Wisconsin soldiers hold hill in southern Iraq

Staff Sgt. William Poor is in charge of a recon unit stationed on Safwan Hill, about 6,676 miles from home in Juneau, Wisconsin. The National Guard released this video and the accompanying photos yesterday. You can read the National Guard press release here.



The press release includes photos of some of the soldiers from the units on the hill. They are based in Appleton and Fond du Lac. All the images were made by Specialist Tyler Lasure.


Spc. Stephan McEssey, Fond du Lac, keeps watch from the outpost atop of Safwan Hill. McEssey and other Company C soldiers provide a bird's-eye view for troops down below.












Staff Sgt. Poor (left), shows Command Sgt. Maj. Edgar Hansen (right) around the outpost. Hansen is based in Baghdad.













The brothers of Safwan Hill: Specialist Kyle Bestul (right) and Specialist Kory Bestul (left) of New Holstein.














Pfc. Kevin Lewis, Kaukauna, mans an M-240B machine gun at one of the guard towers on the hill.











The units on Safwan Hill near Camp Bucca are Company C, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, Fond du Lac, and Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-127, Appleton- Steve

Last big mission cut short

Cory Poast, a member of an engineering unit that operates heavy equipment near Mosul, wrote this last week:
packing for a 3 week mission out in the sheeeot.........should be the toughest one yet.......however...........i'm happy to say.......this is the LAST big mission !!!!!!........of the deployment!!!!.....that means we are close!!!!!!!

It has been said that nothing goes as planned in the military. So it was for Cory, who wrote this update.
I AM BACK FROM THE ... MISSION WITH ANOTHER SPRAINED ANKLE






















Photo - Cory on the mend earlier this summer with his first ankle sprain.

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No time to chill, but at least we're on the night shift

Here's the latest from Nick Druecke who is spending the summer, and the rest of the year, at Camp Taji, Iraq, roughly 6,339 miles from his home in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.


Things are heating up in the very literal sense. The nights here have broken the hot point, over 100 almost every night. The days as you can imagine are even hotter, pushing into the (one hundred and...) teens every single day. It isn't letting up any time soon. August is notorious for being really really really hot here, the only thing I have to look forward to is that we work the night shift now. Going to work at 1500 (hottest part of the day) does kind of suck, but actually working at night is much preferable.

We have been amping up the training lately, both physical and mental. This includes going to ranges, forced marches, and army knowledge classes. Also preparing for promotion boards, which is a task all in its own. Trying to memorize pages of creeds, and countless military regulations and doctrine. It can be mentally daunting at times. In general however things are going well, albeit very slow. I recently found out that one of my friends from home just redeployed to Ft. Campbell. I also discovered that another one of my high school friends is here with a guard unit, at Camp Victory I think.

The only really consistent thing I have going on is the gym. I go to the gym at least once everyday, unless it's my off day (once a week). It's a pretty good way to work off all of the frustration this place builds up. The only better way to do it would be to have a drink! Which is illegal here "under general order number 1..." We hear that constantly, anybody who has deployed will know what I mean. That "rule" has a million little things that fall under it, it's pretty much a catch-all for anything fun. Things are going along, as things do. That's all I have to report.

Live from Iraq,

- Nick

Detainee ops clip, by request

Some readers have had trouble openining the detainee ops video on the official site, so we've uploaded here for your convenience.

I aim to be Madison's million gallon man in Iraq

Staff Sgt. Jason Klingbiel of Madison, Wisconsin, is an Airman deployed 6,400 miles from home at Sather Air Base, west of Baghdad. He is assigned to the 115th Fighter Wing, Wisconsin Air National Guard. Klingbiel says he is on a personal mission to pump more than a million gallons of jet fuel.


Right now, the existing record is approximately 1,006,000 gallons issued in a four month rotation. Records are kept to account for all the fuel issues and receipts, but issue records tend to be kept locally, if anything, to spur a sense of challenge. For me, ersonally, it helps make the deployment go faster, effectively racing the clock.

Often, fuels flights have what are called, "million gallon clubs," where they recognize people who have issued over a million gallons of fuel in a month. Only one person has hit a million gallons over the course of the entire rotation since 2006, and I decided I wanted to reach that million, if not exceed it.

I have one day off during the week. While I have attempted to come into work on my day off, I was immediately sent home (away from my work center) by my supervisor.

