|
Blackanthem Military News
|
Last Updated:
Feb 9, 2012 - 5:06:14 PM |
|
|
'Dragon' brigade cases colors, ends current mission in Iraq
By Sgt. Shantelle J. Campbell, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs, 1st Infantry Division
Jul 16, 2010 - 3:28:54 PM
|
Email this article
Printer friendly page
|
Blackanthem Military News
 |
| (Right) Col. Hank Arnold and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael S. McCoy, the commander and top noncommissioned officer of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, out of Fort Riley, Kan., case their unit's colors during a Colors Casing ceremony at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, July 15. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Shantelle J. Campbell, 4IBCT PAO) |
TIKRIT, Iraq - Inside of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team's headquarters building at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Col. Hank Arnold and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael S. McCoy, the commander and top noncommissioned officer of the 'Dragon' brigade, case their unit's colors during a Colors Casing ceremony, July 15.
During the ceremony, the Task Force Marne Commander, Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo thanked the 'Dragon' brigade for a job well done.
"In this amazing and important area of Iraq, Hank, you and Command Sgt. Maj. McCoy and the brigade operated with great success," Maj. Gen. Cucolo said during his speech.
"Any attempt by me to describe your success would be weak and fall short; so, let me just say congratulations on a duty well performed," he continued. "You took a tough battle space with incredible promise and proved to our Iraqi brothers and sisters and our Army how adaptable the American Soldier can be."
"Warriors you bring a fresh look, tremendous energy and a wealth of experience to Salah ad-Din," Maj. Gen. Cucolo concluded as he welcomed the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. The Hawaii-based unit will be replacing the 'Dragon' brigade in Salah ad-Din and Diyala provinces.
"You will do great, and Task Force Marne is honored to have you in our formation," added Maj. Gen. Cucolo.
Since deploying to the Salah ad-Din province, last fall, the 'Dragon' brigade oversaw a successful parliamentary election in March and returned 12 of 18 military bases to the Iraqi government.
The brigade also worked hand-in-hand with the U.S. State Department Provincial Reconstruction team to complete several projects aimed to better the economy and provide a better quality of life for the people of Salah ad-Din.
This was the second time the 'Dragon' brigade deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2007 the brigade deployed to Baghdad during the surge where they conducted full-spectrum combat operations. This deployment they performed a completely different mission as part of the historic transition to stability operations and transition of U.S. forces out of Iraq.
"We took over an operating environment that was already moving forward, and we continued to improve upon that operating environment and made it better than what it was," said Col. Arnold. "We had extremely successful results with improving the capability of the security forces and extremely successful results with improving the capability of the governance. We had direct impact on improving the economic condition of the people here in Salah ad-Din."
"We accomplished our mission, and we get to finish this mission with honor and go home knowing that we participated in a very important part in the history of Iraq and in the Iraqi people," concluded Col. Arnold. "By being here, this year, serving the Iraqi people, we have served our Nation."
With the ceremony officially signifying the end of a successful mission in Iraq, units of the 'Dragon' brigade have already begun to redeploy to Fort Riley, Kan. The rest of the brigade is expected to return to Fort Riley by the end of the summer.
Comments
NO Soliciting.
Comments with links to websites or soliciting services will be removed.
Please read our Terms of use for more information.
|
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
