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1st Battalion 508th Parachute
Infantry Regiment Association
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  Dedicated
to all Red Devils Past and Present.
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From the Desk of Workhorse 6CPT Jack Kilbride
To the families and friends of the Workhorse,
I hope that everyone is healthy and in good spirits. I want to let everyone know that we all arrived safely at our destination. Our reception here by the outgoing unit was great. We were also welcomed by the people of Paktika province. Our accommodations here are modest…a bit leaky in the wet weather but generally pretty good. Our FOB Mayor’s cell, headed up by SFC Lauer and his men, are doing what they can to quickly improve the quality of life for our soldiers. Morale has been high but it was certainly brought to a new level with our second shipment of mail this week! I cannot stress enough the importance of your letters, cards, and packages. Please continue to send your love and support! Our soldiers are doing an incredible job of introducing themselves to the local people and integrating into the Afghan society. The people of this province have endured over two decades of war and repression. Despite this, they are a determined people that continue to remain optimistic and dedicated to achieving peace and security in this region. They are strengthening their central government and improving their general quality of life. The people here are very grateful to the U.S. and our Soldiers for the sacrifices that they make on a daily basis, and they openly show their appreciation. The bottom line is that you should be proud of your husbands, brothers, and sons; they are helping to create a free and democratic society together with a people that have been long denied that right. Their selfless service and dedication to freedom and democracy are making a huge difference and it is certainly having a global impact. The sacrifices made for the Afghan people are not limited to just our deployed paratroopers, but they are also felt by the families on the home front. Thank you for your continued support – without it we would not be successful!
Lastly, congratulations to the following parents on the new additions to their families:
Sincerely
Jack Kilbride CPT, IN Commanding
From the Desk of Legion 6CPT Josh Seagraves
Legionnaires and Legion Family Members,
I would like to start by saying thanks to all for your support during deployment preparation and execution. Well done! I’ve said this several times and I’ll continue to say it, it’s easy to coach a team of All-Stars, be proud of your husbands! The Legion is continuing its tradition of excellence here in Afghanistan. They are embracing the culture (especially SSG(P) King), learning their area of operations and getting to know the people and food of this province.
What’s it like here? It’s much more rural than Iraq! Basically, the only paved road is the ring road which is exactly as the name implies, a road that rings around Afghanistan. The 100 plus day winds have begun, and you can imagine the dust and dirt that is stirred up on a daily basis in a desert. Supposedly we’re 30 days into the winds now, but they seem to have only just begun. It’s hard to believe, as there was six inches of snow on the ground when we arrived. The people are extremely hospitable and are always offering us tea (commonly referred to chai) nuts, raisins, and hard candy. Most of the people live in compounds with a ten to fifteen meter high wall and multiple houses inside for relatives and other family members.
The Legion extends congratulations to PFC’s Cahill, Bodlt, and Cruz who were all promoted to SPC this month. We would also like to congratulate the Thompson, Velasquez and Matsumoto families on the birth of their children this month. The 3 new legionnaires are Hunter Thompson, Victoria Velasquez and Eva Jean Matsumoto. I would also like to extend a personal thanks to my wife, daughter and Mrs. Erin O’Connor for helping bring my son into the world on 15 March, Noah Parker.
A special segment to three medics and three soldiers: Docs Bolland, Wilson, Vanhook, SGT Ludwig, and SPC’s Sentle and Cahill. They literally saved a local man’s life by performing some advanced techniques far beyond their level of expertise. They impressed me and renewed my trust and confidence in all of them personally and professionally. Outstanding work!
In closing, I want to thank the wives of the FRG who continue to work hard to ensure that we have a functioning group. These ladies continue to give freely of their own time to make our FRG a success. Thanks again to all, and please continue to support your husbands through email, snail mail, and packages. Legion!
“Strength and Honor” “Fury from the Sky!” CPT Joshua P. SeGraves 1SG Charles S. Werley Commanding USA
From the Desk of Rock 6CPT Ryan O’Connor
Charlie Rock Family, We are finally here! It took us about a week to get everyone in and there was a lot of “hurry up and wait,” but we are all safely in Afghanistan. We traveled through Manus, Kyrgystan (which I still can’t point to on a map) and landed in Bagram. With the exception of two paratroopers the entire company is at the Battalion FOB at Orgun-E. By the time you get this the majority of the company will be at the company warming base in Waza Khwa. There is a lot of snow here and it is very cold at night, but the living conditions aren’t too bad, the mountains are beautiful, and the people are friendly. I’d like to welcome all of our new “extended family” to the Charlie Rock Family. Now that we are deployed many of you receiving this newsletter are parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, girlfriends, and friends of our paratroopers. Thank you for your interest and concern for our great paratroopers. Since many of you are new, you might not be as familiar with our situation. Our battalion is responsible for Patika Province. It is in eastern Afghanistan on the Pakistan border, between Bagram and Kabul in the North and Kandahar in the South. Our company will be living and operating in the southern half of the Province. We will live in Waza Khwa District and are also responsible for the surrounding districts of Dila, Kushamond, Terwa, and Wor Mamay. Thanks again to the FRG for throwing the company’s send-off party. It was a lot of fun and a great final get-together. Thank you again to all the volunteers who worked so hard to put it together. Despite the deployment, there is actually a lot of news to put out about paratroopers and families in the company. Congratulations to the Zimmers, who welcomed a future paratrooper into the world before the deployment. Congratulations, again, to 2nd Squad/3rd Platoon for winning the Best Squad Competition. SSG Dus graduated Ranger School in January, and was named the Distinguished Honor Graduate and was awarded the prestigious Darby Award. The bad news is we lost two good paratroopers, but the good news is they both moved on to “bigger and better” things. SSG(P) Bell moved to S&T to be the Platoon Sergeant and SPC Hanchett moved to 74th Long Range Surveillance Company. We wish them both good luck. We have gained a large number of attachments, though. We welcome our newest Surgical Treatment and Evacuation Teams, MAJ White, SGT Neasham, SPC Lin, and PFC Leninger. We welcome our Joint Air Tactical Control Team, Air Force SSG Mellon and Airman Gaberik. We welcome our Cook Team, SGT Bouchard, SPC Tomko, and SPC Killbreth. Finally, we welcome our Vehicle Maintenance Team, SSG Lovette and SGT German. Our last bit of good news is that we have promoted a bunch of great paratroopers. Congratulations to the newly-promoted SSG James, SGT Oakes, SGT Mack, SGT Perry, SGT German, and SPC Eisenhower. I know I have said this before but nothing could be truer: this company could not be as good as it is without the support and hard work of all of our families. We truly appreciate all you do. Thank you for everything. We miss you and keep the mail coming!
Rock Hard!
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