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"PRIDE OF THE DAKOTA’S DISPATCH"
2ND BATTALION 147TH FIELD ARTILLERY FAMILY NEWSLETTER
OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM II, VOLUME 1, ISSUE 14 1 September, 2004

The month of August has come and gone and it was a busy month. We sent 59 soldiers on R&R. This takes many of the guys away from duty but everyone pitched in and picked up extra duties to make sure everyone could go home. We will continue sending soldiers home for the next couple of months and really believe that everyone that wants to go home will go home for R&R. Alpha Battery and Bravo Battery have completed their, "job swap" and both units seem to enjoy the change of pace and new challenges. Charlie battery is finally all together again and in their new home of Abu Naji doing CEA missions. Another "truce" was made with Sadar, the radical cleric that has been leading an uprising against Iraqi and Coalition forces. Only time will tell if this peace agreement will hold. We will always stay alert and continue to hold our high standards to make sure we stay safe until we all come home. Yes, it was a busy month. The daily temperatures remain hot but we can tell fall is coming as the days are getting shorter, the nights a little cooler and some the nasty little bugs are starting to return.

Knock on wood. Things here in Iraq seem to be settling down just a little. These past few weeks’ things have been very tense with all the happenings in Najaf. This has trickled throughout the rest of the country and has forced us to be extra aware of the threats around us. One example has been our inability to travel to all of our units to get them mail and supplies. Due to our routes going through some of the major cities in turmoil, we were forced to delay unit visits. Let me assure you that at all times our soldier’s basic needs were being met, but we could not put other troops at risk simply to deliver mail and nonessential supplies. We seem to now be past that bump in the road and are trying to get services back to normal.

This past couple of weeks has also been very hard on one of our sister Battalions. One of their gun trucks came under attack from an IED and an RPG attack. Two soldiers were injured with fairly minor injuries from this attack. They are both well on their way to recovery. This unit also had a serious vehicle accident when one of their vehicles rolled over on a recent mission. Three soldiers were injured, one of them very seriously. I ask that you keep all of these soldiers as well as our soldiers in your prayers. I tell you these things not to scare anyone, but simply to encourage you to do as we do everyday, by telling your soldiers to be safe. Tell them to do everything they can to minimize the risk of what they are doing. Tell them to keep their focus on the task at hand and to come home safely to their family. I am confident that the extra encouragement from their loved ones will help drive home the point.

Lastly, I want to share some news regarding our units return dates. I have always promised you that when we know things, we will share them with the soldiers so as to minimize the rumors. Again, if it hasn’t come from the Chain of Command, it is just a rumor. At this time, it appears that our return date will be delayed by 3-4 weeks. I am sharing this, because I feel pretty confident that this is accurate information. Having said that, I will also share that these types of dates tend to move around a bit. Our actual date to come to Iraq moved several times before we actually came. The units that are replacing us have been identified and have actually begun their training. We will keep you fully informed as the dates become closer and more firm. Lastly, I will tell you that our soldiers have taken this news pretty well. There are none of us who don’t wish to hurry home to our loved ones, but we know that we have an important job to do. That job is to stay safe and focused until the day we are back in your presence. We will continue to do that until we have accomplished that mission. Our request of you is that you continue to keep doing the wonderful job you have all done thus far. You truly are our strength.

As we prepare another newsletter article we are changing our calendars to a new month. Change is a common word used around the military and sometimes referred to as a moving target in the artillery business. The longer I am in the military the more change is evident. Or is it? We hear things from what we believe to be reliable sources and we hear others say something different. Is that a change or was it incorrect from the start? One thing is for certain, change is constant otherwise it would be a boring world.

The weather should be changing for the better by the end of the month. Our men will welcome the thought even though it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. We have air conditioning in all of the tents, latrines, dining facility, and now most of the HMMWVs. We need to remember all the soldiers before us that didn’t have those luxuries. The mornings are very pleasant and soon the evenings will be cool enough to start playing horseshoes again.

Our location will be changing so preparations are underway to allow that to happen. This will be good for some yet a pain for others. We could be living in one area and working in another. Tallil is run by the Air Force so it may be different to what most of us are accustomed to. I for one, will be glad to be able to run on a track rather than competing for the road with the fuel trucks in the morning. Most of us will agree that the sleep trailers will be a step up from the deteriorating tents.

Our missions remain about the same except for minor changes. We expect that to happen and it is welcomed by our soldiers. It keeps everything interesting and helps the time to fly by. We are fortunate to work in an environment where the whole Brigade pitches in and works together to get the mission completed. There has to be give and take or else few would get along. Time schedules need to be flexible in order to deal with the "moving target". Some days our men start at 0400 and some days not until 0700 (some don’t start until 0800 at the TOC). There are changes from night shift to day shift, there are time changes from Kuwait, Qatar, and Iraq, and the ones who go home for R&R leave experience all kinds of turbulence. The routes we use are constantly being altered. Anti- Multinational Forces are finding ways to disrupt our ability to move in our area of operation. From loitering to criminal and terrorist activity they force us to use good time management and to ask the question of what if to stay safe.

