As battlefield medicine continues its 

evolution, Soldiers & medics reap benefits 

As battlefield medicine continues its 

evolution, Soldiers & medics reap benefits 

Paintball event simulates classic Big Red One/German battles from WWII

Riley County Fliers extend invitation to enthusiasts of radio controlled airplanes

Unofficial 1st Infantry Division Magazine of Soldiers and Families | www.riley.army.mil
 Duty First! July 2011 

|1

Duty First!

The Duty First is an unofficial publication pro-

duced under the provisions of AR 360-1, pub-

lished by Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division. 

Editorial views and opinions expressed are not 

necessarily those of the Department of Defense, 

the Army or the 1st Infantry Division. All photos 

are Army photos unless otherwise noted. Circu-

lation is 6,000 per issue, printed monthly. Story 

and photos submissions are welcome and should 

be sent to: 

1st Infantry Division

Public Affairs Office 

ATTN: Editor 

Bldg. 580

RM 313

Fort Riley, KS 66442

Telephone number

COM 785-239-6821

DSN 856-6821 

or visit Duty First online at www.riley.army.mil.

1st Infantry Division Commander

Maj. Gen. William Mayville

1st Infantry Division CSM

Command Sgt. Maj. Jim Champagne

1st Infantry Division PAO

Lt. Col. Sophie Gainey

Editor

Jordan Chapman

Staff Writers

Stephanie Hoff

Mollie Miller

Illustrator

Justin Angeles

mollie miller, duty first! magazine

No Mission too Difficult. No Sacrifice too Great.

July 2011 | www.riley.army.mil

COVER: Sgt. Andre Proctor, 701st Bri-

gade Support Battalion, 4th Infantry Bri-

gade Combat Tram, 1st Infantry Divi-

sion, directs treatment of his patient 

during a May Combat Lifesaver training 

course at Fort Riley’s Medical Simula-

tion Training Center.

C ONTENTS

Departments

Features

Danger 6

Medical personnel 

essential part of team Around the Division

CAB Soldier contingent returns 

to Fort Riley from Iraq Danger 7

Medics’ efforts recognized 

throughout Army’s history PICTORIAL

View advancements in the 

field of military medicine Life Outside the Gate

Riley County Fliers assume 

control over model planes 

Painting history red

Paintball event simulates 

classic WWII battles of 1ID 

Fixing it to last

Surgery offers medic chance 

to fix Soldiers for long haul Making big improvements

Sulfa powders, penicillin helped 

WWII medical efforts in big way A new standard

Civil War medics paved way for 

modern battlefield evacuation Dealt a lucky hand

1ID Soldier recipient of good 

luck, good medical care

Witnessing miracles

CAB medic has seen it all 

over five deployments

Hospital NCOs share stories 

Efforts not going unnoticed 

by personnel around them Finding comfort with others

Warrior transition unit musters 

for recreation and resources

23

22

28

24

1064

18

20

12

TEAMWORK is the foundation of the Big Red One. I shall

never fail my team, for I maintain the standard. My conduct and 

self-discipline set the example for others to follow.

HONOR is what I stand for–an American Soldier on duty

for my country. My loyalty is intense. I display care for

my fellow Soldiers and my chain of command through courage, 

respect, integrity and compassion.

I have learned to ENDURE

, to thrive in adversity. 

The harsh reality of combat gives me the enthusiasm for

realistic training. I am physically and mentally strong to

meet the demanding situations my unit encounters.

We are one in the Big Red One. Our BROTHERHOOD

gives us strength to fight on to any objective and accomplish the 

mission as our veterans have done before us. I live the legacy of my division.

READINESS is my priority. To be ready for any mission,

anytime, anywhere. My business is first-class training and living high 

standards of care and equipment, weaponry and tactical and 

technical competence.

My ORGANIZATION is my strength. The BRO is bigger 

than any one individual. It gives me purpose, self-confidence, 

competitive spirit, intestinal fortitude and the desire to fight 

with all my heart.
Men and women of the 

Army medical profession 

who have earned the 

Medal of Honor are present throughout history since the medal’s creation 

in 1862. 

The first Army medic to receive the 

honor was a Civil War surgeon named 

William R. D. Blackwood in 1897, who 

removed severely wounded officers 

and Soldiers from the field while under 

heavy fire from the enemy. 

Since then, 51 battle medics and 

surgeons have distinguished themselves on battlefields during the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American 

War, the Philippine Insurrection, 

World Wars I and II, the Korean War 

and Vietnam, which was the largest 

producer of medical Medal of Honor 

recipients, with 17 awarded, eight 

posthumously.

Yet, these individuals who have 

been awarded the medal have braved 

the extraordinary. Where would the 1st 

Inf. Div. be without all those who fight 

to keep our Soldiers alive when they are 

in need. They are on the frontlines, in 

our rear detachments and they are 

ready 24 hours a day.

Through consistent medical practice, 

major advancements have been made 

in keeping wounded Soldiers alive and 

returned to their families. It is estimated 

that between World War I and II alone, 

the survival rate of wounded Soldiers 

increased to 50 percent.

Sixty-six years after World War II, 

knowledge gained from the medical 

field as well as the training given to a 

portion of our BRO Buddies in each unit 

in our Combat Life Saver courses has 

raised that percentage exponentially.

When a Soldier is injured, we now 

know what must be done to stabilize 

that man or woman long enough to get 

them back to a medic or hospital.

Without our doctors, many of us 

wouldn’t be around today. It is not a 

profession for the light hearted, it demands courage and we are forever 

grateful.

Keep doing what you’re doing, keep 

your training consistent and strong and 

no matter what, complete the mission 

with Big Red One style!

Now ... get after it!

This issue of “Duty First!” focuses largely on Big Red One Soldiers who have chosen to serve 

in the medical professions doing whatever it takes to keep our men and women healthy and combat effective. These 

professionals ensure that our Soldiers 

are medically fit for deployment and are 

focused on helping them through any 

number of challenges developed during 

rotations in and out of combat. Without 

their dedication, our force would not be 

able to stay effective in combat. They 

never falter in their ability to serve our 

Soldiers and Families. 

Medics, doctors, nurses and surgeons, you are doing an outstanding 

job and provide us all with the best 

medical care possible. The division 

couldn’t have made it this far without 

you, and we need your expertise today 

just as much as we did in the nation’s 

previous wars.

As leaders, we all must stay committed to supporting the medical needs of 

our Soldiers. We must focus on reducing the number of Soldiers who are 

non-deployable because of injuries sustained and other medical conditions. 

Additionally, we must continuously 

support our injured Soldiers regardless 

of their location. Always remember 

they are still part of our formation and 

we have an obligation to support them 

and their Families as they recover. 

I have spent the first month and a 

half of my command getting to know 

the officers, Soldiers, and Families of 

the Division, our installations and the 

outlying communities. I remain in awe 

of the professionalism and dedication 

of each individual I have met. I have 

spent much of this time listening to the 

issues and learning what is important 

to our Soldiers both deployed and serving here at home, and their Families. I 

am confident that we are on the right 

path to grow as a Division and an installation, continuously forging strong 

relationships with those in our communities and those who serve to support 

our Families throughout the region. 

I have talked at great length with our 

senior leaders and have emphasized that 

we must master our basic Soldiers skills 

while developing competent, confident 

and adaptable leaders who are prepared 

to fight in any number of unknown combat scenarios. Through continued training 

and dedicated service, the exceptional 

skills and professionalism of our Soldiers, 

NCOs and Officers will continue to lead 

our division in the right direction as we 

move forward into an unknown future. 

Know that your accomplishments 

reflect admirably upon the great history 

of the Big Red One and remember that 

it is our fighting spirit and will to win 

that distinguishes us and continues to 

make us great. 

No Mission Too Difficult, No Sacrifice Too Great ... Duty First!

2| www.riley.army.mil Duty First! July 2011 |3

Commanding General DANGER 6 Command Sergeant Major DANGER 7

Medical personnel essential Medics’ efforts appreciated 

Maj. Gen. William Mayville Division Command Sgt. Maj. Jim Champagne
4| www.facebook.com/1stInfantryDivision Duty First! July 2011 |5

Historians have said that the 115 

trained medical officers who made up the 

Army medical department at the beginning of the war never envisioned the vast 

amount of illness, injury and death the 

Civil War would introduce and were in 

no way prepared for the horrors they encountered on America’s battlefields. 

“As was the case with much of the 

Army structure at the onset of the Civil 

War, the Army medical department was 

not ready for war,” Mary Gillett wrote in 

her book The Army Medical Department 1818–1865. “Medical officers had 

no concept of the difficulties that would 

be involved in dealing with casualties on 

the scale of those of the Civil War and 

were unaccustomed to developing plans 

for evacuating, hospitalizing and caring 

for vast numbers of wounded and sick 

or preventing disease in camps with 

populations of thousands.”

Charged with the dual duties of treating disease and evacuating and caring 

for combat wounded, medical department personnel faced many challenges 

in the early days of the Civil War as they 

worked to stop the spread of disease and 

infection and develop a consistent battlefield evacuation plan.

While they eventually developed a 

successful battlefield evacuation plan, 

medical personnel never got a handle on 

how to deal with the diseases and infections that ravaged the formation. 

During the Civil War, more men were 

killed by disease than by combat by a ratio of 2 to 1.

