The Long Knife A magazine by and for the Soldiers of the 4th BCT, 1st Cavalry Division December 1, 2006 Volume 1, Issue 1 First Team Medics ‘stickin’ it to dummies SEE PAGES 8-9 From the desk of Col. Inside this Issue Stephen Twitty, commander, 4th BCT BCT arrives at Kuwait, 3 begins training Troops attend IED November was a coffee and donut shops, a 7 101, fratricide classes very busy month for the PX and much more. Soldiers of the 4th BCT, Our priority to our 1st Cavalry Division as family members is to en- we conducted additional sure all of you have access training in Kuwait to help to the latest information on 8 CLS, Medics train further prepare us for our our brigade and are kept Troops move into tents together movement into Iraq. informed while we are cover story at Camp Buerhring, We attended classes, deployed. practiced Humvee roll- To do that, we arranged over drills, spent time for the El Paso Times on the small arms ranges newspaper’s online Web Rock band performs Holiday Spending and conducted squad- site to post a Weblog. Cur- 4 for troops 10 Blunders level training excercises to rently, we are posting new enhance our war fighting blogs every week. The link skills. is: http://elpasotimes.typepad. Now that we have com/longknife arrived in Iraq, we have I encourage everyone Notes from settled in to our new living to stop by the site and Home 12 quarters and are getting check it out. The purpose ready to take the reigns of the blog is to provide in- Shinedown per- from the unit we are here sight as to what it is really forms at Buehring to replace. like here in country from Our main focus here very unique perspectives. Photo pages will be maintaining secu- Please feel free to leave 13-15 rity and training the Iraqi a message or post a com- 2-7 Cav trains forces stationed throughout ment or question on the 6 for Iraq our area of operation. blog site. I am confident in our We will also continue The Long Knife Staff troops’ abilities to succeed to publish The Long Knife on a monthly basis, which Col. Stephen Twitty The Long Knife is an autho- in any type of mission they commander, 4th BCT rized publication for members are asked to complete. will be available electroni- of the Department of Defense. Command Sgt. Maj. Stephan Frennier The forward operat- cally from the brigade Web Contents of The Long Knife are not 4th BCT, 1st Cav. Div. site: http://www.hood.army. necessarily the official views of, or ing base here offers many mil/1stcavdiv/4th_BDE.htm Maj. Roderick Cunningham endorsed by, the U.S. Government luxuries of home and 4th BCT Public Affairs Officer or Department of the Army. The ed- provides several services As the Christmas itorial content of this publication is holiday season approaches, Sgt. 1st Class Brian Sipp the responsibility of the 4th Brigade to keep morale high. 4th BCT Public Affairs NCOIC Combat Team Public Affairs Office. The dining facility here know that you are all in senior editor, The Long Knife This magazine is published by a is outstanding with nearly our hearts and on our private firm, which is not affiliated Sgt. Paula Taylor minds. We thank you for with the 4th BCT. All copy will be every type of meal im- 4th BCT Public Affairs your continued editor, The Long Knife edited. The Long Knife is produced maginable. We also have bi-monthly by the 4th BCT Public a movie theatre, a com- support. 2nd Lt. Joseph Perry Affairs Office. 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment munity center, telephone contributing writer call centers, internet cafes, 2 Troops prepare to head north to begin year-long missions SGT. PAULA TAYLOR 4th BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs The final flight of troopers of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division arrived in Kuwait Nov. 3 and have already begun final preparations for their rotation into Iraq. Their flight completes the move- ment of the 4th BCT from Fort Bliss, Texas to Kuwait, which began with the first flight Oct. 25. “We got here on Oct. 31 and started our small arms weapons train- ing on Friday [Nov. 3],” said Spc. Joshua McVickers, military police offi- cer, 4th Brigade Special Troops Battal- ion. “We showed up to the range for small arms gunnery. We verified our zero and were allowed to re-qualify. We also did the 9mm [pistol] familiar- ization.” In addition to going to small arms ranges, the troops have also been keeping busy by attending medical classes, rehearsing vehicle and indi- vidual search procedures, participating in improvised explosive device train- ing and conducting close-quarter battle drills. “Close-quarter battle teaches you how to enter and clear a room or (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Paula