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Task Force TigersharkNewsletter 1 October 2012

Thank you Tigershark Team and families for a

great first 90 days. It has truly been an honor to

get to know each of you and our Soldiers. Build-

ing and training the team has been a priority, and

will continue to be as we move into the fall and

winter.

I want to thank each of you that made

the Family Day at Gunnery possible as

well as those that attended. It was so

fun to see Soldiers, spouses, and chil-

dren enjoying themselves at Range 23 as

we watched aircraft, saw trucks, MRAPs

vehicles, and weapons while enjoying

some great food.

Over the next 90 days, we have training

planned all over the country (New York,

Colorado, Louisiana) as well as a few

family events scheduled. Our family events are

made possible by our great FRG Teams and your

participation. Our upcoming Fall Festival on Oc-

tober 25th promises to be a fun time that has

something for all ages so please take advantage

of this opportunity.

I want to personally thank Michelle Simerly for

her service to the Tigershark Family. She has

served our Soldiers and families faithfully as an

FRG leader and most recently as the Family

Readiness Support Assistant. She and her hus-

band, CW4 Rob Simerly, devoted personal time

and effort into caring for the Tigershark Team.

They are moving to Hawaii this month, and we

wish them the very best. Michelle, Rob and

girls- you will always be on the Tigershark

Team and welcome. Best of luck as you transi-

tion to the Aloha State!

Again, Stephanie and I want to thank you for the

warm reception, and look forward to serving

with each of you.

Strike at Night!

AH—64 D Flying for Family Day

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OH _58 D Kiowa Warrior

UH-60 Black Hawk

Humvee - MRAP - LMTV, our 4 wheeled assets.

Commander’s

Corner

LTC Ward

2

Tigershark Family Day

4.

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Our FRG has come a long way in

the past few months! We

have more than doubled our

membership and

participation!

Shortly, we will be saying Farewell

to one of key callers, Jaimie

Dyer. However, Lauren

George has offered to step

up to the place as her

replacement. Jaimie has

always provided great

support of our Soldiers and

she and her family will be

sorely missed.

FRG is in the process of planning

some fall festivities and

upcoming events! Watch out

for fliers in the FLASH as well as

on the FRG bulletin board

located in the HHC Annex

building!

If anyone has any thoughts, ideas,

questions, or concerns please

do not hesitate to call your

FRG Leadership!

As Always our FRG is looking

for volunteers to join the

team. If interested please

contact your FRG leader!

HHC CONTACTS:Captain Chris McFarland First SergeantHHC Commander Kenneth Howe(315) 774-1579 (315) 774-1578

HHC FRG leaderShannon McFarland(706)464-5768 (cell)(315)681-6880 (home)

Hello Havoc Family!

As the summer draws to an

end, you will find your Soldier very

busy training for deployment.

We have made lots of

headway and I can tell there is a

great camaraderie, not just during

the work day and formations, but

during down time as well.

Our FRG hosted our company

party and BBQ Cook-off! 1SG

Howe and SSG Carambot walked

away as winners of the grill off!

Between the kickball game, sumo

wrestling outfits, and conversations

I could tell that everyone was

enjoying themselves. Thanks to all

that could attend!

Our company Family Run Day

and Pie smashing brought in over

$1500 towards our company funds.

COL Francis's Pie sold for $650!

Families were gracious enough to

donate breakfast for everyone

that morning.

Thanks to all of the Havoc

families for all your support and

dedication!

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Mountain Hawks,

The last few months have flown by!

July kicked off with block leave and

some much needed rest and relaxation

with families. After settling back into

work, the company rolled straight into

weapons qualification and sling load

training. We conducted a M240 ma-

chine gun range and participated in sev-

eral small arms ranges in preparation

for aerial door gunnery. When August

rolled around, the guys qualified in

both standard and advanced gunnery

tables! As we finish up the UH-60M

aircraft qualification course, we will

transition to high altitude training at

Fort Carson Colorado where the air-

crews will work on power management

and pinnacle landings to become famil-

iar with mountainous terrain opera-

tions.