“The first enemy Civil War recruits 

faced was disease,” according to information released by the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. “Healthy recruits became victims of illnesses that 

were easily spread due to the large number of people in the camps, the unsanitary conditions and the poor diet of the 

Soldiers.”

Another factor in the high disease 

and infection mortality rate was the fact 

that medical personnel of the day didn’t 

fully understand the germ theory of infection or the necessity of sterile or clean 

instruments, bandages and other items. 

For example, as infection developed in a 

wound, physicians would commonly 

spread the infectious pus the wound 

was producing around the body as it 

was thought the pus was part of the 

healing process. 

“Most men survived in spite of treatment rather than because of it,” Capt. 

Louis Duncan wrote in the book The 

Medical Department of the United States 

Army in the Civil War. “The amazing 

part, however, is that anyone managed 

to survive at all.” 

One area of wound treatment 

where the medical department was a 

bit more successful was in the arena 

of amputations. 

Because of the nature of the weapons 

used during the war, 68 percent of Civil 

War wounds involved extremities. Depending on the severity of the wound, 

the treatment of extremity injuries almost always included amputation, a 

surgery that frequently took five minutes or less.

“At least 30,000 amputations were 

completed during the Civil War,” Gillett 

wrote. “Although occasional reports of 

excessive enthusiasm for amputations 

did surface during the Civil War, this 

form of surgery was apparently often 

undertaken only after careful consideration of the alternatives.” 

Alternatives, including the partial removal of portions of bone and attempts 

to preserve the bone, usually met with 

follow-on infection which meant almost 

certain death. In light of the high mortality rate of the alternatives, the 25 to 30 

percent mortality rate that accompanied 

amputations didn’t seem too bad. 

While not overly successful in any 

one area of medical care during the Civil 

War, the Army medical department did 

realize a good deal of success when it 

came to evacuating the wounded from 

the battlefield. 

The National Museum of Civil War 

Medicine reports that at the beginning of 

the Civil War, there was no established 

system to transport wounded soldiers 

from the front lines to the field hospitals 

in the rear. This changed when, in August 1862, Dr. Jonathan Letterman, then 

the medical director of the Army of the 

Potomac, created a highly organized 

system of ambulances and trained 

stretcher bearers designed to evacuate 

the wounded as quickly as possible. 

The first stop the wounded made in 

the evacuation process was a field dressing station located close to the fighting 

where they would receive what today 

would be considered basic first aid. The 

second stop was a field hospital located 

at the rear of the fighting. Here soldiers 

were triaged into three categories: mortally wounded, slightly wounded and 

surgical cases. If an amputation was 

needed, it was usually done at the field 

hospital. The final stop for the wounded 

was a pavilion hospital usually located 

far from the fighting in a large city. The 

pavilion-style hospitals were clean, well 

ventilated and efficient. 

This three stop evacuation plan remains the basis for present military 

evacuation systems.

During the Civil War, more than 

12,000 medical officers examined more 

than 250,000 wounds and treated more 

than 7 million cases of disease. In total, 

300 Army surgeons died from wounds, 

disease and accidents. 

“Civil War physicians faced an overwhelming task working with limited 

means,” Gillett wrote. “Although not 

terribly successful in terms of numbers, 

the physicians fought a gallant fight with 

the tools and information available at 

the time.”

By Mollie Miller | Duty First! Magazine

Civil War medical personnel paved 

way for modern battlefield evacuation

F

ar from the humming blades of MEDEVAC helicopters and the sterile operating rooms of 

Combat Support Hospitals there exists a memory of Civil War-era medical care that bears little 

resemblance to today’s Army medical system. 

In this Civil War world where neighbor fought 

neighbor and Army physicians worked tirelessly 

to cure and repair America’s fighting men, the 

military medical community laid the ground 

work for modern Army medicine because they 

knew wars would always need to be fought and 

sick and injured would always need to be 

healed. 

The number of Civil War fatalities paints a 

grim picture of the world in which Army physicians and other medical personnel practiced their 

craft from 1861 to 1865. During the four year war, 

620,000 soldiers died as the result of combat injuries, disease and accidents and hundreds of thousands more were injured. 

Courtesy illustrations 

ABOVE: Injured Civil War soldiers, like those pictured in this illustration from the book “The Medical Department of 

the United States Army in the Civil War,” were often treated at a field dressing station located close to the fighting. 

Once at the field dressing station, the soldiers would receive what today would be considered basic first aid. OPPOSITE PAGE: Tools, like the ones shown in this 1861 field operating case, were often used to treat a variety of injuries 

on numerous people without any thought of sterilization or wound contamination. The resulting infections often 

proved fatal for the soldiers of the Civil War. 
6| www.riley.army.mil Duty First! July 2011 |7

So many advancements, in fact, it is 

estimated the ratio of Soldiers who 

were wounded and survived was increased to 50 percent; up from the estimated 4 percent who were wounded 

and survived during World War I. 

Sgt. Allen Towne served as a medic 

during the war with Company B, 1st 

Medical Battalion of the 1st Infantry Division. In his memoir, Doctor Danger Forward: A World War II Memoir of a Combat 

Medical Admin, First Infantry Division, he 

noted that unlike today, each division in 

WWII had a medical battalion assigned 

to it. The battalions were comprised of a 

headquarters, three collecting companies and one clearing company. 

Towne and his Soldiers had a large 

task to complete. His company—

which consisted of a little more than 

100 Soldiers—was responsible for 

providing medical support for the 

18th Infantry Regiment, made up of 

nearly 5,000 Soldiers. 

Tasked as a collecting company, 

usually comprised of an aid station located between a quarter and two miles 

behind the infantry companies, Towne 

and his crew were responsible for the 

removal of wounded and casualties 

from the battlefield, performing immediate first aid and administering treatment to minor wounds before Soldiers 

were returned to the front lines. 

If it was determined that a Soldier’s 

wounds were too severe to be treated at 

the collecting company’s aid station, he 

would then be evacuated to the clearing 

company’s aid station. The facility was 

responsible for triage procedures, providing temporary care for the wounded 

until their condition improved or evacuation to a European hospital. Amongst 

all this, they also needed to prepare appropriate medical records for patients. 

Why the dramatic increase in survival rates when it came to comparing 

the two world wars?

During the First World War, physicians and medical personnel were more 

likely to spend precious time trying to 

save a fatally wounded Soldier, while 

another Soldier with treatable injuries 

was left unattended.

The increase occurred when medics 

and doctors began to triage patients. If 

a Soldier was diagnosed with a fatal injury during WWII, then he was given 

medication to be made comfortable and 

the medical professionals could allocate 

their services to possibly saving the 

lives of fellow Soldiers. 

“In battle, you have to make a personal adjustment about the values of 

life and death or at least put it in the 

back of your mind or you can lose control of yourself,” Towne recalled in his 

memoir. “We also found out that a collecting aid station is not an optimistic 

place to gauge the progress of a battle. 

Combine this with the utter exhaustion 

of working 36 hours without any sleep, 

and we were sure the battle was lost.” 

Two large players in the improvements of the medical services offered 

during WWII were actually small in 

size and could be found in the pockets 

of nearly every combat medic. Packets 

of sulfanilamide and sulfathiazole, 

commonly referred to by Soldiers as 

“sulfa powder,” proved invaluable 

when applied to wounds to serve as a 

first line of defense against infection. 

While penicillin had been discovered 

before the breakout of WWII, the war 

served as a catalyst to force companies 

to research ways to produce the “miracle 

drug” on a mass scale. The discovery of 

how to do just that, would later lead to 

Howard Florey, Ernst Chain and Alexander Fleming receiving a Nobel Prize 

for Physiology or Medicine in 1945. The 

antibiotic was administered by injection 

and is credited with saving the lives of 

countless Soldiers. 

“Warfare is a paradox. It is futile, 

useless, horrible, and yet, it can bring 

out the best qualities in people,” Towne 

said of the Soldiers he served with and 

those whose lives he saved. “The bond 

between men in a unit became strong 

because, in order to survive, you had to 

help each other, even if it meant the ultimate sacrifice.” 

By Stephanie Hoff | Duty First! Magazine

COURTESY PHOTO

A large group of American assault troops of the 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st U.S. Infantry Division, 

having gained the comparative safety offered by the chalk cliff at their backs, take a breather before moving onto 

the continent at Colville-Sur-Mer, Omaha Beach, in Normandy, France. Medics who landed with the men are shown 

treating them for minor injuries.

When the United States entered into World War II, it had been more 

than 20 years since the signing of the 

armistice which had officially marked 

the end of WWI. Fortunately, for the 

U.S. Soldiers about to set sail for Europe, American doctors and medical 

professionals had wisely used the long 

period of peace to make vast advancements in the field of medicine. 

World War II medics, Soldiers reap the 

rewards of ‘sulfa powder,’ penicillin

Killed in Action 4,325

Missing in Action 1,241

Wounded in Action 15,457

* SOURCE: “Doctor Danger Forward: A World 

War II Memoir of a Combat Medical Admin, First 

Infantry Division”

1st Div. Medical Stats

for World War II

Warfare is a 

paradox. It is futile, 

useless, horrible, 

and yet, it can bring 

out the best 

qualities in 

people.”

— Sgt. Allen Towne, medic 

Co. B, 1st Medical Bn., 1st Inf. Div.

