Well here we are in May already, and by the time this letter is posted on the Brigade site, we should be about 60 days out from closing in on Fort Carson. Needless to say we are all anxiously awaiting that day from both ends! Once the unit arrives at Carson, there will be several days of in-processing, and redeployment briefings before the unit goes on 30 days of well-earned leave; expect your soldier to be on leave sometime early to mid August. I realize there is still a lot up in the air with follow on assignments, PCS moves (permanent change of station), follow-on schools, and such, and it can be quite frustrating. We are currently being told we will have most of those answers by the end of May, and I am hoping that will be the case. Please bear in mind the difficulty of this task for HRC (Human Resources Command) as they try to take what really amounts to several thousand individual cases, coming from Korea and not the States, and nest it with the dreaded "needs of the Army," while still trying to catch soldiers up on schooling, and honor reenlistment, and HAP assignments. Let me just say, I'm glad that's not my job! Remember that the most important thing overall is to get our soldiers home safely.

It has been a busy last few weeks for Hardrock. During the middle of April, 2nd and 3rd Platoon and the Company Headquarters moved to a place called Combat Outpost (sounds rather ominous, doesn't it?), and spent several weeks with the 1-503rd Battalion helping control movement in and out of the city of Ar Ramadi. As part of that process we worked just about every day with squad sized elements of Iraqi soldiers as they continue to train towards putting us out of a job. Frankly, they can have it!

During the beginning of this month, Hardrock, as part of a Battalion mission, spent several days deactivating 3 Iraqi battalions of the Iraqi National Guard or the ING as they are called, which had been operating in the 1-506th battlespace. The ING were an interim measure to provide Iraqi military presence in the area in the absence of a standing regular Iraqi army. As the regular Iraqi army continues to grow and improve, they move into areas where the ING had been operating, and these ING units are then deactivated and then given the opportunity to enlist in the regular army. It was a pretty successful operation, and a continued step in the right direction.

The month of May will see another group of Hardrock soldiers head home for about two weeks of leave. Thankfully, it has turned out to be the case that every soldier in this company has or will have the opportunity to go home on leave during this deployment, and spend some well deserved time home with family and friends.

CPT John H. Sandler
Company Commander