Mountain Eagle Families,

Let me begin by saying that

Diana and I are extremely excited

and blessed with the opportunity

to be a part of you - the Mountain

Eagle Family. You all are, and

have been, an incredible team that

has endured and accomplished a

lot in this past year. As a Com-

mander, I can say that we, the

Army, recognize your commit-

ment and sincerely appreciate the

sacrifices you make every day.

As the new Mountain Eagle 6, I

think it is important that the first

thing I share with you is my view

and strategy for the FRG. To me,

the Family Readiness Group is the

most important means I have to

take care of you. The FRG is a

group of exceptional family volun-

teers teamed with unit command-

ers for the purpose of increasing

your ability to be ready to deal

with the tough Army lifestyle

through support, information and

relationships. My initial impres-

sions about the Mountain Eagle

Families are that there are mixed

feelings about the FRG and the

organization. While some view

that there is goodness in the group,

many view the FRG groups as

―clicky,‖ ―political‖ and of no

value to their own lives. This is

not surprising, especially in an

organization that has over 350

immediate families and over 800

total Soldiers, all with extended

families. I want to clarify that

extended families to our single

Soldiers are equally as important

as immediate families. Many

single Soldiers have a perception

that the FRG does not really apply

to them. Nothing can be further

from the truth. I firmly believe

that the FRG is here for ALL Sol-

diers and Families. That is why I

make a point of highlighting ex-

tended families. My responsibility

against all these perceptions is to

eliminate them and establish trust

and confidence in the FRG. My

vision has three focus areas for the

next two years: to establish a

Family Readiness Group that ef-

fectively improves our Families

readiness and resiliency, to earn

trust as a key source of support

during any emergency and to earn

a reputation for great family care

and compassion.

To get there, my Company

Commanders will fully commit to

placing command emphasis on the

final objective – Family Readi-

ness. First, they will build a team

Eagle Commander’s Corner

T A S K F O R C E

M O U N T A I N E A G L E

2 7 7 T H A V I A T I O N

S U P P O R T B A T T A L I O N Liberty Times J U L Y 2 0 1 2 U N E 2 0 1 2 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 7

H O T T O P I C S

Alpha FRG Meet-

ing: Thursday, July

19, 2012, 5:30pm at

277th Rhicard

Community Center

No Bravo FRG

Meeting.

Charlie FRG Meet-

ing - Thursday,

August 9, 2012,

4:30pm at the Char-

lie Company Build-

ing.

HSC FRG Meeting:

Thursday, August

9, 2012, 5:00pm at

HSC Classroom, 20345 Anaconda Rd

C O N T A C T S

B A T T A L I O N S T A F F

D U T Y D E S K

3 1 5 - 7 7 4 - 1 2 0 0

C H A P L A I N

( C P T ) L O V E

3 1 5 - 6 8 1 - 0 8 8 3

F A M I L Y R E A D I N E S S

S U P P O R T

A S S I S T A N T ( F R S A )

M I C H E L E G A L L O W A Y

3 1 5 - 7 7 4 - 1 2 0 6

M I L I T A R Y F A M I L Y

L I F E C O N S U L T A N T

( M F L C )

3 1 5 - 4 0 5 - 7 4 4 9

3 1 5 - 2 1 2 - 6 9 1 9

A R M Y C O M M U N I T Y

S E R V I C E ( A C S )

I N F O R M A T I O N

A N D R E F E R R A L

3 1 5 - 7 7 2 - 6 5 5 7

1 - 8 0 0 - 8 2 6 - 0 8 8 6

M I L I T A R Y

O N E S O U R C E

1 - 8 0 0 - 3 4 2 - 9 6 4 7

By LTC Enrique Ortiz

Battalion Commander

of great volunteers that, together, will

lead a deliberate campaign to achieve our

vision. Success for all FRGs happens at

company level. But they cannot get there

alone. They will need your help. You

are the source of those great volunteers. I

fully understand that not all can volunteer

but many can. Volunteerism is the most

valuable component of establishing an

FRG and ultimately caring for our fami-

lies. Secondly, they need to be able to

talk to all of you and share information

with you. This is the second most critical

component of our strategy. Connecting

with you (it does not matter if it’s in per-

son, phone, email, social media, etc) lets

us know what your needs are, what sup-

port you need, what we need to fix, what

family services we can coordinate, etc.

