29TH INFANTRY DIVISION
116TH REGIMENT, 2ND BN
Easy COMPANY
Official Awards for Meritorious Service Before and During EP3s Deployment
November 9th 2024
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Ross M. Dethfield
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Ross M. Dethfield has participated in their seventh official scrimmage. For being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
First Lieutenant Mathieu C. Tremblay
First Lieutenant Mathieu C. Tremblay has participated in their fourth official scrimmage. For being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Second Lieutenant Aiden P. McArdle
Second Lieutenant Aiden P. McArdle has participated in their third official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 2nd Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal. In addition 2Lt. McArdle will receive the Legion of Merit for leading EP3 to victory in an official scrimmage.
Sergeant Jonathan O. Bukey has participated in their second official scrimmage. For being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Sergeant Patrick K. Regan has participated in their third official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 2nd Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Sergeant Matt A. Hamilton has participated in their second official scrimmage. For being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Sergeant Eric M. Guyette has participated in their third official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 2nd Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Army Commendation Medal
On the attack round Sgt. Guyette was assigned with EP3S2 to push along the southern side of the enemies movement restrictions. During the intial part of our attack, a vehicle was spotted in the trees on the East overlooking what would be EP3S2’s entire approach. This was spotted and called out, allowing for our CE’s to move.
Sgt. Guyette in collaboration with PFC Abruzzino would fire their rockets simultaneously both hitting the vehicle and instantly destroying it. This allowed EP3S2 to push towards the ridge and assume a position that would be crucial to the further advancement of our overall team. However during this push, the second vehicle was spotted hull down in a compound. With one of our own vehicles destroyed, this vehicle was in a very dangerous position to overlook EP3S1 and EP3S3’s attack. However once again Sgt. Guyette collaborating with PFC Abruzzino were able to synchronize a rocket shot onto the vehicle destroying it, and preventing two dangerous vehicle positions from the defenders coming into fruition.
Technician, 4th Grade Logan B. Albers
Technician, 4th Grade Logan B. Albers has participated in their third official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 2nd Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Corporal Garrick L. Roland has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Corporal Mihaly A. Vilzom has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Corporal Sebastian A. Garcia has participated in their second official scrimmage. For being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Corporal Jeremiah L. Johnson has participated in their fourth official scrimmage. For being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Corporal Robert V. Cheek has participated in their third official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 2nd Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Soldier’s Medal
Out of the twenty drills of scrim prep for EP3, Cpl. Cheek attended all but one. From the get-go, Cpl. Cheek had a profound impact on how scrim prep would develop over the next month as well as the strategies for the scrim itself. The efforts of Cheek started with him leading the OPFOR for most of the scrim prep for Third Platoon. This decision to lead the enemy team allowed for a more realistic but challenging preparation for the scrimmage. It was necessary to understand the flaws in our plan and where we should prioritize our focus and efforts. This knowledge provided by Cheek allowed leadership to keep their men alive on both the attack and the defense. Likewise, Cheek found several useful locations to put the defender vehicles for the defense. This knowledge influenced the decisions to keep the defender’s vehicles near the objective and to use the terrain for their benefit. This resulted in both EP3 vehicles remaining alive on the defense while continuing to provide fire support for friendly infantry. Cpl Cheek also allowed the platoon to practice fighting against the enemy UAV. The precise callouts given by Cheek to the guest defenders, allowed Third Platoon to be well-prepared against coordinated fire from the enemy. In total, the feedback received and training provided by Cpl. Cheek in these critical weeks was crucial in the development of a plan for both the attack and the defense. Without the extensive help from Cpl. Cheek, Third Platoon would have suffered during the scrim.