Once an aircraft calls in for fuel, the controller is responsible for gathering information such as the type of aircraft, where it's located, how much fuel they want and of what kind, a tail number, and ultimately assigning a truck to a driver to deliver the fuel. The driver arrives at the aircraft, arranges for payment in U.S. dollars if the aircraft does not have an agreement with the Defense Energy Support Center, and pumps the fuel. Once the fuel issue is accounted for, the truck can be sent to the fill stand, the R-14, to refill. Other tasks within this career field include the superintendent, who is effectively in charge; lab, who is responsible for the purity of the fuel, which is tested weekly on each tank/bladder, fill stand, and truck, along with sampling every incoming shipment of fuel prior to acceptance; and cryogenics, who is responsible for refilling the 50 gallon liquid oxygen carts which then are used to support the breathing oxygen systems on the aircraft and possibly liquid nitrogen, which is used for the aircraft tires and struts.

The R-14 is actually a trailer-mounted hydrant system, in that it can be fully packed up and airlifted out of the area when it's no longer needed. Included on the physical R-14 itself are two inlet connections, a pump, filter separator, meter, and outlet valves for an 1.5 inch over wing hose, or a pair of 3 inch diameter hoses for pressure refueling (as seen in the photo).

What I like most about what I do is working with the different aircraft. I have worked not just with U.S. aircraft, but also some from the former Soviet Union, still with their original Aeroflot stripes. It's entertaining, when you begin to service a given aircraft, and maybe one or two people from the crew barely know English. Often, the easiest means to communicate is by way of a calculator, as they show how much fuel they need, you show them your price sheet, and they would then point to the amount they want. If they are not U.S. aircraft, the transaction is done in cash, U.S. dollars, often totaling into the thousands of dollars.

I've been with the Wisconsin Air National Guard since August 2008. Prior I enlisted for six years in the Active Duty Air Force, where I was stationed at Aviano Air Base in Italy, and Holloman AFB, New Mexico. On the civilian side, I work as a line service technician at Dane County Regional Airport, for Wisconsin Aviation.

Most of my family lives in the Madison/Dane County area, my grandparents live in Lodi on Lake Wisconsin, and I have an uncle and aunt that live in Barneveld.

- Jason

Photo - Staff Sgt. Jason Klingbiel, 447th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels distribution operator, connects a fuel hose from an R14 fuel unit to the bottom loader of his R11 fuel truck at Sather Air Base in Iraq on July 20, 2009. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Johnny L. Saldivar)

Don't save me. I'm not Private Ryan.

From Austin Phillips whose Iraq address is Victory Base Complex, 6,372 miles from home in Hustisford, Wisconsin. He's a Team Leader in the National Guard 105th Cav. Background: Austin and his brother Matt ran a 9-hour marathon together in the desert heat at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico during pre-deployment training. The race was a commemoration of the Bataan Death March. The Phillips brothers ran in the Heavy Military category, meaning they wore packs weighing at least 35 pounds. They were among a handful of Wisconsin National Guard soldiers who finished the 26-mile race.

It was January of 1942 when five brothers enlisted in the Navy under the stipulation that they serve on the same ship. These five brothers served on the USS Juneau together and inevitably all died together in November of '42. The "Fighting Sullivans" were considered national heroes and their parents toured the country selling war bonds to help continue the fight.

What does this have to do with my deployment to Iraq? Let me explain.

I joined the Army to deploy with my brother and be involved in something bigger than ourselves -- together. I signed the papers with full knowledge of what "could" happen and we both understood the dangers involved.

I was recently pulled off a mission for the pure reason we we're brothers and no other.

After training together for months and working with the same soldiers, one of us was held back, and this is after we have already completed missions ... together. A letter was written to the person who made this call by my Mother and that still has yet to sway the decision. We have stated we will sign papers and do what ever it takes to make this work and yet to have an answer.

I would not be here or in this unit right now if it was not for my brother. Honestly, who would you rather have by your side; a person who cannot pass a PT test and doesn't want to be outside the protection of the base, or a person who you trust and wants nothing more than to be there?

Here is an excerpt from the letter that was written:

...My sons are very close to each other. As such, they understand each other completely, especially in times of danger or high stress. They feel it is important that they perform missions together, as a team, instead of being separated because they are siblings. ...There are no guarantees in life. As such, please allow my sons to live theirs and perform their duties, without focusing on the fact that they are brothers.

Now, due to the "Fighting Sullivans," people are under the impression that there is a law prohibiting brothers from serving in dangerous situations together. Well, that is BS. There is no such law, and filling trucks with less qualified soldiers puts more people at risk in the end. I am very adamant about fixing this or getting out of Btrp 1-105, because the ONLY reason I came to this unit was my brother. If anyone reading this knows of a solution, let me know. I could use it.

- Austin

Photo - Jessica Arp, a reporter from a Madison TV station, poses with Matt and Austin Phillips during pre-deployment training in Camp McGregor, NM.