Connecting also serves as an opportunity

to share critical information and aware-

ness of the organization. We also will

establish processes and systems that de-

scribe the ―how‖ to deal with expected

and unexpected situations. We will also

exercise those processes to make sure

they actually work. Finally, we need to

get your honest feedback regularly. You

are our quality assurance and ultimately

the measure of success.

I honestly believe that Family is the

strength of our Soldiers. Diana and I are

committed to this belief. We look for-

ward to meeting everyone as we settle

into Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain

Division.

Freedom and Liberty!

―Mountain Eagle 6‖

Family Readiness Group Advisor’s Updates

For the rest of the article, go to page 8.

By Diana Ortiz

FRG Advisor

Hello to all the great

277th Soldiers and Families!

This is my first article and

the first thing I would like

to do is take this opportunity

to THANK YOU all for the

daily sacrifices that you and

your loved ones make and

will be making in the up-

coming months. The Army

Life is full of tough moments

but I have come to realize that

once we look back we are

amazed about what was ac-

complished and how strong we

can all be if we stick together

and support each other. Fam-

ily Readiness Group is an es-

P A G E 2

L I B E R T Y T I M E S

Headquarters & Support Company - Battle Penguins

Hello Families of HSC

277 ASB, July will be a

short month as most of it

is focused on spending

time with family. Soldiers

have been encouraged to

take block leave at the

beginning of July.

The company had

three promotions this

month. PV2 Erik Sor-

dillo, PFC Brian Trull, PFC

Kevin Thach and the new-

est member to the Non-

Commissioned Officer

Corps, SGT Jesse Smith.

This is the first month I get

to announce the new Bat-

talion Commander, LTC

Ortiz and welcome his fam-

ily. We also have a new

Support Operations Ser-

geant Major, SGM Rodney

Harris which is a great ad-

dition to the HSC family.

In addition to that we have

a few new members to

HSC. PFC Juan Angel,

SPC Travis Baxley, SGT

Ross Dennison, SGT Corey

Parker and PFC Rinna

Thach.

There will not be a for-

mal FRG meeting this

month as we are planning

our Company Organiza-

tional Day on 27 July. Lo-

cation is to be determined

and will go out during com-

pany formations and emails

through myself and the

FRG leader.

CPT Natalie Nissen

Talon 6

(315)774-1465

natalie.nissen@us.army.mil

By CPT Natalie Nissen

HSC Company Commander

Hello Everyone,

I hope this finds everyone

well. Not much going on this

month. I would like to say

hello to some of our new sol-

diers, CW2 Jeanbaptiste,

Roudy, PV2 Mosier, Zach-

ary,CW2 Prince, Clever, 2LT

Rodriguez, Stephanie and

PV2 Sordillo, Erik.

We would also like to con-

gratulate CPT Koch, James

and his wife who gave birth to

a 6lb, 10oz baby boy named

Gracen James on 24 May at

5:14am.

There are a number of ac-

tivities to mention: Water-

town's Farmers Market is

Wednesdays from 0630 -1500.

Carthage Farmers Market Fri-

days 0700-1400, and Clayton

Farmers Markets Thursdays

1 6 0 0 - 1 8 0 0 .

Thank you so much!

D a w n M a r i e D e G r a v e

315-777-6152

Dawnmarie.Degrave

@us.army.mil

HSC Family Readiness Group Notes

Dawn Marie DeGrave

HSC FRG Leader

P A G E 3 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 7

Alpha Company Family Readiness Group Updates

Alpha Company - Atlas

opportunity to work with the Command

and fellow family members. I hope that

the volunteers in the company will keep

up the good work and the support contin-

ues. I have built some great friendships

with my fellow Alpha Eagles. I will miss

you all. I will still be around till the first

week of August.

