Editor's Note: The 18^th Infantry is engaged in intensive train up for deployment to Kosovo in May. Due to the delay in publishing the January newsletter, a more recent update on our soldiers is included here. I apologize for the tardiness of this newsletter, but it was unavoidable.

8 Feb 02 ... We are moving ahead with our training after a few days in Schweinfurt. We have transitioned our vehicles to Hohenfels with 26 separate convoys, rail operations, and HMMWV infiltrations & will secure them with a great team of soldiers who will not deploy to Hohenfels for training. Thanks to our great XO & S3 team of Majors Crissman & Dluzyn, we are the only task force capable of a 10 day stand down in Schweinfurt. This is a priority for us and was difficult to coordinate, but there are some very tired troops here, and they need the break from training. We had three vehicle accidents, within 24 hours. No injuries, 2 of the three are not attributable to driver error, but, everyone thought they had to be moving fast as we transitioned from mission to mission. ... I can not believe our temperature swings, we initiated our training with zero degrees Fahrenheit & 15 inches of snow on the ground, today we may hit the 50's with rain. We have a training Holiday Monday, and will release the battalion today at 1300 hours. We could have made a 4 day training holiday with a day off today, but...after running so hard for 37 days, I decided to keep today as a duty day to allow our junior leaders an opportunity to catch up on training assessments, hold training meetings, clean gear, and focus our team leaders on individual risk assessments. I was concerned we might have run out on the town a little too quickly without a good opportunity for junior leaders to execute an azimuth check on recreational activities. I must run now, but we are in Schweinfurt through the 17th. Tonight we have a Division Command Team social function at the Conn Club, I look forward to telling MG Craddock our itinerary. I am glad you & CSM Carter are coming. These are great soldiers and you will enjoy the opportunity. Very Respectfully, LTC Butch Botters

At our last Annual Meeting, membership eligibility was expanded to include Associate Members and Friends of the Regiment. If you know someone who fits the new requirements -- invite them to join. The category of Associate Member is intended for relatives and friends of those eligible for regular membership who support our goals and objectives and wish to participate in our activities or receive the newsletter. Dues are the same as for regular membership. Likewise, "Friend of the Regiment" is intended for individuals, groups, or organizations who support our goals and objectives and who make a significant financial contribution to the Association. Associate Members receive appropriate membership cards and Friends of the Regiment are listed prominently in an issue of the newsletter and otherwise recognized for their support.

The Annual Dinner of the Officers of the First Division will be held on Saturday, 20 April 2002, at the Crystal City Hyatt Regency Hotel in Arlington, VA. The 18^th Infantry CP will be in room 1811. For information contact Phil Pryor, ph: 757-564-1616, E-mail: Ppryor58@aol.com

This year the Big Red One Reunion is scheduled in New Orleans on 14-18 August. Make reservations through the Society. For information, please contact Jennifer Sanford 1933 Morris Rd, Blue Bell, PA 19422. 1-888-324-4733 E-mail: soc1ID@aol.com

The year 1902 found the 18^th Infantry Regiment stationed within the United States for the first time in the 20^th Century, having recently returned from a three year combat tour in the Philippine Islands. However, the Regiment's battalions were not stationed together, the Army was in the midst of revolutionary transition under secretary of War Elihu Root, and the times were as troubling as they are today.

In early September 1901, President William McKinley was assassinated by an Anarchist while attending the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Americans were stunned and horrified by this deliberate attack upon America by a world-wide, but stateless network of terrorists. Under these circumstances, Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office as the 26^th President of the United States, the youngest ever President. When this happened, most of the 18^th Infantry was at sea, en route home from the Philippine Islands, where it had earned three new battle streamers for the Regimental Colors. The 1^st Battalion had returned earlier, taking station as Home Battalion at the Presidio of San Francisco. Upon arrival in San Francisco, Regimental Headquarters and the 2^nd Battalion were assigned to Fort D.A. Russell in Wyoming, known today as Warren AFB near Cheyenne. The 3rd Battalion was stationed at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City, where Company I was detached to garrison Fort Duchesne, Utah. Then in November 1901, the 1^st Battalion was reassigned to Fort Bliss, Texas, the post where it had been stationed prior to mobilization for the War with Spain and deployment to the Philippines.

Colonel James M. J. Sanno joined the Regiment at Fort D.A. Russell and assumed command in October 1901. COL Sanno was a graduate of the United States Military Academy, Class of 1863. Upon graduation, he had been assigned to the 7^th Infantry Regiment, and served with that unit for 32 years. He was promoted Major of the 3^rd Infantry in 1895, Lieutenant Colonel of the 4^th Infantry in 1896, and Colonel of the 18^th Infantry effective 18 December 1899. However, COL Sanno had remained on detached service in the United States until the regiment returned from the Philippines. COL Sanno was promoted Brigadier General in 1903 and retired with over 40 years of active service.

