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We are now in the middle of moving the rest of the squadron off of FOB FALCON to new locations. Most of the equipment and vehicles are already moved and the movement of people has begun. Mad Dawg Company is now residing at COP DOLBY. The rest of the squadron (Courage, Dark Horse, and Dawg Battery) will soon follow. Bushmaster will also move from COP DOLBY to COP MURRAY.
We have already expanded COP DOLBY to nearly double its original size. This expansion will accommodate the increased number of people and vehicles as well as prepare for the construction of the permanent Life Support Area. We make improvements to all of our positions every day and will do the same for COP MURRAY once we occupy it. For instance, the first thing we will do is cook meals there, something that hasn't been done in the year that soldiers have lived there. We are on track to spend over $5.5 million over the next two months or so on life support area improvements. These improvements will allow us to live above and beyond the fairly comfortable way we are living now.
By the next FRG meeting we will no longer work for 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. Soon we will work for 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division. Just as the 3 ID Headquarters redeployed, the 2nd Brigade will redeploy soon, so we will just change who we work for. We will stay right where we are.
The big news for Angry Troop this month is the construction of a barracks building for the troopers called a SWAHUT. This provides many with 4-trooper rooms. Each of these rooms also has a generous common living area. The troopers left in the previous barracks building can also spread out and gain some living space.
Bushmaster Troop has spent the last month getting ready to move both with themselves and the local people. It takes some work and preparation to get the population here to adjust to the new coalition leaders. Critical to that has been a lot of work put in developing the Iraqi Army company that now lives in Adwaniyah. Many of your troopers spend a lot of time training Iraqi soldiers (called "Jundi") and then taking them on missions.
Courage Troop has been doing excellent work ridding an industrial area here of Shia Extremist Militia. They have made great progress there and are now ready to take on new challenges in Arab Jabour and Al Boetha. There are a whole new set of local national leaders to meet and develop relationships with as well as a new area to learn. It is sure to be a challenge, but Courage Troop is more than up to it.
Dawg Battery continues to develop their area, even going so far as building soccer fields for their towns. They have made great progress. Now they will expand their battlespace to take some of what is now Bushmaster's area. Dawg Battery will, once again, step up to the plate to do more.
Mad Dawg Company is now at Dolby. They will support Patrol Base STONE and COP MURRAY from here. Being at Dolby makes the moves a lot shorter for them and keeps them on less hazardous routes than would be the case at FOB FALCON. With our change in who supports us a whole, they will also now be asked to run more Logistical Patrols to the other areas. Mad Dawg is now able to deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to all of our locations and has great plans in the works to improve this service as time goes on.
Dark Horse will now move their troop headquarters to COP MURRAY with one of the medical aid stations. They will be responsible for the running of the infrastructure of COP MURRAY as well as the entry control and base defense there. The Squadron staff and the other medical aid station are located at COP DOLBY and will remain there. Dark Horse is a little spread out, but nothing they can't handle.
On a final note, I have decided to change the squadron's mailing address. I know that last month I said we wouldn't do that, but in the mean time, we have determined that by changing the address we will get mail faster than otherwise. If we kept the same address, our mail would continue to go to FALCON, where we won't have any troopers. So, we would only be able to pick it up infrequently, since all of our support will now come from CAMP STRIKER at BIAP. The new APO # will be unique for the squadron and not shared with any other units. As a result, mail will flow directly from the mail center for all of Iraq at STRIKER directly to us. We will pick up any mail that does go to FALCON and deliver it to the trooper until the flow there slows down. Once it slows, any mail at FALCON will be forwarded to us through STRIKER, so it's best to use the new mailing address from this point forward. We will make sure all mail is delivered to the trooper.
Our new mailing address is:
TROOPER NAME
Unit 42545
(Troop)/6-8 Cav
APO AE 09322
Thanks for your continued support of your trooper. We truly appreciate it.
LTC Mark W. Solomon
Commander
6th Squadron, 8th U.S. Cavalry
SVOIP: 671-1406
DSN: 856-2675