That being said we are now on the

search for the New FRG leader that will

step up and help support the families as

the company goes from reset to pre de-

ployment prep in the follow months and

deployment within the next year.

I would like to say thanks to Candy

Kinne for taking over as the Treasurer and a key caller. Thank you to Thelma Web

for becoming a key caller. And BIG

thanks to all that have helped out the last

few months.

Sarah Popp

A Company FRG Leader

Hello Alpha Eagle Families,

I hope that everybody is getting out and

enjoying this awesome weather. River

Fest and Mountain Fest are at the end of

the month and they are great events. We

also have our Company Organization Day

coming up. It’s going to be a great day of

fun and hopefully plenty of sun shine.

Then it’s summer Block Leave time. Time

to Relax and really enjoy. I hope every-

body has a great month.

My husband has received Orders this

month so it looks like we will be leaving

soon. His report date is the first week of

Sept. (Ft. Polk)

I have not been the FRG Leader that

long but I’m sure glad that I have had the

By CPT Bryan Bolin

A Company Commander

The month of June has been

full of fun and excitement. At the

company we have been finishing

up with our gunnery support, con-

ducted training with the National

Guard, and have been preparing

for the company BBQ on the 29th.

The BBQ will be held at Reming-

ton Park on main post and will

start at 1300. Food prep and set up

will begin at 1130 for those who

wish to volunteer to assist. There

will be bouncy castles, volleyball,

games, and other events for all the

family to enjoy.

I hope all families are taking

advantage of block leave. This is

the perfect time to recharge your

batteries and enjoy time with fami-

lies or to just get away for a bit.

Due to block leave being 1-15

July, our monthly FRG meeting

will be conducted on 19 July at

1730 at the Rhicard hills commu-

nity center. Thank you to all the

families who

participated this month,

I appreciate your support. We

continuing to build our A Company

family and each month more families

attend the FRG meetings and that’s a

good sign.

The next couple of weeks will go

by quickly, just remember to be safe,

have fun, and I will see you at the

BBQ on the 29th of June.

―On our shoulders!‖

CPT Bryan Bolin

315-774-1041

Bryan.bolin@us.army.mil

Also we are still looking for

some more volunteers, Key call-

ers, a co-treasure, event planners,

etc.. If you are interested please

get a hold of me.

Our Next meeting will be July

19th @ Richard Hills Community

Center 5:30 Pot Luck Dinner/

Splash Park Family Fun. Bring a

dinner dish and juice or soda to

share and don’t forget your towels.

This will be my last meeting.

Our Soldiers, Our Family, On Our

Shoulders

Sarah Popp 937-541-6371

allie299@yahoo.com

L I B E R T Y T I M E S

P A G E 4

Bravo Company - Hangar Rats By MAJ Ryan Guthrie

B Company Commander

Greetings Hangar Rat Fami-

lies:

The times for summer time

fun activities are upon us. On

8 June 2012, the company had

a day of rafting on the Black

River. Families were wel-

come to attend with their Sol-

diers and we had a great turn-

out of 90 Soldiers and family

members. The water levels

were unusually high with lar-

ger grade rapids which turned

out to be exciting for some

and a bit terrifying for others.

Overall, it was a day of ex-

periences and memories. I

was grateful to share it with

you before my departure.

This will be my last news-

letter submission. On 25 June

2012, I will change command

with MAJ Del Boyer. I am

leaving for Fort Leavenworth,

Kansas to attend the Com-

mand and General Staff College

CGSC (otherwise known as

Intermediate Level Education

ILE). They only send two types

of people to Fort Leavenworth,

majors and crooks. I leave the

company in excellent hands

with a vast experience base.

MAJ Boyer will surely lead and

mentor our unit and Families

through the next year and de-

ployment with great success.

The company distributed

multiple awards this month to

our Soldiers as they depart the

unit. The Army Commendation

Medal was awarded to SGT

Byrd, SGT Flores, SSG Heri-

tage, and SPC Hines for their

outstanding service to the unit.

