Homecoming

Homecoming
Redeployment Ceremony; April 22nd, 2008

In The News

Articles, pictures, and other news about the 2-32 Field Artillery, and the area (Yarmouk and Hateen neighborhoods) where they've been working. For posts older than 30 days, check the archive links on the left, or use the searchbox at the top of the page.

[last update: April 22, 2008]

Friday, March 14, 2008

Feeding the Fire: Dragons Take Home More Retention Awards

Feeding the Fire: Dragons Take Home More Retention Awards
DVIDSHUB
by Spc. Nathaniel Smith
Posted on 03.06.2008

Dragons Take Home More Retention Awards

BAGHDAD – For the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, a new year and a new division didn’t change the ‘Dragons’ retention fortunes.

The Fort Riley, Kan., based unit, which led Multinational Division-Baghdad in reenlisting Soldiers for fiscal 2007, started 2008 off in style by being awarded the commanding general’s award from Command Sgt. Maj. John Gioia, the senior noncommissioned officer of the 4th Infantry Division and MND-B, for the first quarter of the new fiscal year in a ceremony at the 4th BCT headquarters on Forward Operating Base Falcon, March 4.

The 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th BCT, currently attached to the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, earned the battalion-level retention award as a key contributor to the 744 Soldiers who have reenlisted in the task force, tallying up to almost $8 million in bonus money.

Sgt. Phillip White, the retention noncommissioned officer for the 610th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th BCT, said the brigade’s success has been collaborative effort.

“Everyone’s come together to reenlist the most Soldiers in the Baghdad area in the first three months. As far as being part of that, it’s just part of my job,” the Salem, Ill., native said. “Any time you get honored, it’s great. It kind of reiterates the fact that you’re a part of something larger than you are. The teamwork and everything else is great.”

Command Sgt. Maj. Jim Champagne, the senior noncommissioned officer of the Dragon Brigade, said the award reflects on every Soldier in the brigade.

“This is a great day for the brigade. This recognizes the brigade for your mentorship, for your leadership, for your coaching,” he said. “If it wasn’t for the Soldiers doing that on a daily basis, our retention would not be where it is today.”

White agreed that some of the brigade’s retention success is due to its leaders.

“It all boils down to the leadership of the Soldiers,” he said. “If the Soldiers didn’t think they were being led, they didn’t like their NCO’s or their commanders they probably wouldn’t be stepping forward to reenlist.”

During the ceremony, Gioia said the retention noncommissioned officers of Task Force Dragon do a good job in a very difficult field.

“Retention right now is hard. The retention NCOs have the hardest job, trying to retain our force,” he said. “We have to make sure we have somebody to replace us. It’s important that we retain as many Soldiers as we can and keep them in the Army.”

Keeping Soldiers around is something Task Force Dragon has done very well, with 50 percent of those eligible, roughly a third of the brigade opted to extend their Army careers.

White said he agreed.Keeping Soldiers in the Army is not always easy, he said. Getting them the right prospects for a career in the service is often easier said than done.

“The toughest part is coupling the needs of the Soldier with the Army. You have Soldiers on their second, third and fourth deployment and they want downtime, but they either don’t have the rank or the knowledge to get that downtime,” he said. “Trying to get those Soldiers somewhere where they won’t deploy for the next year-and-a-half or two years, that’s the hardest part, but for the most part, we’re doing pretty well on it, taking care of Soldiers who have done multiple deployments.

“When you get them that long shot, though, that’s the probably the most rewarding part of the job.”

Even when Soldiers do get the right situation, Col. Ricky Gibbs, the 4th BCT commander from Austin, Texas, said it takes a special person to enlist and reenlist in a time of war.

“After Sept. 11, if you raised your hand, you have something in your heart other Americans don’t have,” Gibbs said. “These Soldiers stepped up to the plate in a time of war, with no draft, and elected to serve their country, knowing their chances of going to combat are very high, and right now, their country needs them even more.”

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Radar Team Keeps Eye on Falcon

Radar Team Keeps Eye on Falcon
DVIDSHUB
By Spc. Nathaniel Smith
Posted on 02.29.2008


Radar Team Keeps Eye on Falcon

BAGHDAD – In a small corner of Forward Operating Base Falcon there is a team from an artillery unit, not even on the base, performing a job a lot of Soldiers have no knowledge about.

Such is the life of FOB Falcon’s radar team, detached from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad which performs all their duties in the shadows, working hand-in-hand with the counter-rockets and mortars cell, quietly keeping an electronic eye out for enemy indirect fire attacks.

Staff Sgt. Matt Richter, the radar section chief with HHB, 2nd Bn., 32nd Field Artillery, said while his job may not be high-profile, he gets a sense of fulfillment from performing his day-to-day duties.

“It gives us the opportunity to have a significant impact in places where there’s a lot of indirect fire. If we do a good job, it allows the brigade and their sub-units to do a great job, too. We help the (Iraqis) and we help ourselves,” the Topeka, Kan., native said. “This job has satisfaction; it’s challenging and every day I learn something new. It’s an $8 million radar; there’s a whole bunch of electronics involved. You can’t know everything about it. When you have any problem, it makes it interesting because it’s always something new.”

With more than 1,300 acquisitions, more than 500 rounds tracked, and a 98 percent operational rate since March 21, 2007, things have been interesting for the Falcon radar team.

Spc. Adam Hovelson, from Brookings, S.D., and a radar operator with HHB, 2-32 Field Artillery, said he enjoys the quiet occupation he chose.

“I love my job,” he said. “It’s something that is really technical, but not terribly tough to do. It’s a fun job; I really enjoy doing it.”

Richter said his favorite part of being a “radar Soldier,” which he has been doing for seven years, has been the unique assignments he has received.

He said being in a small, dynamic field has afforded him the opportunity to work with a wide range of elements, from Special Forces to Marines. Richter, who is on his fourth deployment as a radar operator, said he enjoys having the chance to be in situations that most Soldiers would rarely find themselves.

Despite having a rewarding, one-of-a-kind job, like every other Soldier, the deployment has not been without challenges.

Among the difficult parts of the radar teams job is maintaining focus during what can be long hours of inactivity.

Hovelson said he keeps himself sharp over what can be very boring stretches by studying the radar system’s manual.

Despite the team’s difficulties, Hovelson said the camaraderie in the section became stronger due to the team’s relying on each other throughout the course of the deployment and being away from the rest of the 2-32 Field Artillery, “Proud Americans.”

“It’s helped bring our section closer together; it really helped to establish lasting relationships,” Hovelson said. “It’s given us a chance to meet a lot of people.”

Richter also found a silver lining.

“The cohesion of the section definitely went up quite a bit,” he added. “The opportunity to network and work with other people not in the same unit has been great.”