1902 was a year of recruiting and rebuilding for the 18^th Infantry. Many terms of enlistment expired with the Regiments return to the United States, and Officers were detached to the General Recruiting Service, the primary recruiting depot being in New York City. By the end of 1902, 18th Infantry strength was at 46 Officers and 788 Enlisted Men. In May 1902, the 1^st and 3^rd Battalions were both posted to Fort Logan in Colorado, near Denver, with Company L detailed to Whipple Barracks near Prescott, Arizona. The majority of the 18^th Infantry was now in two major detachments at Army Posts fairly near one another. There they engaged in training and garrison duties. In September, the 18th Infantry Regiment, minus Company L, assembled at Fort Riley for Army maneuvers and intensive field training, but they were at home stations again by mid-October.

In 1902, the standard Infantry arm was the Krag-Jorgensen military service rifle. This bolt-action rifle was fitted with an unusual 5-round, left side-mounted box magazine. It utilized a centerfired, .30 caliber cartridge, loaded with 40 grains of smokeless powder. The Krag weighed slightly over 9 lbs, and was issued with an 11 1/2-inch bladed knife bayonet. The Infantry field uniform consisted of: black shoes, with brown leggings; blue pants, with white infantry stripe; dark blue blouse; a web cartridge belt, with canteen and bayonet scabbard attached; and brown, regulation campaign hat. In the field, the 1902 infantryman would be expected to carry his haversack, the regulation blanket bag and back pack equipment, as well as his Krag.

Work Continues on our Book about the 18th Infantry in World War II. The 18th Infantry Regiment Association, in co-operation with author Robert Baumer, continues to encourage veterans to provide their histories for inclusion in our upcoming book about the Regiment's distinguished combat record during World War II.

Baumer reports that many officers and enlisted men have indeed sent material to him, and that veteran's relatives have also made contributions. However, contributions are scarce for two key engagements where the Regiment fought meritoriously during the war: Gela Beach, during the Invasion of Sicily, and the Battle for Troina, the final battle for Sicily. If you were there, please write and tell him about it.

Baumer's work will cover the vast sweep of history made by our World War II veterans. If you have not already sent your history to the author, especially about the landing phase on D-Day in Europe, we urge you to do so.

Baumer's work on our behalf is still targeted for publication late next year. Given deadlines and other issues that affect getting the book out in time to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, he has asked that we send out a final "Call for Histories" so that they may be received by him no later than September 30th of this year.

Please note that Baumer has a new address. It's Robert Baumer, 1033 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, CT 06475. His email address remains rbaumer@snet.net, but his telephone number is now (860) 395-0228.

It's such a great picture in and of itself, and if you do decide to print it, kindly give attribution to "Jeffrey Smith, grandson of Colonel George A. Smith." for providing it to us. Colonel Smith is in the back row, farthest left standing next to Ben Sternberg.

Kindly send me a copy of the newsletter at my new address when it does go out. Thanks, Bob

Need articles on:

financial status

membership

sgt morales

1^st BATTALION WEB PAGE

The 1^st Battalion now has it's own web page.

http://www.schweinfurt.army.mil/118/website.htm

We have linked this site to our 18^th Inf Regt Assn web page, and visa versa. Welcome to the Internet.

Subj:Newsletter

The treasury has been getting a good shot in the arm, mainly due to the membership renewals. We are currently back to just over $6,000.00

We collected in excess of $1600 for the holiday project. (funds that were specifically earmaked for holiday project)

Additionally, we have collected $895 in donations. Most of which were not earmarked for anything specific. (just extra money sent in with membership) Approximately $400 of which was earmaked for the "family support

program", however. So I guess I better keep this separate for when the time comes to do something with it?

I would have to say that we have had a "better than ever" response to donations in general. More participation than I have ever seen.(we did not get the $100's of dollars from the Gillespies's VFW/Legion that we did last year, so this was all from members' pockets)

So, not sure how you would like to handle the reporting of "holiday project" money? Would it suffice to say that had a great response and we were able to send our usual $1k this year? If we specifically say that we got 1600 and only sent 1000, would that create any hostility since our members specificaly wanted their money to go for holiday funds? I don't know....heck, my first year as treasurer...we barely made the $1k figure, from about 5 people.

We plan to order more 18^th Infantry golf shirts, long-sleeve T-shirts, and baseball hats on 1 March 2002. If you want one, please contact Larry with size, color & Etc as soon as possible. We also have unit crests and miniature unit crests. See pictures on our web page (www.18inf.org). Place your order with Larry Van Kuran, 6378 Jamieson Ave, Encino, CA 91316 or email: vankuran@ix.netcom.com

Greetings from the Central European Region -- Report from LTC Robert J. Botters, Jr.

The Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division have entered the New Year with a complete change of company commanders and a deployment to the Grafenwoehr Training Area to conduct individual and crew served weapons qualification, M2A2 Bradley Crew Qualification, and Squad Live Fire training. Our Training Pace, or OPTEMPO, is very high, for example, our soldiers were able to have a holiday leave period that ended on 2 January 2002, but on 3 January 2002, we were conducting our initial Bradley Qualification events at Conn Barracks. Although at home station, the weather was the challenge, the temperature never rose above 6 degrees Fahrenheit. These events involved each Bradley Crew (44 Bradley Crews in the Battalion) to participate in the training for about two days from 0630 hours to approximately 0230 hours the following morning. After executing the training we transitioned to rail and convoy deployment operations for our movement to Grafenwoehr (Graf). As we completed the home station training, our Battalion Operations Officer, Major David Dluzyn and Battalion Command Sergeant Major, CSM Calpena, deployed to Kosovo with our Company Commanders and Battalion Staff to conduct the third Recon of our future sector in Kosovo. The Kosovo deployment is scheduled for May through December of this year.

