Join in on our 12 hrs of pub-a-thon fun from Saturday 31st October starting at 1300EST thru 0100EST.  This is a 12 hrs Gaming event (Join anytime) - The event will be held in our Vanilla Public Server on Arma and our TeamSpeak.

Soldiers (Current/Former) and Civilians are encouraged to join us in public play on our 3rd Infantry Division Realism Unit Servers during the times listed above, join in on camaraderie with the gaming community. We will have members on throughout the night and into the morning! We are inviting everyone to this event, come meet new people get to know our members and other members of the community and just have a good time!  

During this time all Soldiers are encouraged to recruit public players into our Teamspeak and possibly into our unit.

 Join our teamspeak; ts.3rdinf.us
Server IP: 104.153.105.118:2302  

Congratulations to the soldiers of OSUT class 20-40 (ARMA3) for successful completion of training! These soldiers have been awarded the Army Service Ribbon and have earned the right to be full active members of their squad and the unit! This is merely the first step in your career here at 3rdID, we look forward to your continued success! Hooah

Graduates:
Private Second Class Paul Liwa 
Private Second Class David Marsh 
Private Second Class Nicholas Lee

Congratulations to the soldiers of Combat Lifesaver Course class 20-04 (ARMA3) for successful completion of Combat Lifesaver training! The Combat Lifesaver Course is the official medical training course conducted by the US Army, intended to provide an intermediate step between the buddy aid-style basic life support taught to every soldier. The combat lifesaver is primarily responsible for providing emergency medical treatment at point of wounding on the battlefield, limited primary care, and health protection and evacuation from a point of injury or illness.

Graduates:

Specialist Michael Luckie
Private First Class Brandon Perez

Instructors:

Staff Sergeant Christoph Brock
Private First Class Steve Klein

Graphic credit: U.S. Navy

Today the United States Navy celebrates 245 years of service to our nation.

Founded by an Act of the Continental Congress on October 13, 1775, the Continental Navy was originally comprised of, “a swift sailing vessel, to carry ten carriage guns, and a proportionable number of swivels, with eighty men, be fitted, with all possible despatch, for a cruise of three months….”

In these early days, privateers were commissioned to raid and disrupt British naval resupply of North America, playing an important tactical role against a wealthy and well-equipped enemy.

After the American victory in the Revolutionary War, Congress went further to establish the Department of the Navy in order to maintain a national fleet.

Throughout its storied history, American naval forces have served in a large number of battles. From skirmishes with French vessels during the XYZ Affair of 1798 to a naval invasion during the First Barbary War to pitched battles in the War of 1812, sailors served with distinction at sea.The fleet rose and fell during the 19th century, fighting in the Mexican-American War, American Civil War, and other conflicts.

The Navy began to modernize in the decades leading to the 20th century, constructing a large number of modern ships. With the U.S. victory in the Spanish-American War, the modern Navy came of age. Fighting in World War I and a number of “Small Wars”, our sailors would eventually become legendary for their service in World War II and beyond. This period marked the beginning of aircraft carrier warfare and the maturation of submarine warfare.

Over the centuries, the Navy has made a number of contributions to our national defense. The United States was the first nation to use submarines, modern dreadnought battleships, aircraft, and aircraft carriers in its naval service.

This week, the U.S. Navy is celebrating its heritage under the theme “Victory at Sea”. Commemorative programs worldwide will focus on the Navy’s hard-fought contributions during World War II. From the Battle of Midway to the Battle to the Battle of the Philippine Sea to the Battle of Okinawa, American naval forces fought and won tremendously against the Empire of Japan.

Today the Navy is unmatched around the globe, with more fleet tonnage than the next 13 national navies combined. Our naval forces include over 336,000 Active Duty and 101,000 Reserve personnel, 290 deployable combat vessels, and more than 3,700 aircraft. American sailors stand ready to face the security challenges of the next century.

Congratulations to the soldiers of Land Navigation Course class 20-04 (ARMA3) for successful completion of Land Navigation training! The Land Navigation course is designed teach the fundamentals of basic land navigating skills. This course assists Soldiers in Infantry and non-Infantry fitted rolls to understand the techniques required to land navigate. Students learn navigating from one point on the ground to another point individually. 

Graduates:

Corporal James Kiheri
Specialist Michael Luckie
Specialist Clifford Simpkins
First Lieutenant Quentin Simmons

Instructors:

Staff Sergeant Christoph Brock
Specialist Anthony Sam

Congratulations to the soldiers of OSUT class 20-39 (ARMA3) for successful completion of training! These soldiers have been awarded the Army Service Ribbon and have earned the right to be full active members of their squad and the unit! This is merely the first step in your career here at 3rdID, we look forward to your continued success! Hooah

Graduates:

Private First Class Arthur Pendergast 

Sergeant Eric Abel joined the 3rd Infantry Division Realism Unit on April 8th, 2020 where he was first assigned to Second Squad, First Platoon, Alpha Company. Sergeant Eric Abel is currently the Squad Leader of Third Squad, First Platoon, Alpha Company. 

Throughout his time here he has shown a very strong passion for our unit, dedication, patriotism, valor, fidelity and professional excellence. He shows these while leading a Weapons Squad to showing excellence several DMOS's (PAO/FIG). In view of these qualities, his demonstrated leadership potential, and dedicated service, Sergeant Eric Abel has been award the Soldiers Medal and selected as this Soldier of the Quarterz
 

Soldiers Medal

Tell us a little about yourself. 

Hey, my name is Eric. I’m 29 and just a rural town guy from central Wisconsin. I like to hang out with my friends, both in and out of the Unit, grab a few drinks at the bar (trickier now with Rona), and read a good book or watch a good show or movie. Video games have been a hobby / passion of mine since I was young. Started out on the grand ole’ Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). As the years passed and systems got better, we upgraded to the n64, xbox, xbox 360, and now i mostly game on my xbox one and my pc.

