Serving the Soldiers, Civilians and Families of 2nd BCT, 4th Inf. Div. Issue 28 Sept.

30, 2010

Officer gives insight about Army complexity

Story and photo by 2nd Lt. Meghan Housel
204th Brigade Support Battalion
Maj. Frank Tobin, Support Operations
Officer, represented the 204th Brigade Sup-
port Battalion at the Rocky Mountain Fleet
Management Conference held at the Crown
Plaza Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo. last
Thursday, September 16.
RMFMA is a non-profit organization that
looks to establish networking and provide
resources to fleet management professionals
around the United States.
Fleet managers from companies like Ford,
AutoZone, and city managers from Texas and
Arizona participated in this large event. Some
fleet managers stated they were there to net-
work and expand their managing knowledge
in order to make their corporations/govern-
ment agencies better in logistics.
RMFMA invited Tobin to brief the
processes and challenges of moving Army
equipment and personnel from stateside to
anywhere in the world.
Tobin opened the brief with a warm wel-
Maj. Frank Tobin directs the volunteer, Mr. Scott Bingham, on his
mission as a notional Brigade Commander during a scenario of a
road to war.
come to all the conference attendees and told
a short story about his background experi-
ence. Next, he portrayed a realistic wartime
scenario to set the stage for his presentation.
He called on a member of the audience to
participate in his scenario.
Tobin gave the volunteer a Commander’s
patrol cap with the rank of Colonel and
displayed a slide with the situation in 2003 of
Major General Perkins quoting to him that he
will deploy his brigade to Iraq in less than six
months in order to capture Saddam Huessein
and restore peace to the Iraqi population.
Acting it out, Tobin directed the volunteer
that he had about 180 days to get his brigade-
sized element to Kuwait and move forward
to destroy the Iraqi Army then transition to
stability operations in the area of Tikrit.
He asked the brigade commander volun-
teer, “So who do you look to in moving the
brigade from the motor pools to theater?” The
answer is your logisticians.
Tobin took the audience through the pro-
cess using photos to tell the story from motor
pools, railheads, ports, APODs/SPODs,
TAAs, and finally the objective from his
experience in OIF of 2003.
The audience was interactive with ques-
tions and discussion on safety, in-transit
visibility, contracting, maintenance, ac-
countability, and finally the most difficult
challenges and what were there solutions.
For example, he related a story of ingenuity
continued on page 2

Commander’s Column Operation New Dawn. Thun-

The past few months have
been extremely eventful for the
Thunder Battalion. Between
Joint Readiness Training Center
support and the War Fighter
Exercise, 3-16 Field Artillery
Lt. Col. Tom Munsey, commander
3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment
Soldiers have taken advantage of
outstanding training opportuni-
ties.
From Aug. 16 to Sept. 9 Task
Force Thunder deployed to Ft.
Polk, La., in support of the Joint
Readiness Training Center and
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st
Infantry Division, Ft. Riley,
KS. Task Force Thunder was
comprised of over 300 Soldiers
across the Warhorse Brigade, 4th
Engineers, 52nd Engineers, and
the Thunder Battalion. Over the
three weeks, Thunder Soldiers
worked as trainer/mentors and
role players for the training unit
at JRTC. The Thunder Battalion
was instrumental in the success
of 2-1 ID, preparing them for
future deployment in support of
der Soldiers acted as Iraqi
Army Soldiers and Iraqi Police
to simulate working with host
nation security forces. Other
Task Force Soldiers served
as trainer/mentors for 2/1 ID
units, providing guidance
and recommendations on
their training missions. The
Soldiers that participated in
this mission gained knowledge
that they can employ dur-
ing Warhorse Blitz and their
future JRTC Rotation.
Over the past few weeks
Thunder Soldiers have been
engaged in the Full Spectrum
Exercise on Ft. Carson. From
the Soldiers manning the
battery command posts to
the Soldiers in the battalion
tactical operations center, our
battalion progressed tremen-
dously over the 9 days. We
identified our strengths and
weaknesses throughout the
exercise and will continue our
development for future opera-
tions.
The Thunder Battalion is
also looking forward to future
opportunities for advanced
training. In September and
October we will execute vari-
ous ranges in preparation for
both Warhorse Blitz and JRTC
in February. The goal is to not
only get Soldiers proficient in
their various weapon systems,
but build muscle memory
through repetition and
training. Some of the ranges
include mounted weapon
systems, crew served weapons,
and basic M4 zeroing and
qualifying. We will also plan
continued on page 2
page 2 Warhorse Pride Issue 28 Sept. 30, 2010