COURTESY PHOTO

Shown above is a packet of sulfanilamide powder, which could be found in 

the medical kits of most WWII medics.
8| www.facebook.com/1stInfantryDivision Duty First! July 2011 |9

across battlefields 

around the globe, 

there are simply 

not enough medics 

immediately available to respond to 

every emergency. 

When a medic is 

not available, the 

combat lifesaver 

steps in to provide the care needed to 

sustain life until a medic can get to the 

patient or the patient can get to a treatment facility. 

A combat lifesaver can be anyone, from 

a line cook to a battalion commander.

At Fort Riley, combat lifesaver candidates go through training at the post’s 

Medical Simulation Training Center 

(MSTC). During the combat lifesaver class 

at the MSTC, students discuss a variety of 

topics in the classroom environment including tactical casualty movement, shock 

prevention and how to correct massive 

hemorrhage. Once classroom training is 

complete, the Soldiers take their new skills 

to the “field” where they must find, stabilize and transport a “patient” all while being inundated with the sights and sounds 

of simulated combat. 

More than 2,000 Soldiers have gone 

through the course 

since Oct. 1, 2010.

 Sgt. 1st Class 

Steven Sutterfield 

a n d S t a f f S g t . 

Adam Parnell, both 

medics with C 

Company, 701st 

Brigade Support 

Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, brought their combat 

lifesavers through the CLS lanes May 

12 to validate their skills and see where 

additional training might be needed. 

“We wanted to move the (combat 

lifesavers) outside a controlled environment like a classroom and put them in 

situations that are as close to combat as 

possible,” Sutterfield said. 

Sutterfield said there is a lot of good 

that comes from training his combat lifesavers in an environment full of blaring 

music, pulsing strobe lights and a constant barrage of paint balls.

“We want them trying to work in this 

high stress environment here so that 

they won’t freeze up when they are trying to treat a patient in an actual combat 

situation,” he said. 

Parnell, who was faced with his first 

combat casualty in Afghanistan just six 

weeks after he graduated from advanced 

individual training, said training like 

what is offered at the CLS course would 

have better prepared him for combat. 

“As soon as I went out on my first patrol, I wasn’t concerned about my medical treatment abilities ... it was the shock 

and awe of combat that got me,” he said. 

Bell said lessons learned in Iraq and 

Afghanistan have helped the Army 

build a combat lifesaver training program that is giving Soldiers the tools to 

save more lives today than were being 

saved in 2003 at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

“More Soldiers are alive today because 

the Army has made this training a priority,” the retired combat medic said. 

The training is a priority for Bell and 

the rest of the team at the MSTC as well. 

Bell said he and his team will, and have 

often, stayed late into the night to ensure 

the combat lifesavers who come through 

their course are ready for whatever might 

come their way out on a battlefield. 

“We will do whatever it takes to get 

these Soldiers ready while they are here,” 

Bell said. “We will kill these mannequins 

500 times a day if that keeps us from bringing even one guy home in a box.”

Combat lifesavers initial line of battlefield medical care

STORY & PHOTOS BY MOLLIE MILLER | DUTY FIRST! MAGAZINE

FROM LEFT: Soldiers assess their patients’ wounds during a May Combat Lifesaver training course at Fort Riley’s Medical Simulation Training 

Center. Life-like mannequins that breathe, bleed and blink their eyes bring a high level of realism to CLS training; a Soldier from the 977th Military 

Police Company prepares his patient for transport while another Soldier stands guard during Combat Lifesaver Training at Fort Riley’s Medical 

Simulation Training Center.

It is bullets and blood and screaming. It’s broken 

bodies and tears. It’s the few seconds between life 

and death. 

This is the world in which the Army’s combat lifesavers work. The job is not pretty—things in war 

rarely are—but for the Soldiers who require the aid 

of these “not quite medics” it is perhaps one of the 

most important jobs on the battlefield. 

“The combat lifesaver’s function is to 

stabilize a patient long enough to get 

them to a medic or the hospital,” Sgt. 1st 

Class (ret.) Jim Bell, an instructor at Fort 

Riley’s Medical Simulation Training 

Center, said. “If the combat lifesaver can 

get (the wounded Soldier) to the next 

level of care while they are still breathing 

and still have a pulse, then that patient 

has a great shot at coming home.”

The Army defines the combat lifesaver as a nonmedical Soldier trained to provide emergency care as a secondary mission. With America’s Soldiers stretched

LEFT AND RIGHT: Soldiers from the 977th Military Police Company transport their patients to a waiting medical evacuation helicopter during Combat Lifesaver Training at Fort Riley’s Medical Simulation Training Center.

We wanted to move the (combat 

lifesavers) outside a controlled environment like a classroom and put 

them in situations that are as close 

to combat as possible.”

— Sgt. 1st Class Steven Sutterfield, medic 

C Co., 701st Bde. Support Bn., 4th IBCT, 1st Inf. Div.
10| www.riley.army.mil Duty First! July 2011 |11

By Stephanie Hoff

Duty First! Magazine

Whether it’s operating in a stateof-the art surgical room or a staked-down tent, Maj. Joshua 

Ritenour’s main mission is to “fix” his 

patients. 

Ritenour is one of four surgeons employed at Fort Riley’s Irwin Army 

Community Hospital. During his past 

year at the hospital, he has consistently 

fallen under the Monday, Wednesday 

and Friday surgical schedule, with a 

large amount of surgeries categorized 

as elective.

A majority of the surgeries focus on 

hernia repairs, colonoscopies and cholecystectomies, or the removal of the gallbladders, Ritenour said, explaining that 

with most sessions generally taking a 

couple hours apiece, each of the surgeons is able to perform between five 

and six each on a normal operating day. 

Despite the sad reality that his chosen 

career field doesn’t usually offer him a 

chance to bond with his patients on a 

more personal level, Ritenour finds gratification in knowing that once they are 

healed they will no longer require his 

services. 

“In general, the reason I chose to be a 

surgeon, as opposed to a medicine doctor for example, is for most things in surgery you make an intervention and you 

can fix somebody. Then they are better 

and they don’t need your help anymore. 

That’s a good feeling; to be able to fix 

somebody and say, ‘You don’t need me 

anymore because you’re good.’”

Before arriving to the Kansas hospital, Ritenour recently had returned from 

a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan 

with a Forward Surgical Team (FST). 

The team was stationed at a remote forward operating base, where they worked 

out of a single operating room. 

“As a surgeon, they don’t put me on 

the very front lines,” Ritenour said. “I 

don’t carry a gun and go out with the 

Soldiers, because there is nothing that I 

can do off of the FOB that a medic can’t 

do. Trauma is the main mission for a 

surgeon while deployed.” 

While deployed, the majority of Soldiers Ritenour would treat were trauma 

patients who required emergencies surgeries. Because of their remote location, 

the physicians’ main mission was to stabilize the incoming Soldiers and prepare 

them for evacuation to a larger facility or 

hospital. 

Deployed surgeons who are stationed at larger medical facilities with 

more capabilities can generally perform additional elective surgeries for 

Soldiers, such as appendectomies (removal of the appendix), as well as assisting local residents with necessary 

medical support. 

“It depends a lot on where you’re 

stationed at,” Ritenour said. “The more remote the location; the less intrusive of surgeries (the surgeons) are able to offer.” 

Ritenour will soon be leaving the 

steady surgical schedule of the hospital 

and once again deploy to Afghanistan. 

He added that in his career field, a day 

overseas where he sees no patients is a 

good day for the Soldiers, because it 

means no one was harmed. However, he 

takes relief knowing he is there to provide emergency medical care to the Soldiers serving in harm’s way. 

“Being a military surgeon is very rewarding because I fully believe the military beneficiaries, especially the Soldiers who are fighting, are the most 

worthy patient population in America; 

in the world. Having the opportunity to 

help them, especially in combat, is very 

rewarding. I don’t want any of our Soldiers to get hurt, but if they are going to 

be hurt, then I want to be able to help 

them.” 

Courtesy photo

Maj. Joshua Ritenour, of MEDDAC, performs a surgery on a patient during his last deployment to Afghanistan. Ritenour, a surgeon at Irwin Army 

Community Hospital, is gearing up for his second deployment to the country. 

Being a military surgeon 

is very rewarding because 

I fully believe the military 

beneficiaries, especially 

the Soldiers who are 

fighting, are the most 

worthy patient population 

in America; in the world.”

—Maj. Joshua Ritenour,

surgeon at Fort Riley’s 

Irwin Army Community Hospital

Fixing Soldiers keeps surgeon on top of game 
12| www.facebook.com/1stInfantryDivision Duty First! July 2011 |13

It was the evening of April 18, 2011, 

and Mackay, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle maintainer, had been at Forward 

Operating Base Warrior in Kirkuk for six 

months. Earlier that day, Mackay had 

agreed to sit with Pfc. Samantha Rulon 

while she ate dinner to discuss some 

points of professional development. The 

two were leaving the dining facility 

when the incoming sirens began to echo 

across the FOB. 

“We had turned the corner to walk 

down the road to the (living areas) just 

as the incoming alarm started,” Mackay 

said. “I was looking around for a place 

to go for cover when I heard the crackle. 

I had enough time to say ‘oh crap’ before the rocket hit the ground right behind us.” 

It took a few seconds for the world to 

come back into focus following the explosion but, when it did, Mackay realized that the screaming he was hearing 

was coming from Rulon. A piece of the 

rocket had torn through her elbow and 

blood was running down her arm. 

