November 10, 2009

COB ADDER – First Lt. Carina Ballard likes her job best when things are not going precisely according to plan.

“I really like my job when things go wrong or, bett er still, when I can prevent things from going wrong in the fi rst place,” said Ballard, 26, of Granby, Conn. She is a batt le cap-tain in the Tactical Operations Center of the 2nd Batt alion, 104th Aviation Regiment.

“My job is all about contingencies and troubleshooting,” said Ballard. “When things go well, I am just waiting.”

Ballard may say she is just waiting, but the staff of the TOC is busy around the clock tracking every fl ight in the batt alion, monitoring weather, monitoring security, updat-ing higher headquarters and ensuring every mile of every fl ight is tracked and recorded from pre-fl ight to aft er-opera-tions debriefi ngs.

The tracking methods vary from the sophisticated Blue Force Tracker system, to sending updates to every other TOC in theater online through Microsoft Internet Relay Chat, or MIRC, to a large white board on the wall with the status of every mission updated constantly in dry-erase marker.

MIRC is a large chat room that allows TOCs throughout Iraq to keep each other informed of aircraft status and po-sition. This is especially useful for MEDEVAC operations to track lifesaving mission progress, which sometimes require transfer from one helicopter to another on a long journey from the point of injury to the best possible care.

The TOC itself is an open room with a row of large, fl at-screen monitors on the wall. These monitors allow operations personnel to see weather across the region and the BFT posi-tion of active fl ights. One of the big screens can be tuned to Armed Forces Network TV to get current events.

On the other side of the room are a raised platform and a long desk with several computers, phones and monitors. The operations crew sits at this table facing the row of monitors and at two lower desks in front of the raised platform. The batt le captain sits at the long desk near the status white board. Directly in front of the Soldiers are one to three monitors and laptop screens for various computer systems.

Looking from the service counter, the row of video moni-tors with their colorful displays and the operators at the phones and monitors, make the room look like a plywood, low-ceiling version of a NASA control room. At any hour of the day, the room can range from eerily quiet to buzzing with activity.

Late in October, there was an evening when the buzz of activity hit maximum. That particular evening three mis-sion sets—each one consisting of two CH-47 Chinook heli-copters—took off in the dark as usual and started to spread across Iraq with their cargo of troops and supplies. Within 15

minutes two of the fl ights were returning to COB Adder for maintenance issues.

“We realized immediately that we had to recall the third mission set to get the fi rst two back in the air,” Ballard said.

What began as a routine evening became a full-on main-tenance emergency with three pairs of helicopters returning from three directions.

“One of the fi rst pair of Chinooks could not be fi xed,” she said. “The crew had to take their weapons and equipment to a spare bird while ground teams moved the cargo.”

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What makes a TOC tickBy Sgt. Neil Gussman28th CAB

TOCPage 3

First Lt. Carina Ballard, of Granby, Conn., performs a pre-fl ight safety inspection on a CH-47 Chinook helicopter. In addition to being a Chinook pilot, Ballard is a battle captain in the 2nd Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment, Tactical Operations Center.

Photo by Sgt. Sgt. Neil Gussman

November 10, 2009 Page 2The Red Bull Report

34th Inf. Div. PAO: Lt. Col. Kevin OlsonOIC, Command Information: 1st Lt. Shamika HillNCOIC, Command Information: 1st Sgt. David BennettNCOIC: Staff Sgt. Chris CarneyManaging Editor: Sgt. Ben Kibbey Graphics Designer: Sgt. Eric JungelsLayout/Design: Spc. Stephanie CassinosStaff Writers: Sgt. Francis Horton, Spc. Sam Soza, Spc. Samantha Johnson, Pfc. J. Princeville Lawrence

172nd Brigade Combat Team

17th Fires Brigade

4th BCT, 1st Armored Division

28th Combat Aviation Brigade

367th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Media Queries please contact 34th Inf. Div. Public Affairs Offi ce at MND-S_PAO@iraq.centcom.mil

The Red Bull Report is an authorized publication for members of MND-S. Contents of The Red Bull Report are not necessarily offi cial views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, Department of the Army or the 34th Infantry Division. All editorial content of The Red Bull Report is prepared, edited provided and approved by the 34th Infantry Division Public Affairs Offi ce.

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COB ADDER - It is 2:00 a.m. and the Intelligence Elec-tronic Warfare Maintenance section at 4th Brigade, 1st Ar-mored Division at Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq, is ready to spark into action.

“We’re on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” explains Warrant Offi cer Fernando Aguirre, of Los Angeles, Calif.

Aguirre spearheads the Intelligence Electronic Warfare Maintenance section, overseeing day-to-day operations, providing guidance to commanders, and mentoring Sol-diers. The twelve Soldiers in the Intelligence Electronic Warfare Maintenance section are officially responsible for maintaining all intelligence and communications se-curity equipment used by the Military Intelligence Com-pany assigned to the 4th Special Troops Battalion of 4th Bde., 1st Armd. Div.

