Spc. Krystal M. Fitts, KIA Afghanistan July 17, 2012

Department of Defense

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Spc. Krystal M. Fitts, 26, of Houston, Texas, died July 17 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, from injuries suffered from indirect fire. She was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

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Spc. Dawn Rogler

As a child, Spc. Dawn Rogler looked forward to the day when she could serve in the military, just like her grandfather. So when she realized that her civilian desk job wasn’t everything she hoped it would be, she decided to enlist in the Army.

“My grandfather always told me stories about the Army when I was growing up,” she said. “I’m proud to be a Soldier because I know I’m helping not only my family, but multiple families by fighting this war overseas so it doesn’t happen on our own land – and that makes me proud.”

Now just two years later, Rogler has embraced her role in the Army and is committed to doing her best to support her comrades.

While deployed to Afghanistan last year as a truck driver with the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, she consistently went beyond the call of duty to ensure that her vehicle was mission-ready, even waking up hours before her fellow Soldiers. After making sure her vehicle, radios and weapons were ready to go, she spent the remainder of her day running delivery loads to infantry units located in remote areas of the country. Transporting some of the most essential necessities to other bases, Rogler was often greeted with enthusiasm.

“When we convoyed to bases where Soldiers were out of supplies like food and water, it was rewarding to see their faces and how happy they were to see us come through the gate,” she said. “The deployment was a great opportunity in the sense that it was a life experience. Most people don’t get the chances I’ve had.”

Even facing challenges during the deployment, Rogler remained focused on the mission at hand and the positive opportunities the Army has provided.

“It had its rough days,” she explained. “But it wasn’t that bad.”

After returning from Afghanistan last August, Rogler married a fellow Soldier.

“We deployed at the same time, so we can relate to the experience of being overseas,” she said. “We understand each other, especially when things at work are tough. We know how to help one another be a better Soldier.”

In the coming weeks, her husband will be transferred to a new unit stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. Although they will be apart much of the time, she knows that their marriage will be strengthened by military service.

Rogler is now stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., where she serves as the driver for the battalion sergeant major.

U.S. Army

Brittany Hardcastle, from her MySpace page

Spc. Brittany Hardcastle joined the Army and volunteered for the 82nd Airborne Division to make a difference – and she has. Hardcastle is a Paratrooper with the Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. She prepares and gives intelligence briefings to anyone passing through Regional Command –West, Afghanistan seeking intelligence. She is a member of the Female Engagement Team and she routinely acts as the intelligence representative for missions outside Forward Operating Base Stone, in Herat.

On top of her regular duties, she is taking college courses in order to prepare for Officer Candidate School. When asked about her future, Hardcastle said, “in five years, I see myself in the Army and in the 82nd Airborne Division.”

Hardcastle’s interest in the military started at a young age and was reinforced when her father took a contracting position in Iraq. By the time she began college, she started volunteering at the Dallas Fort-Worth Airport United Service Organization. Hardcastle’s constant exposure to the Soldiers leaving for deployment motivated her to do more.

She prepared mentally and physically for the challenges to come and enlisted in the Army March 28, 2008. Since enlisting, the challenges, including learning new systems to becoming an essential member of the brigade’s intelligence team, have been non-stop.

Brittany Hardcastle from her Facebook page

In her current assignment with the STB, Soldiers preparing for missions and looking for intelligence have included squad leaders heading out on routine missions to three-star generals looking for holistic enemy trends. For Hardcastle, the standards remain the same – tailored intelligence that prepares the recipient for what he or she may face outside the wire.

Hardcastle knows that in order to get a feel for the intelligence that she sorts through every day, she needs to have a ground floor view of the terrain and its people. She volunteers for any mission that might need intelligence support so she can understand Herat Province. She has traveled to the Turkmenistan border with the deputy brigade commander and for medical outreach programs.

When she heard about the creation of the Female Engagement Team, a team designed to engage Afghan women unreachable by male Soldiers, she quickly volunteered and participated in the rigorous training to become a member. Despite the time it takes to accomplish these tasks, Hardcastle has not lost sight of her long term goals and continues to work through correspondence college courses.

DVIDS
Story by: Capt. John D. Finch

A Paratrooper assigned to A Company, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division removes rubble from the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 26. 2BSTB Soldiers worked with troopers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. and the Center of National Equipment to clear the streets, making it easier to distribute aid to locals. Photo by Pfc. Kissta Feldner

Buildings lean dangerously, looming over soldiers in the street below attempting to remove mounds of debris, the remains of structures that have already crumbled. As a tractor fills its bucket with a new load of fragmented concrete, it snags a downed power line, causing loose bricks to fall from the structure above. This scene is evidence of why the engineering mission here is so important.

When the road is cleared, it will become a safe route for international aid organizations to access areas of Port-au-Prince in need of assistance, as well as increase traffic flow, open the streets for vendors, and generally enhance functionality of the city.

Soldiers from the Italian Task Force have teamed up with Paratroopers with 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, in addition to their continued work with the Center of National Equipment, to clear the streets of the city.

