Newsletter

To all friends and families of First Platoon,

We are back under a year again, finally. This month has been a pretty busy month for the platoon. We are still clearing lots of kilometers but we are starting to fall into a good routine. We try to give the soldiers as much down time as possible and no one seems to be getting burned out yet. We had our first group of guys go home on leave. That is a grand milestone to reach because it starts to give the guys something to look forward to. We had two new babies born in the platoon; congratulations to the Ford and Aven families. SSG Rivera took second place in a 10k run on the Army’s birthday. We got the internet hooked up in the soldiers rooms as some of you may have heard. Hopefully, this helps them stay in touch with you at home a little better. I know a lot of them have already purchased the web cams and other accessories so their loved ones can see them and vice versa back home.

With all of the countless number of miles spent on the road I think the statistic that we are most proud of as a platoon is that we have won over a confirmed number of 973 hearts and minds of the Afghan people.* The preferred method of winning hearts and minds is to utilize our friendly smiles and graceful waves. Children seem to be the easiest ones to win over with adults a little more skeptical.

On a negative note, the temperatures have reached 100+ degrees around here and we are burning up. Along with the warm temperatures all the sweet creepy crawly animals are coming out to play. Cooper and Horne said they saw a spider walking down the road the other day that had its own shadow.

The Colonel came and visited the platoon and seemed to be pleased with the way your Soldiers have been operating, so make sure to congratulate them on a job well done so far. We appreciate all of the support from home and look forward to the day when we get to take our own leave for those of us who haven’t yet.

If you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact me at todd.j.severson@us.army.mil.

1LT Todd Severson
1st Platoon Leader

* Disclaimer: This is just an arbitrary number and there is nothing confirmed about it.