We have several new

additions to the Moun-

tain Hawk family; our

newest crew-chief,

SGT Downey and his

wife Samantha join us

from Korea as well as

our new Instructor Pi-

lot, CW2 Latroy Green

and his wife Alicia. Ad-

ditionally we picked up

CW2 Ben Adam and

his wife Teri from our

sister company just

down the street.

With every new Soldier

coming in, we are saddened to say good

-bye to those that will be leaving us.

This month CW2 Dawn Christenson

will be departing to Ft. Riley and at-

tending the Maintenance Test Pilot

course enroute and CW2 Christopher

Might moved over to 2nd BCT to serve

in

the Brigade Aviation Element cell.

We additionally said goodbye to SPC

Cory Vanderploeg and his wife

Chrysta and SGT Andrew Seymour –

good luck in your future endeavors!

We’d also like to congratulate our

newest NCO’s! SGT Jonathan Basler,

SGT Christopher

Jeffery and SGT Bill

Orlando were promoted

on the first of Septem-

ber – well deserved

guys! Congratulations

to SGT Garrett Showell

and Leann Showell for

tying the knot! And

lastly, SPC Brandon

Harris finished his first

5K on the 8th of Sep-

tember – cheered and

supported by all of you!

1SG Tarras and I thank

you for your continued

support of Bravo Company and look

forward to seeing you soon.

CPT AliceMary Trivette

Mountain Hawk 6

Mountain Hawk Families and Friends

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Pale Rider Family and Friends,

The summer is flying by! Training is in full-swing here on the airfield and at the range. As most of you know, we’ve been very busy with aerial gunnery during the month of August. We’ve also been preparing for the upcoming High Altitude Mountain Environment Training rotation at Fort Carson Colorado.

On 11 August, we had an awesome time at Thompson Park in Watertown. You can’t beat grilling and frisbee on a nice day with friends and family. It was also great to see everyone at the August 28th Road-to-War brief.

During the summer we’ve gained some new Pale Riders:

-PFC Bryon Lovan came to the Troop in May and has been turning wrenches on Bravo Troop aircraft for a couple of months now.

-CW3 Lee and Ketena Reichbaum joined us in July from Huntsville, AL. Lee is a seasoned Instructor Pilot and is a much welcomed asset and member of the Pale Rider family.

-CW3 Andy Cook, his wife Amy, and daughters Hannah, Katelyn, Sarah, and Audrey joined us in August. Andy will be one of our Maintenance Test Pilots and brings a lot of experience to the team.

-CW2 Derrick Rodriguez and his wife Diana came over from Alpha Troop. Derrick has been flying a LOT for us. Diana, I promise I’ll give him a day off..one day.

-SGT Jonathon and Cassandra Griffetts brought in a new Pale Rider; Zachary H. Griffetts was born on July 3rd.

-And CW3 Ken and Tara Manubay gave birth to Eleanor Faith on 26 June.

Okay! Well I just want to remind everyone about the Task Force Harvest Festival in late October. Also we will be having a Task Force Holiday Social on December 13th. I think that covers just about everything that has been going on, so take care, and I hope to see you and your families soon.

AIR CAV!,CPT Charlie Hill

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1.Jordan and Mary Ann Vanicek at the Troop Party in April.

2.CW3 Mike Maj feels his Stetson is close enough to a sombrero at the TF Cinco de

Mayo party.

3.Troop party at 1SG Payne’s house in April. Sorry for the mess Anja!

4.CW3 Mike Maj tries to think of a joke at the Sackets Harbor comedy club. We’ll

miss you Mike and Chrissie.

5.CW2 Joe Mulheron gets caught with a Cosmopolitan at the Titled Kilt. When

questioned, he simply replied “it’s delicious”.

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Hammerhead Friends and Family,

Friends and Families of The Ham-

merhead Company:

Delta Company, 1st Battalion,

10th Aviation Regiment continues

to be the

best Aviation Maintenance Com-

pany in all the 10th Combat Avia-

tion Brigade.

