Soldiers awarded Golden Spurs

Photo By Sgt. Dennis Gravelle | Lt. Col. Mark Freitag addresses soldiers of the 572nd Military Intelligence Company during a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Courage, Iraq. The soldiers were awarded the Golden Spur for serving with the 14th Cavalry Regiment.  

MOSUL, IRAQ

03.06.2006

Courtesy Story

345th Public Affairs Detachment

Story and Photo's by Sgt. Dennis Gravelle
138th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment


MOSUL, Iraq (Mar. 5, 2006) -- Soldiers of 572nd Military Intelligence Company were awarded their Cavalry Golden Spurs at a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Courage, Mosul, Iraq Mar. 5.

Soldiers received golden spur certificates for serving in combat and being assigned to the 14th Cavalry Regiment.

According to Lt. Col. Mark Freitag, commander, 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, a Soldier assigned to a cavalry unit may be awarded a Golden Spur for serving in combat, whether they stay inside the wire or leave the wire a cavalryman is a cavalryman, no matter what their job.

"It makes me feel great to award these Soldiers," Freitag said. "I know that I am carrying on a tradition that my Squadron commander passed on to me when I was awarded my Golden Spurs. We get troops together to recognize their service, for serving faithfully and diligently with a cavalry unit."

"I am very proud to be awarded a spur," said Sgt.1st Class Bruno Sanchez, 'throughout my career I have accomplished a lot of things, this is a rare opportunity, and not a lot of Soldiers get a chance to earn their Golden Spurs."

Sanchez also said that a tour of duty in Iraq is a difficult thing at best, anything that can make you proud of your unit is very positive.

"The cavalry is a very unique organization, it's filled with tradition," Sanchez said. "The Soldiers in this unit are the ones who earned it, they should be very proud."

• Date Taken: 03.06.2006
• Date Posted: 03.06.2006 14:05
• Story ID: 5615
• Location: MOSUL, IQ