Army Sgt. Kristy Giagnocavo, a preventive medicine technician with 307th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), takes water samples at Contingency Operating Site Ubaydi, Iraq, during autumn 2009. The environmental recommendations Giagnocavo made to the leadership of 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, resulted in vastly-improved living conditions for paratroopers living at Ubaydi. (U.S. Army courtesy photo)

Army medics knew they had a lot of work to do when they first visited Contingency Operating Site Ubaydi, a remote base in Al Anbar province, Iraq, in the fall of 2009.

“Ubaydi had rodent infestations and problems with sand flies. Additionally, their [kitchen sanitation facility] had problems with sanitation and waste disposal,” said Sgt. Kristy Giagnocavo.

Giagnocavo is a preventive medicine technician with 307th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), specializing in disease and non-battle-injury prevention. Her duties include environmental surveillance of air, water and soil. Detailed reports from her preventive-medicine inspections provide recommendations and guidance to leaders that help keep paratroopers fit to fight.

Lt. Col. Xavier Brunson, commander of 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, took immediate action after reviewing Giagnocavo’s initial assessment of Ubaydi, where he would have paratroopers stationed.

Realizing the impact of disease and non-battle injuries, Brunson said, “Ensuring the health and welfare of our paratroopers is of paramount concern to the leaders of this battalion. Having the ability to call on the specialized training and abilities of Sgt. Giagnocavo… means that unlike the Union Army in the Civil War who lost over 200,000 [soldiers] to disease and pests, we are able to preserve our unit’s strength by the application of preventive medicine.”

On her follow-up visit to Ubaydi, Giagnocavo was satisfied that her initial assessment encouraged corrective action. The kitchen-material sanitation facility, housed by a tent without flooring, was plagued by dust contamination on pots and pans.

“[The battalion] solved the problem by building a hard structure with floors and shelving for cooking material,” she said.

Another area of concern was Ubaydi’s living quarters. Previously, paratroopers slept next to Hesco barriers and complained of sand flies and other insect problems. Hesco barriers, made of a collapsible wire mesh and fabric liner, are filled with sand and provide protection from blasts and small arms fire.

“They’re an attractive habitat for sand flies,” said Giagnocavo.

Paratroopers came up with a clever fix and an added bonus. “They used plywood to contain the barriers, which also added some much-needed shelf space,” she said.

With approximately two weeks of preventive-medicine missions each month, Giagnocavo’s job is enduring but fruitful. “The best part of my job is seeing improvements made from my recommendations,” she said.

As a result of her efforts, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Paratroopers are a healthier and more capable force.

DVIDS
By Capt. Steve Johnson,
1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade),
Multi National Force – West

Pfc. Shaquille Fields with Company A, 307th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), fills a water tower constructed by Sgt. 1st Class Mark Anderson, non-commissioned officer in charge of supply for Company D, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and his soldiers at Contingency Operating Site Ubaydi, Iraq, Dec. 11, 2009. Unlike many larger posts in Iraq, Ubaydi's sustainment activities are all performed by soldiers. Photo by Spc. Mike MacLeod

You can tell by his hands the sergeant is not a gym rat. His hands are workingman hands, not compact, muscular barbell clamps, but rather, hands that strip, ply and twist; hands that smooth, hands that hammer.

Sgt. 1st Class Mark Anderson, non-commissioned officer in charge of supply for Company D, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), uses his carpenter skills to enhance the living conditions at Contingency Operating Site Ubaydi, Iraq, Dec. 5, 2009. Originally from southern Louisiana, Anderson grew up on a farm and worked construction for many years before joining the Army. Photo by Spc. Mike MacLeod

Informally known by a few as “Uncle Andy,” Sgt. 1st Class Mark Anderson is the non-commissioned officer-in-charge of supply for Company D, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), stationed at Contingency Operating Site Ubaydi, Iraq. The company of paratroopers supports a host of Iraqi security force “enablers” that include military transition teams, police professionalization teams, provincial reconstruction teams, border transition teams, port of entry teams and others.

Six platoons (the company’s four infantry platoons plus elements of Headquarters and Headquarters Company and a mortar platoon) rotate in roles of camp security, quick reaction force, security details for travel off the post, and partnered operations with the Iraqi department of border enforcement. Approximately 100 paratroopers provide all the sustainment functions for the other 400 enablers that live there.

Anderson belongs to that breed of American farm boys that can do anything with almost nothing, and whose influence makes others want to grab shovel and hammer and pitch in to get done what needs doing. Time now, American forces in Iraq almost exclusively live on large bases where Ugandans provide security, laundry and food service is provided by contractors, and any nail need driving gets work-ordered out like Chinese food. Not at COS Ubaydi. Here, Army cooks still cook, sustainment troops provide water, fuel and clean laundry, and soldiers man the machine guns that guard the perimeter. Whatever needs building gets a visit from Uncle Andy and his crew of nail-bending carpenters.

“We built a new sanitation center to fix a problem where water was flowing into the tent where they washed dishes,” said Anderson. “We also built a water tower, installed doors, made walls and completed numerous small repair projects.”

Anderson, who turned 50 in early December 2009, most often works with Sgt. Tanner Packer of Flamingo Heights, Calif., and Spc. Jason Jeffers of Tallapoosa, Ga. Anderson is from Natchitoches, La. Together, they have reshaped a base that had gone unimproved for years by previous units.

“We all sweat together. We all ‘suck’ together. Everywhere I’ve deployed with this battalion, we have improved it,” said Staff Sgt. Aaron Dyer, who works in the company’s operations center. “It’s a family. I haven’t seen any battalion like it.”

Anderson and company provided walls for enlisted barracks that were previously just earth-filled Hesco barriers holding up roofs, and now, everyone on the post has their own living space.

