Sunday, October 2, 2011

Sept. Spartan Newsletter

Hey! I received a newsletter from the 883rd Sapper company....thought you all might enjoy reading what John and the soldiers have been up too. I have also attached some pictures they sent! Enjoy =)


Greetings to all the Spartan families from Fort Bliss Texas. 
As you all are aware, the 883rd/881st Route Clearance Company embarks on a historical event.  We are preparing for battle. 
The majority of our Spartan Company arrived to Fort Bliss Texas on 14 September 2011 and jumped right into action.  During the time at Fort Bliss, the Spartans have completed several things such as medical, dental, vision, and all other kinds of necessary paperwork.  We have lost a few along the way but the rest keep going.
On 19 September 2011, the Spartans departed Fort Bliss and travelled to Forward Operating Base Westbrook which is located in New Mexico.  The living conditions include 14-man buildings with shower and bathroom trailers. The land which we live on is a great representation of what we will have in Afghanistan.  While here, the Spartans continue to complete classes and a variety of training to include ranges across the New Mexico area.  These classes and ranges are prudent to us having a successful deployment. Classes include Blue Force Tracker allowing us to communicate and identify other forces in the area. Drivers’ training includes route clearance virtual systems, hands on driving and rollover simulator. The ranges we have trained on include our personal weapons, machine guns and our long range rifles with both day and night qualification.  These weapon systems will be our life line during the deployment.  The times the Spartans were at these ranges, they were paired up with other branches of service.  The Spartans were the Tip of the Spear assisting the Navy and Air Force with their qualifications. The Spartans still have a long road of training ahead.


This is one of the ranges - John has spent a lot of time training his soldiers on the range lately

This is one of the various training simulators

Class/briefing...or as John calls it..."death by powerpoint" haha!



1 comment:

  1. Thankyou for sending the letter and picture.

    ReplyDelete