He is HOME....

AND IN MY ARMS!!!! (for a week now!)

And, we leave for Puerto Rico is a few days!!! A very well earned vacation for him!!

Time is getting closer

Nightfighter Family,Hello from Balad, I hope this note finds everyone well. We are doing great hereand we are gearing up to go head first into our Relief in Place with thenext unit. I know you will be hearing and reading about a lot of 76thBrigade soldiers coming back over the next few weeks, we are stilllooking at the end of November. I had high hopes a few months back about getting home for Thanksgiving, but that is not going to happen forthe majority of the battalion. There might be a few (less than 75) thatget back in time to complete demobilization by Thanksgiving Day. It looks like most of us will either be somewhere in transit or completing demobilization at Camp Atterbury during that time period. Be patient with the process it will be completed as quickly as possible.

Right now we are concentrating on the train up of our replacements, a job we are taking very seriously. A lot of work and preparation has gone into the training plan and it is finally time to execute it. All of our soldiers feel it is our responsibility to ensure we prepare them for the mission to the best of our ability. While we do that we will be moving out ofour housing into transient housing, which may make communication alittle less accessible for many of our soldiers. If they had internet in their room, that is no longer the case, they are now living in open bay rooms with multiple soldiers. While the quality of living goes downa little bit, it is okay it means we are one step closer to being home.

During the past week or two CSM Cox and I have had the honor of presenting hundreds of "end of tour awards" to our deserving soldiers. Each company held their own ceremony, to include Team Bravo down at their new location, CSM Cox and I flew down this week to visit them. Rest assured the soldiers are in great spirits and are motivated to finish this mission as strong as they started it. We are quickly winding down a very successful mission that everyone involved with canbe proud of; we will definitely have a lot to talk about for years tocome. As always it is my honor to serve with YOUR soldier!

LTC Jerry Hadley
"Nightfighter 6"

Greetings from Balad

Nightfighter Family,

I want to start by saying I am sorry it has been so long since I have written, time has slipped away from me here. We have been extremely busy with many moving pieces and a mission operational tempo that continues to increase. We are not complaining though, at least I am not, I like keeping everyone busy it makes time go by faster. I am suresome of you have heard by now that we had to move one of our companiesto another location. Team Bravo is no longer working here with us,although we do still have a command relationship with them for awardsand other administrative actions. They are now located at a baseseveral hours south of here conducting the same type of missions. Our higher headquarters decided the unit that is replacing us was going toneed to have an additional unit south, so they decided to put our guys down there so they could train them when they come in. While it was definitely a hardship on the soldiers to pack up and move, Team Bravodid not complain one bit. The soldiers and leadership did a great jobclearing post here and then very efficiently moved south.CSM Cox and I will be heading down south in a few weeks to check on them and hold their end of tour awards ceremony. Up here we continue to prepare for our replacement unit, and no we do not know dates they will be here, any dates you are hearing are rumors. I can tell you there have been dates floating around but trust me they are not locked in stone AT ALL. Please do not get your hopes up for an early arrival home (prior to December). While there is a slight chance it could happen there is just as big of a chance it might not. Do not buy tickets or schedule vacations that lock your soldier in too early inDecember. We are at the mercy of a lot of forces we do not control, most importantly the air force and contracted commercial aircraft. I have told my family I will be home just as soon as the Army lets me outof the mobilization site. Please be sure to attend the State reintegration briefings that are being scheduled. I believe there a couple in Fort Wayne this weekend. They will give you information on how you will learn when we are coming home; I promise you they don't know when we are coming right now either. Any one that tells you they do is misinformed. As recently as a few hours ago I received information that moved dates around. Enough on that subject we will all be patient and get through this together. Let me change the subject and brag on Team Echo for a minute.I went on the longest mission I have been on yet last night with the"Stormbringers". It was not supposed to be that long but circumstances changed our plans. Bottom line after being on the road over 14 hoursour soldiers were still alert enough to locate a very well hiddenexplosive device on the road. It was rendered useless by an EOD Team(explosive ordnance Team) while we secured the site. I was so impressedwith our soldiers’ ability to stay focused after being on the road solong, trust me it is not easy. 14 hours in a gun truck with heavybullet proof vest and helmets on will take its toll on you. I had notbeen out for about 5 days before last night due to administrative requirements here, after rolling with them last night my batteries arerecharged. Our soldiers are AMAZING! They never cease to impress me and make me proud to be in their ranks. Well I will write again soon.
Proud to Serve
LTC Jerry Hadley
Nightfighter 6

(continue reading the next post below, I forgot one!)

