VALUE OF THE MONTH: HONOR - Live up to the Army Values QUOTE OF THE MONTH - One of the questions soldiers

ask is, "Do you care about me?" And caring is about maintaining high standards, it's taking care of soldiers, it's doing all the right things. And it's also focusing down the chain of command toward the soldiers, not up the chain of command toward your next promotion or your next assignment. It's not thinking about "me." - SMA Robert E. Hall

Volume 1, Issue 5 September 2011

Commanders Corner
Greetings to the friends and family of the 673rd DCAS FWD PROV, from still sunny Iraq. But the temps are coming down! Now it only gets to about 105; downright balmy. Many of us are looking forward to the cooler temps of JBLM! Many of our events in September were surpassed by the Remembrance and 10th Anniversary of 9/11 Patriots Day. Here is an excerpt from a message I passed along on that day to our deployed Soldiers of the 673rd DCAS - FWD: Let me say as we remember 9/11 and the 10th anniversary tomorrow, of how proud I am to be an American Soldier and serving our country on a foreign field. I am serving with the best dental company and the people that comprise it on the field today, who serve our fellow Soldiers by making them dentally fit for the fight. You guys and gals make up the finest, most professional dental unit today, and you humble me with the incredible service that you perform, day in and day out, 24/7. Many of you are here for different reasons, but your various paths have led us to converge on this point in time, and in this far off country. We are still in harm's way, protecting our Nation and Homeland from afar. You display great courage and personal sacrifice by being here. Never forget that you are vitally needed in this mission. I appreciate each one of you and your daily toil of providing the best dental care available to our Warriors. Keep men673RD DENTAL COMPANY (AS) FORWARD PROVISIONAL

Sabertooth Express

tally resilient and physically strong for the long haul. Over the decades, there have been battle cries that instilled courage and patriotism in Americas fighting men and women: Remember the Alamo; Remember Pearl Harbor!; Never Forget D-Day! Now our generation has one: Never Forget 9/11! Some may ask, Where were you that day? But for those of us who served over here, we will be able to tell our story to our children and grandchildren when they ask: Daddy (or Mommy, or Papa, etc.), what did you do in the war? Soon our tour of duty will be over, and well go home with fond memories of what we did over here, lifelong battle buddies, and maybe a tan. But more importantly, we can be proud that we took care of the Soldiers and supported our Nation by being here. Hopefully, it will also mean something positive for the people of Iraq in the long term. Because freedom isnt free. See yall soon! COL Daniel Reese 673rd DCAS - FWD PROV Commanding
Inside this issue: Notes from Top Special Dates Al Asad, Adder, & Taji Basrah Delta & Speicher Echo Mosul & Liberty Joint Base Balad (JBB) Messages from Home Sabertooth Spotlight 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9

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Notes from Top

Greetings and salutations everyone. September sure did go by fast but I guess that is what happens when youre having fun. I think that part of the reason it went by so fast was because I got to spend two weeks in Hawaii with my beautiful wife Blake. their Physical Fitness Test scores. I am just amazed by the phenomenal job they do and I am so proud of them.

During the month of September, many of our Soldiers participated in remembrance ceremonies for the Our Soldiers 10th Annivercontinue to sary of 9/11. It was a do an excelstark reminder of why lent job. we are here. The Most of the Headquarters group Junior raised flags over the Enlisted are HQ building (see phoperforming functions Enjoying time with my beautiful wife Blake tos on the last page) normally expected of an NCO. They have As our time draws down in Iraq, we a full plate by overseeing the day must look back on the positive impact to day operations of the clinic we have made. Our Soldiers, Sailors, and assisting the dentist and Airmen, and Marines have fought a most of them still find the time valiant war to free the Iraqi people. to take college courses and corWe have treated hundreds of Soldiers respondence courses. Most of and other eligible beneficiaries which the Soldiers have also spent extra has allowed them to return to their time in the Gym and improved duties instead of being evacuated out of theatre.
"It always takes intervention for positive change to occur..."

Have a blessed month of October and always remember to be ARMY STONG and stay SAFE! 1SG Mark E. Eavey Sabertooth 7 - OND

The sun sets on the last day of my R&R.