“She walked up to me holding her 

arm and I could see it was bleeding a 

little,” Mackay said. “Then she moved 

her hand and I could see right down to 

her bone—that’s when things started 

getting real.” 

Mackay remembers the minutes following the explosion in snapshots—the 

medics arriving and putting a tourniquet 

on Rulon’s arm, tons of people running 

up to the site of the explosion, medics 

patting him down looking for wounds 

and coming up with their hands covered 

in his blood.

“The tourniquets were flying everywhere,” Mackay said. “They put one on 

each of my legs and I kept telling them 

that they were too tight but they kept saying no, it’s OK, we’re saving your life.”

Mackay was transported to the FOB 

emergency room to be evaluated and 

treated. Once there, the medical team 

discovered that a piece of the rocket had 

sliced open the back of his right thigh, 

entered his left leg and lodged near his 

knee. 

“They did an initial surgery to clean 

up the wounds because there were rocks 

and dirt in them from the road,” he said. 

After the initial surgery, Mackay’s 

doctors told him that the shrapnel was 

still in his leg but they wanted to remove 

it because it was jagged and they were 

worried about it moving and cutting 

some of his tendons. Mackay told them 

to remove it. 

For the second time in a matter of a 

few hours, doctors wheeled Mackay 

back in to surgery to remove the shrapnel. Doctors made an incision on the outside of his left knee near where they 

thought the shrapnel was located. It was 

then that things started to go very 

wrong. 

At some point during the surgery, 

Mackay’s popliteal vein, a vein that carries blood from the knee joint and muscles in the thigh and calf back to the 

heart, was severed. 

“All I remember is suddenly being 

awake and it was really bright and there 

were a lot of people all around me,” 

Mackay said. “My platoon sergeant was 

on one side holding my hand and calling 

my name, my first sergeant was on my 

other side and I was really cold. I looked 

around and thought ... this can’t be 

good.”

Soon, Mackay heard the MEDEVAC 

helicopter land outside and, before he 

knew it and before he ever asked what 

had happened or how much blood he 

had lost, he was in the air on his way to 

Balad for further treatment. Once in Balad, though, Mackay was quickly pushed 

out on a flight to Landstuhl, Germany. 

He arrived in Germany late April 19, 

less than 24 hours after being injured. 

Four days after that, he was at Fort Riley 

at Irwin Army Community Hospital. On 

April 29, Mackay slept in his own bed at 

his home in Manhattan, Kan., for the first 

time in more than six months. Just 11 days 

had passed since he had been injured. 

Mackay, a combat lifesaver, said although he has been through extensive 

training on how to save someone’s life, 

he never thought that someone would 

ever have to save his. 

Mackay said the April 18 rocket attack and his injury never seemed real 

until he was sitting in his hospital room 

at IACH on Fort Riley looking at his wife 

and their three children, Anna, 9, Ray, 7, 

and Lilia, 3. 

“Telling people what had happened 

was easy for me until I saw Ai,” he said. 

“When I tried to explain it to her, I 

couldn’t, I lost it. I think I finally realized 

what had happened; I finally realized 

everything I could have lost.” 

Mackay believes he survived the 

rocket attack and his injuries because he 

kept telling himself to stay calm, to keep 

breathing and to keep pushing forward 

until he finally made it home. He also 

believes that something or someone outside of his control had a hand in bringing him back to his wife and children. 

“I don’t know how it happened but 

the shrapnel missed everything important,” he said. “I could have easily bled to 

death—I’m very lucky to be here.” 

Medical know-how, luck help 1ID Soldier survive rocket attack in Iraq 

SPARKS DANCED ACROSS THE GRAVEL ROAD AS HEAVY 

SMOKE TURNED THE WORLD AROUND SGT. JOSH MACKAY INTO THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES. 

THE INCOMING SIRENS CONTINUED TO DRONE ON, 

BUT THE ONLY THING MACKAY COULD HEAR WAS THE 

RINGING IN HIS OWN EARS AS HE WANDERED AROUND 

IN A CIRCLE TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF WHAT WAS 

HAPPENING. 

SOMEWHERE, A GIRL WAS SCREAMING. 

“I WAS SO CONFUSED,” MACKAY, A MEMBER OF SPECIAL TROOPS BATTALION, 1ST HEAVY BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM, 1ST INFANTRY DIVISION, SAID OF THE DAY A 

ROCKET EXPLODED TWO FEET AWAY FROM HIM IN 

KIRKUK, IRAQ. “I REALIZED I HAD PROBABLY GOTTEN 

HIT WHEN I COULD FEEL SOMETHING WET RUNNING 

DOWN THE BACK OF MY LEGS AND INTO MY BOOTS.”

Courtesy photos

ABOVE: Sgt. Josh Mackay and his wife Ai share an embrace in April at Irwin Army Community Hospital following Josh’s return 

from Iraq. Josh was injured April 18 during a rocket attack on Forward Operating Base Warrior in Kirkuk, Iraq. OPPOSITE 

PAGE: Sgt. Michael Prince and Sgt. Josh Mackay pause for a photo in October before their deployment to Iraq. Mackay was 

injured April 18 in Kirkuk, Iraq, when a rocket exploded two feet behind him. 

Story by Mollie Miller | Duty First! Magazine
14| www.riley.army.mil Duty First! July 2011 |15

Miracles like the day an Iraqi child 

was pulled almost unscathed from a car 

so riddled by bullets that it looked like a 

piece of Swiss cheese.

“The little boy was sitting screaming in the backseat of that destroyed 

car but all he had were a few (flesh 

wounds),” Rogers, a flight medic with 

the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st 

Infantry Division, said. “After seeing 

that car, it was hard to believe the kid 

had even survived.” 

Today, after five tours of Iraq, Rogers 

has seen enough miracles like this one to 

know they happen when and where you 

least expect them. 

“It is amazing the things you see,” he 

said. “So many of them you don’t recognize as miracles until later, but they are 

most certainly miracles.” 

The stories of these deployment miracles, coupled with a wealth of tales that 

range from funny to tragic, are the base 

from which Rogers works to train the 

next generation of 1st Inf. Div. flight 

medics entrusted to his care. 

“Training our Soldiers is one of the 

hardest tasks that we as leaders are 

asked to do,” he said. “With the amount 

of experience I have, though, it is very 

easy to sit my Soldiers down and teach 

them what they need to know.” 

What Rogers’ Soldiers need to know 

are the basic skills of being a flight medic 

and how to be resilient in the face of 

whatever challenges come their way. 

What they also should but may not 

know, however, is that Rogers, an Army 

brat who considers Kansas home, is 100 

percent committed to taking care of his 

Soldiers and of the people who often 

need him most—his patients. 

“There are some people who just naturally put other people’s needs ahead of 

their own and you find them a lot in the 

health profession,” Rogers said. “I tend 

to put other people’s needs ahead of my 

own, (and) I think that makes me a good 

NCO and a good medic.” 

Rogers’ commitment to his Soldiers 

and to the Soldiers on the ground in Iraq 

has been one of the driving forces behind 

his five deployments to Iraq. During the 

past eight years, Rogers has deployed as 

a member of the Fort Riley-based MEDEVAC Company in support of Operation 

Iraqi Freedom 1, OIF 2, OIF 05-07, OIF 

07-09 and, most recently, Operation 

New Dawn. 

“For me it has always been about the 

Soldiers who are still on the ground, the 

Soldiers who were still getting hurt and 

dying over there,” he said. “They needed my help, and I needed to help them.” 

Capt. Adam Schaffer, Rogers’ platoon 

leader with C Company, 1st CAB, said 

the immeasurable passion Rogers has 

for the MEDEVAC mission makes him 

an inspiration for the entire company. 

“Rogers is a phenomenal NCO ... who 

is a role model both professionally and personally,” Schaffer said. “You would never 

know that he has saved countless American, coalition and Iraqi lives by the way he 

carries himself—he is a true hero.” 

Rogers’ mom, Sgt. 1st Class Tamera 

Rogers, is happy with all that her son 

has accomplished in the Army. Tamera, 

formerly an active duty flight operations specialist who now works in recruiting with the Utah National Guard, 

said she is always ready to offer advice 

when her son needs it—although he 

doesn’t seem to need it very often. 

“Ethan took to heart early (my) advice 

to work as if everything depends on him 

and pray as if everything depends on the 

lord,” Tamera said. “I definitely believe 

Ethan is a good, positive, strong NCO.” 

Rogers credits his mom with instilling in him the desire to not only take 

care of people but to teach people to take 

care of themselves. 

“My mom is a saint,” Rogers said. “I 

could have done half of what I did and 

she still would have been proud of me.” 

Rogers’ mother is indeed very proud 

of the Soldier, the NCO and the man her 

son has become.

“The greatest compliment I could pay 

(my son) is that I am proud to stand beside 

him in uniform and would not hesitate to 

serve with him anywhere in the world,” 

she said. “He is the best of the best.” 

By Mollie Miller

Duty First! Magazine

Courtesy photos

OPPOSITE PAGE: Staff Sgt. Ethan Rogers, left, helps load a “patient” into a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during a MEDEVAC 101 class in Mosul, Iraq. Rogers conducted several MEDEVAC 101 classes during his most recent deployment to Iraq with the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. ABOVE: Staff Sgt. Ethan Rogers, a flight medic with the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st 

Infantry Division, checks a patient’s chart during a recent deployment to Iraq. Rogers has deployed 

to Iraq five times during the past eight years.

taff Sgt. Ethan 

Rogers believes 

in miracles.

