HornFans for Longhorn Servicemen Overseas

Wow! I'm in...
Don't have time to read the thread. I wasn't expecting to be able to get onto the site, but thought I'd try...again. So, whatever you guys have cooking up is still a secret.

Real quick...

First off, I wanted to personally thank each and every one of you for your support of our troops. It not only makes me proud to be a Longhorn, but proud to be an American!! I honestly have been humbled and feel almost unworthy of the amount of support, not only I, but all soldiers have received. You guys truly are GREAT AMERICANS!!!!! For those of us who didn't join the military for the enlistment bonuses or for the college money, your letters and messages validate why we joined in the first place...for love of country and those that live in it. So, again, a heart-felt and resounding "Thank You!"

Second of all, just so everyone knows...I have responded to everyone I've received an email from thanking them individually. Many of them are returned "undeliverable." The reason, after research from our Signal Battalion, is some servers are not recognizing our "new" domain, which is understandable. (we ARE a make-shift server, after all). There are a few people who's servers recognize, or don't care about, my domain. I don't seem to have a problem communicating with Tom Richey, who seems to have become my "defacto Point of Contact" with everyone in the network. Tom, thanks VERY much!!! David and I appreciate it.

Gotta go...
Keep the emails coming. I enjoy reading them when I can. There have been , and will be, times when I don't respond for a while due to on-going operations, but I've enjoyed reading the messages when I return. It's my own personal little way to unwind. Thanks again to everyone.

God Bless and Protect You All!
Hook 'em Horns!

Cecil Strickland
Task Force 3 Panther
3-505 Parachute Infantry Regiment
Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan

 

For anyone who needs a reply from Cecil or David drop me a note at "trichey@maccnet.com" and I'll complete whatever correspondence ya need. Apparently our ExchangeServer doesn't care about Cecil's "new" server and bludgeons its way both ways.

Lets keep their inboxes full til we get them and all our troops home safe. It could be a long haul so let's settle in, keep them in our thoughts and prayers and EVERYONE drop em a note every day or so.

Use my good connection w em whenever ya need something...

m/

 

I've been off the board for a few days to find this thread. What is this suaggie person? Talk bout splitting hairs. This board is I thought for and by Horns from around the world. Who cares if atm is a commission machine, I got mine though UT, and BTW most UT commissions are not through the OCS program.

You can help out those overseas by sending letters and care packages. Also, drop by Steindam Hall and see what the ROTC program is about...

 

email sent. Send every horn that you know this link.

Major and Mack are f'n awesome.

 

And for suag...Gen Tommy Franks is over there...How else is he working with all the Central Asian nations? Stay up wwith current events ag and at least be situationaly aware. BTW how is Jackie Sherrill these days?

 

GOD BLESS EVERYONE OF OUR ARMED FORCES OVER THERE. IT JUST FALLS TO US TO MAKE THE HORNS FEEL A LITTLE MORE SPECIAL AND SHARE THE GREAT YEAR THE HORNS ARE GOING TO HAVE.

 

I guess everyone is asleep around here...I got on the net...

Thanks to everyone who's emailed me the scores and highlights of the game today...yesterday...whatever day it is, or was. The military uses Zulu time (GMT) here. So it gets light at 1230am and gets dark around around 2pm. And if you go outside of Kandahar, some units use local time Z+4.5. So, I've just given up telling what time it is... Before I woke up was yesterday, now is today, and after I go to bed, if I get to go to sleep, is tomorrow. Anything else has become irrelevant. Anyway, thanks for the updates!
I'll be leaving soon for a little while...rotating out to a forward base for a bit. So, I'll be off the net until I get back to KAF (Kandahar Air Field). Any coorespondence will be by regular mail. I told drdorange earlier today, any games I get will be like I'm getting to watch them live, since I won't know who won. Kinda cool.
I did get a chance to cruise the thread this time. Wow, you guys are something really special! Kinda curious, though... If I get more than one flag, I had the idea of flying it here at KAF, or wherever I'm at when I get my mail. I'd like to send it back to someone/someplace as a token of our appreciation signed by all of the Longhorns here. Some place where it could be enjoyed by all. Heck, if I can get in touch with Gen Franks while he's here, I might even be able to get him to sign it, too. Any suggestions? My first thought is to send it to the Alumni Center, but a Chapter might be a suitable substitute.... I'd like someway to show OUR appreciation for everything that YOU GUYS have done and are doing.

Gotta go, I need to transition to "tomorrow"
Cecil

PS - if anyone goes to the game in NC in two weeks, raise some hell for me while you're there...Come Early, Be Loud and Stay Late...

