Brookstone Academy Reaches Out to Soldiers

Story and photos by Sgt. Ben Hutto, 3rd HBCT Public Affairs Office

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – Over 300 letters from the students of Brookstone Academy, located in Columbus, Ga., were distributed Dec. 8 to 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Soldiers stationed at Forward Operating Base Kalsu.

Students ranging from pre-kindergarten to seniors in high school sent letters encouraging the Soldiers and inquiring about their lives and loved ones back in the United States.

As Soldiers read their letters aloud, questions ranging from “Are you scared?” to “What is your favorite sport?” filled rooms at FOB Kalsu.

“This is a good opportunity for students to see that Soldiers are people just like them,” said Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Harris, the non-commissioned officer in charge of civil operations for the 3rd HBCT. “We are hoping to use these letters as an opportunity to further build our relationship with Brookstone Academy.”

Before the unit’s current deployment, middle school students from Brookstone visited Kelley Hill, the home of the 3rd HBCT on Fort Benning, Ga., and experienced the day in the life of a Sledgehammer Soldier in a garrison environment.

Col. Pete Jones, the commander of the 3rd HBCT, is encouraging all of his Soldiers to write back and help the students understand what is going on in Iraq.

“I think it’s a great opportunity,” he said. “I’ve already have my two letters I’ll be responding to.”

In addition to responding, Jones will be filming holiday greetings for each class at the school.

“We want to get in touch with all the teachers at the schools and see if we can help any of their history classes,” he said. “The brigade is currently in a very historic place. Not far from here are the ruins of Babylon. Alexander the Great died near where our FOB is. We’d love to send pictures and video back of places like that to help make those places more real to those students.”

Spc. Dwayne Williams, a Soldier assigned to Company B, 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, reads a letter from a student from the Brookstone Academy at his company’s headquarters on Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, Dec. 8. Students from the school mailed over 300 hundred letters to the Soldiers of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team.
Cpt. Joan Hollein, the commander of Headquarters Troop, 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, laughs as she reads a letter from a student from the Brookstone Academy at her company’s headquarters on Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, Dec. 8. Soldiers assigned to the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, received over 300 letters from the school’s students.

Cpt. Kwesi Ramsey, the assistant operations officer of the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, reads a letter sent from a student at the Brookstone Academy at his battalion’s headquarters on Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, Dec. 8. Soldiers assigned to 2-69 Armor Regt., 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, and the Brigade Special Troops Battalion received letters from the school’s students.

Col. Pete Jones, the commander of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, receives letters sent from students at the Brookstone Academy at his brigade’s headquarters on Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, Dec. 8. Jones’s brigade received more than 300 hundred letters from the academy’s three schools.