2BSTB Newsletter

1. 2ND BRIGADE SPECIAL
TROOPS BATTALION,
2ND BRIGADE
COMBAT TEAM,
10TH MTN DIV
(LIGHT INFANTRY)
BATTALION NEWS 28 FEB 2012
Helpful Phone Headquarters, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion
Numbers: 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry)
 HHC Company Commander
CPT McCall
10120 North Riva Ridge Loop
HHC Company 1SG Fort Drum NY 13602
1SG Ward
772-4509
 A. Company Commander 24 February 2012
CPT Boyles
Alpha Company 1SG
1SG Volz Letter to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion Family and Friends:
772-7410
 B. Company Commander
CPT Keay Thank you to everyone that took the time to attend the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) pre
Bravo Company 1SG -deployment brief. If you were unable to attend and did not receive the information please contact
1SG Pasol
772-7412 your FRG Leader or the FRSA to receive a copy of the slides and a handout with good resources
 C. Company Commander Highlander Family,
and contact information. The Soldiers are in the final preparation stages for JRTC and will be fly-
CPT Remillard
Charlie Company 1SG ing out soon. There may be limited contact due to training times and the lack of cell phone recep-
SFC Gruby
772-7429
tion at Fort Polk, Louisiana. The FRG is conducting a call out during the JRTC rotation and do not
 HHC BDE Company Sincerely,
hesitate to contact your Key Caller or FRG Leader if you have any questions or concerns.
Commander
CPT Freeburg
HHC BDE Company 1SG Ruddie Ibanez
Our Soldiers have been working hard, to include many late nights, preparing for this JRTC rotation.
1SG Maciag Captain, Field Artillery
Everyone has been pulling their share of the load from those conducting maintenance and inspec-
772-2492
 Battalion Staff Duty: Company Commander
tions, packing shipping containers with supplies and baggage, loading equipment and vehicles, to
772-5100 those who have spent hours in the Mission Training Center (MTC) conducting the tactical planning
 Brigade Staff Duty:
774-2199 for the exercise. I appreciate all of the hard work our Soldiers have done to get us ready to go and
 FRSA: the support of the Family members through this process.
Decima Chiasson
772-9166
After JRTC, we will host our annual Gladiator Spring Games. We plan on having a Family run or
walk followed by a competition consisting of various sports/events. Additionally, the FRG will host
Who’s Who children’s activities. We will barbeque hotdogs and hamburgers and Chaplain Willis will conduct a
In the Good Friday service for those that wish to attend. The next week in April will consist of download-
FRG
ing trains and equipment that is returning from JRTC.
Advisors
Amy Cox In April and May, some of our Soldiers will attend schools like Mine Resistant Ambush Protected
HHC FRG Leaders (MRAP) Driver’s training and other specialty courses. Best of luck to our two team participating in
Lori Bogutskie the Best Sapper Competition at Fort Leonard Wood, 1LT Mize/1LT Ensley and SFC Moffitt/SSG
Alpha FRG Leaders Goduco.
Kim Boyles
Bravo FRG Leaders
Jennifer Limerick
April, May, and June will be a busy time with a lot of transition in leadership in the Battalion. Four
Charlie FRG Leader of our Company Commanders change command with the Battalion Change of Command sched-
Teri Remillard uled for June.
HHC 2BCT FRG
Leader As always thank you to all the Family members for your steadfast support of our Soldiers, your
Sarah Freeburg dedication is appreciated!
You can make a
difference in your Strength and Honor!
FRG!
Call your FRG Leader
to volunteer or for
more information.
RHETT R. COX
LTC, MI
Please let the FRG Commanding
know if you have
moved or changed
phone numbers so we
can keep our
records up to date!
Thank You!

2. ALPHA COMPANY Page 2
28 February 2012
Dear Sapper Families and Friends,
With February being the last month before our unit’s deployment to JRTC, it has been an extremely busy and
productive period. Over the last four weeks the Company has conducted a heavy demolition range,
prepared and shipped multiple pieces of equipment, and conducted route clearance training. All of these
events took a tremendous amount of effort and dedication on the part of each and every member of the
company. These Soldiers have done a great job and without them this deployment would not be possible.
The Family Readiness Group is back into full swing again, providing baked goods to the Soldiers on
Valentine’s Day and also conducting OPSEC training in preparation for the deployment. I can’t say enough
about the outstanding support all of the spouses have shown and I am very grateful for all of you.
The Company also had the opportunity to conduct its first organizational day, as we participated in training at
Thompson’s Park in downtown Watertown. The event was a great success and gave the Soldiers a chance
to work together in learning about basic engineer and warrior tasks, as well as enjoy a relaxed training
environment.
Finally, last month I was remiss in failing to mention that SSG Trevin Sparks and his wife Amanda welcomed
a new baby girl to their family during the winter block leave period. Hailey Michelle Sparks was born
December 22nd at 7 pounds and 10 ounces. Congratulations from all of us in Alpha Company.
Next month is sure to be a very stressful but no doubt beneficial time for our battalion and this company.
Thank you for your support as we have prepared to deploy and in the upcoming month. Until next time,
Mountain Sappers!
CHESTER D. BOYLES
CPT, EN
Commanding
Sappers Training Photos at Demo Range