 

Cecil, I'll talk to Jim Boon and Trey McLean at the Texas Exes and see what would be the best way to honor the flag if you send it back. I'd be happy to have it at the HornFans tailgates, but giving it to the Exes is also a great idea -- especially since its the flag that they sent that you will want to sign. The one I sent is already autographed, and you should keep it.

Let me know when you get your care package. It went out a week before last Friday. I have no idea how long the mail takes, but hopefully you'll get it soon along with the DVD from this game.

 

Anyone interested in U T's Army ROTC program should check outThe Link The Air Force, Navy and Marine ROTC programs have separate sites which can be accessed through U T's main website.

By the way, SUaggie, according to the website, U T's Army ROTC program is rated 8th out of 270 senior ROTC programs, which I believe places them above A&M. Your program is bigger, but it just might be that U T's is better. (I have heard that heart attack victims should take an aspirin while awaiting the ambulance's arrival. Hope that information is helpful.)

Seriously, best of luck and sincere thanks to Cecil, and to all our troops, regardless of their college loyalties.

 

On the anniversary of 9/11 I'm pleased to report none of my emails to our folks in Khandahar have bounced for more than a week.

Lets keep them in our thoughts, prayers and keep up our correspondence with them every day. Having been in situations similar to their's (separated from family, friends and our American way of life), mail (in my day) and email (today) are the SECOND best things you can experience every day.

m/

 

Can't we set these boys up with an "F Osama" Tee?

 

"A&M commissions more 2nd Lt's through ROTC than any other university in the nation, save the military academies. Most UT 2nd Lt's go through OCS. If this fact alone does not lead you to believe that A&M has a greater support for its soldiers than does UT, you are not familiar with the military."

Is that the kind of reasoning that an aggie education leads one to???? Give me a f'ing break--the number of seocnd lieutenant's a school commissions form ROTC has nothing to do with the school's support for its military alums. You might as well say:

A&M commissions more 2nd Lt's through ROTC than any other university in the nation, save the military academies. If this fact alone does not lead you to believe that A&M has a greater number of ********, you are not familiar with the military."

The conclusion does not logically follow from the rpemise. Why does the fact that UT grads go to OCS while aTm grads do not mean a damn thinbg about the support fo the alums? What is the logical nexus that leads you to equate the two? I would guess that Texas alums go to OCS because they are smart enough to pass the exam, while aTm alums do not because they cannot.

 

Gen. Franks graduated from University of Texas at Arlington. Which to me doesn't make a hill of beans difference, we are all part of the same system. As someone who spent 3 looooong years in the Army and 7 of those months in a hole in the desert of Saudi Arabia, ya'lls packages will be awesome for them guys.

Bob/Iasn
'96 UTA Grad. in the Mountains of NC.
Even though I am a "Shorthorn" I'll be wearing burnt orange and cheering the Longhorns tomm. at the UNC game.

 

God bless America and God bless all our service men and women abroad.

Hook 'em

 

General Tommy Franks attended UT Austin from what I understand for almost three years, but left to finish elsewhere. I read an interview by him where he said he considers himself a Longhorn and has fond memories of his time spent on the Forty Acres.

We are not too proud to accept anyone into our ranks if they love The University and the Longhorns, no matter where they went to school. My Uncle attended A&M, graduated from Sam Houston and did his graduate work in Education at UT. When he died at the young age of 47, he was the biggest Longhorn fan you could ever meet.

Hook'em
mm

 

Gen T. Franks was my Assistant Division Commander of the First Cavalry Division during Desert Shield. He is a great American.

This is not a pity call, but us Longhorns in Germany are not getting the tv coverage we thought we would get of the games. Any tapes floating around would be appreciated.

 

Mon Oct 6th Note from Cecil

Wanted to email you as a POC...computer time is limited.

Today is, so far, awesome. Armed Forces Network showed up this week, as well did a Signal unit. We now have email (albiet one connection on the entire Fire Base) and the Horns are on AFN Sports playing OSU. It's halftime and we're up 10-3. Ugly first half, though. Only have ten minutes on the computer about every two weeks, so I'm leaving the "Out of Office" reply on and will only have time to respond to my wife. I'm printing out the emails to read later, so keep 'em coming. David and I are here together at the Fire Base. He joined us a couple of weeks ago. Since I've been here, we've received the first three games and anticipate Tulane this week. I remember emailing the Director for AFN this summer and found that only a few Texas games are going to be broadcasted. HOPEFULLY the UT/OU game is one. I've received several care packages and sent thank you letters to the senders. If anyone hasn't received it yet..."Thanks!" ahead of time. The package I received from Hornsfan... et al, was absolutely awesome. I have some pictures to send once I get access to a better connection and get more time alloted on the computer. Maybe soon...who knows.

