Photo By Sgt. John Ortiz | (Left to right) 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment command team Lt. Col. Robert...... read more read more
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KANDAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Traveling from the mountains and snow of Eastern Afghanistan to the sand and deserts of southern Afghanistan a reunion between two old families, decades in the making, was soon to become reality.
Overcoming nature’s obstacles of snow and distance, the’ Bobcats’ with 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, flew onboard a cargo flight from Forward Operating Base Shank to Kandahar Air Field, for the chance of a lifetime to meet with their sister unit, the Bobcats with 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment.
“This is a great opportunity for us,” said Lt. Col. Brian Payne, the 1-5 Infantry commander and native of Red Oak, Texas. “This is the first time the two battalions have been together in 50 years – fighting in the same theater of war and the same terrain.”
“We are separated physically and geographically back at home station, but now we are both in Afghanistan we found a way to reach out and contact each other and share our experiences and history of the unit,” said Payne, a battalion commander with 1st Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
According to the 5th Infantry Regiment Association’s Sam Kier, the last time the Bobcats fought together was in 1953, toward the end of the Korean War. And the last time the regiment’s battalions were united was in 1957 in Nuremburg, Germany, just before the Army began reorganizing as part of the Combat Arms Regimental System.
“This was a great opportunity,” said Lt. Col. Robert Horney, the 2-5 Infantry commander, and native of Lebanon, Penn. “Our brigade was very supportive of getting us down here. We traveled and [1st Battalion, 5th Infantry] hosted."
“We had a great day of discussions not just on our history, but about some of the things they have learned,” said Horney, a battalion commander with 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. “They are at the tail end of their deployment and we are at the five-month mark for our deployment and it was helpful to sit commander-to-commander and get some of their insights.”
Operation Enduring Freedom has put both Bobcat battalions together, fighting in the same country against a common enemy, and the will of both units’ top enlisted advisors brought the unit’s colors together for the first time in 55 years.
And usually, whenever two infantry units that have a long history, including one that has 54 Medal of Honor awardees, a friendly sibling rivalry is present.
“We are the real infantry,” said 2-5 Infantry Command Sgt. Maj. Carlos Olvera speaking of his light infantry unit to the crew of a Stryker vehicle before climbing aboard for the hour-long drive from Kandahar Air Field to Forward Operating Base Shoja.
In response, the Stryker crew welcomed aboard the “second best infantry battalion.”
Yet with all the friendly rivalry, the 5th Infantry regiment is the third oldest unit currently in service in the United States Army, tracing its lineage as far back as 1808, when Congress first authorized its formation. The regiment has fought in virtually every major war waged by the American Army since that time, earning 51 campaign streamers over two centuries of combat. Nicknamed the “Bobcats,” the 5th Infantry regiment colors are currently carried by its 1st Battalion out of Fort Wainwright, Alaska and its 2nd Battalion out of Fort Bliss, Texas.
“I think just getting together and go over some of the Fifth Infantry Regiment history is very important,” said 1-5 Infantry Command Sgt. Maj. Ernest Bowen and native of Georgetown, Penn. “I told the soldiers ever since I got here that this regiment has a proud history of serving this nation since its inception.”
“The current soldiers of the ‘Bobcat’ battalion are over here right now, writing the current page of history and it really is up to us and the job we do; that is how the historians are going to write it,” said Bowen.
The history of the unit has stretched into every armed conflict since the War of 1812. This is the cornerstone of the regiment and the history it instills into fellow Bobcat soldiers.
“I think this is an important event, especially for the NCOs,” said 2-5 Infantry Command Sgt. Maj. Carlos Olvera. “NCOs are the ones teaching the unit history to incoming Soldiers. We use it a lot in our promotion boards, we talk about it, and I like the fact that it is the young NCOs instilling espirit de corps, especially when it comes to the history our regiment has.”
Building on the foundation on what others have done, is part of the Bobcat legacy.
“We want to say a special thanks to the regimental association and the Bobcats that have gone before us,” said Payne. “Thank you for the work you have done to set us in a position to do what we have done in Afghanistan.”
| Date Taken: | 02.14.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 02.16.2012 11:09 |
| Story ID: | 83942 |
| Location: | FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHOJA, AF |
| Web Views: | 1,960 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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