All in all, our soldiers remain flexible without much internal strife. We have seen so many changes in this country but have many more to go in our final five months. Our men remain focused and determined to see this through. We appreciate all the support and sacrifices from our friends and families at home.

CSM Schwebach

Re-up your crazy, Re-up your out of your mind. Re-up your crazy, Re-up your out of your mind… Those are the words to an Army cadence song. I’m sure many of our solders have heard and sang it many times at basic training, AIT, other active duty schools, or military tours. But in reality, most of the soldiers in the 2^nd Battalion 147^th FA re-enlist at least one time for a three year period and many will stay for a full 20 years of service. The 2^nd Battalion has strong history of our soldiers staying in the National Guard. On annual basis we retain over 85% of our soldiers that are eligible to end their contracts with the National Guard. Our boys stay in the Guard. It may be that they want to serve their country, they want to be part of a great organization, or they like the money and school benefits. Whatever the reason, they stay and make a strong team of seasoned veterans to train new soldiers as they enter our ranks. Even with our deployment, many of our soldiers have or will re-enlist before we return home. We are very proud of these soldiers and the commitment they make to serve the United States of America and the State of South Dakota. Great Job Guys, you set the standards!

PROMOTIONS…..

Some of the promotions that took place during the month of August in 2^nd Battalion were PFC Derrick Redwing from Alpha Battery was promoted to Specialist (SPC), and SPC Gary Scotting from HHS was promoted to Sergeant (SGT). Congratulations Guys!!!!

NEWS FROM THE BATTERIES…….

Greetings from First Platoon at Camp Abu Naji, Iraq

First Platoon has had a very busy seven months in Iraq. We are the only platoon to work with the CEA (Captured Enemy Ammunition) mission the entire time we’ve been here. Our mission is to provide security for the civilians who collect and destroy all the ammunition at the many ammunition caches scattered around the south and south central part of the country. We have done quite a bit of traveling, starting out working directly out of our original home base of Camp Az Zubayr. Towards the end of April we were called to assist Battery A to clear a site further north by Camp Echo. We lived in tents right at the site and provided front gate security for about a month and a half. We returned back to Camp Az Zubayr for less than a week and returned to Camp Echo to secure two sites while cleanup was completed. In the middle of July we moved to our present location, Camp Abu Naji, which is a British Camp. Presently Battery C is the only American presence here. At the end of August most of the remainder of Charlie Battery arrived. This is one of the first times since we’ve been in country that we have the whole unit together.

You’ve all heard it before but I’ll say it again – the heat is the biggest factor here right now. A couple of days ago it was 138 degrees, way too hot for me! I’m a guy who likes snow so I’m on the top of the list of guys who can’t wait for it to start cooling off. They keep telling us it’s going to happen soon, I sure hope so!

We have pretty good living conditions here. The air conditioned tents are sure nice to come in to at the end of the day.

Keep the mail and care packages coming. It’s like Christmas every time we get mail. It really helps to get a little piece of home.

The main topic of our discussions still seems to be "HOME", and how much everyone misses it and can’t wait to get back. Hopefully the rest of our tour here will go fast and we can put this all behind us.

Miss You Darla! "GO VIKINGS"

SFC Rob Severance

Hello from HHS Battery. As August comes to a close, all of us here look forward to the coming fall months and the cooler weather that comes with autumn. It will come a little later than we’re used to this year! The temperatures should slowly start to decline as the daylight hour’s decrease. I would like to invite you to guess the day and hour that the high temperature stays below 100. The prize for the closest guess will receive a HHS OIFII tee-shirt. Email your guesses to charles.hauck@us.army.mil with the "temp guess" in the subject line.

We welcome Alpha Battery to Camp Cedar II as they have traded missions with Bravo Battery and join us in convoy escort duty. This is somewhat of a treat for me as I was assigned to A-battery for 4 years. There are a lot of new faces mixed in with the familiar ones. There have been two officer moves that I have failed to mention. Captain Steve Siemonsma has taken command of B-battery and 1LT Yost has been assigned to B-battery. Captain Frank Sullivant, B-batteries former commander, as joined HHS as a battle captain. 1LT Don Johnson has joined HHS as well as a liaison officer.

HHS is excitedly anticipating our move to Tallil Air base. I anticipate that we will be moving in October. Tallil is about two miles away. We go there daily to get supplies and mail. Our Cedar II address for mail will still work as that where it is delivered. The post office there simply sorts out any 2^nd BN mail it gets and we pick it up. Tallil offers us trailer type living quarters in lieu of tents. A very welcome change as the rainy season approaches.

