C/44 EN Commander's Letter to the Company

Outstanding job! Every Sapper of Charlie Rock should be extremely proud of his performance during our year in Iraq. Since we arrived at Camp Habbaniyah in late August 2004 and were immediately task organized with the Currahees of Task Force 1-506th IN, and later with First Rock, you have performed with excellence and distinction in one of the most volatile provinces in this country.

Your accomplishments have been nothing short of incredible, operating in lands that stretch from Fallujah to Ramadi. You've been called on to conduct every mission possible from cache sweeps, to cordon and searches, to targeted raids, to boat operations, to FOB projects, to patrols in the local area, to disabling IEDs. You've operated side by side with your Infantry brothers and have accomplished every task that has been asked of you. You've led the way fighting alongside the Marines in the historic second battle of Fallujah. You've led the way on countless missions with the Currahees of 1-506th Infantry through areas with names like Khalidiyah, Mudiq, Jazeera, and Julaybah and with 1-503rd Infantry fighting through the tough urban environment of Ramadi.

Through it all, you've distinguished yourselves repeatedly with acts that may not have seemed significant at the time, but that made a great difference overall. Every cache you found took weapons and IEDs out of the hands of the enemy. Every raid took combatants off the street. Every search mission developed valuable intelligence to continue our fight to destroy the insurgency. And every FOB project increased the level of safety and security for those on our camp. Your aggressiveness and persistent efforts have given this company the great reputation it holds today.

Hold your heads high and recognize that your hard work, professionalism, and commitment to mission accomplishment have had a significant impact on the overall successes of both task forces and of the Strike Brigade. I could not be more proud of all of you and I sincerely thank you for all that you've done.