The sun sets on Operation New Dawn

Courtesy Photo | Gen. Martin E. Dempsey coins 1st Sgt. Dale B. Klitzke, Delta Company first sergeant, Dec. 14, 2011 at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. Klitzke is one of two Armor Company first sergeants from the Brainerd-based 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 194th Armor (1-194 CAB), 1/34th Brigade Combat Team of the Minnesota National Guard. The 1-194 CAB has had a front row seat in history in their Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, conducting 790 convoy escort security missions, traveling more than 1.2 million combat miles through 11 of Iraq’s 18 provinces. (Photo by Deanie Dempsey)  

CAMP VIRGINIA, KUWAIT

12.14.2011

Story by Capt. John Hobot 

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th Red Bull Infantry Division

CAMP VIRGINIA, Kuwait - Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife, Deanie, shared a meal and conversation with members of the Minnesota National Guard’s Brainerd-based 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 194th Armor, Dec. 14, 2011.

The night before Gen. Dempsey flew north to Baghdad to close the final chapter of Operation New Dawn, he made a point to attend a dinner engagement with a group of Army leaders at a Camp Buehring dining facility. Gen. Dempsey took this opportunity to ask some unit leaders who directly supported the withdrawal plan for some 360 degree feedback.

The 1-194 CAB has had a front row seat in history in their Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, conducting 790 convoy escort security missions, traveling more than 1.2 million combat miles through 11 of Iraq’s 18 provinces. There was one consensus that resonated among the leadership sitting at this table. The sum total of the unit’s success during the drawdown phase of Operation New Dawn was carried on the backs of the fine soldiers that served under them and the professionalism, fortitude and stamina put forth by these soldiers exceeded expectations.

Gen. Dempsey touched on an important theme with these Minnesota National Guard soldiers on the totality of this deployment.

Command Sgt. Maj. John Lepowsky, the battalion command sergeant major for 1-194 CAB, said, “I agreed with Gen. Dempsey that we must capture and fully understand what our unit has done here in a short period of time. We conducted a train-up for Operation New Dawn, supported the final phase of the Iraq War, and now we will transition back to training our force during the remaining time we have here in Kuwait.”

As one can imagine, the conversation would not have been complete if these Minnesota soldiers did not bring up the 10th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the longest serving active-duty member in the U.S. Army, Minnesota native Gen. John W. Vessey. The new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had many kind words to say about Vessey and mentioned that he has summoned advice from both Vessey and Gen. Colin Powell during his first 90 days in office.

The dinner with the highest ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces and principal military adviser to the president will be forever remembered by these Minnesota National Guard soldiers.

“The unit training plan for the next few months will focus not only on honing specific military occupational skill sets that are perishable, but we will get back to the basics and polish other essential leadership skills that get neglected in a steady state of war,” said Lt. Col. Brian Melton, battalion commander, 1-194 CAB.

• Date Taken: 12.14.2011
• Date Posted: 12.30.2011 02:25
• Story ID: 81892
• Location: CAMP VIRGINIA, KW