He believes in them, 

he said, because he has 

seen more miracles 

than he can count. 

So many of them you don’t recognize as miracles until later, but they are 

most certainly miracles.”

— Staff Sgt. Ethan Rogers, flight medic, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division
16

| www.facebook.com/1stInfantryDivision Duty First! July 2011 |17

By Stephanie Hoff

Duty First! Magazine

When the options for his new career 

path were laid out before him, his choic-

es were cleaning laundry or cleaning 

wounds. Nearly 10 years later, he’s lov-

ing life and looking forward to many 

more years in the same field. 

“The truth is, when I went in to en-

list I had three choices; one was medic, 

one was laundry specialist and one was 

some ‘paper pusher’ type thing,” Sgt. 

John Pinkham said. “The medical op-

portunity peaked my interest because I 

like helping people. I know how clichéd 

that sounds, but I actually enjoy help-

ing people.” 

Pinkham, a health care specialist, 

commonly referred to as a combat med-

ic, has worked in the emergency room at 

Fort Riley’s Irwin Army Community 

Hospital for almost a year. 

A native of Wheatridge, Colo., 

Pinkham enlisted in the U.S. Army in 

November 2001, following the Sept. 11 

terrorist attacks. 

“I didn’t do it to be patriotic, but I did 

it to maybe help a little bit,” he said. 

And that’s exactly what he’s been do-

ing for nearly the past 10 years. Before 

arriving at Fort Riley, he previously 

served with the 25th Infantry Division 

and deployed twice to Iraq, the first time 

in 2003 and then in 2007.

During his second deployment he 

served as the noncommissioned officer 

in charge of a forward aid station, an 

assignment that didn’t allow him 

many opportunities to participate in 

security patrols as he did during his 

tour in 2003. 

Of his deployments, his most promi-

nent memory is attached to a house near 

his base that was bombed. Pinkham and 

three other medical professionals spent 

nearly eight hours working on 17 Iraqi 

nationals, suffering only one fatality. 

“I can say I’m lucky enough to never 

have had to treat an American (fatality),” 

Pinkham said. “I know it’s bad to say 

‘lucky,’ but I think that’s lucky.” 

He is quick to acknowledge that a lot 

of his good fortune is due in part to the 

Soldiers that he’s served with, as well as 

the new technical advantages that have 

been made in his field. In his 10 years in 

the Army’s medical profession, he has 

experienced firsthand improvements 

made for blood-stopping tools as well as 

witnessed the roll out of the Army’s Im-

proved First Aid Kit.

Commonly called the I.F.A.K., the 

pouch weighs in at about a pound and 

includes life-saving items designed to 

dress wounds and obstruct blood loss as 

well as open airways. 

“As far as saving lives; the stuff they’re 

coming out with is actually well above 

what I had when I came in,” Pinkham 

said. “You go through all the classes and 

you’re like, ‘How’s that really going to 

work?’ Then you actually get to do 

it ... you see it work and the person leaves 

your care alive. That’s a good feeling.” 

Pinkham is currently unsure on what 

his future holds for him as far as deploy-

ing again, but he is well on his way of 

one day reaching his dream to become a 

physician’s assistant. He is currently 

completing the prerequisite college 

courses to make that goal a reality. 

“I like my job,” he said. “You have a 

sense of accomplishment when someone 

actually leaves your care alive and in bet-

ter shape than when they arrived.” Stephanie Hoff, Duty First! 

Magazine

ABOVE: Sgt. John Pinkham, of Medical Department Activity, reviews a patient’s record at Irwin 

Army Community Hospital’s emergency room. Pinkham is a combat medic who has worked out of 

the hospital’s E.R. for the past year. OPPOSITE PAGE: Pinkham, left, instructs two new medics to 

Army Community Hospital’s emergency room on how to properly administer sutures on lemons as 

practice. He has served in the U.S. Army as a health care specialist for nearly 10 years. 

Combat medic 

happy choosing 

career cleaning 

wounds over 

cleaning laundry 
By Mollie Miller 

1st Infantry Division Public Affairs

Staff Sgt. Patricia Clifford’s 14 

years in the Army have seemingly been sprinkled with a bit 

of luck and populated by a handful of 

mind readers.

Whether it was the commander who 

refused to let Clifford get “out of the 

Army” when she asked to get out every 

day, the sergeant major who pushed 

her into a career counselor job when she 

didn’t want it or the recruiter who 

greeted her during a quick visit to his 

office following a haircut appointment 

in 1996, the right people have always 

been in the right place at the right time 

throughout her career. 

“They always seemed to know what 

I wanted even when I didn’t know it 

myself,” she said. 

Growing up in an Irish-Catholic 

neighborhood in Boston, Clifford rarely 

traveled farther than a few miles from 

her home and her family, so the opportunity to travel was one of the first 

things that attracted her to the Army. 

“I love meeting new people and seeing new things but in my neighborhood 

I was never exposed to different people 

or cultures,” she said. “When I joined 

the Army and started meeting all these 

new people, I was so excited.” 

Throughout her career, Clifford has 

taken advantage of many opportunities 

to travel, volunteering for missions in 

Australia, Thailand, Iraq and Korea.

The travel that attracted her to an 

Army career turned into one of the 

greatest challenges she faced as a Soldier, however, when her daughter, Jayda, was born in 2004. 

“I had to report to Korea when Jayda 

was 2 months old,” Clifford said. “I 

cried every night.”

But, like the rest of her career, the 

right people were there to help her 

weather the challenging separation. 

This time, it was those we often depend 

on most, family. Her parents and five 

brothers and sisters back in Boston were 

happy to help.

“My family stepped right in to take 

care of Jayda,” she said. “They all came 

together to figure out what they needed 

to do to help me.” 

Although her year in Korea was difficult, Clifford, who finished her college 

degree during the assignment, came to 

realize that everything happens for a 

reason. 

“Something good always came out 

of every place I ever went,” she said. “I 

always tell people that you may not get 

what you want but there is a reason you 

are getting what you are getting.” 

Today, Clifford is a successful career counselor at Fort Riley’s Irwin 

Army Community Hospital. Every 

day she walks the halls of the post 

hospital visiting with Soldiers and 

hoping to be the person who shows 

them that the Army is more than just 

early morning physical training and a 

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job. 

“I think every Soldier has that one 

person they are drawn to who opens 

their eyes to all the things the military 

offers,” she said. “I try to be that person 

for our Soldiers.” 

Command Sgt. Maj. Junior Riley, the 

senior noncommissioned officer at 

IACH, said he is very impressed with 

the great deal of care Clifford takes with 

every Soldier. 

“She is outstanding and very aggressive at keeping Soldiers in the Army,” 

he said. “Right now we are leading the 

region in retention (numbers) because 

of the work she does.”

Although she attributes her success 

in the Army to many people, Clifford 

said there is one special group that 

makes everything she does possible. 

“It’s really my family that allows me 

to do this because without them I 

wouldn’t be able to do any of it,” she 

said. “I am so lucky to have this family 

that affords me the opportunity to live 

this great life.”

18| www.riley.army.mil Duty First! July 2011 |19

By Stephanie Hoff

1st Inf. Div. Public Affairs

T

here’s been a HUMVEE explosion, 

the “wounded” lie sprawled 

across the ground amidst the 

shouting orders directed at frantic Soldiers, but for Staff Sgt. Francesca Curry, 

it’s just another day at the office. 

Curry, a combat medic and licensed 

practical nurse with Medical Department Activity is currently serving as a 

course coordinator at Fort Riley’s Medical Simulation Training Center. The facility is designated for training and recertifying the post’s health care specialists, most commonly known as combat 

medics. The center combines classroom 

training with simulated scenarios, complete with mock patients to provide the 

Soldiers with the most realistic training 

possible. 

“The more realistic the training is; the 

better it is for the Soldier,” Curry said 

about the capabilities of the facility. “If 

I’m signing paperwork saying that these 

Soldiers know their job; I’m validating 

them as being a medic. If I’m saying they 

know their job as a medic; then I’m saying they can go overseas and save lives. 

So I take that very seriously. I’m not just 

signing a piece of paper.” 

A native of Texas, Curry joined the 

Army more than 15 years ago and shares 

a dual-military career with her husband, 

who recently returned from a deployment with the Combat Aviation Brigade, 

1st Infantry Division. 

“I pretty much knew I was going to 

be in the Army for as long as I can remember,” she said. 

In May 2009, Curry was selected to 

join the elite Sergeant Audie Murphy 

Club, an organization reserved for non 

commissioned officers who exemplify 

leadership and demonstrate personal 

concern for the needs of their Soldiers 

and Families. 

“I just try to do it by example more 

than anything. I would never ask a Soldier to do something that I wouldn’t do 

myself,” she said. “I’ve always told Soldiers that I’m not one of those NCOs that 

leads in ranks. No matter what platoon 

or company, or whatever they fall in, if 

they need somebody as far as leadership 

goes, or if they need a mentor, they can 

always come to me, and I mean that. Especially with females, it’s hard to find 

female leadership guidance, period. I’ve 

expressed that to a lot of the female Soldiers, especially in the organization that 

I’m in. They can come to me anytime 

they want to.” 