Gotta go, David says "HI" and "thanks" also.

Go Horns! BEAT THE SOONERS!
Cecil

 

We got this yesterday. I had to retype it so please excuse any typos. It took 4+ weeks to get this letter so anyone thinking about Christmas cards or goodies needs to get them on the way soon.

m/


28 September 2002

Tom,

Assalaam Alaikum!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for the package. Please don't mind the typed letter, but as dbdorange told me in his letter, "...my handwriting sucks..." and I type faster than I write.

My unit is currently deployed to a Forward Operating Base (FOB) and don't have the limited comforts we had at Kandahar Airfield. I got your package after I returned from an extended mission based out of here. I was thrilled to get all the mail waiting on my return. The package you sent was shared with David Zinnante, who arrived a few days ago, and some others here in our Operations Center. So far, I've split the "booty" with David and share my half with the guys I work with. (Which everyone says, "Thank You".) Additionally, the support we've received by the alumni has become the talk of all the sports fans in our battalion and in the camp. We just now, got AFN (Armed Forces Network); so prior to now, my games were what everyone was watching. (Consider it recruiting UT fans...) Since A&M lost to Virginia Tech last week, the Aggie I work with has been very quiet. My biggest trash-talking opponent, now, is a Hurricane alumnus. He has been watching the UT games as intently as I ... "scouting for January 2nd" he says.

General update.
The Al Qaeda and Taliban are running scared. We are in the process of destroying their ability to cause harm to innocent people. These terrorist are cowards (!) who hide behind the religion of Islam, which, in and of itself, is a very peaceful religion.
The world didn't change on Septenber 11, 2001. These organizations are directly responsible for terrorist acts committed against innocent people for nearly twenty years; so, the world was the same on Septemer 11th as it was on September 10th. The world's consciousness changed. People now are aware of the terrible things they have done, their capabilities and acknowledge that thses organizaions must no longer exist.
I've been all over the world and Afghanistan is the worst place I have ever seen. It's not like Ethiopia was in the middle 1980s. There is no starvation, but there is oppression and extreme poverty. I have seen people walk two days for basic medical attention. VERY few houses have electricity. People still walk for miles every morning to retrieve water for the family. The people here have been oppressed by various invaders for longer than anyone alive can remember. This oppression has caused the prople here to mistrust everyone. Earning their trust and proving to them we are not an invading force has become one of our greatest obstacles. We would love nothing more than to be home right now with our families. It is difficult to make them understand that we are only here to find Al Qaeda and Taliban and destroy their organization using any means possible. We wish to give them back their basic human rights and allow them to enjoy the same freedoms we do. No longer will they have to hide their personal religious beliefs in order to stay alive. No longer will it be a necessity of life to carry automatic weapons for self-protection. As you hear in the news, we are currently training their military forces to defend their country and protect their freedoms. We want to give them the ability to defend themselves and become self-supportive.
Again, thank you for the package. It helps us to remember that there are innocent people at home that we are protecting. We currently are missing the opportunity to attend sporting events (...like the UT-UNC game...) and other gatherings. Our presence in Afghanistan allows our families and friends to attend these events where mass amounts of people gather without fear of a terrorist attack. Your cards, letters and packages provide us with the motivation to fight our enemy and destroy him and his organization; so that, we no longer have to live with the fear of terrorism in our own country.

Thank you,
Hook 'Em

Cecil Strickland
Captain, Infantry
All the Way...Airborne!!

 

SU

I recruited both schools when I was in and the numbers are suprisingly close for the "liberal" Horns.

Another thing that was of interest to me was how few of the Corps actually did 'real' military service.

TEXAS has one of the largest ROTC programs in the nation and a larger PLC program that the aggies, kinda interesting when you really think about it.

Don't worry, SU is probably an 03 and needed someone else to read this for him.

Just having some fun with you, SU. My little brother is an O3 Company Commander getting ready to head to Kuwait. He was one of the first Marines (literally) in Afganistan.

 

Say I was in the service too and I can sympathize with the gentleman's comments that there aren't too many Horn fans in the military. I met just a couple, but in the Navy most of my fellow JO's were big Ag fans. I caught a lot of hell in the Wardroom, but I had the last word in 1998 when we beat 'em at home.