Nightfighter Family,
Greetings from Iraq it is September 17th and we are just coming out oftwo days of the craziest weather I have ever seen. It has literallybeen "snowing" sand here which has shut down our missions, tonight weare getting back on track. Everyone is well; we are staying busy with mission preparation and preparations for our replacements. While we are still a few months away from our replacements arriving we are working hard to ensure a smooth transfer of authority with them. We have been communicating with them at the mobilization site to ensure they can hitthe ground running. We are continuing to write our end of tour awardsfor the soldiers and submitting them our higher headquarters forapproval. The leadership of the battalion is continuing to emphasizestaying focused on the mission and SAFETY; we cannot afford any complacency to set in. Many units lose focus as the mission winds down,we are going to ensure that does not happen with the Nightfighters. Ihave challenged each of the soldiers to finish the deployment strong andto really work on their physical fitness. We will be conducting a"Nightfighter PT Badge Challenge" in October. During this eventsoldiers have the opportunity to take the PT Test and earn thefollowing: Any soldier scoring over 250 of 300 Points will receive a Certificate of Achievement, Soldiers who score over 270 with at least 90of 100 points in each of the three events will also receive the Army Physical Fitness Badge for their PT Uniform and finally the highest scores on the extended PT Scale (over 300 points) have a chance atearning Airborne School Slots (we are still working the details on thataward). We will be conducting the PT test on three separate dates inOctober to give everyone a chance to compete. I am looking forward to maximum participation with many soldiers earning recognition. Speaking of PT it is that time of the night for me, so I am heading to the gym. I will write more next week.

Proud to Serve
LTC Jerry Hadley
Nightfighter 6

Happy Birthday to Sery Leila Hackett

I cant believe its been an entire year.

Nightfighter Family,Greetings from Iraq, I hope all is well back home. We are hard at work here; the missions continue to come at a pretty good pace. I know the services back home for SSG Miller were completed this week, and I understand many of our rear detachment and FRG members attended. I am sure SSG Miller's family appreciated the support; I know I appreciate everything the Rear Detachment and FRG did to support our fallen comrade's loved ones. We conducted our Memorial Service here and had over 900 in attendance; it was great show of support for an outstanding soldier. We have remained focused on our mission while still grieving the loss of one of our own. The soldiers have been outstanding the past few weeks, it has not been easy. I am not ashamed to say there were more than a few tears shed here, but that is to be expected. This is not an easy business we do and it carries its share of dangers, but our soldiers continue to impress me with their courage and determination. I have been out on two missions since the Memorial Service and walked away from both of them feeling good about what we are doing and how we are doing it. I was fortunate enough a few nights ago to go out with the same section that SSG Miller last rode with. To say their performance was superb would be an understatement. They were focused, professional and on this night successful at finding a road side explosive. While some units might get down and throw in the towel, these soldiers have stepped up their performance and did exactly what we are supposed to do here, which is to find the explosive before it finds you. I was so proud to be part of that mission; it was a testament to all their hard work. We will keep working away over here, anxiously inching closer to the day we get to come home to all of you. We will stay focused up to the last mission, that I will promise you.

Proud To Serve
LTC Jerry Hadley
Nightfighter 6

Nightfighter Family,It is with my deepest regret that I must inform you of the tragic loss of one our great soldiers. SGT Brian Miller of Team D died from injuries sustained in an accident while on a combat logistic patrol this past weekend. SGT Miller was serving as the truck commander when the accident occurred. The driver also from Team Delta is being treated for non life threatening injuries at this time. SGT Miller has been an outstanding leader and role model for the soldiers he has worked with,he was a battle tested NCO with over 25 combat logistic patrols on this deployment. SGT Miller has left behind a wonderful and loving family:his wife Becky, daughter Nikki and son Austin. I ask that you keep them in your prayers through this very difficult period. The soldiers of the Nightfighter Battalion will pause tomorrow afternoon at 1600 (5 August)to conduct a memorial service for this great American. While we all grieve this loss we know the mission here must go on. We also know SGT Miller, being the soldier he was, would expect us to get right back at it and complete what our country has asked us to do. We are banding together and becoming even closer, which is what happens during adversity. We worry about you as much as you worry about us; right now we all need to be thinking of Becky, Nikki and Austin.Details of the services for SGT Miller will be forthcoming in a few days and will be posted on this website and available through your FamilyReadiness Groups. I will write more and post pictures from the memorial service conducted here within a day or two.

As always,
I am Proud to Serve with your Soldiers
LTC Jerry Hadley
Nightfighter 6
"Follow Us"