Dakota Troop 3-4 CAV Newsletter

July Edition

THANK YOU :

OLD NAVY ALA MOANA, HI

ASSOCIATION

U.S. TENNIS

MILITARY MISSIONS

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Dakota Family and Friends, As always, it is a privilege to write to each of you about your Troopers performance over the past month. We are excited to be one month closer to redeployment, but we rarely have time to think about it. The squadrons requirements for support are quite high as we support two cavalry troops, one infantry troop, an infantry company, and a military police company- not to mention a tremendous group of civilian attachments and enablers. While the demands are great, your Soldiers repeatedly show that there is no challenge to great for this Troop. July 2011 was a busy month for the Soldiers of Dakota Forward Support Troop. The troop focused on supporting new bases throughout eastern Nanagarhar at locations that include Kuz Kunar, Bati Kot, and Mohmand Darah. Each of these sites is a named Key Terrain District, a population center that can give a marked advantage to either the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan or the insurgency. Dakota Troop has helped transform each of the locales into livable areas with maintenance support, eld feeding sites, and a degree of comfort for our brave cavalrymen. By delivering generation, kitchens, fuel distribution points, and various supplies, the Dakota distribution platoon helped ensure the security of the tip of the spear of Task Force Raider. Efforts by individual troopers highlighted the Dakota commitment to support. For example, SPC Brian Garner raced to cook enough for a two Raider platoons and two Cacti platoons at Kuz Kunar during and after a reght, granting our tired Warriors a respite from the ght.

Beyond the Key Terrain Districts, other steady state operations generally went unnoticed like most well-executed logistics. For example, the maintenance platoon recovered nine vehicles throughout the month while maintaining an outstanding operational readiness rate. The distribution platoon never failed to execute a combat logistics patrol, continuing their impeccable record of safe logistics movements while consistently working to minimize their impact on the local population. All the while, Dakotas ne non-commissioned officers found time to train their Soldiers, culminating in a Dakota Challenge training event on Forward Operating Base Shinwar in between missions. th Whether providing a barbecue on the 4 of July, staying up all night to x a generator for our fellow Raiders, or delivering fuel to support the squadrons incessant patrolling, Dakota Troop has once again proven its commitment to the support mission in July 2011. We thank you for your steady support, and we cannot emphasize enough how much your letters, phone calls, packages, thoughts, and prayers mean to us every day. We look forward to reuniting the entire Dakota Family on Oahu. Until then, Mahalo and Aloha.

Dakota! Captain Brian Hughes and First Sergeant Robert Vanhoose

"Yesterday's the past, tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. That's why it's called the present." ~Bil Keane "When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place." ~ Unknown "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. " ~ Henry Ford "Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can." ~ Unknown

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM FRG LEADER:

Please send me updates to phone numbers, physical addresses, and emails so I can update the Next of Kin Roster. Please go onto our facebook page for updated photos and information. My contact information is the same: dakotatroop34cav@gmail.com Home # - 808-840-0174 Cell # - 505-363-0203 http://www.facebook.com/pages/DakotaTroop-3-4-CAV/123631871017989