We have

the best

Soldiers,

most

dedi-

cated

NCOs,

smartest

Warrant

Officers,

and

most

skilled

mainte-

nance

technicians. In the months since

we last

published a newsletter so much

has happened. We could not do it

without the

expertise of your Soldiers serving

with us in this top notch organi-

zation.

Thanks to you all. Thanks to the

Family Readiness Group which

supports all

efforts of every one of the Ham-

merheads.

The Hammerheads continue to

shine. During the last month I

asked much of

your Families as you allowed me

to barrow your Soldiers for long

hours. We

performed 24 hour round the

clock operations throughout all of

our gunnery

operations. I know that this was

a challenge for many of your

Families and

you saw your Soldier very little.

Thank you

from the

bottom of

my heart for

your support

for this unit.

Without your

help we

would not

have been

able

to set up the

Forward

Arming and

Refueling

Point, conduct the maintenance

back at the hangar, or drive the

necessary personnel to the field

for duty

and back. Thank you so much.

Know that your Soldiers per-

formed well. They

are experts and they are profes-

sionals. They are training hard

and making

themselves ever more prepared

for deployment to Afghanistan. I

have seen

the growth in all and am proud to

be part of their lives.

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We say farewell to LTC David R. Kramer. LTC Kramer changed command

in June

and we wish him well on his future endeavors. We welcome LTC Chad E.

Ward

and his family. We hope that the Hammerhead family can welcome him

as the

new Tigershark commander with open arms and show the same dedica-

tion under

his command that we showed with LTC Kramer.

Additionally, in the company there have been changes as well. 1LT

Christopher DeMeis moved on to F/1-10 to join the Gunmen and serve as

a

AH-64D Platoon Leader. We thank him for his hard work this last year.

1LT

Jessica Stephenson replaces him as the Company Executive Officer. Jes-

sica

is also pilots the AH-64D, but I won't hold that against her.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who came out to our Company FRG

Dinner on the 14th of September. We had a great time and I loved seeing

all

the faces of our Soldiers' children. Its good to see each other with our

Families and be able to interact in a way separate from the stresses of

work. Thanks to all that made it a success. Feel free to contact the FRG

anytime. Kelly Caracillo and Marcia Jenkins are our great FRG Leaders.

They can be contacted at hammerhead_frg@yahoo.com.

Upcoming we have more great training planned. We will conduct Tactical

Vehicle Driver's training, Base Defense Training, FARP Training and finally

another Gunnery operation in November. Don't worry. We'll still have

plenty of time off! Thanks again for all you do! Hammerheads!

v/r

CPT Jeff Timmons

D/1-10 Commander

TF Tigershark, FDNY

Office: 315-772-3808

Cell: 719-494-4396

Strike at Night!

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To Our Havoc FamiliesTo Our Gunmen Families

Since our last newsletter the hanger has been a

busy and exciting place and we are proud to say we

are now officially Fox Company Gunmen. Although,

we will most certainly miss our HHC Havoc family,

we are excited to continue to train as a more

defined Attack Flight Company.

While we were still part of Havoc, the FRG has

put together multiple events for both fundraising

and fun. We managed to sell out of food during our

pizza fundraiser in the Task Force hanger as well as

put on an outstanding night of free bowling on post

with pizza and drinks. These events brought about a

great turnout for one last hurrah as a Havoc team.

As a newly formed company we are fortunate to

continue with our strong leadership heading up our

FRG. Mrs. Rheanne Stevens and Jen Vonsik have

graciously offered to “Re-up.” as our Company

leaders. We were also ecstatic when Bree Parry

volunteered to assume the role as our Treasurer

from Lauren Odonnel. These ladies as well as the

other spouses and family members deserve praise

for their continued efforts by volunteering their

time in support of our FRG.