 I’d like to take the opportunity to thank Don Smith, former member of the HHS family for making us the "Cowboy Golf" games. As the weather gets cooler, we will enjoy a little friendly competition and will be a welcome diversion. Look for pictures in future news letters!

That’s all for now. Take care, God bless, and I’ll talk to you soon!

Captain Chuck Hauck

Warm September Greetings! September marks our ninth month since leaving the Great State of South Dakota! We sure miss it. As fall comes upon you, the men here talk about the hunting and fishing that they so dearly miss. The seasons that we take for granted are some of the little things of home that one looks forward to seeing again.

We officially ended our Captured Enemy Ammunition mission in early August. Since then, we have taken on the Convoy Security Mission of securing convoys to and from Kuwait up into Central Iraq. The Halliburton organization of Kellog, Brown, and Root handles logistical needs of supporting Coalition Forces and the Iraqi infrastructure. We, Battery A, provide Convoy Escort Security for the KBR organization and their contractors. In order to facilitate this mission, we made eight KBR teams within the Battery. The days can be long. As each team takes to the road, they travel nearly 300 miles a day to effectively escort the convoys out of and into Iraq. This requirement alone really puts the pressure on our maintenance activities. The maintenance section has been doing a great job keeping us rolling.

With the new mission, we find ourselves now located at Camp Cedar II with our Battalion Headquarters. The accommodations are nice. Having been living on our own, it is nice to get back to being around other US military forces. We have access to a KBR managed dining facility. Additionally, the men have a great Morale, Welfare, and Recreation facility. It includes internet, entertainment activities, and exercise equipment. The living accommodations are good. Shower trailers and latrines trailers that have real toilets are a nice change. The laundry facility is also a very nice service to have access to.

The big change that we are getting used to is the road time and the heat. With temperatures in the 120s and the HUMMWVs running around 220 degrees, the vehicles can make you feel like a baked potato by the end of the day. If we thought we were drinking a lot of water before, we truly are now. Even with the extreme heat, the men have done a great job of keeping themselves hydrated. The good news is that we have an air conditioning upgrade being installed which does lower the temperature in the vehicles. Each KBR team has an aggressive schedule; however, the schedules are such that once a week the guys get an off day to catch up on personal needs.

As the school year gets back into full swing for our families back home, we know that we are progressing well through our tour of duty. The good news is that early planning is being conducted with the unit that is scheduled to replace our Brigade, and we can fully anticipate being here in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom through early 2005. As always, thank you for the many letters and cards.

Lucas Lentsch, Commander, Battery A, 2^nd Battalion, 147^th Field Artillery.

Iraq in the Bible Part II
By Chaplain MAJ Linn Wilson

The City of Ur, Iraq Pt. 1

One of the most fun things I've done while here in Iraq has been leading tours the ancient site of Ur mentioned in Genesis 11:28 and other passages. So today for our newsletter I want to share some things about the site, and next time I'll conclude the series. When approaching Ur one immediately sees a large ziggurat structure that can be seen for miles away. This structure originated 2,113 years BC and was the temple of the moon god "Sin", pronounced "Seen". It once stood 26 meters until the third level collapsed, leaving it now 17 meters, 25 centimeters. There are holes around the entire structure that look like windows. But they are not windows, but rather are used for three purposes-drainage, to allow the wind to dry it, and because the tar used on the building needed room to expand. One is allowed to climb up the some 104 steps (I may have miscounted!:-) Not far away is a building that has the oldest arch in the world. It is similar in age to the ziggurat, some

2,113 years BC. One of the corners of this old building is original, and other parts of the building have been built back up to give observers a true picture of what it looked like years ago. Tar and brick was brought in from the Euphrates River. Next time I'll continue to share with you some of the sights of Ur, including the home that the famous prophet and great man of faith, Abraham, was born in!

Just as a side note, PLEASE feel free to contact me with any concerns about your loved ones at my email address, lynn.wilson1@us.army.mil Until next newsletter, may Jesus bless you all back home, and know that we miss you dearly!:-) Chaplain Lynn Wilson

Contacts:

Mail can be sent to your soldier at the address below. You can expect it to take 7-14 days for your mail to get picked up by the battalion. Then we must deliver it to the units in their various locations when we deliver other supplies. The mail address for each unit is listed below:

2-147th FA BN: Our web site is: www.DakotaSteelRain.com at this site you will be able to find links to other battery web sites and pictures. As we move on and time permits, the newsletters will be posted there along with pictures from your soldiers.

HHB 2-147FA: www.homepages.dsu.edu/2147fabn/

C 2-147FA: www.147th.com

197th FA BDE web site: http://www.nharmy.guard.com/family_services/units.htm 

General Military Information: www.military.com

Trip to Disney World: www.shadesofgreeen.org

Webmaster: Holly Hauck
HHS 2-147th FA BN Family Program
Revised: 10/25/2004.