“Unoffi cially though, we also fi x everything from coff ee pots and iPods to satellite dishes,” said Aguirre.

Sgt. Jonathan Culpepper, of Atlanta, Ga., is the Intelli-gence Electronic Warfare Maintenance section’s shop fore-man. Culpepper spent over eleven months training for his current job.

“I’m responsible for all maintenance activities,” said Cul-pepper. “This is probably one of the most mentally challeng-ing military occupational specialties.”

The section also has two cryptological equipment repair tech-nicians. Spc. Brent Leverett e, of Augusta, Ga., is one of them.

“I’m responsible for fi xing all the (communications security) equipment for the whole brigade combat team,” said Leverett e.

This means he is also responsible for fi xing equipment that is used at the more than 15 outlying bases in Dhi Qar, Maysan, and Muthanna provinces, where “Highlander” Soldiers advise and assist Iraqi Security Forces.

They also work with civilian fi eld service representatives to ensure equipment is fi xed or replaced in a timely manner.

“If we can’t fi x it, we send the equipment to the (fi eld service representatives),” said Aguirre. “They usually send us a brand new piece of equipment. It doesn’t matt er how long it takes to fi x the equipment. We’ve worked for thirty-six hours straight before.”

“We want to be, and are, the premier electronics mainte-nance shop in the brigade,” said Aguirre.

On call at 2 a.m. is just another day at the offi ce for these Soldiers.

Tech heads drive intelligence electronic warfare maintenance mission

Augusta is best known for hosting The Masters golf tournament each spring,

and for being the hometown of funk singer James Brown.

Spc. Robert Cannon, military intelligence systems maintainer/integrator from Astoria, Ore., works on a Trojan satellite system, which provides connectivity to the military intelligence battlefi eld operating system. It supports fast-paced, fl exible Army operations by providing mission-critical, high-capacity intelligence information via voice, facsimile, digital traffi c, and secondary imagery.

Photo by Sgt. Mark Miranda

For more of 2nd Lt. Volz’s stories, visit:www.TheRedBulls.org/Volz

By 2nd Lt. Sophia Volz4th BCT, 1st Armd. Div.

The Red Bull Report November 10, 2009 Page 3

The second pair of aircraft came back for a non-emergency repair, but one that would have grounded the mission. The answer to the problem was to switch one of the heli-copters from the third mission set with one from the sec-ond. Again this meant two fi ve-member crews moving guns, ammo and fl ight gear while ground crews moved passengers and cargo.

“I was on the phones and the radio non-stop for 90 minutes,” Ballard said.

Within an hour and a half, all three mission sets were back in the air and on their way to their destinations. It would be a longer night than everyone anticipated, but all the missions that night were completed.

“We didn’t get dinner for quite a while that night,” she said. “We were starving.”

Like all the batt le captains in the TOC, Ballard is a pilot. She fl ies CH-47 Chinooks as does her husband Seth who serves as a maintenance test pilot and maintenance offi cer in the batt alion. The Ballards met at fl ight school and have been together ever since.

In addition to Ballard, the other 2nd Bn., 104th AR bat-tle captains are Capt. James Cragg, Capt. John Hoff man and Capt. Paul Ward, UH-60 Blackhawk pilots; Capt. Na-than Smith, CH-47 Chinook pilot, and 1st Lt. Jason Col-lier, AH-64D Apache Longbow pilot.

From Page 1TOC

For more of Sgt. Gussman’s stories, visit:www.TheRedBulls.org/Gussman

The deck outside of the 2nd Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment, Tactical Operations Center was built after the Soldiers arrived in Iraq in May.

Photo by Sgt. Matthew Jones

MARINE CORPS CELEBRATES 234TH BIRTHDAY

COB BASRA – United States Marines, past and present celebrate the 234th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps Nov. 10.

The Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for pro-viding force projection from the sea us-ing the mobility of the United States Navy. It includes just over 203,000 (as of October 2009) active duty Marines and just under 40,000 re-serve Marines. It is the smallest of the United States’ armed forces in the Department of Defense.

The Marine Corps is actu-ally larger than the entire armed forces of many military powers. It is larger than the active duty Israel Defense Forces or the whole of the British Army.

The United States Marine Corps traces its roots to the Continental Marines of the Ameri-can Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress formed the Continental Marines on Nov. 10, 1775.

Captain Samuel Nicholas was commissioned as the Continental Marines’ fi rst offi cer Nov. 28, 1775. Though legend places its fi rst recruiting post at Tun Tavern, Ma-

rine historian Edwin Simmons surmised it was more likely the Conestoga Waggon, a tavern owned

by the Nicholas family. Robert Mullen, whose mother owned Tun Tavern, later

received a commission in June 1776 and likely used it as his recruiting

rendezvous.Since then, the mission of

Marine Corps has evolved. The Marine Corps served in every American armed confl ict and att ained prominence in the 20th century. The Corps’ theo-ries and practices of amphibi-ous warfare ultimately formed

the cornerstone of the Pacifi c campaign of World War II. By the

mid-20th century, the Marine Corps had become the dominant theorist and

practitioner of amphibious warfare. Happy birthday U.S. Marine Corps.

