Louisiana guard unit hands reigns off to Oregon unit

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Gaelen Lowers | Command Sgt. Maj. Stephen Hickman, senior enlisted advisor for 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), and a DeRidder, La., native, and Lt. Col. David Gooch, outgoing commander and an Abbeville, La., native, case their unit's colors during a transfer-of-authority ceremony Dec. 8 at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.  

JOINT BASE BALAD, IRAQ

12.08.2010

Story by Sgt. Gaelen Lowers 

3rd Division Sustainment Brigade

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq - The 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), also known as Task Force Bayou from Louisiana, officially handed over the security forces mission to Task Force Venom, also known as the 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Sust. Bde., 103rd ESC, from Oregon, during a transfer-of-authority ceremony Dec. 8 at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.

The security forces mission includes providing convoy security, personal security detachments and helping facilitate Mobile Redistribution Teams by providing security on the roads.

TF Bayou has logged in more than 1.9 million miles, the distance it would take someone to go from Iraq to Louisiana more than 109 times, said Col. Shawn Morrissey, commander of the 3rd Sust. Bde., and a Boston native. They have also helped facilitate the turn-in of more than $109 million worth of equipment.

“Your professionalism and the way you conducted yourself on the road was very impressive,” Morrissey told the soldiers of TF Bayou during the ceremony. “You were diligent and disciplined.”

Col. Jonathan Ball, commander of the 26th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and a Pineville, La., native, agreed with those statements.

“Your professionalism and sincere desire to meet any and all mission requirements and willingness to go the extra mile have set the standard for all future security forces missions,” he said.

The TF Venom commander, Lt. Col. Phillip Appleton, a Silverton, Ore., native, said he has some big shoes to fill, but expressed his confidence in his soldiers’ ability to pick up the mission and succeed in any situation.

Lt. Col. David Gooch, TF Bayou commander and an Abbeville, La., native, said he heard a lot of statistics about the great things that TF Bayou accomplished, but there was one statistic that was not mentioned that he was most proud of.

“It's a joint effort to get those groups of vehicles from A to B,” said Gooch. “Outstanding job to the Bayou Bandits and its soldiers. The end result is more than a million miles traveled, almost 1,500 convoys, and not one single life not returned to duty as a result of enemy activity.”

• Date Taken: 12.08.2010
• Date Posted: 12.12.2010 14:24
• Story ID: 61802
• Location: JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