Corporal Ben Horrill has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Technician, 5th Grade Alex S. Turner
Technician, 5th Grade Alex S. Turner has participated in their second official scrimmage. For being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Technician, 5th Grade Gabriel A. Canales
Technician, 5th Grade Gabriel A. Canales has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Bronze Star
During the scrim on November 9th, 2024, against the 44th RAR, EP3S3 was positioned in the western trenches and tasked with watching and defending the NW to SW of EP3’s defensive formation. After some initial vehicle audio to the west, there was a brief period of silence before more callouts confirmed that they were facing a multi-prong attack. In the NW corner of the trenches, T/5 Canales was set up with his AR in a position where he could effectively engage in almost every direction. Once the SW element of the enemy attackers started pushing to the hangars on the airfield, S3 began to engage, with T/5 Canales providing suppressive fire to prevent the attackers from advancing onto Sgt. Guyette’s position.
Meanwhile, the 44th RAR successfully snuck into the northern part of their defenses, where they began picking off the northern defenders. Realizing the north was in danger, one of the enemy vehicles drove into the north woods, where PFC Velarde-Vernuil was able to set the vehicle on fire. Although the crew dismounted, T/5 Canales fired rounds through the foliage, giving PFC Velarde-Vernuil time to reposition and eliminate the surviving crewman before being killed himself. With PFC Velarde-Vernuil down, the north was open for the 44th to begin closing in.
As the attackers advanced, S3 repositioned closer to their objective compound and locked down the trench intersections. Just as they reached their fallback positions, the attackers converged from the north and west, where T/5 Canales eliminated one of the attackers as he peeked out of the trench. Shortly after Canales secured his first kill, T/5 Turner found himself caught in an intersection with attackers on both sides. Despite his effort to fight back, he ultimately succumbed to an enemy that managed to crawl up and kill him.
With T/5 Turner down, T/5 Canales became the last man in his section of the trench left to stop the attackers, ready to exact revenge for Turner’s death. Almost immediately after Turner’s demise, Canales eliminated the enemy responsible and accounted for all but one of the attackers in the trenches, totaling four kills in just a minute or two, effectively ending the northern attack. Once his trench was secured, T/5 Canales began searching for any other approaching threats. After identifying the final attacker in his trench, Canales was able to suppress him, allowing for a safe retreat and keeping the final attacker repositioning until he was killed by the defending vehicle, bringing the round to a close.
Private, First Class Dean A. Reyes
Private, First Class Dean A. Reyes has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Private, First Class Mark W. Nard
Private, First Class Mark W. Nard has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Private, First Class Mohamed A. Guerrera
Private, First Class Mohamed A. Guerrera has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Private, First Class Mike N. Red
Private, First Class Mike N. Red has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Private, First Class Alex Black
Private, First Class Alex Black has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Private, First Class Eli P. Zabin
Private, First Class Eli P. Zabin has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Private, First Class Keaton Smith
Private, First Class Keaton Smith has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Private, First Class Steven Barnes
Private, First Class Steven Barnes has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Private, First Class William S. Abruzzino
Private, First Class William S. Abruzzino has participated in their second official scrimmage. For being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Army Commendation Medal
On the attack round PFC Abruzzino was assigned with EP3S2 to push along the southern side of the enemy’s movement restrictions. During the initial part of our attack, a vehicle was spotted in the trees on the East overlooking what would be EP3S2’s entire approach. This was spotted and called out, allowing for our CE’s to move.
PFC Abruzzino in collaboration with Sgt. Guyette would fire their rockets simultaneously both hitting the vehicle and instantly destroying it. This allowed EP3S2 to push towards the ridge and assume a position that would be crucial to the further advancement of our overall team. However, during this push, the second vehicle was spotted hull down in a compound. With one of our own vehicles destroyed, this vehicle was in a very dangerous position to overlook EP3S1 and EP3S3’s attack. However, once again PFC Abruzzino collaborated with Sgt. Guyette were able to synchronize a rocket shot onto the vehicle destroying it, and preventing two dangerous vehicle positions from the defenders coming into fruition.
