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Fifteenth Infantry Regiment “The Old China Hands”

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Fifteenth Infantry Regiment “The Old China Hands” April 2012 Fifteenth Infantry Regiment “The Old China Hands” www.15thinfregtassoc.org April 2012 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Fellow China Hands, I would like to thank LTC Smith and his staff for their preliminary work preparing for the Rendezvous. Unfortunately it became clear that we would not generate enough attendance to justify the expense and effort of holding the Rendezvous this year. We are shifting our main effort to the Regimental Dinner in September during the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division’s Reunion in Savannah. The details are included in this edition of the Dragon. As you can read in the reports from our active duty battalion commanders, our Can Do soldiers are busy training and re- learning the skills which may have atrophied over the past 10 years of deployments. We know they will continue the outstanding tradition of excellence established in the Civil War 150 years ago and maintained by every generation of Can Do soldier since then. I would like to thank Tom Heitzer for his thorough scrub of our membership roster. It is an eye opener to see our membership has gone below 500! I again ask all our members to make a strong effort to recruit new members, and I ask all of you to give me your best ideas on how we can make our Association stronger and retain our current members. One bright spot for us is the recent accession into the Association by Captain Ross C. Pixler, the 2011 West Point Alumni Association Nininger Award Winner. This award is presented to a recent graduate who has been recognized for outstanding valor in combat. CPT Pixler received the Silver Star for his actions with Hardrock Company of 1-15 IN in Salman Pak, Iraq. I encourage you to look him up on the internet and read about his experience on 18 January 2008. I am exceedingly pleased that Captain Pixler, who is now serving with the 10th Mountain Division, has decided to become one of us to uphold our Regiment’s proud traditions. This edition I’ve included a historical piece on our Regiment’s duty in the Philippines. Reading of our Can Do and other American soldiers’ experiences in this dirty little war I find it a shame that so little is remembered of this war. Their service deserves to be remembered. I was also honored to participate in Joe Aiello’s Legion of Honor ceremony. Monika had helped Joe process his award and organize the ceremony. I was particularly touched by Joe’s recounting his war experiences as a medic. We are watching with great interest the Army’s plans for the upcoming drawdown. It is possible that one or both our battalions could be affected by force cuts or consolidation of facilities. I expect both units will be retained within the 3rd Infantry Division, but unfortunately it does not look good for the 2nd Battalion’s return to the active rolls. There will also be reorganizations within the Brigade Combat Teams in the division – so we will have to see what our new Army will look like, but whatever it looks like, the 15th Infantry will continue to serve as one of the Army’s best Regiments! Can Do! Tim 1 April 2012 th DRAGON and 15 Inf Regiment Association Masthead The Dragon is the quarterly PRESIDENT HSGMOR publication of the 15th Infantry LTC Timothy Stoy Tom Twomey Regiment Association. It is published 6531 Milva Lane 1923 Wendover Dr in January, April, July and October.' Springfield, VA 22150 Fayetteville, NC 28304 Neither its editorial nor articles 703-912-4218 910-484-8886 content carry official endorsement of [email protected] [email protected] the Association. Input for the Dragon VICE PRESIDENT is due the 15th of each month prior to HCOR Addison D. (Tad) Davis V Jerry Bates publishing. 78 Spring Pond Lane 1903 Mallison Way Spring Lake, NC 28390 Alexandria, VA 22308 **************************************** 910-814-1208 703-360-5271 [email protected] HISTORIAN ASSOCIATION OBJECTIVES SECRETARY LTC Timothy Stoy Robert Faulkender 6531 Milva Lane • To perpetuate and foster the 813 Dalrymple Rd NE Springfield, VA 22150 history and traditions of the Atlanta, GA 30328 703-912-4218 Regiment. (770) 913-0400 TRUSTEES [email protected] Richard N. McKiddy • To provide opportunities for TREASURER uniting past and present members 9520 N. Twinkling Bart Viruso Shadows Way of the Regiment into a close and 116 Harriett Road cooperative alliance. Tucson, AZ 85743 North Babylon, NY 11703 520-572-3772 • To promote morale and high 631-587-0587 espirit de corps among members [email protected] Charles R. Crain of the Regiment. ~ To acquire and MEMBERSHIP 312 Don Drive maintain a repository of regimental Michael Friend Greenville, SC 29607 historical memorabilia. 