Posted on 04/29/2004 5:31:53 PM PDT by SandRat
Staff Sgt. Mark Stoesser holds his 4-year-old son, Cody, this morning at Libby Army Airfield on Fort Huachuca. In the background is Stoesser's girlfriend and Cody's mother, Michelle Roland. The soldier is part of a unmanned aerial vehicle unit headed to Iraq. (Mark Levy-Herald/Review)
FORT HUACHUCA - The first unmanned aerial vehicle platoon trained as a team at the Intelligence Center prepared this morning to depart for Iraq, where it will provide airborne surveillance for the 1st Infantry Division.
Col. Michael Flynn, commander of the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade, said combat operations are waiting for the 20 soldiers.
But once the unit gets into Iraq, Flynn advised them, "Make sure your training doesn't stop."
He spoke to the soldiers and some family members at Libby Army Airfield as the group waited for a U.S. Air Force transport to land and take them and their Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle equipment to Iraq.
The platoon, which is part of the 1st Infantry Division's 101st Military Intelligence Battalion, is the first unit that trained as a team on the fort and deployed directly into a combat zone.
While the soldiers will be engaged in critical flight operations, the training they received at the Intelligence Center, which included how to protect themselves while driving in convoys and to be knowledgeable of their surroundings, must be continually honed, Flynn said.
The most important part of their work will be providing the airborne intelligence platform for their brigade commander, he said.
"The brigade commander can't wait for you to get there," Flynn said.
The team concept developed at the Intelligence Center brought together the officers, noncommissioned officers
and junior enlisted soldiers into a cohesive platoon, which will mean the unit will be able to provide support more rapidly, Flynn said.
"You know the strengths and weaknesses of each other," he said.
The colonel told the soldiers that the Army has to be ready for a longtime commitment to the Middle East.
The platoon leader, 2nd Lt. Raven Bukowski, said the team concept of training is different than what has been Army policy. In the past, a soldier would complete technical training and then go to a unit to be absorbed.
But the need to have an unmanned aerial vehicle platoon trained and ready as a team required a new philosophy, said Bukowski, a 2003 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy.
After receiving her commission at West Point, the lieutenant came to the fort and attended the Intelligence Officers Basic Course. When that course finished, Bukowski thought she was going to join the 1st Infantry Division in Germany.
She had already shipped her personal possessions to Germany when her orders were changed. She was told she would remain on the post to be part of the first platoon to be team trained.
"All I did was walk across the street," Bukowski said about going to where her new training would be done.
Enlisted soldiers who came to the fort from basic training for UAV instruction also were held over to become members of the platoon. A couple of noncommissioned officers from the 101st Military Intelligence Battalion arrived to become the NCO leaders.
The convenience of having all intelligence training at one location helps in creating a solid team, Bukowski said.
The Air Force plane was scheduled to land at 7:30 a.m. today and takeoff around noon.
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615.
With ALL due respect, marry her.
Mark Stoesser looks like a nice guy, and he appears to love his son, but I don't understand why he didn't marry her mother.
There might be something else behind this, but I refuse to accept this.
What a picture! Little "Big Red One."
Belated bump, for a great post. Thanks, SandRat!
Staff Sgt. Mark Stoesser holds his 4-year-old son, Cody
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1126975/reply?c=17
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1126975/reply?c=18
Try again.
You've done this before.
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