| From Capt Sean Flynn, B Co, Fighting 69th -- the battalion is getting ready to ship out.
Commander, Company B, 1-69 INF (M)
Dear Banshee Friends and Families,
I am happy to report that our company, along with the entire Fighting 69th, has validated on all the training tasks that we were challenged with upon our arrival at Fort Hood almost three months ago. It is an impressive and inspiring accomplishment.
From a geographically dispersed gaggle of individuals and squads, of infantrymen, tankers and engineers, we have become a trained and practiced infantry unit that has drawn accolades from our trainers, the battalion commander, and our commanding general. In more than one task here, the Banshees have performed better than any mobilized National Guard company before us. There is one big reason why.
The Banshees
From Montauk to Toronto, Banshee Company has drawn many of the finest soldiers in all of New York (and Canada). There is Spc. Donnell Miles who earned the honor “Hero of the Battlefield” two times during lanes training. Awarded by the regular army trainers here, the Hero of the Battlefield is a soldier who goes above and beyond his normal duties to positively impact the operation. Spc. Miles earned it the first time for extraordinary marksmanship and the second time for taking over a heavy machine gun and causing the “enemy” to withdraw. He is not alone. Also earning Hero honors is Spc. Richard Smoot whose leadership and experience are setting the standard in 2nd Platoon and Spc. Eugene Dolan, normally an automatic rifleman, took control of his entire squad to complete his training mission. Sgt. James Munro was named Hero after stepping above his role as rifle team leader to take over his squad and outperform many other squads on the training lanes that day. Sgt. 1st Class Frank Tooker, the new Banshee Company First Sergeant, was named Hero for being … well … himself. (And if all units in the Army had senior non-commissioned officers like Frank Tooker, Pete Swiderski, Arnie Reyes and Tommy Seifert, the battle for Iraq would have been settled a long time ago.) Finally, 2nd Lt. Joe Minning, one of our three new infantry officer school graduates, earned Hero honors less than 24 hours after joining his platoon. He has proved to be, according to one of the trainers, the final ingredient in the stellar mix that is our 3rd Platoon.
Unfortunately, the trainers only name one “hero” a week. In reality, there have been dozens more. And none are more significant than our “60 minute players,” soldiers who are there day in and day out without a complaint, without a worry, always getting the job done. Soldiers like Cpl. Patrick Sharp and Spc. Kevin Steinmetz of 1st Platoon, Spc. Jason Avvocato and Spc. Scott Mack of 2nd Platoon, Spc. James Ceglia and |