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The Red Bull Report November 10, 2009 Page 4

For puzzle solutions visit: www.TheRedBulls.org/puzzlesolutions

S UDOKU

That’s the question and the an-swer is prett y straight forward: DO NOT CO-SIGN! When peo-ple ask you to co-sign for them it’s generally because they do not have a credit history or they do not qualify for the credit they are seek-ing because of their credit history. If a major creditor, that has deeper pockets than you do, is not willing to take on the risk of granting this individual credit, you probably shouldn’t either.

When you co-sign, not only are you risking having to make pay-ments on the loan, you are risking your own credit rating. For exam-ple, if the payments are made late this could go on your credit report. If a judgment is made against this loan, that could go on your credit re-port. A lower credit rating for you means that you also risk diffi culty gett ing your own loan or you’ll end

up paying higher interest rates on loans or credit cards that you seek. Keep in mind, that by co-signing, you are not only agreeing to be re-sponsible for the principle of the loan; you are agreeing to the terms of the loan. This means that you could have to pay late fees, court costs, and other penalties as well.

When you are a co-signer on a loan, that loan shows up on a credit report as debt that you own. By tak-ing on this increased debt will low-er the amount of loans that you will be able to take out on your own.

Creditors and collection agencies will come aft er you if the debt is not paid. Avoid this hassle by just say-ing, “NO!”

You may have diffi culty saying no to one of your children or other family members who request that you co-sign something for them. Avoid any guilt by having to say no

by simply having a blanket policy that you never co-sign. By having that policy in place you will protect yourself from a credit disaster. For more of JAG’s comments, visit:www.TheRedBulls.org/TheGavel

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upup p aying higher interest rates on loans or credit cards that you seek

TO CO-SIGN OR NOT TO CO-SIGN

The Red Bull Report November 10, 2009 Page 5

November 10, 2009 Page 6The Red Bull Report

Around the world in 34 secondsLONDON - Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) has begun evacuating its staff and securing facilities in the Gulf Of Mexico in response to hurricane Ida’s current path, but said there were no production shut-ins at its facilities. “Based on the cur-rent storm track, we have begun to evacuate personnel and secure some facilities in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico,” the company said on its Web site. Accordion to the latest advisory issues by the U.S. National Hurricane Center, Hurricane

Ida has weakened slightly and is now a Category 1 storm. Ida was centered about 460 kilometers south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and had maximum sustained winds of about 90 miles an hour at about 0300 local time (0900 GMT) Nov. 9, the center said. Ida is expected to approach the northern Gulf Coast early Nov. 10, and could bring heavy rains as well as a “dangerous storm surge” and “large and destructive waves,” the center said. Hurricane warning remains in eff ect for the northern Gulf Coast from Pascagoula, Miss. to Indian Pass, Fla., and a hurricane watch is in eff ect for the area including New Orleans, the advisory said.

WASHINGTON - Philadelphia transit workers reached a deal early Nov. 9 to end a strike that shut down bus, subway and trolley service in America’s sixth most populous city for almost a week, offi cials said. “The strike is over. Service will resume Monday for the a.m. rush hour. Buses and trains will be back in operation,” Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a former Philadelphia mayor, told a televised early morning news conference to announce the pact. About 4,700 union-

ized transit workers went on strike last Tuesday over wages, pensions and health benefi ts. The regional rail network had not been aff ected. The fi ve-year contract deal reached by Transport Workers Union Local 234 and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transpor-tation Authority provides for pay and benefi t increases, The Philadelphia Inquirer said on its web site.

The Patriots quarterback recorded his 27th 300-yard passing game in the Nov. 8 27-17 win against Miami, moving ahead of Drew Bledsoe on the team’s all-time list. Brady also threw for 300 yards for the third consecutive game, something he has only achieved once before in his 10-year career. The fi rst time was in 2007 when he tossed for 388 yards against Dallas, 354 against Miami, and 306 against Washington. Brady has won 20 straight starts at home since 2006. Brady, Randy Moss, and

Wes Welker have never lost while playing together at Gillett e Stadium, going 16-0, including playoff s.

LYON, France - French police are looking for the driver of a security van suspected of driving off with more than 10 mil-lion euros ($14.85 million) aft er the man vanished, apparently aft er fi rst clearing out his fl at. The van disappeared early Nov. 5 aft er the three-member crew took delivery of the cash at a branch of the Bank of France in the southeastern city of Lyon. While they were making their delivery rounds, two crew members who had left the driver alone returned to

fi nd the van had disappeared. It was found abandoned later in the day. “The suspicion is directed at the driver,” state prosecutor Xavier Richaud told i-tele television on Friday. “We went to search his place and were surprised to discover the fl at was unoc-cupied, almost cleared out, the refrigerator was empty and we couldn’t fi nd his papers,” he said. “It’s as though he had prepared his escape beforehand.”