The Army Achievement Medal

was presented to SPC DeJesus,

SSG Lang, and SSG DiazPadro.

The unit promoted our worthy

and newest Soldiers. The fol-

lowing Soldiers were promoted

to Private First Class: PFC

Johnson, PFC King, PFC

L i z S a n t a n a ,

a n d P F C

O e h l d r i c h .

Select Soldiers

were promoted

to the rank of

Specialist: SPC Abuya, SPC

Bauman, and SPC Bredwell.

We also received and wel-

comed outstanding Soldiers to

our formation in June. We wel-

comed PFC Klevans to avionics

platoon, PFC Przyblyla, PFC

Suarez, PFC Zepkowski, and

PV2 Mauracooper and his wife

to shops platoon. Our newest

additions are greatly welcomed

into the fold of our unit with

enthusiasm.

Signing Out,

MAJ Ryan A Guthrie

Hangar Rat 6

(315) 772-4239

ryan.a.guthrie@us.army.mil

Bravo Company Family Readiness Group Updates

Gigi Tomsu

B Company FRG Leader

Hello Bravo Company

Families and Soldiers! It is

summer time, which means

many activities will be within

your reach. At our last FRG

meeting, we mentioned a lot

of activities to do throughout

the summer. There will be

Independence Day fireworks

at multiple locations. Clayton

will be on July 3rd at dusk.

Alexandria Bay and Sackets

Harbor will be on July 4th at

dusk. Also, the Jefferson

County Fair will be July 10th-

15th at the Fairgrounds, and

several summer concerts with

Blake Shelton, Bill Cosby, and

Journey.

It is sad to say that this will

be my last newsletter. My

family and I will be PCSing. I

am proud to have had the op-

portunity to be your FRG

leader. I had a great time, and

I am glad to have met a few

new faces. Thank you for be-

ing part of the FRG and also

thank you to our volunteers.

Your commitment is what

makes a difference. On that

note, I would encourage all of

you to contribute some of your

time to become a volunteer for

your FRG. We are still in

need of key callers. If you

are interested, the next key

caller training will be July

12th at 10-11:30am and 2-

3:30pm at the ACS. Call 315

-772-0470/2828 to register.

Also, there will be no

FRG meeting for the month

of July. I hope everyone en-

joys their block leave. I wish

you farewell! Hopefully we

may cross paths again. Take

care.

Gigi Tomsu

315-777-6521

bco.277_frg@yahoo.com

Charlie Company - Ravens

P A G E 5 V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 7

By CPT Matthew Thompson

C Company Commander

If you are up here in the North

Country, hopefully you have been

out enjoying the beautiful weather

and the best time of the year here at

Fort Drum. This month we wel-

comed in our new battalion com-

mand team during the change of

command held during the first week

of the month. The Ravens were

standing tall and looking good during

the ceremony.

The Ravens then ran an M16 and

M4 rifle zero and qualification range

for the battalion. In four days, over

350 Soldiers from our battalion were

able to zero and qualify on their as-

signed weapon. The Soldiers get 18

rounds of ammunition to zero their

sites on their weapon, and then con-

duct a 40 round qualification table at

targets out to 300 meters.

The rest of the month was spent

preparing for this summer’s big train-

ing event, Mountain Peak, which will

involve most of the division conduct-

ing a large scale training exercise on

Fort Drum. This 10 day event starts

shortly after our return from our sum-

mer block leave. The Ravens have

been training on our High Capacity –

Line of Site communications systems

in preparation for the exercise.

This month we are also having our

company organization day at Remington

Pond’s Tranquility Pavilion from 10

A.M. to 2 P.M on June 28, 2012. There

will be barbeque, some fun games, and a

bouncy castle and playground for the

kids. This is also the same day as

Mountain Fest which starts later on that

afternoon, so it will be a great day to

come out to Fort Drum and witness all

the festivities if you are in the area, and

be sure and stay for the Salute the Na-

tion ceremony that evening.

