Hello everyone! Well, another month has passed and we are closer to going home! Time has gone by very fast for most of us here. As always the “WolfPack” continues to lean forward and work hard to complete our mission. It seems like every month brings new challenges to overcome. Take the weather for instance; first it was the heat, then the wind and dust, straight to cold weather, and then rain and mud. Today the weather here was very mild and pleasant but during the mid day you can feel that the heat will be upon us soon. The execution of our mission here in Afghanistan does require a great amount of resiliency on the soldiers’ part. The soldiers of this company continue to take these challenges in stride and they get the job done. Since the start of our operations the “Wolfpack” has conducted over 116 missions, traveled over 222,113 miles, and hauled over 1625 loads through the rough and unimproved terrain of Afghanistan. We do have several months left to go and we are continuing to focus on safety. Every effort is made to ensure that your soldier has the right gear and that the risk has been mitigated to the lowest level possible. Keeping focused on this is critical over the next few months. “Short timer syndrome” is something that we will make sure doesn’t happen. Now would be a good time to collectively start talking about how you want to see our home coming unfold. I don’t necessarily have the final say but in my mind I feel that the home coming should be about reuniting the soldiers with their loved ones. Our unit is from all over the state and the location or locations where we return to is not very clear. We may just get told where the location is but if the soldiers and loved ones have a preference I will try to facilitate this. I know that our rear detachment and Brigade headquarters is starting to plan the reintegration process for the unit. I know some of the dates are still up in the air but I know there is a basic framework of events. Our rear detachment should be able to get you the latest information on what the plans are. The Minnesota Guard does put a lot of effort into these programs and they should be very helpful. We have come a long way as a unit and we have accomplished a lot over the last year. I would say the same thing is true about our FRG. Keep up the good work and take care of each other! Thank you! Captain Nilsen
To the families and friends of the 114th TC Soldiers, Hello from Afghanistan, I trust everyone had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year. We celebrated Christmas with a football tournament and a special holiday meal. New Years was a light day also with minimal work having to be completed. We have welcomed into the world some new children of our Soldiers and I hope that moms and babies are doing well. Congratulations to you all. As we enter the new year, the Wolfpack continues to excel at their mission. The Soldiers of the Wolfpack seem to never let us down. The tempo has picked up significantly and they adjust and work harder to make the pack successful. You can be very proud of your Soldier for the job that they are doing. I know that the commander and I could not have asked for a better group of Soldiers. Their ability to adapt and overcome obstacles and teamwork is without reproach. The Camp is under constant changes. Mostly they are improvements. Most of our Soldiers have moved into a new living area. They now have a hard stand building instead of a tent. There are still a few of us in tents, however, the plan is for all of us to be in hard stands in the next month. The Marines are working out a few issues with showers and latrines to facilitate the number of Soldiers and Marines in that area. We are also in the process of changing around our motor pool to allow for some better buildings for offices and MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation). Our hope is that we when we leave our replacements have it better than we did. Speaking of things getting better here, all the packages of treats and supplies over Christmas was great. Thank you all for your support of the Soldiers over here. We were overwhelmed by all the gifts of support from everyone back home. The packages really helped us out over the trying times of being away from our loved ones over the holidays. Thank You. Sincerely,
Scott D. Lehmkuhl
1SG 114th TC
FOB Leatherneck Afghanistan