What is your favorite aspect of the unit?

Definitely the teamwork and camaraderie of the community. You can jump on the TeamSpeak server and get a game going and some of the gang will join up or you can just hang out and talk to them. I’ve definitely made some new friends by joining the Unit.

Any favorite/funny/memorable moment throughout your whole time in the unit? 

There was one night a month or two ago that I jumped on the Realism Server to play Insurgency on the Zargabad map. I jumped in alone to play around with a Sniper kit I was improving on and out of the blue, some guys jumped on the server asking what I was doing. Just told them “nothing much”, since i wasn’t really looking to accomplish anything. We ended up getting about 8-10 guys on the server for the night and took pretty much 75% of the map over. During our clearing of the main City, CPL G.Tucci and I ran our Spartan Kits with scopes on our M4’s and overwatched the two fireteams that were clearing buildings and acting as a DMR Buddy Team. It was a lot of fun and I stayed up way later than I should have with work the next day.

Any advice to give to your fellow soldiers? 

Make some friends! Hang out with fellow soldiers during the week or weekend. Doesn’t matter if it’s just hanging out or playing a game you all have, you’ll learn a lot about them and their playstyle by just hanging out. Spartans try to get a game of Among Us going at almost any time. lol

What army value is the most important to you and why? 

I would say Integrity would be my most important value. You have to be able to trust your fellow soldiers and they have to be able to trust you. On and off the battlefield. Without trust, not a lot will get accomplished or if it does, it’ll get micro-managed. Integrity also allows you to hold your teammates, friends, or superiors to a common standard. 

Any valuable lessons you have learned while being in the unit?

Communication is key. Whether or not you’re playing on the servers, on the TeamSpeak, just in everyday life, communication will go a long way. I’ve settled fights people were having just by explaining what they said to each other because the context of what they meant vs. what they said didn’t come across to the other person. To quote Robin Williams from the movie, Dead Poets Society, "So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays.`` Well, the wooing of women not being part of the Unit, Language is still very important.

On Sunday, October 4, Major John LaFlash presided over the Alpha Company Award Ceremony at Bushlurker FOB. Occurring monthly, the Ceremony is held to recognize the achievements of the Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division Realism Gaming Unit.

Notes for October:

Third Quarter Soldier of the Quarter: Sergeant Eric Abel

Second Squad Leader Sergeant Gregoire is moving to 68W Platoon Medic

Second Squad, Alpha Fireteam Leader Sergeant Grigorov is moving to Second Squad Leader

Land Navigation Course, 8th October at 2000Hrs EST

Combat Lifesavers Course, 15th at 2000Hrs EST

Air Assault School, 24th October at 1730Hrs EST

This month, Major LaFlash recognizes...

The following Soldiers were promoted to:

E-3 Private First Class

Private First Class Roger Mullins
Private First Class Jeremy Nichols

E-4B Specialist

Specialist Clifford Simpkins

E-4A Corporal

Corporal Brendan Moose
Corporal James Kiheri

E-5 Sergeant

Sergeant Eric Abel
Sergeant Giancarlo Tucci

E-6 Staff Sergeant

Staff Sergeant Christoph Brock

The following Soldiers were awarded:

Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, MOVSM

Humanitarian Service Medal, HSM

Second Lieutenant Bailey Lambert

Armed Forces Service Medal, AFSM

Warrant Officer 1 Ryan Stricklin
Staff Sergeant Jannes Drake
Corporal Dominik Toplak

National Defense Service Medal, NDSM

Private Second Class Mac Blaser

Good Conduct Medal, GCM

Major John LaFlash
Second Lieutenant Bailey Lambert
Staff Sergeant Christoph Brock
Sergeant David Skenlar
Sergeant Kalin Grigorov
Sergeant Eric Abel
Sergeant Giancarlo Tucci
Corporal Dominik Toplak
Corporal Brendan Moose
Specialist Luke VanDenburgh
Specialist Joshua Sanders
Specialist John Purdy
Specialist Clifford Simpkins

Army Achievement Medal, AAM

Sergeant Daniel Shade
Sergeant Giancarlo Tucci
Corporal Dominik Toplak
Corporal James Kiheri
Corporal Brendan Moose
Specialist Kyle Skitz
Specialist Alex Cruze
Private First Class Roger Mullins

Joint Service Achievement Medal, JSAM

Corporal Brendan Moose
Corporal James Kiheri
Specialist Luke VanDenburgh
Specialist John Purdy

Joint Service Commendation Medal, JSCM

Corporal Dominik Toplak

Combat Infantry Badge, CIB (Stage 1)

Private First Class Steve Klein
Private Second Class Giancarlo Orsini
Private Second Class Jorge Gomez
Private Second Class Logan Ven

Basic Parachutist Badge

Specialist Anthony Sam
Specialist Kyle Skitz
Specialist Michael Luckie
Private First Class Roger Mullins

French Fourragere

Specialist Kyle Skitz

Soldier’s Medal, SM (Soldier of the Quarter)

Sergeant Eric Abel

In closing, Major LaFlash spoke about the changes coming to 3rdID in the next few months, including the upcoming Uniform update, the new Steam Workshop modpack, and the transition of Sergeant Gregoire to Platoon Medic and Sergeant Grigorov to Second Squad Leader.

He ended with this: “We’re continuing to do outstanding in Operation Thin Ice. We have the plan of drawing back, so we have some pretty good combat missions coming up here. We’ve just got a lot of things going on here, and it’s going to be a fun fall.”