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| 1st ID Coming Home From Germany, 1st AD To Follow |
| 2006-07-06 |
| The U.S. Army's tradition-laden 1st Infantry Division, the oldest in continuous service, packed up its flag Thursday at its headquarters in Germany before a return to the United States after a 10-year stay. The division's banner was rolled up and slid into a cloth case during a ceremony at Leighton Barracks in Wuerzburg, in the southern state of Bavaria. Much of the equipment attached to the 15,000-member division -- nicknamed the Big Red One -- has already been shipped to its new base at Fort Riley, Kan., where the colors will be unfurled Aug. 1. "While somewhat bittersweet, this ceremony marks the latest chapter in the history of the Big Red One," said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of the Army's V Corps. "We want to honor each and every soldier and family member that has served in the Big Red One over the past 10 years." The division's troops spent a year in Iraq, based in Tikrit, from February 2004 to February 2005. Most of the division's soldiers have already been assigned to other stations around the world, while those who remain are to move to Kansas or elsewhere within the next two weeks. Both the 1st Infantry and the 1st Armored Division, based in Wiesbaden, are leaving Germany as part of a repositioning of U.S. forces that foresees the use of smaller, simpler bases in Eastern Europe instead of the large bases in Germany with schools and family housing for soldiers who stayed several years. Under the new concept, soldiers will rotate in for shorter stays from the United States without their families. Formed in 1917, the 1st Infantry took part in heavy fighting in World War I. It participated in the D-Day landings in Normandy during World War II, served in Vietnam from 1965-1970, and played a major role in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq. The 1st Infantry also carried out peacekeeping duties in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo in the 1990s. "Serving in Europe has ... afforded our leaders the opportunity to visit battlefields and walk the ground where our forefathers fought during World War I and World War II," division commander Maj. Gen. Kenneth W. Hunzeker said. Many of the division's Germany-based soldiers are not going to Kansas, but being assigned to other units as part of the normal change in assignments every few years. One of them, Sgt. Larry Gormley of Livermore, Calif., said it would be difficult to remove the division's characteristic shoulder patch, marked with a red No. 1. "I was here when the division came in 1996, and it has been a change of era. I've been in Bosnia, Turkey and I spent a year in Iraq," said Gormley, 37. "It's an important division in the Army, so it's going to be rough to take this patch off." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #5 One of them, Sgt. Larry Gormley of Livermore, Calif., said it would be difficult to remove the division's characteristic shoulder patch, marked with a red No. 1. "I was here when the division came in 1996, and it has been a change of era. I've been in Bosnia, Turkey and I spent a year in Iraq," said Gormley, 37. "It's an important division in the Army, so it's going to be rough to take this patch off." Hello Sarge. You know if you served in 'Iraq' with the unit, you can continue to wear the patch on your right shoulder. Left shoulder patch is your current assignment, but the right can be any unit you served with in a combat environment. Your choice of which ever unit you served with, but only one. On a related and chuckle note, Army units attached to the Marine Division in Gulf War I, could wear the old Marine Division patch which Marines themselves no longer wear. One of those strange but true things. |
| Posted by: Glavise Gromong7909 2006-07-06 20:11 |
| #4 Funny! |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-06 19:10 |
| #3 Maybe can hire the guys doing the Capital One commercial. They seem to be looking for jobs. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2006-07-06 19:06 |
| #2 Good. Let the EU pay for their own defense from now on. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-07-06 17:29 |
| #1 'Bout damned time. What a quagmire Germany has been! |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-07-06 16:33 |