CAMP MIKE SPANN, Afghanistan - After nearly three months of mobilization training and thousands of miles of travel, the Ohio- and Michigan-based 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team has officially begun their mission of partnering with and providing Security Force Assistance Teams to the Afghan Border and Uniform Police, as well as the Afghan National Civil Order Police.

The transfer of authority ceremony held here, Feb. 1, also meant the departure of the 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Task Force Bayonet will be returning to their base in Baumholder, Germany, after spending a year in northern Afghanistan. The 37th will be taking over as Task Force Dragon.

During the ceremony, Col. James Perry, the incoming brigade commander, spoke to the multi-national audience comprised of U.S., coalition and Afghan forces and civilians.

“I promise you that the soldiers of this brigade are fully trained and prepared to jump right in and execute their assigned tasks,” Perry said.

During the months before the deployment, the brigade’s mission had changed several times. Perry did not reflect on those changes, but on how the new mission would continue to benefit the Afghan people through partnership with the Afghan National Police Forces.

Task Force Dragon is scheduled to be in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom for nearly a year.