Through the SAMC, Curry has received several additional opportunities to serve as a role model for today’s 

adolescents, a cause that she, as a 

mother of a young teenager, believes 

in wholeheartedly. 

 “I like reaching out to the youth,” 

Curry said. “A lot of teenagers today 

don’t get to meet very many adults who 

can serve as a positive role model.” 

The biggest lesson she gives to her 

Soldiers, and youth alike, is to take every 

situation they experience, whether negative or positive, as an opportunity for 

growth. 

“Every situation that somebody 

might consider to be negative, like not 

making promotion points, or it taking a 

long time to make promotion points; 

there’s a reason for it,” Curry said. “If 

something negative happens and you 

find a way to work around it; there’s a 

reason for it because it makes you a better leader in the future. I’ve had to learn 

that the hard way. As long as you take 

those things into consideration, you’ll be 

fine,” she stated. “Just remember that 

through every negative thing, there’s always a positive.”

Stephanie Hoff, Duty First! Magazine

Staff Sgt. Francesca Curry of Medical Department Activity adjusts a mannequin utilized as 

a training aid, March 30 at Fort Riley’s Medical Simulation Training Center. Curry currently 

serves as a course coordinator at the facility 

that provides classroom and simulated training to combat medics. 

Striving for role-model status A dose of luck and leadership 

MEDDAC NCO's 

dedication shines through 

to fellow Soldiers, youth

NCO builds successful 

career by being in right 

place, knowing right people 

I like reaching out to the 

youth. A lot of teenagers today 

don’t get to meet very many 

adults who can serve as a 

positive role model.”

— Staff Sgt. Francesca Curry, combat 

medic and licensed practical nurse with 

Medical Department Activity

Courtesy Photo

Staff Sgt. Patricia Clifford, a career counselor at Irwin Army Community Hospital, greets her 

daughter, Jayda, 6, at the Dallas Airport in 2008.
20| www.facebook.com/1stInfantryDivision Duty First! July 2011 |21

“CBWTU works great, because it gets 

me back home handling bills, seeing Family, being close to my wife. It raises morale 

quite a bit,” said Spc. Duane Currell, New 

Mexico National Guard Soldier.

One drawback to CBWTUs, Currell 

said, was living in Albuquerque, N.M., 

with his unit based at Camp Williams, 

Utah.

For one week, service members assigned to CBWTU-Utah are invited to 

travel with one guest to Park City, Utah, 

to participate in a muster with other Soldiers from their state.

From May 17 to 20, about 25 Army Reserve and Army National Guard Soldiers, 

mainly from New Mexico and Colorado, 

attended a muster at the National Ability 

Center in Park City.

“Our partnership with CBWTU started last fall,” said Gail Loveland, executive 

director for the NAC.

Relying on help from 700 volunteers 

to operate the NAC, the center provides 

free adaptive recreation to Soldiers and 

their guests while the Army pays for 

their travel, meals and lodging.

“(We want to) teach Soldiers how to 

remain healthy and active,” Loveland 

said.

Throughout the week, the attendees 

participated in briefings, equine facilitated 

learning, yoga, physical fitness coaching, 

nutritional counseling and the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness-Performance and 

Resilience Enhancement Program.

“They come here and find other spouses and Family members going through 

the same thing they are. A lot of Soldiers 

aren’t asking the questions they should, 

but gosh darn it their significant other 

will,” Loveland said.

Since November 2010, the NAC has 

hosted approximately 150 Soldiers and 

approximately 40 of their guests at the 

musters.

Recreational activities require the Soldiers and guests to work together, allowing 

them to bond and reduce social isolation.

“(Equine facilitated learning) relaxes 

them and takes the pain away. I feel it is a 

great way for them to express themselves. 

Everyone has their own experience,” said 

Alejandra Lara, EFL facilitator.

Every Soldier who attends the muster 

has a different experience.

One Soldier was on the low ropes 

course and said, “I’m sorry. I’m going to 

take a while; I have a (traumatic brain injury)” and it was the first time he had admitted out loud what he was dealing with, 

Loveland said.

Another Soldier talked on Community 

Voices radio about how his time spent at 

the NAC redirected his life and caused 

him to look into going to school for recreation therapy, Loveland said.

“We know what we’re doing is working here,” Loveland said. 

Story by Alison Kohler | MEDDAC PAO

Alison Kohler, MEDDAC

OPPOSITE PAGE FROM LEFT: Sgt. James Hoefert, a Warrior in Transition with the Army Reserve and based in New Mexico, and Sue Hoefert, do tree 

pose during a yoga class at the National Ability Center in Park City, Utah. “Stress affects you physically. Yoga helps us reconnect to our innate 

goodness. It shows us that we might have more control over our thoughts than previously considered,” said Samantha Ziluitis, yoga instructor; 1st 

Lt. Cliff Slike, Colorado Army Reserve, and Staff Sgt. Michael Chamberlain, New Mexico Army Reserve, pet Soda, just before finishing Equine Facilitated Learning at the Community Based Warrior Transition Unit-Utah muster May 17 at the National Ability Center in Park City, Utah. The NAC 

has 16 breeds of 25 horses and three miniature horses to help Soldiers, veterans and other people with disabilities participate in adaptive recreation therapy. ABOVE: New Mexico-based Soldiers and their guests pose with Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., Chris Chaisson, congressional staffer 

and his service dog, Doc, after eating lunch together at CBWTU-Utah’s muster at the National Ability Center in Park City, Utah. 

CBWTU-Utah musters for recreation and resources

One disadvantage to being in a community-based warrior transition unit 

(CBWTU) is the separation from other wounded, injured and ill service 

members who have commonalities and experiences from which to draw.

CBWTU-Utah has created a solution to bring its service members and supporters 

together to learn about resources available to them, to bond with one another and to 

engage in adaptive recreation and activities designed to enhance their resilience and 

comprehensive Soldier fitness.
22| www.riley.army.mil Duty First! July 2011 |23 Spc. Kandi Huggins, 1st AATF PAO, 1st Inf. Div., USD-N 1st Lt Teresa Egan, 2nd AAB, 1st Inf. Div., USD-C 2nd Lt. Daniel Elmblad, 2nd HBCT PAO

Nikia Simon, MEDDAC

Shandi Dix, Fort Riley Post newspaper

Sgt. Roland Hale, Combat Aviation Brigade PAO

Nikia Simon, MEDDAC

Nikia Simon, MEDDAC

Alison Kohler, MEDDAC

FROM TOP CLOCKWISE: Pfc. Jesse Gould, medic, 6th Sqdn., 9th Cav. Regt., 2nd AAB, and a Carrolton, Ga., native, right, draws blood from a fellow 

Soldier, left, during Level 2 care training with the 546th Area Support Medical Co. March 3 at Camp Liberty, Iraq. Medics from the squadron have 

been training with Soldiers from the 546th ASMC as a way to increase their patient care and medical skills; Pfc. Miguel Matias (left), medic, straps 

“patient” Spc. Daniel Bowles, health care specialist, both with 4th Sqdn., 4th Cav. Regt., 1st HBCT, 1st Inf. Div., into a stretcher Feb. 10 during 

rope rescue training at FRFD Station 4; Spc. Chris Burke, warrior in transition in the Warrior Transition Battalion, walks down the hallway with help 

from Jennifer Zentz, a physical therapist at the mild traumatic brain injury clinic Dec. 17; Capt. Laura Malone, IACH chief of the nutrition care division and patient, received the laser refractive eye surgery Jan. 20. 

FROM TOP CLOCKWISE: Members of the Emergency Security Unit of the Kirkuk Provincial Police practice loading and unloading a national casualty during 

medical evacuation training at Contingency Operating Site Warrior; Tammy Tanner, IACH licensed practical nurse, gives Irelynd Selby a physical examination during an appointment at IACH; Pete Wiemers, Irwin Army Community Hospital health promotion educator, checks IACH Command Sgt. Maj. Junior 

Riley’s cholesterol during his Jan. 11 initial “Get Fit” assessment; an HH-60M MEDEVAC helicopter from Company C, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, spins up for a mission Jan. 3 out of Camp Taji, Iraq; Sgt. Kailey Good-Hallahan, immunizations noncommissioned officer-in-charge with Company C, 

299th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, United States Division–Center and a Muncie, Ind., native, smiles 

with an Iraqi teen after successfully adjusting a wheelchair for her while volunteering with the nonprofit group “Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids.”
By Sgt. Keven Parry

1st Inf. Div. PAO

With thick German opposition in the 

trees, the Big Red One prepared to launch 

their assault. The terrain they had to cross 

was open, and uphill. With little cover between their landing points and the tree 

line, the “Big Red One” knew they would 

have to move fast and fire accurately. 

Multiple radios echoed a countdown 

from ten. Then the words, “go, go, go, go” 

sounded loudly, marking the beginning 

of the Big Red One 24-hour paintball scenario game held at Bear Claw Paintball in 

Fayetteville, Tenn., May 14 and 15. 

Based on the 1st Infantry Division 

battles of World War II as told by the 

movie “The Big Red One,” the event allowed players to take the point of view 

of 1st Infantry Division Soldiers or their 

German opposition. 

Once the Big Red One cleared the trees 

and secured the “beaches,” they moved 

deeper into the woods and occupied their 

base. An hour after the first shot was fired, 

each team’s “General” issued mission orders. For the rest of the day, both sides let 

the paint fly as they attempted to secure 

locations, retrieve vital information, and 

obtain key items such as ammunition supplies and bars of gold. By the end of the 

event, approximately 800,000 paintballs 

would fly through the air.

Ben Torricelli, a Crystal River, Fla., 

native, owner of Millennium Paintball 

Productions, and the writer of the scenario event, acknowledged that the Big 

Red One has a rich history. 

“This was one of the few games that I 

could do because they did multiple landings. They were one of the first groups 

that got into the fighting, especially on 

the beaches,” Torricelli said.

After the sun set, the fun wasn’t over. 

Following nightfall, BRO “Soldiers” 

once again stormed the “beaches” and 

found themselves charging up the hill 

against intense German fire. Small flare 

fires lit the background in the trees, 

smoke crossed the field, explosive simulators sounded and sky flares highlighted the bunkers. Big Red One players 

pushed the German defensive out of the 

wood line and back to their base. 

Though missions that night did occur, they didn’t last long as players retired to their camps to rest for the next 

day’s events.

Scott “Daddy” Bolden, a Nashville, 

Tenn., native and owner of Bear Claw 

Paintball, said the game producers followed the historical timelines as closely 

as the terrain and limited timeframe 

would allow them to. “If you were to go 

through ‘The Big Red One’ movie and 

you were to watch it at the same time 

that we’re doing this, they’d come pretty 

close”, he said.

The last day of play found the German team ahead by 200 points. The 1st 

Inf. Div. team pushed hard to complete 

missions while under intense pressure 

from opposition tanks.

 The Big Red One players matched 

the German players mission for mission, 

refusing to give ground and working as 

a team to eliminate the tanks that harassed their base.

“This is an opportunity for me to remind people of what the greatness of 

our country is,” Toricelli said. “That 

strength, that fortitude, that fighting 

against great odds.”

The final battle consisted of both the 

Big Red One and the Germans vying for 

control of four key points of the map. 

Points would be awarded for each point 

controlled at the end of play, three of 

which belonged to BRO “Soldiers” who 

exchanged paint for paint and held their 

ground, controlling three of the four 

points when the final gun shot sounded 

signaling the end of the game. As was 

the case historically, the Big Red One 

was victorious.

“Thank you for giving us the privilege to do this,” said Bolden, referencing 

Soldiers of 1st Inf. Div. and throughout 

the Army. “If it wasn’t for you guys ... we 

wouldn’t be able to do this. We cannot 

ever thank you enough.” 

24| www.facebook.com/1stInfantryDivision Duty First! July 2011 |25

Sgt. Keven Parry, 1ID PAO

FROM TOP CLOCKWISE: A “Big Red One” player defends the “schoolhouse,” a key location during the Big Red One Paintball scenario game held May 14 

an 15 at Bear Claw Paintball in Fayetteville, Tenn; a Big Red One team player fires on opponents. The player was wearing the Big Red One event patch on 

his gear, which was given to all participants; a makeshift cannon greets participants of the Big Red One Paintball scenario game; event staff discuss 

game technicalities in front of a banner detailing the 1st Inf. Div. Omaha Beach landing before the beginning of the Big Red One Paintball scenario game. 

OPPOSITE PAGE: Players with the Big Red One team make a push against German team defenses during the Big Red One Paintball scenario game.
26| www.riley.army.mil Duty First! July 2011 |27

Around the DIVISION

‘Hamilton’s Own’ Battalion 

ready for mission in Iraq

FORT RILEY, Kan.—Family and 

friends bid farewell to Soldiers from one 

of the oldest continuous serving activeduty units in the American military—

the 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 

1st Infantry Division—during a deployment ceremony May 5. 

With seemingly good weather, the 

event was the first deployment ceremony 

held outside for the brigade since the year 

began. Guests, including retired colonels 

and sergeants major, were present to bid 

farewell to the 1st Bn., 5th FA Regt. Soldiers, who are deploying to Iraq. 

Since learning of their deployment to 

Iraq in January, the battalion’s Soldiers 

have been working steadily to become 

mission-ready. Some of their training 

included Net Warrior, special skills 

training and live-fire exercises. 

After so much training, Lt. Col. Keith 

Casey, 1st Bn., 5th FA Regt. commander, 

said he was anxious to start the mission. 

“I’m excited,” Casey said. “This is 

probably the indicator that we are going to get on a plane and head to Iraq 

and join our parent brigade, the ‘Devil’ 

Brigade.’” 

Lt. Col. Eric Timmerman, provisional 

commander 1st HBCT-rear detachment, 

acknowledged the hard work and dedication the battalion put forth. 

“They kept themselves and their 

skills honed to a razor sharp edge for 

the deployment they knew would come 

at any time,” Timmerman said. 

Nicknamed “Hamilton’s Own,” for its 

lineage of serving under Alexander Hamilton in the Revolutionary War, the 1st Bn., 

5th FA Regt. is accustomed to success, 

most recently during its 10 years of involvement within Iraq and Afghanistan. 

‘Longknife’ Squadron Trooper 

runs 50 km on 50th birthday

BAGHDAD—Staff Sgt. Miguel Castro, a combat medic with the 5th “Longknife” Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 

2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, United States Division 

– Center and a Miami native, decided to 

push himself to the limit by running 50 

miles on his 50th birthday, May 7, at 

Combat Outpost Falcon, Iraq.

Castro began training for his long distance run behind the scenes without mentioning to others in the unit what he had 

planned. However, eventually the word 

got out to another member of the Longknife 

Squadron and the news began to travel. 

But, with temperatures consistently 

in the upper 90s, some unit members 

were concerned for Castro’s safety and 

urged him to lower the distance or 

spread it out over a few days. Castro 

compromised, changing his plan to a 

50-kilometer run—the equivalent of 31 

miles—to be completed in 24 hours.

Eventually, other squadron members 

decided to join in by holding a five kilometer race for anyone who wanted to 

come out and support Castro on his 

birthday.

Castro began running by himself at 5 

a.m. on his birthday and completed 10 

miles before resting and rehydrating for 

the start of the 5-kilometer race. 

He joined the Longknife Squadron 

Soldiers and competed in the race, but 

continued past the finish line to run another couple of miles before attending 

an awards ceremony for the race. He 

knocked off a few more miles after the 

ceremony and by noon had completed a 

total of 18 miles. 

“My original plan was to complete 

20 miles before lunch, but I lowered it 

because of the awards ceremony,” Castro said. “I took a break to eat lunch and 

rest my legs, but my goal weighed on 

my mind the entire time and I was not 

going to quit.”

With 13 miles left, he continued on, 

running another six miles before resting. 

“At this point my body was exhausted,” he said. “I was determined to finish. 

It was pure mental toughness and willpower that fueled me from then on.” 

He had seven miles to reach his goal 

and said he would not let anything 

stand in his way, but little doubts crept 

into his mind. 

“The last couple laps seemed like a 

marathon each and I didn’t know if I 

was going to make it,” Castro said. 

Maj. Clifton Mo, the Longknife 

Squadron surgeon and a Pueblo, Colo., 

native joined in running by his side, 

pushing him along. 

“If Maj. Mo (wasn’t) there to help me 

out I don’t know if I would’ve completed the 31 miles in 24 hours. He gave me 

the extra motivation needed to reach my 

goal,” Castro said.

Deployed Duke couple make 

marriage work downrange 

PAKTYA PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN—Deployments often mean being 

away from Family for long periods of 

time.

They can mean long days and hard 

work. For most Soldiers, the time spent 

away from loved ones can be difficult, 

but for two married Soldiers from the 

Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry 

Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Task Force Duke, this deployment 

bears a striking resemblance to life at 

home in Fort Knox, Ky.

Upon arriving at their base in Afghanistan, Sgt. Stephanie Drewry, medic, STB, 

and a native of Fort Knox, Ky., and her 

husband, Sgt. Dustin Drewry, combat 

engineer with the personal security detail, STB, and a native of Sacramento, Calif., said they were surprised and uneasy 

to be told they'd be living on the other 

side of the base and sharing a room.

Married for about two years, they 

were unsure whether sharing a room 

would affect their marriage and the way 

they interacted with others, Dustin said.

"We weren't sure whether we wanted to 

live together," Dustin said. "It kind of cuts 

me out of team cohesion because when I go 

home for the day, I tend to stay there."

Dustin and Stephanie met while she 

was a medic for the STB at Fort Hood, 

Texas. This wasn't the first time the two 

had been deployed together.

They both deployed with the STB from 

2008 to 2009, but spent the year on different bases, only seeing each other twice the 

entire deployment, Stephanie said.

Like many things in life, being deployed together has its ups and downs, 

she said.

For the current deployment in Afghanistan, they rely on extended Family to take 

care of affairs back home, she said. Their 

house was recently broken into, requiring 

them to file an insurance claim from Afghanistan, which wasn't easy.

"I miss the peace of mind of having 

someone at our house watching it," 

Dustin said.

While deployed, many Soldiers debate how much information to share 

with folks back home. For Dustin and 

Stephanie, there is no protecting the 

other from knowing how dangerous 

things are, Stephanie said.

"It's kind of scary because I know 

what he does as PSD," she said. "I've 

been in a line unit before, so I know the 

kinds of things that happen."

Knowing what could happen can at 

times be worrisome, and Dustin likes to 

call her a 'worrywart,' Stephanie joked.

Living together isn't all hardship, 

Dustin admits. Having someone to vent 

to and talk with after a hard day's work 

makes things easier. 

"It's nice to be able to talk to somebody and not have to be Sgt. Drewry," 

she said. "I can just be Stephanie."

Group of Fort Riley Soldiers bring 

up the rear, return from Iraq

FORT RILEY, Kan.—Four Fort Riley Soldiers received a hero’s welcome 

May 9 when they returned home from 

more than a year in Iraq. Family members and about 50 Soldiers from the 

Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry 

Division, greeted the returning Soldiers 

at the Manhattan Regional Airport. 

The Soldiers were nearly the last Soldiers from the brigade to return from 

Iraq. The majority of the brigade’s 

troops returned several months ago, 

but this group was charged with staying back to help another unit get set up 

in southern Iraq. The last four Soldiers 

returned to Fort Riley May 14.

Big Red One says goodbye 

to Chief of Staff Piscal

FORT RILEY, Kan.—After nearly 

four years at Fort Riley, leadership, Soldiers and members of the surrounding 

community bid farewell to one of its 

top leaders.

Col. Richard Piscal, who has served 

as the chief of the staff for the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley for the past 

two years, was honored for his service to 

the division and Fort Riley during a Victory with Honors ceremony May 12 in 

front of the 1st inf. Div. headquarters. 

“You were and you are a great chief of 

staff, and I feel truly blessed to have had 

you as mine during the full length of my 

time in command,” said Maj. Gen. Vincent Brooks, 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley 

commanding general. “Thanks for making Fort Riley and the Flint Hills a better 

place, and thanks for making anyone 

who touched you (a better person).” 

Piscal initially arrived at Fort Riley in 

June 2007, a time in which Brooks noted 

was a significant time of change for Fort 

Riley when many new projects were under design or construction, including the 

1st Inf. Div.’s headquarters building. For 

the next two years, Piscal served the post 

as the garrison commander.

“You did marvelous work in that 

role as a garrison commander ... we see 

and we experience the fruit of that work 

every day in everything we do and everything we see,” Brooks said. 

In 2009, Piscal received his new assignment as chief of staff where he 

joined the “Victory Five” command 

team of the “Big Red One.” He recently 

returned from Iraq this past January after deploying for a yearlong tour with 

the 1st Inf. Div. headquarters. 

Piscal’s new assignment will take 

him to Washington, where he will serve 

as the military assistant to the Assistant 

Secretary of the Army for Installations, 

Energy and Environment. 

“Fort Riley and the Big Red One and 

the Central Flint Hills are so special to 

the Piscal Family,” Piscal said. “There is 

no doubt the Piscals are better people 

because of our time spent in Kansas. 

We have been changed for the good, by 

the good generous hardworking people 

who have touched our lives and hearts 

over the past four years.” 
28| www.facebook.com/1stInfantryDivision Duty First! July 2011 |29

Troops! Who of you have heard of 

“Occam’s Razor?” 

Most of you, good. No, sit tight! 

This term, it means that “the simplest 

explanation is most likely the correct 

one.” Think about that and put it 

towards your career and why you are 

here. You’ll likely get the answer of 

why you are in the service and you’ll 

get an idea of what you’re fighting for. 

How do your reasons compare to 

the Army’s seven values: Loyalty, 

Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, 

Integrity and Personal Courage? Each 

of these words have been cemented in 

our minds since we were grunts. Are 

any of these reasons a part of your 

reason for joining? If they are, good on 

you! If not, no matter, we are unique, 

and in that individuality we gain 

strength, resilience and cohesiveness 

as a team.

As a noncommissioned officer, it’s 

important that I keep things simple 

when the job gets tough. One step at a 

time, men and women of the 1st 

Infantry Division, and while you’re at 

it, for God sakes, maintain discipline!

Sure, we’d all like to be that college 

civilian asleep in their comfy, student 

loan paid for feather-bed, but we have 

a nation to defend, and with that 

comes pride!

I want men and women in my 

formation who can go the distance, 

men and women who sing the 

“Rocky” theme song crossing the 

finish line, men and women who pour 

out a gallon of sweat on a 13-minute 

two-mile and then are surprised when 

they don’t have to complete a timed 

obstacle course. Air Assault! Yeah, I 

knew some of you were in here.

That is motivation! What is yours? 

Who is looking up to you as an NCO? 

That is motivation! Who do you have 

waiting for you at home? That is 

motivation! For you privates and 

specialists, what NCO do you look up 

to? Do you want to impress him or 

her? That is motivation!

Stand tall NCOs, we are the backbone of the Army! Stand tall Soldiers, 

for without you, nothing is possible. 

We have a country to defend and we 

have our own goals to reach in the 

service. If we have pride in these 

things, then nothing can stop us and 

the standard will remain high.

1st Sergeant ... Out!

YOUR DUTY FIRST! 1ST SERGEANT As a noncommissioned 

officer, it’s important that I 

keep things simple when the 

job gets tough. One step at a 

time, men and women of the 

1st Infantry Division, and 

while you’re at it, for God’s 

sakes, maintain discipline!

By Stephanie Hoff

Duty First! Magazine

It’s a beautiful, sunny day in Manhattan, 

Kan., the college town comfortably situated 

outside the gates of Fort Riley. What does 

the inviting weather mean for retired 1st 

Sgt. Brian Duke? Load up his personal 

plane and hit the open sky. 

Less than 30 minutes later, the wheels 

are up and soaring above the Kansas 

landscape, and yet his feet remain firmly 

planted on the ground.

Duke, a former field artilleryman, is a 

member of the Riley County Fliers. The 

local club is a non-profit organization 

comprised of members with an interest in 

Radio Control Aircraft, most commonly 

called RC aircraft or RC planes. The aircraft, which are generally a fraction of the 

size of their larger counterparts, are typically controlled by a handheld transmitter 

and receiver located within the craft. 

“My favorite part of participating in 

the club is getting to know other folks 

from the local communities and the 

friendships that follow,” said Duke, a 

native of Colorado. “When one is flying, 

it takes their minds off all the worries 

and concerns of everyday life.” 

Though the club was officially established in 1976, members have been flying since before then, said Club President Todd Smith. Since then the organization has grown to a membership of 

more than 20 pilots, complete with their 

own airfield located next to Tuttle Creek 

State Park. 

“I’m hoping we can get (membership) back up here pretty soon,” Smith 

said, of the club’s recent decline in membership because of several of its military 

pilots relocating from Fort Riley. 

An additional benefit of participating 

in the club is the opportunity to share 

their enjoyment with other members, 

Smith added. 

“It’s nothing to get a call one day, and 

all of a sudden you’re dropping everything to meet them out at the field to 

fly,” he chuckled. 

The initial start-up fees acquired by a 

person interested in beginning the hobby 

can vary greatly by the size and type of RC 

aircraft they select and how many manhours they are willing to initially invest. 

‘Almost Ready to Fly’ planes can require 

15 to 20 hours of assembly before their first 

flight, where the Ready To Fly aircraft, 

which come with the radio and engine already installed, can be ready to go in an 

hour or two. The aircraft can also come 

with a variation of engines that range from 

electric to miniature “jet engines.” 

Every Wednesday night the club provides a chance for people curious about 

the hobby to come down to their flying 

field and take the controls of the club’s 

trainer plane and receive instructions 

from the club’s instructor. 

Each participant is offered two complimentary sessions with the club’s 

trainer and plane. If they decide to become a member, the yearly fee is $25 for 

an individual and $30 for a family. The 

membership provides them access to the 

club’s flying field, events, newsletter and 

additional training, if desired. 

 “I’ll tell you one of the coolest things 

about this hobby is (that) I have never 

seen anybody out there flying with a 

frown on their face,” Smith said. “There’s 

nothing else. Fights with kids, spouses, 

bad things at work, car broke down, 

whatever. Anything that is bothering 

them; it’s not even in their head. They 

are out there and their mind is (on flying) and they’re having a good time. 

When you’re (flying) you are there and 

there is nothing else going on.” 

Anyone interested in obtaining additional information about the club, becoming a member or scheduling a complimentary training session is encouraged to 

call 785-537-9981 or 785-776-1608 or email at rcfliers@mac.com or visit the 

club’s website at http://web.mac.com/

mknox/rcf/Riley_County_Fliers.html, 

Smith said. 

“Anybody who wants to get into 

(R.C. planes); they just need to give me 

or the club a call and we’d more than 

happy to get them hooked up.” 

Flying to a different beat

Radio control aircraft 

offer perfect outlet for 

Riley County Fliers 

Riley County Fliers

WHAT: A non-profit organization comprised 

of more than 20 members with an 

interest in Radio Control Aircraft.

WHEN: Every Wednesday night the club 

provides a chance for people to come 

down to the flying field and take the 

controls.

WHERE: Air field next to Tuttle Creek State 

Park.

CONTACT: For more information, call 

785-537-9981 or 785-776-1608, or 

e-mail rcfliers@mac.com.

Courtesy Photos

LEFT: A pilot operates his radio controlled aircraft during the June 2010 Fly-in hosted by the Riley 

County Fliers. The nonprofit organization hosts the annual event each summer, where members 

and non-members can participate with their aircraft. ABOVE: A radio controlled aircraft flys during the June 2010 Fly-in hosted by the Riley County Fliers. Every Wednesday night the club provides a chance for people curious about the hobby to come down to its flying field and take the 

controls of the club’s trainer plane and receive instructions from the club’s instructor.
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