"T" Battery
Commanding Officer
Capt Brian Donnelly
Battery 1st Sergeant
1stSgt Mark D. Wright
Battery Office (760)725-2341
Duty (760)725-1051
1st Platoon:
The Marines of First Platoon have been performing well and maintaining strong, positive attitudes. Since our arrival we have seen the promotion of several Marines, Private First Class Cantu and Private First Class Paup were both awarded the rank of Lance Corporal. In early March, for his dedication and outstanding performance, Lance Corporal Mongesalinas received a Combat Meritorious Promotion to the rank of Corporal. We have also seen the addition of two new children to the families of two of our Marines. Sgt Virola’s wife gave birth to their son; and Lt Digirolamo’s wife gave birth to their son. As a whole, the Marines have continued to remain focused on their mission and grow together as family.
2nd Platoon:
The Marines and Sailor from 2nd Platoon are doing outstanding and staying quite busy supporting the ongoing operations throughout our area. We have continued to push the operational tempo while engaging in the not so sexy annual training requirement classes required for all. Shortly, we will begin MCMAP training and firing ranges to maintain our marksmanship skills. LCpl Harris, LCpl Griffith, and LCpl Guerrero have birthdays in the month of March which we will celebrate. We promoted three Marines to LCpl: LCpl Yazzie, LCpl Priddy, LCpl Johnson, and we had one Marine promoted to Cpl, Cpl Timbana and another promoted to Sgt, Sgt Gulan. The platoon stays busy on their off time by running and working out at the gym where you can see all of them when they are in their off time. We have completed multiple pull-up challenges with LCpl Jimenez and Cpl Timbana leading the way with 28 and 29 pull-ups respectively. SSgt Romer and I enjoy every Marine’s presence and are truly grateful for the opportunity to lead, work, and interact with them on a daily basis.
3rd Platoon:
The Marines of third platoon have settled in to life at COP Payne and continue to show significant motivation for their mission in Afghanistan. This is despite living in what remain rather austere conditions. COP Payne is growing and the Marines are benefitting from this construction, with many improvements to the quality of life visible in the near future. In spite of the difficulties, the Marines have maintained an outstanding positive outlook and continue training to provide essential HIMARS fire support. The downtime has been filled with Marine Corps Martial Arts training, a strong man competition that pitted us against each other in acts of strength, and many hours at our makeshift gym. Each one of us truly appreciates the support from friends and families back in the states. Your letters, packages, and emails play an important part in keeping us going. Know that we are proud to be serving our country and greatly looking forward to a happy reunion with you all soon.