According to the COS assistant “mayor,” Sgt. Matthew Colello, soldiers collect their own garbage, distribute water and maintain their showers just as they did in the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and just as they are likely to do when they are deployed to Afghanistan in the future.

Additionally, more than 8,000 tons of gravel were hauled in and spread by local contractors, stabilizing the loose, dusty soil and preventing it from turning into constricting mud when it rains. Finally, the helicopter landing zone was treated with a lacquer to further reduce the amount of airborne particulates.

All of these improvements were made in just a matter of weeks, said Colello.

Anderson just finished building 30 target stands for the 28th Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division, based in Hamsa. Next, he and his crew will construct a new laundry facility so that the laundry crew doesn’t have to work in the open during inclement weather.

The old salts in the company remember the early days in Iraq when they lived out of tents or in the dirt under the stars. Paratroopers are tough, but not stupid. For Anderson’s birthday, they didn’t give him a gold watch. They gave him a tool belt.

DVIDS
Story by Spc. Mike MacLeod

Another story about Silver Star winner Staff Sgt. Brandon Zylstra.

DVIDS
By Maj. Sean Ryan, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq – No Soldier leaves a forward operating base thinking they will become a hero that day. They are considering the route they will be on, doing ammunition checks, going over rules of engagement, and maybe thinking of family and friends before rolling “outside the wire” for duty in the hazardous streets of Baghdad.

April 10 started off the same as other days for the Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), “Red Devils,” out of Fort Bragg, N.C., but that quickly changed, and Staff Sgt. Brandon Zylstra and his platoon, part of the unit’s quick reaction force, found themselves responsible for hauling a supply trailer to their fellow Soldiers, who were in contact with the enemy in the Al Fadhl neighborhood of eastern Baghdad.

Zylstra, a native of Sully, Iowa, and his platoon found their route blocked by a jackknifed vehicle and immediately started taking enemy fire. With nowhere to go, he dismounted the vehicle and quickly positioned himself and his Soldiers to start moving forward. The events that followed would change Zylstra’s quiet professional demeanor into an Audie Murphy-type. His actions that day earned him the Silver Star.

Despite being completely exposed, Zylstra stood in the street and properly positioned his Soldiers, while exchanging fire with the enemy for over one minute, which seems like a lifetime in a hot combat zone. The platoon quickly took their first casualty and Zylstra ran to administer first aid, with two other Soldiers following his lead to provide security.

Enemy fire soon struck both of the Soldiers pulling security, and Zylstra provided medical care to all of them and tried to keep them in a safe location, but the present location was still under heavy attack. Zylstra, who has only known Fort Bragg as his home station and the 504th PIR as his unit, knew he had to assess which of the three casualties was the most serious and to get them to better cover.

After dragging the most serious casualty to safety, Zylstra disregarded the hail of bullets around him and ran back to the original site to retrieve the weapon of the original casualty. With enemy fire still erupting around him, he again sprinted back to his fellow injured Soldiers, this time firing both weapons at the enemy at the same time. As for all the bullets piercing the ground around him, Zylstra said, “The enemy fire didn’t really concern me, I was worried about the lives of my Soldiers.”

Spc. Dennis Howard, a native of Chicago and driver of one of the vehicles that day, explained why his squad leader would risk his life to retrieve the weapon of the first casualty that was left behind.

“Staff Sergeant Zylstra continually does the right thing and always tells us that your weapon is your best friend and never leave it behind,” Howard said.

Zylstra’s day was far from over and again he crossed the bullet-pocked street to check on a casualty, while directing fire from a crew served weapon to position his Soldiers for the fastest exit when possible. His command team believes this action not only saved the two lives of the wounded Soldiers, but that directing the gunners opened up an avenue of approach to get them out of the area as well.

“Zylstra’s life revolves around the Army and he never asks what the Army can do for him, but what more can he do for the Army,” said 1st Sgt. Christopher Bauman, a native of Muncie, Ind. “Zylstra is a quiet and humble guy, but he is adventurous and you would never see him run from a fight.”

Finally, after opening up an escape route, Zylstra couldn’t find a seat in one of the vehicles.

“I knew my vehicle had casualties in it so I jumped on the hood of my platoon sergeant’s Humvee, grabbed the sling load ring to hold on to and started firing my weapon so the enemy would keep their heads down,” he said.

“Staff Sergeant Z is everything I want to be as a Soldier,” said Spc. James Bossio, the driver of Zylstra’s vehicle and native of Modesto, Calif. “There was no way I thought he would survive after witnessing some of the things he was doing. Then, jumping on the hood all the while firing at the enemy while I was driving in reverse, it was pretty incredible to witness.”

“Loyalty to his Soldiers and his military bearing are what Zylstra is all about,” said platoon leader, 1st Lt. Daniel Capozza, from Cooperstown, N.Y. “He is not really into much fanfare, but leaving the area while firing a weapon with one hand is something out of the movies, and he did what he had to do to take care of his guys.”

For his disregard for his own personal safety and willingness to risk his own life to save his Soldiers, Zylstra was awarded the Silver Star, pinned on by Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, Aug. 5, in a crowded theater in eastern Baghdad with Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil, Jr., the Multi-National Division-Baghdad commanding general, standing next to him. Both generals spent time speaking with the Soldiers of the “Red Devil” battalion and other visitors, praising both Zylstra and the unit for their dedication and work ethic.

In 1942, the 504th Parachute Infantry became the first Parachute Infantry Regiment in the newly designated 82nd Airborne Division under the command of Maj. Gen. Omar Bradley. The nickname “The Devils in Baggy Pants,” was taken from an entry found in the diary of a German officer killed at Anzio during World War II after their eight-week stay on the beachhead.

Few units are more highly decorated or have a prouder heritage than Soldiers of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Zylstra has upheld that standard.