Combat patch: 1-125 Field Artillery

Photo By 1st Lt. Sean Carstensen | A Battery soldiers participate in a combat patch ceremony at Camp Patriot, Kuwait.  

CAMP PATRIOT, KUWAIT

08.15.2011

Story by 1st Lt. Sean Carstensen 

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th Red Bull Infantry Division

CAMP PATRIOT, Kuwait - On Aug. 15, 2011, soldiers from A Battery gathered in the hot sun at Camp Patriot, Kuwait. The soldiers were about to participate in the time honored tradition of a combat patch ceremony.

The combat patch, or shoulder sleeve insignia, is a patch worn on the right shoulder of an Army uniform. This ceremony signifies a unit’s participation in a combat zone, but represents much more than a second patch on a uniform.

This combat patch connects A Battery soldiers to the many heroes that have come before us, even back to the Spanish-American War times.

For some of the soldiers, this is not their first patch. These soldiers have been deployed multiple times, either with the 125th or with other various units.

For the majority of soldiers in A Battery, this is their first combat patch.

Spc. Taylor Aaland, a native of Jasper, Minn., commented on what it means to wear the Red Bull patch, “They’ve heard of us. It is recognized throughout the Middle East by other combat units that we’ve put in our time.”

During the ceremony, soldiers heard their official order authorizing the wearing of the patch.

“The soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery, are hereby awarded the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, for wartime service.”

• Date Taken: 08.15.2011
• Date Posted: 11.19.2011 06:30
• Story ID: 80265
• Location: CAMP PATRIOT, KW