3. Page 3 BRAVO COMPANY
22 February 2012
To the Badger’s and their Families,
An entire month has passed since the Commander’s last write up and I hadn’t thought about it until Decima reminded us
the other day. This month has gone by remarkably fast, meaning we’ve been busy. The main focus has been centered,
on JRTC out load and planning/preparation but we have also been continuing our training tempo towards the Soldiers
core competencies and collective tasks that will need to be executed at JRTC. It’s much easier for us to cancel training
as days get over come by events than to just simply not schedule training and run the risk of Soldiers not having
anything to progress on throughout the days leading up to JRTC. Our HQ Platoon and the Company’s Executive
Officer, 1LT Burke, have made the JRTC pack out as painless as possible allowing the Company to continue this
training tempo. UAS got a couple more flights in this month supporting 2-14 Infantry Battalion’s field exercise before
they packed up all their equipment to get inspected for out load.
In the picture PV2 Sabie loads his
second Shadow since he has been with
us while SPC Lovelace supervises and
ensures PV2 Sabie is running through
the sequence of events properly with
his crew to launch the Shadow in the
air. HUMINT finished their 2 week
mobile training team course which was
a general coverage of all topics
HUMINT related. This past week
covered source operations, meeting
mechanics, and refining their report
writing skills. The younger Soldiers
conducted graded capabilities briefs to
leaders across the Brigade formation
and Mr. Limerick and SSG Pennell gave
a capabilities brief to all the Platoon
Leaders in 2-14. SIGINT had three
Soldiers attend the three week long
SGA 101 course at foundry (on post) to
be properly equipped/trained on what
they will be doing at JRTC. The other SIGINT Soldiers stayed busy packing for JRTC and providing capabilities briefs to
other commanders across the Brigade formation while ISR has had Soldiers training all over the country, but this has
become somewhat normal to them. Three of the imagery analysts had the opportunity to attend the advanced GEOINT
Production Course at the Washington Naval Yard from 7-24FEB. Two of the imagery analysts attended the
Fundamentals of Thermal Infrared Exploitation and Analysis at Ft Belvoir and the remaining analysts stayed at Ft Drum
and conducted a two week course at the Brigade SCIF on their DCGS-A software. Additionally, there are still some
FRG events planned before we will leave (most of us between 4-6MAR timeframe). As I write this we currently have an
FRG meeting planned for this evening 23 FEB and 24FEB will be our Company Lunch. Soldiers, and whichever Family
members would like, are bringing in sides to contribute to a turkey pot luck type meal. On the 25th Jen Limerick has a
single Soldiers meal planned for the Soldiers living in the barracks. This is going to take involvement of others as well.
If you feel you can contribute to an event like this, you can. Anything helps contribute to making a more successful
event. These FRG events are most important because they help take care of Soldiers and families. General Odierno
said it well: “The strength of our Nation is our Army; the strength of our Army is our Soldiers; the strength of our Soldiers
is our Families.” We must maintain the bond of trust between every Soldier and Family member and the Army as an
institution that we are all a part of. These events that our FRG plans will help families better endure the month service
members will be at JRTC. I look forward to seeing you all partake. Until next write up,
V/R
CPT Keay, Barclay
Commander, B Co/2 BSTB

4. CHARLIE COMPANY Page 4
23 February 2012
Dear Families and Friends,
First I would like to thank everyone for their participation on February 16 during our Company Bowling Party
and FRG meeting. Every month we continue to get new Soldiers and families involved in these fun events.
Over 40 people showed up to support the event, and 10 of them were family members. We will continue to
schedule fun events and I look forward to seeing you all again soon. I hope it was a good time had by all.
As we ramp up for our deployment to JRTC in March, your Soldiers are continuing to do fantastic things
during both “duty hours” and more importantly “after hours.” I know that we will be leaving soon, so I will do
my best not to keep the company any later than absolutely necessary. Due to the hard work and dedication
of your Soldiers, I look forward to a productive JRTC rotation.
It is very important we have a strong family support network for Soldiers and Families alike as our
operational tempo continues to increase. I look forward to continuing to increase FRG involvement as we
move forward. Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Frank D. Remillard
CPT, SC
Commanding
A Word from the Chaplain
24 February 2012
2BSTB Families,
This last month I held a leadership luncheon for key leaders in the Battalion in order to let them know about
me as a chaplain, introduced and garnered support for chaplain lead programs, and provided training on
ethical leadership. As your chaplain, I look forward to getting to know you better through some of these
programs. Coming up after JRTC on the 5th of April, we will be conducting Gladiator Games. This will be a
day to bring the Family and have a good time. There will be company competitions, games for children, a
two mile run/walk, snacks and lunch, and for those who are interested—an Easter message. What a
wonderful way to celebrate coming home from JRTC. The month after, 18-20 March, we will be having a
married couples strong-bonds event. I am looking at going to Niagara Falls for the training. Each company
will be allotted a certain number of slots and sign-ups will be with the First Sergeants. We are allowed to take
30 couples. Child care and most of the meals will likely be provided as we work out the funding and location
with the contractors. You would need to provide your own transportation. I am very excited about the
upcoming events and hope to see you there!
Godspeed,
Chaplain James Willis

