'Brave Rifles' case unit colors

Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Dator | Col. Cameron Cantlon (left), commander,3rd Cavalry Regiment, and Command Sgt. Major Roger Heinze, regimental command sergeant major, case the unit colors during a ceremony June 17 at Cameron Field on Fort Hood. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Dator, 3rd Cavalry Regiment Public Affairs (released)  

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

06.17.2014

Story by Staff Sgt. Michael Dator 

3d Cavalry Regiment Public Affairs Office

FORT HOOD, Texas - The 3rd Cavalry Regiment "Brave Rifles" cased its colors during a ceremony June 17 on Cameron Field as it prepares to deploy to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Col. Cameron Cantlon, regimental commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. Roger Heinze, regimental command sergeant major, cased the unit’s colors during the ceremony.

“The 3rd Cavalry Regiment truly formed a “team of teams” during training over the past 11 months,” said Cantlon during the ceremony of the unit’s preparation for the deployment.

The 3rd Cavalry Regiment will train and advise Afghan soldiers while assisting in the drawdown of U.S. forces during the deployment. This will mark the fifth deployment for the Regiment since 2003 and the first to Afghanistan.

Presiding over the ceremony was the 1st Cavalry Division commander, Brig. Gen. Michael Bills. Bills was also the 72nd commander of 3rd Cavalry Regiment.

“You are about to embark on yet another vital mission, only this time, you have the honor of knowing that you are writing a new chapter in the regiment’s annals of history,” Bills said. “As the first deployment to Afghanistan for the regiment, you will be part of an extremely select company of individuals who are being counted on to help put the final operational touches on Operating Enduring Freedom – the longest continual combat endeavor in our military’s history.”

In 2003 the unit deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom where it assumed its security mission of Al Anbar Province. The regiment returned to Iraq for a second combat tour in January 2005 with 3rd Squadron “Thunder” operating in the South Baghdad area and the rest of the regiment in the region around Tal-Afar in northern Iraq.

After an extensive train-up the regiment returned to Iraq for a third time in November 2007 for a 15-month deployment as part of the surge, returning to Fort Hood in March 2009. The regiment deployed back to Iraq for a fourth time in August 2010 as the first brigade-sized unit in support of Operation New Dawn. The mission focused on advising, training, and assisting Iraqi security forces and supporting five state department provincial reconstruction teams in order to improvise Iraq’s ability to defend their nation while improving civil capacity for the Iraqi people.

• Date Taken: 06.17.2014
• Date Posted: 06.18.2014 12:55
• Story ID: 133489
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US