Whatever your plans are over block

leave, I hope you have a great time, take

care and come back safe! I hope to see

everyone at Remington Pond on the 28th!

CPT Matthew K. Thompson

315-774-1056

Matthew.k.thompson1@us.army.mil

Visit www.myarmyonesource.com

There are options to Login with your

username and password or Register if

you don’t have a profile.

Fill out your information.

When you’ve created a profile, click

on ―Volunteer‖ on the top right sec-

tion of the page. This will take you to

the Volunteer Management Informa-

tion System (VMIS)

Click on ―Opportunity Locator‖

Select ―Fort Drum‖ under Military

Community and ―FRG: 10 AVN–

277‖ under the Organization and click

Search.

Choose the volunteer position you’d

like to apply for. When the new page

loads, click Apply.

Online VMIS FRG Volunteer Registration

Check out the FRSA Flash! The 277th ASB FRSA Flash has lots of

in-formation and is our Weekly News-

letter for our Family Members and Sol-

diers. If you are not receiving the FRSA

Flash, please contact the 277th FRSA

Michele Galloway at 315-774-1206 or

Michele.e.galloway@us.army.mil.

Charlie Company FRG Notes Megan Wilson

C Company FRG Leader

Hey everybody! C Co FRG

Leader Megan Wilson here. A

LOT of things have been going on

around C Co. We had an FRG

Meeting on June 14th but due to C

Co running a range it was a very

small turn out. However, we will

be having a Company ORG day

on June 28th at 1000 to 1400 at

Remington Park. We are going to

have a bouncy house, the pavilion

we reserved is right next to the

dog park so families can bring

their dogs, we are grilling and we

will be playing games! Fun times

will be had. In July we have a lot

of things going on again. Block

leave, training in the field, and a

family work day. As far as an FRG

meeting in July, that is still a work in

progress. We will inform everybody

as soon as we know more about what

is going on. Also in July we have a

couple births that are supposed to be

happening so that is something else

we will announce when the time

comes. That pretty much does it for

now. Can’t wait to see everybody at

ORG day!

Until next time everybody!

Sincerely,

Megan Wilson

315-777-1593

m-Murdock@hotmail.com

P A G E 6

L I B E R T Y T I M E S

D I D Y O U K N O W ?

Army Community Service

(ACS) has clinical Military

Family Life Consultants

(MFLCs) available for walk-

in confidential consults? If

you feel you need some-

one to talk to or are hav-

ing marital problems,

please call them at 315-212

-6919 or just stop by M-F

8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

ACS also has a Financial

Readiness Program that

provides free counseling or

advice on financial matters?

They can provide all types

of financial assistance: pull

credit reports, budgeting,

debt management, invest-

ing, etc. Call 772-0050 for

more info.

Behavioral Health Con-

tacts: Suicide Resources/

Hotlines Connor Clinic Appoint-

ment Line: 315-772-2778

After Hours Emergency

Services (Holidays and

Weekends) Before 9:00

pm: Acute Care Clinic,

315-772-5236

After 9:00 pm: Samaritan

Medical Center Emer-

gency Department: 315-

785-4100

Local 24-Hour Crisis Line:

315-785-4516

National Suicide Preven-

tion Lifeline: 1-800-273-

TALK

Suicide Prevention Action

Network (SPAN):

ww.spanusa.org

By CPT Steven Love

How often do we say

God bless you?

A lot, but how often do

we push His blessings

away? "God cannot give

us a happiness and peace

apart from Himself, be-

cause it is not there. There

is no such thing."

C.S. Lewis

You can’t go through

life and not get discour-

aged. To be blue, to be

sad, happens. But for some

people being happy does-

n’t happen near enough…

can I get an Amen?

I, like anyone, like to

be happy. But more impor-

tantly I have found that

what I need is peace.

Think about it, to not have

peace within you is to be

contentious, angry, short-

fused, prone to fits of out-

bursts, one who sows seeds

of strife, impatient, jealous,

boastful, arrogant, inability

to endure and persevere.