Private, First Class Adam J. Shaffer
Private, First Class Adam J. Shaffer has participated in their second official scrimmage. For being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Private, First Class Hunter L. Neilson
Private, First Class Hunter L. Neilson has participated in their second official scrimmage. For being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Private, First Class John Kaz has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Private, First Class Christopher J. Velarde-Verneuil
Private, First Class Christopher J. Velarde-Verneuil has participated in their second official scrimmage. For being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
Private Jedediah E. Kriegington
Private Jedediah E. Kriegington has participated in their first official scrimmage and is therefore eligible for his Combat Infantry Badge, 1st Award, for being a part of a two round scrimmage in which both rounds were a victory they will receive the World War II Victory Medal.
PFC Yao had dedicated himself to the squad and platoon by showing up to all of EP3’s drills - including Battalion to help the squad and platoon prep for the scrim. PFC Yao knew he would not make it due to a vacation trip overseas and had decided to still dedicate his time and effort to the unit. He had not complained once about not being able to show up for scrim, and often volunteered to go on the guest side of the rounds, utilizing both GL weapons, also contributing with the rotary grenade launcher and learning with his fill-in on how to get more accurate shots on the objective, and what location to hold down angles from once within attack radius.
The reconnaissance phase of the attack saw one enemy vehicle forced to retreat and the other destroyed by a pair of rocket shots. This created the opportunity for the attack to move into the defenders’ restrictions and take up their designated positions. An enemy CE on the South side of the airfield destroyed a vehicle and killed the driver of the other. This forced the surviving member of each vehicle crew to join together and reposition to support the Western push. EP3S1 was almost completely wiped out attempting to clear a path to the trenches, but EP3S3 was able to join the remnants of EP3S1 and eliminate the threats that had been marked.
The defenders attempted to flank on the Southeast side to counter EP3S2, but they were eventually dealt with. The defensive action on the Southeast resulted in the loss of the remaining defensive vehicle. Another defensive group attempted to counter attack from the Northwest side of restrictions, but they were delayed just enough as the majority of the attackers had already pushed into the trenches and made it to their firing positions. With a large number of attackers successfully positioned in the trenches and support from EP3S2 moving up on their South side, the attackers began to send rockets and grenades toward the objective. Other attacking infantry roles pushed toward the buildings and began to engage the defenders who hadn’t found a way to respond to the ranged explosives. The objective was successfully destroyed as the final fight had started to intensify.
The defense began with two separate attacks on the southern movement restrictions. The first began with movement being spotted on the southeastern clump of trees in which EP3S2 and a friendly marksman started to engage. The enemy attackers quickly retreated due to the number of casualties they took from the S2 engagement. The second southern attack occurred in the southwest near the hangers of the airfield. The attackers were able to swiftly reach the hangers without attracting the attention of the defenders. Despite this, the defenders in the south, as well as the friendly vehicle, were able to make quick work of the enemy. The end result of this attack was a significant portion of the attackers being killed and the destruction of one of the enemy vehicles.
The second set of attacks came from the North and the Northwest. The northern defense was caught off guard when the attackers slipped past their scouts. This resulted in some casualties on the defenders’ side, but they were able to readdress their lines and tighten up their defense. With the support of friendly vehicles, the defenders were able to repel the northern attackers and halt their advance toward the objective. Unlike the North, the defenders in the trenches in the Northwest were prepared for the attackers. The defenders were able to make multiple kill zones around the trenches, resulting in several quick successes for the defenders. By the end of these two northern attacks, another attacker’s vehicle was destroyed, as well as a large amount of infantry.
As the attackers’ numbers started to rapidly deplete after two failed attacks on the North and South, the remaining enemy attackers regrouped for one last push. By the time the last attack would happen, EP3 had tightened up its defenses and had most of the friendly infantry within 100 meters of the objective. This allowed the defenders to quickly react to whatever came their way and to support one another. This came true when the remaining attackers approached from the Northwest and the East. Despite taking significant casualties from this attack, the defenders were able to use their superior numbers and vehicle advantage to repeal the attackers. This resulted in EP3 winning the defense by killing all the enemy attackers.