October Family Member Birthdays & Anniversaries

September Birthdays
04 Sep - SPC Hill 13 Sep - SPC Delgado 18 Sep - COL Blythe 19 Sep - LTC Choi 22 Sep - SSG Whitehead

October Birthdays
12 Oct - SGT Mitre 18 Oct - COL Reese 25 Oct - CPT Le

27 Oct - Lorena Delgado (SPC Delgados Daughter)

Congratulations to CPT Meyers and his wife Casie on the birth of their daughter Tess Noelle Meyer. Tess was born on 31 Aug 2011. She was 20.5 in and weighed 6 lb 14 oz.

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Adder Dental Clinic

OIC: COL Gregory Blythe NCOIC: SPC Ria Keathley

Delta Dental Clinic

OIC: CPT Khai Q. Le NCOIC: SPC Phelan Rodriguez

COL Blythe and I are still plugging along here in COB Adder. The weather has finally started to cool off which means more comfortable early morning runs for COL Blythe. We were happy to have CPT Baron, CPT Le, and SGT Mitre join us this month. And, I think the word has gotten out because weve had plenty of patients to keep us busy. Unfortunately, well be saying goodbye soon, as the new rotation of Docs will be coming in. Ill sure miss working with COL Blythe and begged him to stay, but thats the way of the Army. Thats about it for now from COB Adder. Stay safe everyone!!

Taji Dental Clinic

OIC: LTC Alex Eke NCOIC: SPC Sheldon Cavaco

Greetings to all, from COB Delta. As we begin to draw down and close the COB, the dental clinic has been really slow. We are still trying to stay busy doing whatever we can. However, the logistics of clinic closure has been a headache. Nonetheless, things are falling into place. This month we say farewell to our 86th CSH buddies as they redeploy. And greet their replacements the 47th FST. Its also been pretty quiet for them, which we try to stress that its a good thing. For fun, we did a farewell tour of the COB and SPC Rodriguez enjoys battling it out on the volley ball court Everything is good with our day to day. Not much has changed from that stand point. Hopefully when things start to cut back like less hot meals and closures of the PX, Post office, etc, we will be well on our way to Adder. Therefore, this will probably be our last article, since we will be joining the dental team there. So Adder, make room. Here we come! COB Delta lights out!

Hello everyone, This deployment is flying by. This month has been pretty good. The number of patients we see per day seems to be going up. We've also had the pleasure of having a few DV's stop By and see how everything is going. Other than that nothing new to report. All is well Here in Taji.

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Speicher Dental Clinic

OIC: COL James Thompson NCOIC: SPC Carlos Delgado

Liberty Dental Clinic

OIC: COL Michael Craddock NCOIC: SSG Tommie Crumedy

Greeting from COB Speicher. With Fall upon us, we now note a break in the weather pattern. Even in this flat, sandy terrain, just like the stateside autumns, the daytime temperatures remain warm, the daylight hours are shorter, and the nights a little cooler. For some of us, the Iraq experience will soon draw to a close. There have been many challenges along the way throughout the Spring and Summer but the Speicher staff will depart with a great sense of satisfaction knowing that we have improved the quality of life for all our patients. The friendships made by the PROFIS doc's within the 673th will endure long after our mission ends. In theater, just like stateside, it has been a privilege to serve the Soldier.

In August CPT Seaton organized a CE course for the dental and medical providers stationed at Victory Base Complex. Col Craddock gave a lecture titled "Sleep Apnea & Appliance Therapy" in which he explained the different appliances available and the advantages/disadvantages of each. We also had the chance to celebrate CPT Jarisch's birthday at the same meeting, complete with a cake and a few gifts from the PX. Both SGT Crumedy and SPC Walton enjoyed spending time with family and friends during their R&R, and were glad to have them back! The clinic also received support from the 520th dentist and assistant, CPT Mok and SPC Rabelista. We would like to thank them for their help while they were passing through on their way to Camp Echo. Finally, we would like to congratulate newly promoted SPC Alexander Walton. He is an exemplary soldier and his hard work and dedication have made him an invaluable asset to our dental team and to the 673rd.

Please send me a photo and or message for your Soldier. If you have anything you want to add to the newsletter, please send it to 1SG Eavey at

abertooth S Spotlight

mark.eavey@iraq.centcom.mil or mark.eavey@us.army.mil.

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