Family Program Office
The last date to send packages to Mountain Company is October 15th.
The last date to send packages to Mountain Company is October 15th.
Nothing should be sent after that date.
Bravo Company, 3-172nd Infantry (Mountain)
The Mountain Infantry Battalion is headquartered at the Mountain Warfare School. The Army's only battalion fully trained in military mountaineering, it was formed in 1982. The Vermont National Guard opened the Mountain Warfare School the next year, custom-fit to the needs of the battalion.
The 172d Infantry (Regiment) (Mountain) was constituted 1 September 1982 in the Vermont Army National Guard as the 72d Infantry, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System, and organized to consist of Company A. Redesignated 1 April 1983 as the 172d Infantry. Reorganized 1 December 1983 to consist of Company A and the 3d Battalion. Reorganized 1 October 1984 in the Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont Army National Guard to consist of the 3d Battalion. Withdrawn 1 May 1989 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System with Headquarters at Jericho, Vermont. Reorganized 1 September 1992 in the Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont National Guard.
Letters from CPT B.
Family and Friends of Bravo Company,
As many of you who follow the news know the weather has been rather crazy here lately. It seems like it rains here every day lately. Normally the mornings are bright and sunny, but by mid-afternoon the clouds roll in and dump a heavy amount of rain for 30 to 40 minutes. As a result, many of the villages that we operate in have had their crops damaged or completely destroyed. There seems be no relief for those bearing the brunt of the flooding. Hopefully this pattern of weather will change and people can get to the business of repairing their homes and fields.
COP Dand Patan continues to see many improvements. These men have done a great job of not letting complacency set in and they are going to hand off an installation far better than the one we inherited. More to the point, most units do, in some way, shape or form make things better than they found them. What is impressive in Bravo Company’s particular case is the extent of the improvements. I may be bias, but there are maybe a handful of units in the Army that could have accomplished as much as they have in such a short period of time. There are still many short comings in terms of amenities and I am frustrated with how slow that process has worked, but in terms of security upgrades I’m pleased.
The most interesting news out of Dand Patan lately is the new RIAB. RIAB stands for Radio In A Box. I requested it the first week we got here and it finally happened in July. So, yes COP Dand Patan has its own radio station with locals DJs, popular Afghan music, news, and educational programming. Every Saturday night we play one hour of American music and it has been well received. Last Saturday we opened up with, what is in my opinion the greatest rock song of all time, “Baba O’Reily” a.k.a “Teenage Wasteland”, by the Who. People call in all the time with music request and strangely enough some of them openly admit they are Taliban. I like the fact that the Taliban listen. That means some of them may actually hear the truth, and that’s hard to argue with. We have hosted several Parliamentary candidates. They list their agenda and field calls from the local population and one of the candidates just happened to be a woman. Now that is connecting people to the government in ways that have never happened here! It gives me great pleasure to see what this radio station has done in such a short time. As Americans we suffer from information overload and that makes it hard to understand the Afghan perspective. To fully grasp the RIABs impact here you have to talk to your grandparents who remember Roosevelt’s Fire Side Chats and Orson Wells. People here now get news about places they have never heard of. We have done educational programming about farming and bring in experts to answer questions. There was a history of Dand Patan series that was very popular. Many people were unaware of even their own history. Consider this, for a local population that is 90% illiterate, the RIAB is literally the sole media/entertainment outlet. Some people call in just to hear themselves on the radio. When the Taliban wound innocent civilians in their attacks, (which happens with some regularity) I make it known on Voice of Patan Radio. The beauty is that you don’t have to put a spin on it. We’re like Dragnet, “just the facts Ma’am.”
I’m an Infantry Company Commander with significant fire power at my disposal. I can have helicopters and Air Force jets on station in minutes. Be that as it may, I am quickly realizing my most power weapon sits in Tower 1 broadcasting out on the airways of frequency FM 92.0.
Ascend to Victory!
CPT B.
