PFC+Costa

**__12 Feb 2012__**
Hey everyone, so I just thought I would update everyone, since I have been back for about a week now. I got back last Sunday to my Platoon and I came back to a ton of snow and extremely cold weather. I got put on guard duty for the week and it was the coldest it has ever been in those towers. Right now our platoon is so undermanned we are barely mission capable. It took me about 8 days to get back, I was in Kuwait for 2 days, then I got to Bagram, Afghanistan and was there for 2 days. From there I got a helicopter to our FOB and I was stuck there for 4 days because of a snow storm that hit. Finally last Sunday I got a ride on a Blackhawk to our COP. Things have been pretty quiet since I have been back, there is not much we can do with the snow and the cold weather. So my days now mostly consist of going to the gym and watching movies, pretty boring. I do want to thank all of you for allowing me to come in and talk to you all, it was a real pleasure coming in to talk to all of the classes. I definitely miss it at home now, but I figure I only have a few more months in Afghanistan then I will be back in Texas and a month after I get back to Texas I will be home home for about a month. Again thanks for everything, and I will try to keep this updated at least once a week. PFC Costa

====It was great seeing PFC Costa in class on Friday, January 13th on the day after he returned home from Afghanistan on leave. Your thank you's will be included in the 2 care packages we have ready and will be sent to catch up with him at his unit on the same day he leaves- Saturday, January 28th. We'll see what arrives first- the packages or PFC Costa. Keep him in your thoughts as he completes 4 more months of deployment. Keep the little things coming in for more packages to send. And- let's get this discussion board going again.====

__**13 Nov 2011**__
Hey everyone sorry I have not been on in awhile, it has actually been pretty busy here, our area of operation is pretty hot with enemy contact. It is suppose to slow in the winter but it does not look like it is going to. I want to thank all of for what you did with the ceremony I was truly honored with all of it. We have not got mail in a few weeks, but we should be getting some tomorrow so I heard the box from all of you was sent so hopefully it will get here, thanks again for all of it. Even though I have been busy keep asking me questions or anything I check this on a daily basis and love answering stuff, it gets boring here sometimes. Hope you all enjoyed D.C. Take Care PFC Costa

__**19 Oct 2011:**__ just received the following in an e-mail from PFC Costa

Coach, So I just thought I would send you an email, just to check in a little bit. Things are going alright here, it is starting to get pretty cold here, it should start snowing really soon. I have only gone out on a few missions, since were attached to an infantry company here, they are having us pull force pro, which is basically guards at the gates to our COP. So we have a rotation of force pro and missions. We have not had any attacks recently, one of our patrols did get hit by an IED no injuries or anything like that it exploded about 200 meters from our guys from what I hear. Time is flying by here. Everyone in my platoon is doing good everyone is in good spirits here. I actually got moved from second squad to third squad for some reason, so I am no longer my platoon sgts driver, he wanted someone with more experience. So now I am basically a dismount for mission squad, which is fine with me, I think I will learn more than just sitting in a truck driving. I did think of something else if possible. Hand warmers in a few weeks or so will be great for when the cold does hit hard. Other than that I am doing good.

__**13 Oct 2011**__
Whats going on everyone. Its been a pretty busy few days here. We finally have our entire platoon here so things have been crazy with out them. Right now we are doing shifts of Missions and Guard duty. Now Im on guard duty for 4 more days which is awful. It is 6 hours on shift and then 6 hours off, not the ideal sleeping schedule. We have done a ton of missions the past few weeks. Nothing big has really happened yet because of the cold weather. When ever the cold weather hits here, Taliban tend to go to Pakistan. There are a few that stay around but they don't really try to fight us. The shape you need to be in for missions is insane, we do alot of running through rough terrain while we exfile(getting back to the trucks) and with the altitude here it is pretty hard to breath. Guard duty(Force Pro) is pretty boring, on occasion we might get a few pop shots at our COP(combat outpost) but most of the time its quiet. When we are on guard duty, we sometimes are in the tower with Afghanistan Security Guard and those guys are pretty funny to interact with because it is impossible to communicate with them. Other than that, everything is pretty quiet here. Keep the questions coming, I do like answering them even though sometimes it takes me a while to respond. Take Care. PFC Costa

====//**From Mr. Frankmann and Mrs. Tyrrell... Starting next week (Monday October 10th) we will be collecting donations to send to PFC Costa and his platoon in Afghanistan. His mother Mrs. Pat Costa will pick up and ship all of our donations as we collect enough to fill the fixed-price "if it fits, it ships" U.S. Postal service boxes. PCF Costa has mentioned needing hard candy, baby wipes or wet ones, powdered drink mix tubes for their water bottles, other travel sized hygiene items... Here is a great list put out by the Marines that gives ideas:** http://www.carepackageproject.com/download/CPP-Needed-Items-List-2011.pdf//====

__**04 Oct 2011**__
Hey everyone sorry I have not been on in awhile, I have been pretty busy getting use to my schedule here. I have been in Afghanistan now for almost 2 weeks. The place were we stay it is extremely small and right in the middle of were there are a lot of Taliban. Everything is going good though, there is not alot of water and stuff here for hygiene and the food portions here are extremely small. I appreciate all the questions you guys are asking and everything that you all are doing. It really keeps me motivated over here. I will try to be on more often now, so keep the questions coming. Ill try to post on here every week or so. Take care everyone. PFC Costa

__**30 Sep 2011**__
Just received this in an email from PFC Costa-

//**"We got to our final destination in afghanistan, I am actually very close to where that helicopter went down a few months ago. The second day here part of my platoon took contact with a pretty complex attack, but everyone is good. The landscape is very mountainous and alot of farm land, we literally walk through farm lands. Anything can be sent, basic necessities and all of that, basically anything you can think of. there isn't alot where we are. Candy that kind of stuff is good too.. But I am doing good"**//

Stand by for more information, but we'll be working with the Do Something Club and Beta Club to start an ongoing collection of items for PFC Costa an his platoon that Mrs. Costa will pick up an ship over to Afghanistan.

__**19 Sep 2011**__
Well this is the day. Only a few more hours until I leave, I will be honest I am pretty nervous right now. Now Im just sitting find stuff to kill time. I just want to thank all of you again for posting stuff. Once I get settled down there I will have internet and I can start posting stuff again, I will post entries like this and also post some pictures. Again thank you all for you support. PFC Costa

__**14 Sep 2011**__
Hooah!!! Just thought I would give you all an update. I just found out today after my training that I am leaving on Monday at midnight. So these next few days I will be running around everywhere and it is going to be crazy. I have to make sure all of my stuff is packed and all of my paper work is in order. Its starting to get real right now. It was a huge surprise when they told me that though. Anyways Ill post again as soon as I can. PFC Costa

__**12 Sep 2011**__
Whats going on everyone. I do plan on posting on this quite frequently through my deployment, just to show you all the type of day I go through and how I'm doing. I wanted to start out by thanking all of you for your support, it really means a lot to me and I am glad Mr. Frankmann and Mrs. Tyrrell could do all of this. I'll start my first post by sort of telling you what its like to prepare for a deployment. This week me and 13 others in my platoon are going through this mandatory training called Individual Readiness Trainings(IRT). It basically is making sure we know how to handle certain situations that may happen while over in Afghanistan. The rest of my platoon doesn't have to go through it because they went through something similar a few months ago and they are actually leaving later this week. Anyways we started the training this week with EST and the HEAT trainer. EST is basically like a giant video game. You have an actual weapon that is hooked up to a computer and air compressors and a video screen. From there you shoot at the targets on the screen, its a pretty cool system. The HEAT trainer is a simulator which simulates a truck rolling over. Its on a system which actually turns you upside down and you have to do all the proper procedures and get out. Tomorrow and Wednesday we are learning on what we do in an IED(Improvised Explosive Device) situation, which will be extremely important since that is the enemy's primary mean of attack. Then Thursday we are going to a firing range where we will get to qualify with our weapon. Last time I did this was two weeks ago and I hit 35 out of 40 targets which is sharpshooter, one away from Expert, so hopefully I get it this time. Thats what is going on this week with me, just really try to enjoy the time I have left here before I leave for 9 months. Please feel free to post any question or anything you want to know on the discussion board. No question is a stupid question, I will gladly answer anything to the best of my knowledge.

//For discussions with PFC Costa, please click on the discussion tab above. You may reply with comments and compliments and questions, but if you start a new topic, please post only questions for PFC Costa to answer. Check all the postings as PFC Costa may summarize his answer to a number of similar questions. Then you can follow up by replying with further questions.//

=PFC Costa=

Private First Class Matt Costa is a former Aurora student and wrestler. After graduation he attended classes at Kent State University and worked for the City of Aurora until last winter when he enlisted in the U.S. Army. While waiting to report to basic training, he helped Coach DeMay and I as a volunteer assistant coach for the Harmon Wrestling team. He left the first week in February- just befor our final tournament and spent 4 Months at Fort Leonard Wood Missouri going through basic training to become a soldier and then branch training to become a military policeman. He was given 20 days leave around the 4th of July in order to return home to take care of personal business while serving as a recruiter with the office that had enlisted him. Then he reported to his first unit of assignment, the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss Texas. There he learned that he would soon be deployed with his unit to Afghanistan. He leaves in 2 weeks, and will be keeping in touch with us by posting updates to this page along with answering any questions that you post to the discussion tab on this page.

The letter shared in class with you on our 9-11 observance is copied below:

//Mr. Frankmann,//

//Just thought I would give you an update on some things that have been going on down here in Texas. I am completely done with in processing with the post, so I am now in my unit. I am a part of the 3rd infantry brigade combat team, 1st armored division. From there I am in the headquarters or HHC of the Special Troops Battalion, then again since I am an MP, I am in the MP platoon. So there is only an MP Platoon within the entire brigade. I am definitely liking it, it is alot different compare to training. PT is a lot more challenging especially with my squad leader running it, he likes to run a bunch. We really have not done alot of training, mostly just packing stuff up to go to Afghanistan. We have gone to the range once, where I qualified with the M249 Saw and the 50 Cal. As of right now I am currently a driver for my platoon sgt's truck. We are not driving HMMVV's we are actually driving MRAPs which are ALOT bigger. I just received my orders to Afghanistan the other day, still do not know the exact day I am leaving but it looks like the middle of September. Other than that things have been going good with the unit. I might be able to make it home for labor day since I was unable to get home on their block leave, but who knows.//

//As far as that idea I had with the letters, I still do not know all the sgts and our LT have been pretty busy getting things together for the deployment. I am for sure up for it, so if we cant do it with the entire platoon, possibly I can write letters, send some pictures, that kind of stuff, I dont know what ever you think is best. I know as a former education student, that kind of stuff can make class interesting in a different way, then the normal school day. Let me know what you think. Also if you want you can update all the wrestlers and stuff from last year, about whats going on with me, give my email if you want. I can tell you when I was at basic letters from them definitely helped some days and I am sure its like that for deployments. Keep in touch, I'll talk to you later.\// //Matt//