Directions to Fort Lewis

Fort Lewis Military Reservation is located at the southern tip of Puget Sound, just north of Rainier and east of Olympia. It was named after Captain Merriwether Lewis. The first recruits arrived in September 1917.

Fort Lewis

We received a call from David last night. He arrived safely in WA around 1:00 PM. He is in a WWII vintage barracks with 15 other guys from his unit. He says the area is beautiful... tall trees, etc. He had to go to bed early because they get up very, very early (in my opinion, in the middle of the night).

http://www.lewis.army.mil/cg-welcome-letter.asp

Soldiers Sent Off to Iraq in Style from St. Paul

Dinner for 8,000: soldiers, families get big deployment meal

Departure Ceremony

The 34^th Red Bull Infantry Division Departure Ceremony was held on February 10, 2009 in the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St Paul, MN. The Infantry Division Band and Music Groups entertained the over 7,500 who attended for 2 hours prior to the ceremony.

For Podcast go to: http://theredbulls.org/file3

He is in the Cities today… getting shots… they fly to WA tomorrow.

The ceremony was meaningful, long, informative, hot, moving, packed. We got there at 3:30 (the doors opened at 3) and we found 6 seats together 6 rows from the top! And that was because someone gave up 2 they were saving. The musicians were already playing so don’t know for sure when they started. At 4:00 the band came in and started playing… while the rest of the troops marched in. Each musical number was announced. At 4:45 Pawlenty and other dignitaries slipped in. The ceremony officially started at 5 and was over around 6:15. We were then served a steak dinner… which was amazing considering they served 7,500! That is 2.5 tons of steak.

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS:

The steak dinner was provided by the group called Serve Our Troops. For more information about this group and how to serve go to: www.serveourtroops.com

Mary Pawlenty has created the First Lady’s Military Family Care Initiative to help support military families during their time of separation. Community organizations and service groups throughout the State of Minnesota have a strong desire to provide a wide selection of volunteer services. For information on the First Lady’s Military Family Care Initiative go to: www.firstlady.state.mn.us and click on the Military Family Care Initiative icon.

SCHEDULE OF CEREMONY

Arrival of Units (4:00 PM)

Musical Prelude – 34^th Infantry Division Band (until 5:00 PM)

Opening Formation

Presentation of Colors

National Anthem

Invocation

Introduction of Distinguished Guests

Musical Interlude – G.B. Leighton (“When You Get Home”)

Commander In Chief Remarks – Gov. Tim Pawlenty – Isaiah 6:8

Musical Prelude – 34^th Infantry Division Band

Commanding General Remarks – Major Gen. Rick Nash

Official Mobilization Order – Major Gen. Larry Shellito

(transferred command from State to Federal)

Benediction

Retirement of Colors

Army Song – a re-write of the Caisson Song

Closing Formation

Musical Postlude – 34^th Infantry Division Band

DEPLOYING UNITS

The units being deployed on February 10, 2009 include 1000+ soldiers from 273 communities in Minnesota (actually 274 because David is really from Willmar, not St Cloud) and 16 states. For more information go to: http://theredbulls.org/Units

They include:

34^th Infantry Division Main Command Post

The Rosemount-based 34^th Red Bull Infantry Division Headquarters provide the command, control, and in-depth staff analysis for combat forces.

34^th Infantry Division Special Troops Battalion (David’s unit)

The Inver Grove Heights & Fairbault-based 34^th Infantry Division Special Troops Battalion is charged with managing the logistics, support, communications and infrastructure for the headquarters.

34^th Military Police Company

The Stillwater-based 34^th Military Police Company will provide security and law enforcement in the division area of operations.

34^th Infantry Division Band

The Soldier-musicians of the 34^th Infantry Division Band have a critical ceremonial and morale mission.

RED BULL MISSION

The 34^th Red Bull Infantry Division will provide the leadership, command, control, and in-depth staff analysis for the 16,000-person multinational division in Iraq. The Red Bulls will operate in eight of Iraq’s 18 provinces, and will have a direct partnership with more than 40,000 Iraqi Security Forces, which includes the Iraqi Army, the Iraqi Police, and the Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement.

The sector is about the size of Minnesota and has a population of 8.5 million people – roughly the combined population of Minnesota and Iowa.

The Red Bull focus will be 3-fold:

- Continue to professionalize and transfer responsibility to the Iraqi Security Forces

- Develop Iraq’s civil capacity

- Establish security by, with, and through the Iraqi Government

FINAL DEPARTURE

Thursday, February 12, 2009 from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM

The first group of 500 will depart from Inver Grove Heights. Soldiers and families say their final goodbyes at the Inver Grove Heights National Guard Armory, 8076 Babcock Trail, Inver Grove Heights, 55077.

Patriot Guard Riders escort the buses to the airport.

Friday, February 13, 2009 from 5:00 AM to 7:00 AM

The final farewell from the Rosemount Armory, 13965 S Robert Trail, Rosemount 55068

For more information go to www.TheRedBulls.org

-Lois

34th Red Bull Division Deployment

On February 10th over 1,000 members of the 34th Red Bull Infantry of the Minnesota National Guard will deploy for service in Iraq - and David will be one of them.

This is only the second time in the history of the National Guard (since WWII) that a division sized unit has been deployed. Their mission is broader than any past deployment, as they will lead US operations in the southern 1/3 of Iraq - in 8 out of 18 provinces - and will partner with more than 40,000 Iraqi forces. They will be offering both civil and military skills to help rebuild Iraq's infrastructure and help move the country toward independence and government stability.

The Red Bulls will provide leadership, command, logistics, and communication support for four active-duty brigades of more than 16,000 multinational coalition forces (including US Army brigades, a National Guard aviation brigade from North Carolina, and troops from El Salvador, Lithuania, Romania and Kazakhstan). According to Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Guard, only eight National Guard divisions in the nation are large enough to support such a command.

The 1,037-soldier Minnesota Brigade is composed of soldiers from 273 Minnesota cities. Fifty-seven are from St. Paul; 35 are from Minneapolis. Among the troops are:

• 425 from the Rosemount-based division's headquarters
• 350 from the Inver Grove Heights-based special troops battalion (this is David)
• 50 special troops battalion soldiers stationed in Faribault
• 43 from the Rosemount-based division band
• 169 from the Stillwater-based military police company

They will be headquartered at Camp Victory, outside Baghdad, and are expected to arrive in Iraq in April after training for two months at Fort Lewis, Washington. They are expected to return home April 2010.

On Saturday, January 31, we had a going-away party for David. We had a great turn out, with nearly 40 of David's family and friends there. Thank you to everyone who took the time to come out and support him. I will try to use this blog to keep everyone updated on David's status. In the mean time, please keep David and our family in your prayers as we/he prepares to leave.


Here we are with David at Fort Jackson, SC for his graduation from Basic Training in October 2005, before he went on to Georgia for Advanced Individual Training in communications.

-Christine