Our first event as Fox Company was a joint

cookout with our brethren over in Bravo Company

2-10. The clubhouse was full with family from both

Companies and the food was amazing and plentiful

to say the least.

The BBQ chicken, burgers, sides, chips, dips and

desserts everyone brought were truly delicious. The

evening did not end there as both Companies took

part in the infamous “belt lift” and possibly made

Army history as Bravo Company took part in an

Attack Company tradition for the first time.

As we begin our history under a new guidon we are

pleased to welcome our newest Soldiers to our

ranks. Almost all of them are familiar faces coming

from Delta Company. 1LT Piechocki our newest

Flight Platoon leader, SPC Morgan with his wife

Donna and their daughter Dezaray, PFC Catron and

PFC Flaherety are all welcomed additions to the

team. Lastly, we welcome 1SGT Dennis, his wife

Jolee, and two children Ariel and Colton. They come

to us from TF Phoenix and bring a wealth of

experience with them. We say goodbye to CW2

Lewis and his wife Tory who are headed to Ft Rucker

to attend the instructor pilot course. SGT Cramer

who has honorably finished his service obligation also

said goodbye as he travels west. We would like to

recognize and congratulate CW2 Bryan Haldeman

on his recent promotion. Way to go buddy.

With the return of all our aircraft the training has

gone into full swing. Maintenance and flying have

picked up and resulted in successful missions with the

Soldiers of 1st Brigade as well as gunnery qualification

for Fox Company. As we continue to train we ask for

your continued support on the long days and nights

as it truly makes a difference everyday. We hope you

all have a wonderful and safe summer in the North

Country as it kicks off with Memorial Weekend.

Relax and enjoy the nice weather and once again

thanks for being part of the Fox Family.

Our Newest Soldiers

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Warrior Family and Friends,

Warrior Families!

Since our last news letter, the

Warriors of Echo

Company have

been Sustaining

the Strike! As you

all know, from 22

August to 14 Sep-

tember, Echo

Company sup-

ported TF Gunnery

at Range 48 and

Range 23. It was great to see all

of our Task Force Tigershark

Families at Range 23 during Fam-

ily Day!

As we look forward to

October, it will be another

busy month for Echo Com-

pany. For our SM’s that are

working on the TF DONSA

(28SEP) they will be given a

day off on 12 OCT, due to

manning and running Oasis.

We will kick off October,

with M240 and M16 Ranges,

followed by night time driv-

ing using NVGs the second week. The

third week we will be conducting FOB De-

fense Battle Drills, to prepare our Soldiers

for the defense role they play when de-

ployed. We are currently planning a

DART exorcise with Delta company to-

wards the end of the month, and will be

preparing for TF Gunnery in November.

For everyone that joined us on 19

September at Remington Park, for 1SG

Rodriguez’s company level farewell,

thanks for the great

turn out! 1SG

Rodriguez officially

relinquished his re-

sponsibility as

Company 1SG to

1SG Warren on 25

September. We all

look forward to

1SG Warren’s lead-

ership and direction

he will provided Echo Company!

Sustain the Strike!!

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FRG Leadership

FRG Advisor Stephanie Ward

315-681-4518 / 318-613-2664 advisor110@yahoo.com

B Troop

Stephanie Rickert 315-629-6321

btroop66cavfrg@gmail.com

B Company Michele Tarras

315-387-5624 Bravo_co_frg@mail.com

D Company

Kelly Caraccilo / Marcia Jenkins 661-478-9841 / 803-984-9343

Hammerhead_frg@yahoo.com

E Company Becca Althouse

717-327-7895 Echo_warriors_2011@yahoo.com

F Company

Jen Vonsik / RheAnne Stevens 315-681-4607 / 315-661-6845

Fox1.10frg@gmail.com

HHC Shannon McFarland

315-681-6880 frghavoc@yahoo.com

FRSA

Michelle Simerly / Jackie Sharpe 315-774-1403 / 315-774-1104

Michelle.d.simerly.civ@mail.mil / Jacqueline.e.sharpe.civ@mail.mil