The Paratroopers are using their loaders and Bobcat utility work machines to remove the massive amount of rubble left by the Jan. 12, earthquake. But, their mission would be much more time consuming if it weren’t for the addition of the Italians’ large machinery. Each day the Italians will be introducing more equipment as the mission progresses.

“[The Italians] have better assets,” said Sgt. Robert Medders, an Ackerman, Miss., native and engineer with 2BSTB, while working with the Italian soldiers, Feb. 17. “Their equipment has come in handy,” Medders said.

Additional soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2BCT, have been securing the site, roping off streets and stopping curious locals from entering the hazardous area. In the few days they have partnered with the Italians, the troopers are impressed with their work. “They’re good at what they do,” said Sgt. 1st Class Ernest Rodriguez, a Camden, N.J., native and platoon leader of 2nd Plt., D Company, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2BCT. “They’re pretty much doing it all on their own,” he said.

A 2nd BCT trooper stands with a group of Italian soldiers, taking a break from their work as the dust settles. They share a cigarette and swap unit patches – a custom that has become common among soldiers while working with their foreign counterparts – however, they exchange few words. This is not due to hard feelings or lack of interest in one another, but because neither speaks the others’ language.

1st Cpl. Giuseppe Colletto, an Italian army engineer, said at times it is difficult communicating with the American soldiers due to the language barrier and lack of interpreters, but they have had no problems completing their mission. Colletto said he is used to overcoming this obstacle after working with U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but for some of the 2nd BCT Paratroopers this partnership is a completely new experience. “It’s cool working with another country,” said Medders. “Everyone works a bit different.”

The Paratroopers are showing the Italians how to coordinate with CNE, the United Nations and local police so they can pull their own security, without U.S. assistance. The Italians have everything they need to do this job on their own, Rodriguez said. “These guys are outstanding,” he said. “They have a good understanding of what’s going on here and they’ll get the job done.”

But as an airborne infantry unit, the capabilities of the 2BCT engineers are limited in the face of such overwhelming destruction. “Our light engineers are incredibly skilled,” said Lt. Col. Tim Kehoe, deputy commanding officer, 2BCT, “but their light equipment is not designed for this type of mission.”

The introduction of Italian soldiers and equipment has made the difference in the rubble removal and street clearing mission but there is still so much to be done. “We are filling the gap in support of CNE until the right elements arrive to complete this mission,” Kehoe said.

DVIDS
Story by Pfc. Kissta Feldner

Paratroopers with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, assemble a tent for a needy family in Port-au-Prince, Feb. 16. Soldiers with HHC distributed and assembled five tents in four different locations around the city. (Army photo)

Haitian children explore the inside of a tent, using every flap and vent as an entrance, dodging their way between the legs of U.S. Army Paratroopers. Giggling, they pull at the ropes stabilizing the structure, testing its construction. The smell of freshly unpacked tents and the sound of children’s laughter fill the air.

This scene was replayed at four different sites around Port-au-Prince as Paratroopers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team went along their mission, providing shelter for Haitians in need. Despite the long hours, in the blistering sun, the joy of a child’s smile was considered the best part of the day for several of the Paratroopers present.

“It was great to see their smiles and appreciation for our hard work,” said Sgt. Greg Meyers, a native of Springfield, Ohio and forward observer with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.

More than a dozen Paratroopers assigned to HHC, 2BCT distributed and assembled five large tents, provided by the United States Agency for International Development, in four different areas of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for needy families and orphans. With the help of USAID, the Soldiers were able to locate people who were in need of shelter, which is becoming more important everyday due to the impending rainy season.

The Soldiers worked together to assemble the tents, first fitting together the frame, attaching the canvas, pounding stakes into the hard ground and finally tying the tent down. They even received help from the locals receiving the tents; stabilizing stakes while they were hammered into the ground and holding the tent steady as it was secured.

The Soldiers’ last stop for the day was the Christian Light Ministries orphanage. Starting as a school in 2002, Sherrie Fausey, a teacher from Jacksonville, Fla., began taking in orphaned children two years ago. “I came [to Port-au-Prince] on a one week visit. The Lord called me back to start a school,” Fausey said.

Fausey cared for 29 orphans prior to the earthquake; she now has 42. She has resumed classes for the children, however they are being held in the only two rooms of the building that are safe to enter as well as the courtyard. These locations also happen to be where the children sleep.

This will change, however, now that they have a shelter that can provide shade from the hot Caribbean sun during class hours and give the children a pest-free place to sleep.

Although it was a hard day’s work for the troopers, at the end of the day they still had energy to play with the children. When the Soldiers arrived, the orphans simply stood back and watched them work, but after a few minutes and receiving some well-deserved attention from the troopers, the children were giving them high-fives and hugging them around the legs.

Their appreciation for their new refuge was evident. Once the tent was erect, the orphans ran through it, surveying their new sanctuary. “It was nice to see someone get so excited about a tent,” said Clair Winstead, a native of Yanceyville, N.C., and intelligence analyst with HHC, 2BCT. “It seemed like, of all the people we could help,” Winstead said, “they were surprised we were there to help them.”

SouthCom
Story by Pfc. Kissta Feldner