The training area at Grafenwoehr (Graf) is a world class training facility which can accommodate training all aspects of our infantry tasks required for combat or peace operations. Our focus at Graf is combat operations, and will conclude with a 48-hour Company Team Live Fire Exercise. The Company Team mission is to task organize a company with two infantry platoons and one armor platoon, mortar platoon, engineer platoon, maintenance and recovery assets to conduct a deliberate attack in the day and conclude with a hasty night defense. This is the best training event possible for a company team commander in Europe, and we are very fortunate to have the soldiers of A Company, 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Battalion, and A Company 9th Engineer Battalion from our 2nd Brigade combat team, and B Company, 54th Engineers from Bamburg, Germany task organized with the Vanguards for our training in Graf, and for our deployment to Kosovo.

The battalion will deploy from Graf to Hohenfels, Germany, home of our Combat Maneuver Training Center, to conclude our combat training, and transition to our Mission Rehearsal Exercise (MRE) to execute stability and support operations (peacekeeping training) for our mission to Kosovo. Our task organized Vanguards will train for 25 days in an environment designed to replicate the future assigned Kosovo sector. While the training is not difficult compared to combat operations, we will be stretched to accommodate the training scenario. It is also a great honor for us to host Colonel( R ) Tronsrue and Sergeant Major ( R ) Carter during the Mission Rehearsal Exercise. After the MRE, we will have 3 weeks in Conn Barracks, then a two week block leave before we deploy to Kosovo. So with another fast paced Vanguard training year ahead, and we are well on our way to our deployment to Kosovo.

Our European Vanguard Family wishes to extend our great appreciation to the Association for the gracious gift of Holiday Spirit. Our Family Support Group team, led by SFC Matt Cloyd, was able to distribute your Holiday Spirit to soldiers and families in each of our Companies. The Association's gift allowed us to provide holiday food baskets to an additional 30 Vanguard families. God Bless you all for sharing your holiday wish with us.

Our new Company Commanders are A Company, Captain Joe Pierce; B Company, Captain Matt Denny; C Company, Captain Wade Bovard; Headquarters & Headquarters Company, Captain Lang Lucas. Captain Lucas is our former A Company commander. We have added another command team this year to accommodate our Kosovo deployment. D Company, led by the command team of 1LT (P) Ryan Arends & 1SG Matt Cloyd. This super pair of leaders will provide a stable rear detachment command for our deploying and redeploying soldiers and their families during our Kosovo rotation.

Finally, I can not say enough about the great Vanguard Leaders who have departed our battalion to meet new challenges in our Army. LTC (P) Mike Murray, MAJ (P) Pete Jones, CSM James Forest, Captains Bill Kuttler, Jason Garkey, and Chad Arcand. These great leaders are now serving soldiers in the United States and here in Europe. We are better soldiers and citizens for having the opportunity to train with them. We wish you all a Happy New Year and look forward to meeting soon.

Very Respectfully, LTC Butch Botters, Grafenwoehr, Germany, January 2002

The holiday season is behind us, tinged this year with sadness and compassion for lost ones. But, along with those strong feelings are even stronger feelings of pride about the ways our country and, particularly, our military men and women have responded to the atrocities of September 11. Elsewhere in this Newsletter, you'll read more details about how these times have gone for our active Battalion in Germany. Those of us at Home are proud of the determined professionalism our Vanguards have shown and continue to show.

In the next Newsletter, your Honorary Command Sergeant Major, Naman Carter, and I will be able to bring you a first-hand assessment of our Vanguards as they train in Germany. Their training focus in January and part of February, as I understand it, will be on combat readiness--gunnery and live-fire exercises. In early February, they'll move to Hohenfels to begin a very different kind of training: preparing to deploy in May, with a large part of the Second Brigade, to Kosovo for a six-month security force tour. This Mission Readiness Exercise period, beginning mid-February, will peak in "graduation exercise" days during the second week of March. CSM Carter and I have been invited to arrive at Frankfurt airport on the morning of Wednesday, 6 March where we'll meet Battalion soldiers and go direct to the maneuver area at Hohenfels. For the next week, we'll be in the middle of things. We'll go in like older Vanguards, not like straphangers! Wish us luck. Slogging through the mud is years back for both of us, but we feel incredibly lucky to get this opportunity! And, if all goes well, there's a possibility of being invited by the Division CG to visit the Battalion on the ground in Kosovo, next Fall.

If any of you have any questions you would like CSM Carter and me to ask of our Vanguards, or any particular things you would like us to report on to you, get in touch with either of us. In the meantime, God Bless!

Duty First! George Tronsrue, Honorary Colonel, 18th Infantry Regiment