battalion would also like
to welcome his lovely wife Avery
and his two children Faith and Kate,
who will be joining him very soon.
The Steel Warrior did not
give our new leader a time to
take a breath as they took
him to the field on 1-4
March for a live field exer-
cise. During this exercise the
Battalion learned skills that
will help during the upcom-
ing deployment. Speaking of
the deployment. There will
be two FRG Deployment
Briefing on 3 April 2013 at the Kerwin Auditorium in Snow Hall. Once at 1300 and again
at 1800. Please try to attend one of these briefs. Mailing address, resources and other in-
formation will be given out.
Issue 1 March 2013
Steel Warrior
d
Phoenix Warriors and family.
The Phoenix News will be sent out every month. It will contain perti-
nent information on upcoming events in the 578th FSC FRG and in
the Lawton/Ft. Sill area.
Single Soldiers please let your family know that they are considered
part of the 578th FRG. The new FRG Leader is Ms. Vanessa Nor-
man. Please feel free to contact her with any questions, comments,
concerns, or ideas related to FRG.
As we move closer to the deployment, ensure that you’ve made ar-
rangements for someone to manage affairs for you and your family
while you are away.
Use your time off to be around your loved ones. Remember to be
safe and responsible while traveling. Good decision making is vital
to an incident free block leave.
Phoenix 6
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PHOENIX
We Need Volun-
teers! In order to meet your
needs, we need your
help! Please volunteer
for any of the follow-
ing:
FRG Secretary
FRG Treasurer
Key Callers
Care Team
Fundraising Committee
Event Planning Com-
mittee
A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"
Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the $20
dollar bill up. He then asked, "who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. Well, he replied, "what if I do this?" And he
dropped it on the ground and tarted to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now who still
wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.
"My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson," he said, "no matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did
not decrease in value. It was still worth $20."
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come
our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened, or what will happen, you will never lose your value.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless ... and especially to those who love you. The worth of our lives comes
not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE. "You are special - Don't EVER forget it." Count your blessings, not your
problems. Never be afraid to try something new.
15 March 2013
The past month has been very busy for Bravo Battery, 1-14FA. On 21 February,
we conducted a change of command. We said farewell to CPT Brandon Martin and wel-
comed CPT Justin Thorkildsen as the new Battery Commander. CPT Thorkildsen came
from Fort Lewis, Washington where he served as a Fire Direction Officer, Fire Support
Officer, Platoon Leader, and Battery Executive Officer. He deployed to Iraq in support
of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2009-2010. More recently, he deployed to Afghanistan
with the 214 FA Security Forces Assistance Teams in 2012.
After the change of command, the first FRG meeting was held on 27 February at
the Battalion FRG room in order to introduce CPT Thorkildsen and the new Bravo Bat-
tery FRG leader, Kristen Custer. Kristen Custer is the wife of 2LT Clinton Custer, 1st
Fires Platoon Leader. That week was also when Bravo conducted final preparations for
the 1-14 FA Culminating Training Event (CTE). The CTE ran from 28 February to 4
March. Soldiers did an outstanding job throughout, qualifying eight launcher crews, re-
hearsing air load operations, conducting rocket pod loading and unloading and firing 48
live rockets.
With the conclusion of the CTE, Bravo Battery Soldiers are prepared for the up-
coming deployment. They unquestionably proved themselves both physically and men-
tally. With a much earned 2 week leave, Soldiers are catching their breath before the fi-
nal deployment preparations. The time leading up to deployment there will be a Battal-
ion FRG deployment briefing on 3 April to provide information to families about the up-
coming events. Additionally, Bravo Battery FRG will be conducting a meeting on 30
April. At that time there will be a presentation given by the Military and Family Life
Consultant on Children and Separation Issues of Deployment.
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BLACKHORSE