Greetings from PB Assassin

May 30, 2007

Greetings, Assassin Family,
I sincerely hope this letter finds everyone doing well. As it leaves me it leaves the men and I doing well.Well, another month has passed and a lot has happened during the past month. To start with the month of May brought many things with it…such as heat. It has been hot all month with most days reaching over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the heat, the men have still performed superbly in executing over 90 combat patrols. To further add, we have executed combined operations with both the Iraqi National Police and the Iraqi Police, continuing to build on their confidence and build on the rapport between coalition forces. Unfortunately the entire month has not been very well for us. As you all may know by now, three Assassins have been taken out of the fight and are in hospitals recovering from their injuries; thank God that none of those injuries are life-threatening. However, I continue to ask that you keep all the service members over here in your prayers, but please add a special prayer request for SGT Santos, SPC McQuiston, and SPC Grenier. All three are in separate hospitals so please assist the families in keeping these young men’s spirits up as they may feel alone during this time of struggle. Considering that I am still receiving treatment for my wound in which I learned recently that there is nerve damage, I can only imagine what thoughts can be running through our young heroes’ minds.

Not to change the subject, but we have moved to Patrol Base Assassin. The men have been working their butts off for the past couple of days to get our force protection up and satisfactory living conditions sustainable. We will continue to work as such for the next day in an effort of being fully operational. Later today I will announce to the men that we do have one phone and one computer to call or send emails home. As I type, the computer specialist got both systems working. Later down the road we hope to have more systems available and have a fully functional MWR for our men. The men are living inside buildings and we are working as fast as possible to have operating air conditioning units in their rooms. 1st Platoon is complete with this requirement. 2nd Platoon should be complete today. Mortars and Headquarters section, which both sections reside in the same building, should also be complete today. As for snail mail, we will conduct patrols periodically back to FOB Hammer to retrieve the mail.

Yesterday I received two packages from PFC Cattey’s mother, Ms. Donna Cattey. She has been working diligently to collect us beanie babies to pass to the Iraqi children while on our patrols. It is a great idea and I look forward to handing them out in our needier villages when we resume our patrols.

During this past month we have experienced the difference between rumors and news. I ask that all back there please remember to be responsible with the information being passed through unofficial channels. None of us wants to hear “bad” news and when news comes that is inaccurate, it makes the situation worse than it should be. So please be careful in our words and actions.

Lastly, the 1st day of this month also brought news that I will be moving to command Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment. The exact date is still not known, but the change of command will take place sometime early July. The individual that will replace me is Captain Troy Thomas who currently works in the Squadron Operations Center. He is a great guy and will perform well for the men. Some of you may be asking yourself, “I thought he was staying in command until they returned?” I can only reply with, I thought I was also. However, the move is not a bad move and is a good career move for me. As a combat arms officer, your records look good if you have two successful commands. A lot of people are only afforded one. The Brigade Commander has been impressed with the Assassins enough to give me a second command. So with a heavy heart I formally announce to you that I will be leaving during the summer. But as I mentioned before, the men will be in outstanding hands and I have the utmost confidence in CPT Thomas that he will do a better job than I have.

Well, I think I have rambled on long enough. Oh yeah, May also brought the start of R&R Leave in which some of you have Soldiers back home with you. Next month will see approximately another nine Assassins return home for R&R Leave. Considering the difficulties it has been with getting some of the Soldiers out of FOB Hammer, I will not attempt to tell you when they are coming home. Rather, I will allow them to contact you personally when they receive their travel plans in Kuwait.

Take care, God bless, and please remember to keep SGT Santos, SPC McQuiston, and SPC Grenier in your thoughts and prayers.

--Respectfully,
Captain Arthur L. McGrue III
Troop Commander
Alpha Troop, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry