D.C. Earn War Patch

Desert Cowboys Earn War Patch:

Well we left off with the Desert Cowboys being on top of the rest of the battalions. Well not too much has changed since we last saw the Desert Cowboys, they have gone thru several more inspections and have always shown the battalion what it means to be one of the 'Elite'.

Insert from diary:
31 Jan 06
Today we were presented with our War Patches. As I stood there listening to the speeches it took me back to the states where I told several people that this is why I have to go. I have to have my war patch to be able to make Sergeant First Class (SFC). Is this trip worth the effort? Is it worth the separation? What have we seen of Iraq so far? Not too much. We have become Fobbits. A Fobbit is a play on words, most like a Hobbit, from Lord of the Rings, with the exception that they never leave the FOB (Forward Operating Base). We do have several off post missions coming up soon and I can't wait because it will give us a chance to stretch our legs from the normal day to day operations which is starting to wear on everyone. Back to reality the Col is now standing in front of me saying how most other, 'No' all companies are looking at my example of the way to run a motor pool. He continues on and talks about SFC; today is the deadline for the board. I stopped and thought to myself, "I am only as good as the soldiers that I have under me. The Desert Cowboys are sure making a good name for themselves. I am proud of all the American Cowboys, that I have the pleasure of leading."

CPT Carter, 1SG Gattenby, SFC Ward, SSG Anderson, SGT Cundy, SPC Coppock, and PFC Lecky also stood in formation representing the Desert Cowboys, the others were still at work. The Desert Cowboys have just earned their first Combat Patch from 4ID, Forth Infantry Division.

Off Post Convoy
The Col decided to inspect our convoy, he has not done that to any other convoy, that we know of as of yet. Is this because we are leading the way so much? I do not know. It makes us happy to know that people are looking at us. I do not think that he believes that we are as good as we are showing that we are. Anyhow, it was about a 30-minute drive. Scanning the sectors and looking for IEDs got everyone's adrenaline pumping. It was great at the time. Once back on the FOB it was like nothing at all had happened, just another day, go to work!

Desert Cowboys Pop their Cherry!
"Cherry Popping" is what it is called when you get off the FOB for your first time. On this trip it was SSG Anderson, SGT Clark, SPC Nye, SPC Eichholz, PFC Leckie, and PFC Fanshier. They were from the motor pool; others out of headquarters section were LT Smith, SSG Zepeda, SGT Cundy, SGT Dumas, and SPC Myers. Soldiers are dieing everyday in our area of operations and we were lucky to not have been hit by anything. My guys are both strong and brave when it comes to missions like this and I have faith in each one of my Military Cowboys, Cowboy Crew members and Desert Cowboys that I stand next to each and every day that we roll outside that gate. America as a whole should be proud of their sons and daughters that they have given me to lead here. They have stepped up to the plate on more than one occasion and every time we have walked away impressing someone; sometimes ourselves.

Support has started showing up all over the Internet for the Desert Cowboys. They have also started to receive support from fellow Americans.

A special thanks to Cowboy Crew, for donating their time and web space for our pages. Without them no one would even know we are deployed or that our group even exists.

Dawn Schwanke, from Knead A Cookie , who sends an exuberant amounts of Hand Decorated Cookies to the Desert Cowboys. The guys here don't let them sit around till the end of the day that they receive them. They all love these cookies.

Frost Family, Lane Frost - from the movie 8 Seconds, Lane Frost Website The Frost Family is sending custom (with personal names inside) Cowboy Bibles to some of the Desert Cowboy, we would like to say a special prayer for the whole Frost family, thank you all for what you are still doing daily. God Bless, Lane Frost and his entire family.

Bethany Braley, CEO & Publisher, from National Day of the Cowboy Organization, out of Dayton, Wyoming, who has now moved to Arizona, is promoting Cowboy Care Packets for all the deployed Cowboys. Bethany is one of those people who has a drive that cannot be broken. She pushes for anything that is Cowboy and is promoting it everyday of her life. She is one of the Desert Cowboys greatest supporters. We would like to take this moment out and raise our Cowboy Hat off to this woman. Thank You Bethany, for all that you do.

Starline Brass purchased the National Day of the Cowboy flag for the Desert Cowboys to fly in Iraq, with the stipulation that they must donate it to someone else when they return home.

Who better to receive the National Day of the Cowboy flag than
The Thomas Ranch which has been family owned and operated since 1902, in Cochise County (most of you have heard of Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die), Arizona. Who were the first supporters of the Desert Cowboys. This is one of the greatest Western Family's I have meet along all of my journeys.

Dakota Livesay, from Chronicle Of The Old West, out of Show Low, Arizona. Dakota was very excited in donating their newspaper, Chronicle of the Old West, to the Desert Cowboys. Everyone in our group and those outside our group have really taken to this newspaper. Some can't get enough of the stories. They are already asking about the next issue. Thanks for a great publication.

Casey Anderson who is the Desert Cowboys Family Support Group Liaison, takes care of everything back home. She is taking wives to the doctors, babysitting, putting together care packets and spreading the word to everyone who will listen about the Desert Cowboys. All of us would like to send our deepest appreciation for all that you have done and that you continue to do on a daily basis.

We would also like to thank each and every individual who is sending in everything from used tack and ropes (so we can still play over here) to Cowboy Magazines. American Cowboys are so ingenuous when it comes to some of the things we are starting to receive. We did not want people spending a lot of money on us. Homemade things and used things are great. Things we could not bring over due to our space allotment. We currently have one Lasso which we play with daily, mostly roping each other. We started looking online to buy some more but with the shipping cost and the cost of the actual Lasso it seemed a little out of our reach for now.

In closing we wanted to thank everyone who is supporting us and tell them that we will do our best over here and we will do it to the best of our abilities that we possibly can. Day by day we wish we were all home and out of this country but we know without us we would have 9-11 times 1,000.

If we do not stand today, tomorrow we will pay for it.

Also just so everyone knows Osama bin Laden is now on the
Desert Cowboys Most Wanted List.

He says, "I will never be caught..."

We say, "His days are numbered."