6018 Old Dominion Road 520-744-6197 Columbus, GA 31909 • To perpetuate and foster the 706-568-6436 history and traditions of the Lloyd D. Whitmer 7500 Mose Road Regiment. st COMMANDER 1 BN Navarre, OH 44662 • To assist in the maintenance of LTC Nelson Kraft 330-756-2803 monuments dedicated to the units HQ, 1-15 th of the 15 Infantry Regiment. Ft. Benning, GA 31895 Charles C. Trout 706-544-1633 10191 Birchwood Drive rd Send dues and new addresses to: COMMANDER 3 BN Huntington Beach, CA Bartolo Viruso, 116 Harriett Road, LTC Joel Smith 92646-5432 North Babylon, NY 11703 HQ, 3-15 706-544-1735 Ft. Stewart, GA 31314 CHINA ROOM • Annual dues $10 for regular members and 706-767-2791 CUSTODIAN st $5 for active duty members, due October 1 CSM 1 BN LTC Nelson Kraft each year. CSM Angel Ortiz HQ 1-15IN, Bldg. 9161 Life membership: To age 60 = $150; Age • HQ, 1-15, Bldg 9161 Ft. Benning, GA 31905 6169 = $120; Age 70-79 = $100; Age 80 Ft. Benning, GA 31895 and above = $50. 706-544-1 633 706-544-1228 WEBMASTER rd Send or Email and news items to: CSM 3 BN Tom Twomey CSM Mark Barnes, 1923 Wendover Dr EDITOR, THE DRAGON HQ, 3-15 Fort Stewart, GA Fayetteville, NC 28304 31314 910-484-8886 MSG Ed Holt 796-767-2791 [email protected] 17200 Park Circle CHAPLAIN DATABASE Eden Prairie, MN 55346 Charles C. Trout 952-937-8116 ADMINISTRATOR 10191 Birchwood Drive [email protected] Tom Heitzer Huntington Beach, CA 231 Normandie Drive, 92646-5432706-544-1735 Bonne Terre, MO 63628 [email protected] 573-358-1830 [email protected] 2 April 2012 15th INF Regiment Association Founders 22 Founding Members Jesse Anderson Donald Chase Ramon Clark Charles Crain Jerry Cunningham Edward Dojutrek* George Doyle* Tom Godfrey* Andrew Gunderson* Michael Halik Jack Jordan Maurice Kendall Leonard Lassor Norman MacIntyre* George Mohr* Whitney Mullen Lindsey Nelms* James O’Dell Sr.* Howard Palm* Howard Quick* Raymond Taylor Frank Yokum* *Asterisk denotes deceased member Association founder Whiney Mullen and his son Richard participate in the flag ceremony while visiting Normandy in 2010 3 April 2012 TAPS OSCAR L. HOLMES FOIEST W. STORIE KENNETH D. WHITTEAKER ALFRED B. CLAUSEN LM Covington, GA Springboro, OH Valley Park, MO VA 22520 6398 RT 37 PFC, F CO, 2 BN, Korea CPL, B CO, 1 BN, Korea CPL, F CO, 2 BN Korea Marion, IL 62959 Dec 1951 – Mar 1952 Mar 1952 – Jun 1952 1951 - 1952 SSG, F TANK CO, Korea DOD – May 26, 2011 DOD- Dec 13, 2011 DOD- January 1, 2012 DOD - February 14, 2011 Reported by Tom Heitzer Reported by Tom Heitzer Reported by Rich Heller Reported by Tom Heitzer KENNETH R. KENDALL VAN T. BARFOOT (CMOH) MICHAEL R. BRUNO Portage, IN Richmond, VA Fullerton, CA CPL, SVC CO. REGT, Korea COL, A&C CO, 1 BN , WII 1LT, L CO, WWII Aug 1950 – Jun 1951 DOD March 2, 2012 DOD – February 18, 2011 DOD - July 25, 2010 Reported by Tom Heitzer Reported by Tom Heitzer Reported by Tom Heitzer 4 April 2012 DRAGON 6 SITREP Fellow Members of the Regiment, Building competence and confidence in "Can Do" Soldiers is the goal of every leader in this historic battalion. Veteran leadership coupled with the youthful enthusiasm of new Soldiers makes our team as lethal as it has ever been. As 1-15 IN prepares to deploy to the National Training Center in March, for the first force on force rotation since the 2003, we reflect on the progress we have made and the steps it took to get our unit ready for our next mission. In the first quarter of the year, platoon leaders had the opportunity to demonstrate their tactical and technical proficiencies to learn from their successes and failures while maneuvering their unit during Dragon Focus. Immediately following Dragon Focus, every aspect of the Company team was put to the test during Hammer Focus where company commanders synchronized an arsenal of assets to attack, defend, conduct a breech, and conduct urban operations. Shortly after Hammer Focus, 1-15 IN went on block leave to spend some time with family and recover from our very busy year. Soldiers returned from block leave refreshed, energized and ready to jump back on the "Marne Express". The second quarter started in January where all "Can Do" Soldiers participated in a condensed sustainment gunnery in order to qualify new crews and reaffirm the lethality of our established crews. We followed up sustainment gunnery with a small arms density where our dog face Soldiers focused their efforts on familiarizing themselves once again with their personal weapons. In preparation for NTC, battalion leadership participated in the LTP (Leadership Training Program) at Fort Irwin, California in order to grasp a clear understanding about the mission ahead.
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