I believe a true sense of

peace starts with the Spirit

of God dwelling within you.

That is why C.S. Lewis said

apart from God there is no

such thing as one having

happiness and peace.

So often we think if I

could remove this problem I

could have happiness and

peace. But having peace and

contentment doesn’t happen

because we remove the

problems; it will take place

because we enter into the

presence of God and then He

shows up with peace, love

and joy.

In the Bible Jeremiah

29:11-13 ―For I know the

plans that I have for you,'

declares the LORD 'plans for

welfare and not for calamity

to give you a future and a

hope. Then you will call

upon me and come and pray

to me, and I will listen to

you. You will seek me and

find me when you search for

me with all your heart.‖

God we thank you that

you care for us and want to

bless us. Help us to seek you

and know the difference be-

tween the things that matter

and the things that don’t.

Enjoy your summer as you

seek His peace!

Love Big Live Well

Chaplain Love

How Often Do We Say God Bless You?

CONTACT INFORMATION BN Staff Duty 774-1200

24-hour BDE Staff Duty 774-1100

FRSA 774-1206 email michele.e.galloway@us.army.mil

FRG Leaders

HSC – Dawn Marie DeGrave cell: 315-777-6152;

Dawnmarie.degrave@us.army.mil

A Co – Sarah Popp-cell: 937-541-6371, allie299@yahoo.com

B Co—GiGi Tomsu-cell: 315-777-6521, gigitomsu@gmail.com

C Co—Megan Wilson-cell: 818-279-3927, M-MURDOCK@HOTMAIL.COM

FRG Advisors

Diana Ortiz – cell: 571-228-1962, email dianaortiz2410@gmail.com

BLUEBERRY MONTH

HOT DOG MONTH

ICE CREAM MONTH

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

V O L U M E I , I S S U E 2 7

July 2012

P A G E 7

Watertown Concert in the Park, July

3rd, 6pm, Thompson Park

Commissary Open, July 4th, 9am—

3pm

DPAO/Toyota Concert Series: Blake

Shelton, July 6th, 7pm, The Fair-

grounds.

Jefferson County Fair, July 10-15, The

Fairgrounds.

Fort Drum ACAP Career Fair, July

12th, 10am—2pm.

Lewis County Fair, July 17-21, Lewis

County Fairgrounds.

DPAO/Toyota Concert Series: Bill

Cosby, July 28th, 7pm, The Fair-grounds.

Community Events Need Help? Call or visit Military

OneSource to find infor-

mation about taxes, par-

enting, deployments,

finances, taxes, counsel-

ing, PCS moves & more!

Upcoming Key Caller

Class Dates: July 12th

All Classes are at ACS from

2-3:30 p.m. or 5-6:30p.m.

Call Mobilization and Deployment to

register at 315-772-0470.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 ALPHA

FRG MTG

5:30PM RHI-

CARD CMTY

CTR

20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 Key Caller

Adv 1-2:30pm

31 Training/Classes

FRG Suspenses

BDE/BN/CO FRG Meet-

ings/Training/Events

Personal Financial Counselor, is back

and available every Thursday from

1pm to 3pm in the 277th Battalions

Classroom. Call him at 586-350-

7650 to help set up a budget, check

your credit, develop a plan to get out

of debt, get started investing, or what-

ever you need assistance with. You

can also always call Financial Readi-

ness at 772-0050 for this same type of

assistance.

Block leave

30 june-14 july 2012

Family Readiness Group Advisor’s Updates, continued

P A G E 8

Eye On The Eagle

L I B E R T Y T I M E S

sential part as it helps us all to stay

connected and it supports communi-

cation during separation. I encour-

age all families to stay connected and

find time even during the coming

summer months to attend the

monthly FRG meetings, functions or

fundraisers. Looking back on our

past years, I can attest that the FRG

has helped us endure more than 4

deployments.