Fleet Management Conference

continued from page 1
and prepare the platoons for a mounted
and dismounted platoon live fire. In
continued from page 1 to transport it from Kuwait to Iraq.
November, the battalion will execute
He also spoke about how Soldiers made
complex dismounted and mounted
their own vehicle armor from sheet metal to
maneuver missions at the platoon level.
provide extra protection.
Some of the missions include a cordon
Tobin stated that any time he can tell the
and search, key leader engagements,
Army’s story is an opportunity that cannot
long range marksmanship, react to
be missed. It was his honor to touch the local
contact, react to an IED and complex
community and fleet managers from all over
attack.
the United States.
The Thunder Battalion is poised for
Overall, the brief was intriguing and im-
success on all upcoming training oppor-
pressive in that the Army can move anything
tunities and I am extremely proud of the
of any amount in a matter of days to any
work we have done so far. Thunder Sol-
location in the world. “It made you realize that
diers are transitioning from an Artillery
used when moving a broken humvee by using the U.S. Army deals with large scale logistics
mission to a maneuver mission and have
another vehicle (LHS) carrying two flat racks everyday and that they really are the best at
been working and training diligently
and the vehicle when they had no other means what they do,” said a participant.
to execute any and all missions for the

FSC Soldier serves his community

Warhorse Brigade.

Story by Capt. Michael Pachucki depending on the type of emergency. Serv-

2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment ing over 60 hours every month, he devotes
Cpl. Christopher Castacio is 35 yrs old, anywhere from 12 to 24 hours every weekend
holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice to help his community.
Systems and pursuing a master’s degree in Na- His volunteer service has enabled rapid
tional Security Studies with a concentration in
Homeland Security.
responses and quick turn-around times to
emergency calls throughout the Stratmoor 2STB attends AGI
Prior to his enlistment in the Army, Casta- Hills area. On Sept. 10 combat leaders from C CO, 2STB
cio resided in Manila, Philippines, volun- In many ways, Castacio demonstrates at the attended the Air Ground Integration Academy
teering with the Red Cross for 10 years and core what it means to be a United States Sol- hosted by the 1-2 Attack Reconnaissance
Mountain Search and Rescue for 7 years. dier; he lives the Army Values in all walks of Aviation Battalion at range 141A.
He came to United States in 2004 with his life, exemplifing his selfless service by serving The AGI Academy trained members of C Co
wife and children and lived in Houston, Texas both his city and his nation. how to call-in live close air support from the
where he volunteered with the Pearland Fire ground to attack aviation assets.
Department for 1 ½ years as a firefighter, until While the primary focus of the training
he joined the Army in February of 2008. was to acquire and destroy identified targets,
Upon completion of his training as an the instructors also explained how CAS could
88M, motor transportation specialist, he was be used for other missions such as route
assigned to Fort Carson in July of 2008. In reconnaissance or marking terrain.
October of 2008, Castacio deployed with the The day runs focused on the importance of
Forward Support Company, 2-8 Infantry Bat- doctrinal communication with the aviators,
talion to FOB Echo, Iraq. while the night iterations emphasized the use
After returning from deployment, Castacio of additional technology such as lasers to mark
decided to further serve the community, vol- targets.
unteering at the Stratmoor Hills Fire Depart- This training was very beneficial for leaders
ment as a Dispatcher. from Charlie Company, as integrating attack
He is responsible for receiving emergency aviation into Route Clearance Patrols provides
calls from El Paso County Sheriff 911 and greater security for Soldiers and host nation
dispatching any necessary emergency services partners.

Warhorse Pride
Col. John S. Kolasheski..................2nd BCT Commander
Command Sgt. Maj. Ralph Delosa............2nd BCT CSM
Maj. Kevin Toner...............................................2nd BCT PAO
Spc. April York........................................Layout and Design
Sgt. Seth Barham............................................................Editor
Sgt. Ruth Pagan...............................................................Editor
The Warhorse Pride is produced in the interest of the fairs Office.
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