5. HHC 2BSTB
28 February 2012 Page 5
Hello again to Avenger Family and Friends!
I hope you've enjoyed the mild (for Fort Drum) winter we've had! The Avengers have stayed busy
the past month, conducting quality training in preparation for JRTC.
Earlier this month, the MPs conducted training on close quarters battle (CQB) using one of the
"shoothouses" in the Fort Drum training area as well as part of an urban training area. Squads trained on a
variety of tasks, such as clearing rooms, quick reaction force operations, and dealing with law enforcement
scenarios they may see in the future. This training also included the infantry security section.
The following week, the Company conducted a field training exercise (FTX) for the Military Police Platoon,
CBRNE Platoon, Medics and IN security section. This FTX consisted of Situational Training Exercises (STX)
lanes to build proficiency in mounted tactics.
In addition, we conducted training on calling for artillery fire using the Call For Fire Trainer (CFFT) on post, a
classroom based simulator to allow Soldiers to practice calling for fire.
We're ready for our rotation to the Joint Readiness Training Center in March, and it should be quality
training.
Thanks to the new FRG volunteers, and for everyone's support as
we continue to train.
Very Respectfully, Photo of Medics
At C/210 Medic
Training 28 Feb►
CPT McCall
Commanding
HHC 2BSTB
HHC BRIGADE COMPANY
29 February 2012
HHC/2BCT Soldiers and Families,
As February comes to a close, we continue to prepare for our rotation to the Joint Readiness Training Center
(JRTC). Some of the Company is already gone and by the end of the first full week in March all of us will be
in Louisiana. Thank you to everyone that came to the FRG meeting/bowling event earlier this month. I’d
also like to thank everyone who donated snacks for the goodie bags that will be handed out to our Soldiers
as they head to JRTC. For those of you that don’t know, the rear detachment OIC is CPT Tim Dufner and
NCOIC is SSG Julius Peres. They will be in charge of the Company while we’re gone in March. My wife,
Sarah, is staying local and will be available for support and to answer questions as always. That’s it for now.
I’ll see everyone in April
V/R,
MATTHEW W. FREEBURG
CPT, AD
Commanding

6. WHAT IS HAPPENING:
March 16-18
Watertown
North Country Goes Green Irish Festival http://www.ncirishfest.com/
March 17 & 18 and 24 & 25
Lowville Area
16th Annual Maple Weekend, there's no better way to spend time with family
and friends! Five maple producers in Lewis County, along with over 90 other
maple producers across New York State, will be hosting open houses for the
public to see how Maple Syrup and other related products are made. This
family oriented event is sure to delight visitors of all ages. Participants will be
boiling sap into maple syrup and many will demonstrate the making of other
maple products...and of course, visitors can sample and purchase maple prod-
ucts. In addition, some of the sugar houses will provide a variety of other activi-
ties to make your visit more memorable. The following Lewis County Maple
Producers will be participating:
Swiss'er Sweet Maple - Open 3/19, 3/20, 3/26 & 3/27 from 10am to 4pm ~ Ja-
son & Barbara Zehr at 6242 Swiss Rd, Castorland NY. (315) 346-1034 swis-
ser@twcny.rr.com or visit: www.swissersweetmaple.com
Tug Hill Sweets & Treats - Open 3/17,18,24 & 25 from 10am to 4pm ~ County
Route 163, Copenhagen NY. (315) 408-8100
Golden Maple Shanty - Open 3/26 from 10am to 4pm ~ Marvin Widrick at 4836
Sharp Rd, Lowville NY. (315) 376-6310 sales@mapleshanty.com or visit:
www.mapleshanty.com
Pierce's Sugar Spigot - Open 3/17,18,24 & 25 from 10am to 4pm ~ Karen &
Carl Pierce at 11603 Route 812, Croghan NY. (315) 543-2980 kapier-
ce3@hotmail.com or visit: www.lcida.org/sspigot.html