I sincerely respect and appreciate

the hard work that FRG leaders and

volunteers do for their Company

families & single Soldiers. These

are pure volunteer jobs marked by

selfless hard work for the benefit of

all families in the unit. I would en-

courage families in the companies to

support your FRG with ideas and

suggestions or maybe sign up as a

volunteer if you have an extra hour

or two. I very much believe in this

golden rule: An FRG is as strong

and great as its members make it.

Our kids and I are excited to be here

in Ft. Drum. Coming from Korea we

really appreciate the fresh air and end-

less outdoor options that Jefferson

County offers. We look forward to

fishing for our own salmon, visiting

local farmers markets and getting to

see the many islands and shores in the

North American region.

I have been driving around Ft.

Drum and I am impressed by what is

offered on this installation. A ―Wow

moment‖ was the visit we made to the

ACS Center. What a wonderful build-

ing full of resources and information!

We got a binder full of local options, a

gift for my kids and a cool bag just for

taking the time to pass by. I encour-

age everyone to do this if you are new

or maybe got here months back but

have not really seen the area yet.

In the name of my family and my-

self, I want to thank you all for the

warm welcome we received coming

into this Battalion. Now it is our

turn to wish you all a fun and memo-

rable summer time! I look forward

to meeting each and every one of

you at the many upcoming events on

or off post. If you have questions or

have any kind of need please do not

hesitate to contact your company

FRG leader. They are always happy

to assist and connect you with the

right person to support you. My

family and I are excited to be here

and it is our honor to be part of the

Mountain Eagle Task Force!

Diana Ortiz

WELCOME LTC & MRS. ORTIZ

LTC & MRS. DIANA ORTIZ

AND CHILDREN:

ANNA, SOFIA AND MAX.

P A G E 9 PICTURES

ARMY PHOTO BY CPT Melinda Walden B 277th ASB, TF Mountain Eagle. SSG Lang received his PCS award and gift from MAJ Ryan Guthrie.

Ravens standing tall during the battalion change of command ceremony on June 4, 2012.

P A G E 1 0 PICTURES CONTINUED

Charlie Company

waits for the first

firers to arrive for

the M16 and M4

range on June 15,

2012.

Staff Sergeant Kevin

Pearson, the Range

Safety Officer, hands

out ear plugs to firers

from HSC on June 15,

2012

P A G E 1 1 PICTURES CONTINUED

Sergeant Nicholas Ellis observes as

the initial firing order begins zeroing

their rifles on June 15, 2012.

OUR SOLDIERS, OUR HEROES - Soldiers Prayer

All the Soldiers are Heroes to me;

They fight in order that we can be free.

Our fathers and mothers have gone before;

They defended our Country by going to war.

Our soldiers are fighting for freedom each day.

Some lose their lives; it's a high price they pay.

They fight for our country, for me and for you;

So our children are free, and grandchildren too.

Until we find a better way,

To stop the terrorists, in the games they play.

To guarantee that we're safe in our land

Our soldiers will continue to fight in the sand.

Our dream is to have them all home again;

For our Country to be safe for each & every man.

In the meantime we know Freedom's not free.

Thanks to the Soldiers - you're Heroes to me.

277th Aviation Support Battalion History

In February 2006, the 277th Aviation Support Battalion

deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring

Freedom VII, where it provided combat service and support

to the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Falcon.

The Unit redeployed in February of 2007 after earning the

Lieutenant General Ellis D. Parker Award for best Aviation

Battalion in 2006 and the Meritorious Unit Commendation.

In October 2008, the 277th ASB deployed to Iraq in sup-

port of Operation Iraqi Freedom 09-11, where it provided

support and combat services to the 10th CAB, Task Force

Lightning. The unit redeployed in October 2009 and earned

the Lieutenant General Ellis D. Parker award for the Best

Combat Service Support Battalion for the work performed

during its 2008-2009 deployment.

20125 Hangar Access Road

Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield

Fort Drum, NY 13602

Phone: 315-774-1206

Fax: 315-774-1231

E-mail: michele.e.galloway@us.army.mil

277th Aviation Support Battalion

10th Combat Aviation Brigade

“Freedom and Liberty”

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