Photo By Staff Sgt. Christopher Carney | Command Sgt. Maj. Miles Wilson, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division senior...... read more read more
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CONTIGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq – Two Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, were awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge in a ceremony on Contingency Operating Base Basra, June 27.
In recognition for their actions under fire, Pfc. Chad Sippy and Spc. Patrick Dettmer received the CIB in front of their fellow 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Soldiers.
Col. James Rainey, commander, 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div., and Command Sgt. Maj. Miles Wilson, command sergeant major, 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div., traveled from COB Adder to present the badges to the two Soldiers.
“This is a special day. I try to go to every ceremony,” said Rainey.
Rainey emphasized how special the CIB is by pointing out how few people have served in the military and then how few people have served in combat. Less than one percent of Americans can say they have had that experience, he said.
The infantry gets put in the hardest of places. Whether it was this tour or last tour, they get shot at by the enemy, targeted by improvised explosive devices, and are a daily presence on the streets of Iraq, he said.
The CIB was created during World War II as recognition of the combat service and sacrifices of infantrymen who were wounded or killed in numbers disproportionate to those of Soldiers from other branches. Thus, only infantry or special forces Soldiers, who have satisfactorily performed duty while assigned or attached as a member of an infantry, ranger or special forces unit may receive the Badge.
The CIB is awarded to a Soldier who is personally present and under fire in a unit engaged in active ground combat to close with and destroy the enemy with direct fire.
Dettmer, currently attached to Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 1st Bn., 68th AR, is on his second deployment with the 4th Inf. Div. and is a native of St. Louis, Mo. He came under fire from a shaped charge.
Sippy, B Company, 1st Bn., 68th AR, and native of Boise, Idaho, is on his first tour. He helps run counter- indirect fire missions, performs area reconnaissance and area denial missions.
While rolling out of the gates on his first mission during this tour, he came under IED attack. Sippy is proud of how his fellow Soldiers handled the contact.
“The situation wasn’t chaos. We checked ourselves and reacted accordingly,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 07.07.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 07.07.2010 08:58 |
| Story ID: | 52458 |
| Location: | CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, IQ |
| Web Views: | 337 |
| Downloads: | 181 |
This work, “Silver Lion” Soldiers awarded CIBs, by SSG Christopher Carney, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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