Taylor) building. It teaches you how to hold Spc. Clyde Harris, a Chicago native, searches Spc. James Durden, both of your weapon when you shoot, how B Company, Special Troops Battalion, during a vehicle and person search to acquire a target and muzzle aware- class at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. ness,” said Sgt. Shicana Morant, supply sergeant, 4th BSTB. also have a gym, a movie theater, and “We are continuing to conduct During the Soldiers’ personal volleyball and basketball courts. individual and squad-level training as time, the camp offers a wide variety of The gym is really nice. I’ve been going we prepare to assume our battle space activities to keep them occupied and in there every day and taking full advan- in Iraq,” said Col. Stephen Twitty, com- touch with loved ones back home. tage of the free phones and internet.” mander, 4th BCT. “The Soldiers are “There’s a [Morale, Welfare While there are seemingly motivated, physically fit, and anxious and Recreation] and a USO here that plenty of activities to keep the Soldiers to get to work doing exactly what they offer free phone [usage], free internet, busy during their down time, the focus have trained for since our activation a nice place to relax and watch movies, remains all business and the continued over a year ago,” added Twitty. play video games, read a book or take reinforcement of basic Soldier skills. a nap,” said Staff Sgt. Tammy Tucker, The 4th BCT’s concept of “every Sol- intelligence analyst, 4th BSTB. “They dier a rifleman” is practiced daily. ROCK BAND ‘SHINEDOWN’ STORY AND PHOTOS BY December 8, 2004; as well as ‘He- with Smith, which the assembled SGT. 1ST CLASS BRIAN SIPP roes’ and ‘Save Me,’ two songs from troops were drawn to, said Spc. Aar- 4th BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs their new CD ‘Us and Them.’ on Giannini, an infantryman working ‘Heroes’ is frontman Brent in the brigade operations section and he crowd, bundled up for an Smith’s tribute to ‘bad asses’ New York City native, Headquarters uncharacteristically chilly throughout history, according to a and Headquarters Company, 4th Tnight in the desert, pulsed with Shinedown website; and ‘Save Me’ Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry anticipation as they eyed the stage. poured directly from Smith’s own Division. Wisps of smoke from flavored to- head and heart. Interspersing songs from both bacco and the unique smell of Clove “At the time when I got off the their platinum 2003 debut album cigarettes rose upward, ‘Leave a Whisper’ and mixing with the multicol- their latest release, with ored lights and creating a personal reflections and surreal ambiance. Digital prose, Smith took the cameras clicked on, the crowd on a journey of amplifiers crackled to life, introspection and pulled and the assembled throng on the extremes of emo- of rock fans erupted in tion, ranging from anger collective cheer as the to patriotic fervor. Inter- band took the stage. weaved, he had a special What could have been message for the assembled a concert scene from troops. Anytown, USA, was, in “I see more pride, fact, the setting for Sol- more dignity, and more diers from the 1st Cav- honor, looking into your alry Division, awaiting faces here tonight, than deployment north into Lead singer of the rockband Shinedown, Brent Smith, I’ve ever seen in my entire Iraq. They were among sings to the crowd as drummer Barry Kerch plays in the life,” said Smith, emotion- the many Camp Buehring background during a USO concert tour in Camp Bueh- ally pointing to the crowd. occupants, Soldiers, sail- ring, Kuwait, Nov. 8. “You are all an inspiration ors, airmen and Marines, to us, and the reason we treated to a free concert by the band road, I wasn’t necessarily in the most are here.” Shinedown at the Camp Buehring positive situation,” Smith confessed. “It’s cool that they came all the way amphitheater Nov. 8. “I dealt with a lot of problems. I’m out here to see us,” said Pvt. Sandy Kicking off their second Kuwait not really talking about drugs and Ackerman, brigade signal systems and Iraq tour for the troops, and substances; I’m talking about all the support specialist, Headquarters and sponsored by Morale, Welfare, and demons that you hide in your closet, Headquarters Company, 4th Brigade Recreation (MWR) and the United the things you have to go through in Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Service Organization (USO), the life. And it’s more of a cry for help; who was attending her first concert. band stirred up the emotions of the it’s basically saying, ‘You know “It definitively was a boost in morale troops by masterful renditions of what? I’m a strong person.