Monday, December 15, 2008

Good Evening Everyone,

Today we had our ceremony where our unit was awarded our combat patch. All soldiers in the Army wear their unit patch on their left arm as a part of their uniform. Soldiers who have served in a combat zone are allowed to put their unit patch on their right arm. It is a pretty big deal for us and today we had a company ceremony and officially patched our troops. Our battalion commander and battalion sergeant major came down to show their support.

The ceremony starts with the Commander calling formation. He patches the Executive Officer who in turn orders platoon leaders to patch their soldiers. As the senior officer for the medical officers I was honored to patch them. Actually, I must share something with you. I am the Officer in Charge of this motley crew, not because I am anything special, but because no one else wanted to do it. I tried to get Mike to be in charge before we deployed but he respectfully decline with these eloquent words..."Are you out of your mind?" So here is the ceremony.














Picture 1-2: Our company in formation ready to start.
Picture 3: This is the officer staff. From L-R is Andy Altman, Mike Roscoe, Bryan McFarland, Travis Welch, and Tim Nott. I am out front wondering where the rest of the officers are. It always happens during formations that the enlisted troops are always on time but the officer staff seems to come when they please. Missing is Jose Baez, and Rod McPhee.


















Picture 1: The Battalion Commander and the Battalion Sgt. Major
Picture 2: Just us
Picture 3: This is Major Hawes our CO and Our XO Cpt. Schroeder.















Picture 1: Finally all of the officers show up. Here we are goofing around wondering what we are suppose to do next. We are like sheep, we have to be told where to go and what to do.

Picture 2-3: Here I am patching the officers. Travis and Mike already had a combat patch and so this is their second patch.


















Picture 1: This is the Sgt. Major patching Sgt. Easom. She is our unit photographer and responsible for most of the pictures on this blog.

Picture 2: Here Tim is patching Corporal Owen. Bryan had a moment of giddiness and stuck his head in the picture. He's got great teeth.

Picture 3: Some of our medics could not attend the ceremony as they had to cover the clinic. So, I went in and patched them. Here I am patching Spc. Haney.




















Picture 1: Here is the four amigo's. L-R: Travis, Myself, Bryan, and Mike.
Picure 2: The entire medical officer staff. Front Row L-R: Lt. McFarland, Major Altman, Myself. Back Row L-R: Cpt. Roscoe, Major McPhee, Lt. Welch, Lt. Nott, and Major Baez.

3 comments:

Tony C said...

Great pictures as usual.

My family will be saying a special prayer for you and all our armed forces away from home during Christmas.

Because of you, we can celebrate our Savior's birth openly and freely. Thank you and God Bless.

rkhayles said...

Thank you so much for your blog - my daughter is there at Balad and it does my heart good to hear about things going on there.

Thank you for your willingness to serve our country. Your sacrifice means so much to me and to countless Americans.

You serve for those of us that can't, and that means the world to me! I hope you know that we appreciate what you are doing, and we think of you often with gratitude in our hearts, warm thoughts for your safety and comfort, and for your safe and speedy return to your family and friends.

Take care and keep that helmet on!

Jeff said...

RKHAYLES,
Thank you for your nice comments. Your daughter is in a safe place and is in a secure environment. I want to know how much I appreciate family members who are supporting us back home. When a loved one deploys, you deploy as well. The stress that comes with deployments is often times harder on the family than the soldier. So, please know that you are in my prayers and God bless you and your daughter. Please let her know that if she has any medical needs to stop by the Phipp's TMC and ask for Major Romig or any other provider. We are devoted to our troops and want to make sure that they make it home in better shape than when they left.
God Bless you.

Jeff