1. 2ND BRIGADE SPECIAL
TROOPS BATTALION,
2ND BRIGADE
COMBAT TEAM,
10TH MTN DIV
(LIGHT INFANTRY)
BATTALION NEWS 29 JUNE 2012
Helpful Phone Headquarters, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion
Numbers: 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry)
 HHC Company Commander
CPT Amigo
10120 North Riva Ridge Loop
HHC Company 1SG Fort Drum NY 13602
1SG Ward
772-4509
 A. Company Commander 27 June 2012
CPT Boyles
Alpha Company 1SG
1SG Volz Letter to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion Family and Friends:
772-7410
 B. Company Commander
CPT Kubik I am LTC Jason Bridges, the new Battalion Commander for 2BSTB. Many thanks for those of you
Bravo Company 1SG that attended the Battalion Change of Command. It was a big day for both LTC Cox and his family,
1SG Pasol
772-7412 as well as mine, and I’m truly honored if you were able to attend. This is an exciting time for the
 C. Company Commander Highlander Family,
Battalion as I take command, and I’m honored and blessed to be leading such an outstanding
CPT Tapia
Charlie Company 1SG group of Soldiers. My wife, Christine, looks forward to taking on the role of Battalion Advisor and
SFC Gruby
772-7429
working with the FRG, and our two daughters, Casey and Hallie, are excited to become a part of
 HHC BDE Company Sincerely,
the Gladiator Family.
Commander
CPT Byler
HHC BDE Company 1SG Ruddie Ibanez
The next few months will be extremely busy. First we have block leave from 30 June to 15 July.
1SG Maciag Captain, Field Artillery
Enjoy it! Soon after we return from block leave we’ll deploy to the training areas on Fort Drum for
772-2492
 Battalion Staff Duty: Company Commander
Mountain Peak, which is designed to build upon the skills we learned at JRTC and prepare for de-
772-5100 ployment to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. Almost immediately after coming
 Brigade Staff Duty:
774-2199 out of Mountain Peak we’ll start our deployment to NTC where we’ll continue to hone our skills at
 FRSA: all levels in order to provide the absolute best combat multipliers to the Brigade Combat Team.
Decima Chiasson
772-9166 Upon our return from the NTC we’ll continue to sharpen our skills ensuring we get Soldiers to
unique schooling before we begin deployment operations for OEF. We’re going to be busy to say
the least. I think it may have been General Patton that said “Better to spill a gallon of sweat in
Who’s Who peace, than a pint of blood in war”. All the training we’ll do is designed to ensure our Soldiers are
In the absolutely confident in executing the skills to ensure destruction of our enemies.
FRG
Advisors There’s a lot you can do to help us get ready for the upcoming challenges. Having been raised in
Chris Bridges an Army family and then continuing with my own military career, I’ve learned that a happy, self-
HHC FRG Leaders sufficient family directly results in a happy, dedicated, and focused Soldier. We will have an NTC
Lori Bogutskie Pre-Deployment Brief for the Family members on August 7th and I’ve directed that either the Soldier
Alpha FRG Leaders or his direct family (Spouse) attend. You will receive more details on it soon, but know that having
Kim Boyles
resilient families capable of enduring extended deployments is absolutely paramount in ensuring
Bravo FRG Leaders
Jennifer Limerick
the readiness of this Battalion. Active participation in Family Readiness Groups (which have come
Charlie FRG Leader a long way in the past 10 years), and knowing what Army Community Services (Fort Drum has one
Lisa Distenfield of the best ACS centers that I’ve seen in my 18 years in the Army) can do for you is critical in en-
HHC 2BCT FRG suring families are prepared for the upcoming months.
Leader
Tera Gegston Chris and I are extremely excited about becoming a part of this Team which has a phenomenal
You can make a reputation of technical and tactical excellence!
difference in your
FRG! We are Gladiators, and the world is our arena! Strength and Honor!
Call your FRG Leader
to volunteer or for
more information.
JASON T. BRIDGES
Please let the FRG LTC, AR
know if you have Commanding
moved or changed
phone numbers so we
can keep our
records up to date!
Thank You!