I know UT doesn't have the reputation that A&M does for servicemen to our country, but UT has made a lot of contributions to this country in the military. Just remember, I still know that the Horns play at MEMORIAL STADIUM as a salute to all the servicemen at Texas. Hook 'em Horns! We salute you still in the service and pray for your safe return. Hopefully we'll knock off the Aggs and you can have braging rights for another year.

Lieutenant j.g Chris Ruckman Retired
UTNROTC Class of 1996

 

Looks like Cecil's coming home soon. I asked him for contact info if there are any staying behind we should look after. I'll post any info he sends.

m/

Excerpts from his 11/25/02 email:

Asallaam Allaikum!

Well my days here in beautiful (yeah, right...) Afghanistan are coming to an end. We're being replaced by another battalion. Can't say by who or when, but will say "soon." (Send your Christmas cards to the house....hint, hint) My time here in "The 'Stan" has been interesting to say the least. "War...as I Knew It" by Cecil Strickland. This certainly has not been war as I envisioned it, but it has been a good experience, both professionally and personally. Once I get back home (to a decent internet connection) I'll send a few pictures.

Not sure what the immediate future holds. We've been "told" that we'll get leave, we're not exactly sure how long that will last or when it will be, then it's back to the grind stone. The 82nd still has responsibility for ALL tasks/requirements that it is normally assigned. Only instead of having nine battalions to rotate 9 Alert-Cycles among,they'll have 5-6 to do the work of 9. Yeah, fun. There's still an NTC rotation scheduled in March-April, but let's hope that goes away. I would like to take 30 days leave to spend some time with B and the kids in conjunction with the reporting to the Infantry Advanced Course. If it was approved, I would leave Bragg around the middle of May and report for the Adv Crs in mid June. Bettie is staying in NC as it is planned now...but we'll see ;-) With the train up period, this glorified FTX, and the possible upcoming NTC, I'll have been gone from my family almost a solid year and then possibly turn around and leave them again for another 5-6 months for the Advanced Course and CAS3. Then probalby off to Germany(maybe?) where I'd do about two six-month Bosnia rotations during the three years we're there.

Some of the "epiphanies" I've had are that I will definitely be spending more time with the family when I can, in order to compensate for the times I've been/will be gone. I love my wife and kids more than they'll EVER know and miss them greatly when I'm gone; though I try( successfully) to keep myself busy to minimize the "missing" part. I mainly miss them during moments of reflection like this one. And, being from Texas...I miss my truck!

Need to go for now. We've got vehicles to wash and containers to pack and other stuff to do. So, I need to "geet own outta he-aw".

Later

 

Anyone who thinks that UT has contributed as much as A&M militarily to this country is absolutely clueless, I can't believe this discussion was actually brought up.

 

No they are not cluless, gomer. This aint a pissing contest.

 

Today's update from Kandahar (slightly edited). Snail mail address for Cpt Jackson.

m/

David and Tony will be here about another month or so. We just had 1 more (CPT Erin Jackson, an Apache pilot) just show up about two weeks ago. She's currently at Bagram Air Field. If you'd like to continue sending letters/stuff, her address is

CPT Erin Jackson
CJTF-180 CJ3
APO, AE 09354

Once I got home to a decent internet connection, I was going to log onto Hornfans and post a message to all. You have no idea what you've done for morale. Not only for those of us who actually went to UT, but also for those who want to go to UT. Of which there were a few...and I think I've talked two more who were getting out and going to college into considering UT, also. So, in a way, you guys have not only supported fellow Longhorns, but you done some recruiting, too. Good job!

Need to go for now.

Hope to hear from you guys again before I leave. I'll send out another mass email right before I leave for the states. Again, thanks.

Cecil

 

Hey Burbank, this thread started because Aggie grads were using their rank to hassle subordinates from UT, claiming Aggies supported their own better. We -- Hornfans, Texas Exe Student's Association, Coach Brown's office and Texas Capital staffers, among others -- accepted those Aggie officers' implied challenge. Capt Strictland's correspondence, not all of which I've posted, suggests we've won that challenge.

We NEVER implied UT sent more folks into military service and we've (mostly) maintained a supportive position for ALL -- Longhorn and Aggie alike -- who serve this great country and preserve the freedoms we enjoy. LHG's kept this thread at the top of "In the stands" to encourage folks to continue supporting all our folks over there, but it's not her fault if we show a bit of favoritism to Orangebloods.

Beat the ever lovin HELL Outta A&M!

m/

 

Update from Cecil this morning: He and David Zinnante will be leaving sometime before Christmas. That'll leave Capt Jackson the sole Texas Alum over there. Cecil didn't say what they're leaving her, so I asked our former Texas Staffer to see if he could get her a flag.

