By Maj. Jason Fetterolf
50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team
CAMP BUCCA, Iraq--1775 and 2008. These two dates, spanning 233 years where America freedom has been preserved, ring with considerable historical significance for the 2nd Battalion, 113th Infantry Regiment, 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, New Jersey Army National Guard and the U.S. Army, the oldest service branch of the U.S. military.
1775 marks the birth year of the U.S. Army as well as the 2-113th Infantry Battalion, organized Oct. 26 – Dec. 15, 1775 in the Continental Army as the 1st New Jersey Regiment. "Although they [Department of the Army Lineage and Honors] can trace our lineage back 100 years before that [to about 1664], they can only begin then with the beginning of the Army," explained Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas J. Clark, 2-113th Infantry Battalion command sergeant major.
2008 records the proud history of the 2-113th Infantry Battalion once more with the traditional donning of the "Combat Patch" at Camp Bucca, Iraq Oct. 4. Under clear, balmy conditions, the nine companies of Battalion Task Force 2-113th, presided over by Commander Lt. Col. Mark A. Piterski, purposefully assembled to celebrate 30 continuous days of service in combat operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom rotation 09-11.
Participants in the ceremony revealed various feelings of pride and historical reflection.
"The forbearers of the regiment were there when the adoption of the combat patch was first initiated on the battlefields of the Revolutionary War. It is a significant event carrying on the tradition of the regiment of the 'faithful and brave' [motto of the 2-113th Infantry]," said Clark. "It is a privilege to be in this regiment, and to be CSM [command sergeant major] of this regiment...second oldest [regiment] in the Army."
"...We are living history instead of reading it...," asserted Spc. Jeremy Whittum, 1463rd Transportation Co.
Today, the Army is the only military service branch that authorizes a soldier to wear the unit patch of a wartime element on the right shoulder of the uniform and recognizes Soldiers in a unit actively participating in or supporting, overseas ground combat operations against hostile forces.
"I think the Army has a special tradition here and I felt privileged to be invited to my first combat patch ceremony and to be able to witness this moment for the 2-113th," noted U.S. Marine Corps Col. Clyde T. Burton, Forward Operating Base Bucca commander.
"I thought it was singularly well accomplished, with martial rigor, but without undue flourishes or ruffles and quite appropriate to the harsh environs of Camp Bucca and southern Iraq."
The 50th IBCT shoulder sleeve insignia, the authorized "Combat Patch" of the 2-113th Infantry Battalion, is steeped in symbolism. The tri-colors of the insignia, sky blue, canary yellow, and scarlet red, represent the brigade's combined Infantry, Armor, and Field Artillery heritage, respectively, and its alignment with the 42d Infantry Rainbow Division. The three stars signify the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team's heritage by illustrating the unit's home state, New Jersey, the third state of the union to sign the U.S. Constitution. The middle reversed triangular-shape suggests the letter "V" for Victory, denoting victory over the enemies at home and abroad and underlining the unit's mission to defend and protect the nation.
Battalion TF 2-113th is comprised of Headquarters and Headquarters Co., A Co., B Co., C Co., 2-113th Infantry; C Co. and F Co., 250th Brigade Support Battalion; A Troop, 102nd Cavalry Regiment, and the 1460th and 1463rd Transportation Cos., Michigan Army National Guard. TF 2-113th also includes the 586th and the 887th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadrons, U.S. Air Force, not present at the combat patch ceremony.
With prior credit for participation in no less than 32 campaigns, from the Revolutionary War through World War II, not including security operations at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 2004, the 2-113th Infantry Battalion certainly has a distinguished and decorated past. Now, with the 2-113th's ready and continuing participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom, another door has opened upon an exciting and important future for the "Faithful and Brave."
"We could not do our jobs without the security and mobility that the 2-113th provides every day," said Burton.
Date Taken: | 10.04.2008 |
Date Posted: | 11.14.2008 08:15 |
Story ID: | 26341 |
Location: | IQ |
Web Views: | 1,384 |
Downloads: | 533 |
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