2. A Word from the Chaplain Page 2
25 June 2012
Hello All,
This last month I took the single Soldiers on a Strong Bonds event. We had a really good time and we
learned how not to fall for the wrong person. Before I became a chaplain, I did not believe in pre-marriage
counseling because I knew that love was blind and young love will never listen to a voice of reasoned
experience. It wasn’t until I started doing marriage counseling that I discovered the importance of
pre-marriage counseling. The purpose of pre-marriage counseling is not to discourage young love from
getting married, rather, to teach skills and help them foresee trouble spots that can be more easily tackled
before marriage. If you find yourself in a position of wishing that you had had pre-marriage counseling but
never had the opportunity, it is not too late. Come see me for marriage counseling and we can start to work
through some of these things together.
Godspeed,
Chaplain Willis
ALPHA COMPANY
28 June 2012
Dear Sapper Families and Friends,
June has been a great month for the Mountain Sappers. We started it off great with the Company BBQ and
Golf Tournament at Thompson Park and followed that up with two weeks of intense and rewarding training
as part of a multi-brigade Sapper Stakes Squad Competition. Finally, the company prepared for a much
deserved block leave period while also enjoying the festivities at both River Fest and Mountain Fest.
During Sapper Stakes, eight Sapper Squads from 1BSTB and 2BSTB (4 per BN) competed in twelve
different engineer and infantry tasks in a round robin format, while moving over 12 miles, in 18hrs. SSG
Timmerman and his 7-man squad from 2nd Platoon, 2BSTB, was the winning squad, achieving an overall
score of 1108.67 out of a possible 1300 points. All of the winners were awarded the Army Achievement
Medal for their outstanding accomplishment.
Congratulations to SSG Timmerman and the Sappers from 1st Squad. I would also like to thank all of the
families and friends for your tremendous support of our company and I wish all of you a very relaxing and
enjoyable break. Finally, I would like to publicly thank LTC Cox for his steadfast leadership over the last 20
months and wish him and his family the best.
Again, please enjoy your time with your families and we will see you in a few weeks.
Until next time, Mountain Sappers
CHESTER D. BOYLES
CPT, EN
Commanding

3. Page 3 BRAVO COMPANY
28 June 2012
BADGER COMPANY
My name is CPT Paul Kubik and I have the privilege of being the new Company Commander for Badger Company. I
want to thank all Soldiers and families within Bravo Company for the warm welcome offered to my family and myself. I
am truly excited to be a part of this great team.
My wife Bethany and I have been married for almost six years and we have two children, Cole and Addison. We look
forward to seeing you at upcoming FRG meetings and getting to know each of you. Family time is critical, I encourage
all Soldiers to take advantage of block leave and long weekends to help build family resiliency as we move toward our
deployment to Afghanistan
V/R
Paul Kubik
CPT, MI
Commander, B/2BSTB
HHC 2BCT COMPANY
28 June 2012
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It’s a privilege to be selected to serve in this company; I look forward to getting to know all of you over the coming year.
A quick introduction: I grew up on Long Island, attended Purdue University. I’ve been previously stationed at Ft.
Benning, GA and Schofield Barracks, HI. I do not come from a military family but do have a younger brother in the
Marine Corps. I do believe family is one of the most important parts of our lives both on duty and off.
As important as family is in our daily life at home it is likewise important to our military profession. Strong families make
stronger and more stable soldiers who are better able to cope with the unique challenges of our profession. Informed
and strong families become a sturdy and sound foundation which a Soldier can lean on rather than a distraction. For
these reasons the FRG is one of the most critical programs within any company…ours is no exception. It must be a well
run, all inclusive organization capable of effectively providing families with the information they need in the absence of
their loved one. This in short is my vision and intent for HHC, 2BCT’s FRG program.
As CPT Freeburg addressed in his last note, the company has been very busy this transition. They are clearly hard
workers and proficient at their duties. Enjoy this block leave period, it is well deserved and, I know, needed. Things will
be fast paced when we return as we move into the Ft. Drum training area to conduct Mountain Peak. Shortly thereafter
we will find ourselves deployed to the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, CA. I have no doubt that we will excel but
you, the families of Havoc Company, are an absolutely critical part of that success.
Again, I look forward to getting to know all of you over the coming months and year.
JOHN P. BYLER
CPT, IN
HHC, 2BCT

4. HHC 2BSTB COMPANY Page 4
28 June 2012
Hello to Avenger Family and Friends!
June has been a very busy month in preparation for Block Leave with a Division Field Exercise and
deployment to the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California shortly thereafter. Our sections have
been looking towards the future, learning new skills and honing their proficiency at the tasks they do daily.
Many of our Soldiers trained and qualified with their M4 Rifles from 100 and out to 500 meters. We also
conducted training on the M9 pistol. Our maintenance section learned about the new vehicles being used in
Afghanistan, conducting maintenance and drivers training.
Soldiers participated in events all over the local area attending Riverfest, Commandofest, and Mountainfest
while enjoying life in the North Country. Our sports teams were very competitive through the many events of
Mountainfest representing the company and the battalion very well.
We closed up the month bidding farewell to LTC Cox and welcoming LTC Bridges, as well as drawing our
new Multi-Cam gear for deployment and conducting our final preparation to go our separate ways for
summer leave. As you all depart, I wish you safe travels wherever you spend your next several weeks and I
look forward to meeting you at our next Family Readiness Group meeting on 8 August 2012.
AVENGERS!
CPT Braden Amigo
IN, Commanding
HHC 2BSTB
CHARLIE COMPANY
28 June 2012
Hello Families and Friends,
I would like to thank the Cobra family for the utmost support and large participation in my first FRG meeting.
The warm welcome continues. Additionally, I want to thank the Cobra company for outstanding efforts
through hard Signal training and preparing for Mountain Peak (23 JULY 12 – 1 AUG 12).
On July, 17th 2012 we look forward to seeing everyone for an FRG meeting at the Playmore Lanes bowling
alley, Watertown NY. For August we are planning a Company White Water Rafting adventure on the Black
River here in Watertown NY. We hope to see everyone there, and again, thank you for all that you do
Andres Tapia
CPT, SC
Commanding