Photo By Spc. Amy Barber | Louisiana National Guard Troops with the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, conduct...... read more read more
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq – Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat conducted its former wartime service shoulder sleeve insignia ceremony at Camp Liberty, Iraq, May 3.
Also known as the combat patch ceremony, it symbolizes a rite of passage, capturing a Soldier's connection with a particular unit during wartime.
"Wearing the 256th patch has always meant a great deal to me," said HHC Commander Capt. Daniel H. Fritts, of Prairieville, La. "I proudly wear it as my combat patch and it pleases me that I am a piece of the great history of this brigade."
According to 256th Brigade Historian Maj. Thomas Mehl of Big Rapids, Mich., the wear of distinctive unit insignia in the U.S. Army dates back to the Civil War.
"The first known use of a distinguishing unit insignia in the U.S. Army was in the Civil War during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862," Mehl explained. "Union Army Gen. Philip Kearny adopted a red diamond to be worn on the kepi hat of Soldiers in his command for identification."
"What grew from this were the corps badges, which by the end of the war, every corps had their own distinctive unit insignia," he continued.
The corps badges became standard during the Spanish-American War of 1898. During World War I, the shoulder sleeve insignia, still in use today, was adopted.
"The 81st Division adopted the Wildcat patch, which the unit wore in France during their service in World War I," the 22-year veteran said. "Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing determined that, although there were some leaders who frowned upon the distinguishing insignia, that it created unit cohesion and esprit de corps among the fighting divisions. He then ordered that each division create their own unit-specific patch."
More than a century later, while deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Tiger Brigade Commander Col. Jonathan T. Ball and Command Sgt. Maj. Kenneth R. Wagner, both residents of Pineville, La., continued this ritual by walking through the 256 IBCT Soldier formations applying the fleur-de-lis Brigade insignia onto their troops' right shoulders.
"I consider it a privilege to participate in this time-honored tradition and to see the smiles on the faces of both our combat veterans and 'first-timers' alike," stated Ball. "Earning a combat patch is a milestone in any Soldier's career and it validates the many years of training and hard work our Soldiers go through."
Today, deployed Soldiers of all Army components may permanently wear former wartime service shoulder sleeve insignias of the unit with which they deployed.
"The SSI for former wartime service we can trace to an incident at the end of WWII when some Soldiers of the highly-decorated 3rd Infantry Division were transferred to another division," explained Mehl.
"The 3rd ID, which was the only U.S. Army division to fight the Germans in 10 campaigns, was told to remove their famous 'Rock of the Marne' patch from their left shoulder. Needless to say, in the effort to maintain their history, the Soldiers were allowed to rotate the patch to the right shoulder and wear the current unit of assignment on the left."
| Date Taken: | 05.03.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 05.09.2010 17:52 |
| Story ID: | 49373 |
| Location: | CAMP LIBERTY, IQ |
| Web Views: | 624 |
| Downloads: | 212 |
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