BTW, Capt Jackson's AH64 Apache is what those in the business call a "Snake", a helicopter gunship. Seems appropriate for a Texas Exe to drive to work...

Folks can email her at "erin.l.jackson@us.army.mil". Lets keep up the good work.

Beat the ever lovin HELL Outta A&M!

m/

 

This should be Cecil's last email from Kandahar. Lets please remember David Zinnante will be over there another month or two and Captain Erin Jackson just got there and will be there thru the College World Series...

Peace and goodwill from our house to all Hornfans...

m/

Well...this is it. This is my last time emailing everyone from a dedicated connection. After today, switch back to my home account

strickland@alumni.utexas.net

But I won't be there for a little bit. (We have no teleportation devices in Afghanistan, that I know of.) Just wanted to say, one last time, how much I've enjoyed your emails, letters and packages (for those of you who sent packages...). Your thoughts and prayers have certainly helped, not only myself, but everyone here.

We have done something that not a lot of Infantry units can say of other wars/conflicts..."we are bringing home EVERY SINGLE ONE of the soldiers under our command." There have been several incidences, especially over the past three months, that could have easily resulted in someone's injury or death. I firmly believe that everyone will return home due to the professionalism, care and discipline of our soldiers, NCOs and junior officers. We were not specifacally chosen to be the first batallion from the 82d Airborne Division to deploy for no reason at all.

We have done things for this country that make me proud to be an American Soldier. We have brought peace and stability to regions of this country that had no clue what those two words were. For example, there is a fairly "large city" in the eastern area of Afghanistan. Just one day before we showed up there was still fighting in the streets between forces. Our presence, combat operations and patrols have allowed the families in those areas to now live a decent life. You can now see kids playing in the streets and women not wearing the garb that totally covers their bodies. (Looking at some of them, I wish they still were) There are vendors setting up on almost every street and they just opened up the first university in the region...EVER! Kids are going to school instead of fighting. Commerce has increased. People are flourishing. We have done this in EVERY REGION we've been to. We show up and TB/AQ blend into the populace and run scared. We have done they longest Air Assault in US Army aviation history. Found the largest weapons cache to date. (40 truck loads of stuff. There could have been about 100, but a lot of the munitions were in such a poor state and the weapons were either in no working order or too big for any transport we had.


Not bad for a days work...


Assalaam Aaikum (Peace be upon you)

CECIL STRICKLAND
CPT, IN

 

First off, Merry Christmas to you all. My day was alright. Work,
sleep, opened stocking stuffers, thanks Mama, dinner, then back to work.

So speaking of dinner there were these AP reporters all over the place
and I just happened to end up having mypicture taken. If you go to
CBSNEWS.com and click on Troops celebrating Christmas in Afghanistan
you'll find a picture of me. Now the caption is wrong, and insulting,
accusing me of being from Oklahoma, I wrote down Houston, Tx, but hey,
what's a girl to do.

Anyhow, here's the direct link:The Link

Hope is works.

Later,
Erin
Erin L. Jackson
CPT, AV

For those of us who fight for it
freedom has a flavor the
protected will never know.

 

Cecil's latest note from back home. David Zinnante's coming home around the end of this month so we'll be down to Erin Jackson over in Khandahar. I'll chase down answers to Cecil's questions about the mementos he brought home and get back to him.

m/

Subject: I'm Home!

Well, I actually made it home about a week before Christmas, but I after
signing out on leave, I swore I would do NOTHING except spend time with my
family. So, I'm just getting around to sending out emails.

I finally got a chance to get onto Hornfans...and WOW! I'll post a message
on there later today. I wanted to thank you personally, though, for your
help and assistance while I was deployed.

I have a couple of flags to send. I'm going to send both to the UT Army
ROTC Department. I've got an American Flag for them and a Longhorn flag
(signed by all four of us) for them to present to....? I saw your response
to my question on the message thread. Any answer, yet, from Jim Boon or
Trey McLean as to who it should be presented to?

Something else I'm contemplating is getting the Staff and Commanders to
sign the NFL ball that was sent by Major. I thought it would be neat to
send the ball back to the program and present it to Major, Coach Brown and
the team as a token of the deployed fan's appreciation for their hard work
this season. We used the ball several times while over there and had kind
of our own little "bowl game" between the Officers and NCO's in the
battalion. I actually wanted to keep it as a memento, but...the greater cause.

Anyway thanks again for your support and let me know about the flag thing.

Cecil

The attached Picture is of David and myself at a Forward Operating Base in
the eastern part of Afghanistan. David is on the left and I'm on the right.

 

A picture of Cecil and his buddy: