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By Senior Airman James Bolinger
Combined Joint Task Force-82 Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – The 503rd Military Police Battalion, Task Force Ripcord, assumed responsibility for military police operations in support of counter insurgency missions from the 385th Military Police Battalion, Task Force Dragoon during a transfer-of-authority ceremony, Feb. 6.
Army Lt. Col. Donna Martin, 385th MP Battalion commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. Charles Kirkland, 385th command sergeant major, cased the battalion's colors before marching off the stage.
Army Lt. Col. Robert Byrd, 503rd MP Battalion commander, and Sgt. Maj. Mickey McQuain, 503rd sergeant major, then marched onto the stage to uncase the battalion's colors.
After uncasing the colors, Byrd addressed the audience which included Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, 82nd Airborne Division commanding general, and Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel and Rodney Anderson, CJTF-82 deputy commanding general operations and support, respectively.
"We have the opportunity to build upon the solid foundation that the 385th MP Battalion has built over the last 15 months," said Byrd. "If Task Force Ripcord is able to accomplish as much during our 15-month rotation as the 385th was able to accomplish during their's the (Afghan) security forces in RC-East will be much closer to the goal of providing independent and effective security to the people of this region."
The 503rd's campaign participation credits include Normandy (World War II), Grenada, Dominican Republic, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Haiti, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Kosovo, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Afghanistan. The battalion's decorations include a Joint Meritorious Unit Award, three Meritorious Unit Commendations and an Army Superior Unit Award.
"It has been a remarkable year for the Dragoon Battalion led by (Army) Lt. Col. Donna Martin and Command Sgt. Maj. Charles Kirkland," said Votel, who served as the reviewing officer for the ceremony. "These great leaders saw their battalion spread out over 14 provinces and 145 districts with the not so small task of conducting assessments and building development strategies for more than 1,000 (Afghan) village police units.
"Lt. Col. Rob Byrd, Sgt. Maj. Mickey McQuain and the Task Force Ripcord Team I know you are ready to accept any mission assigned," said Votel. "You will continue the development of the (Afghan national police), continue to create hope and freedom where it did not exist, and when necessary, remove hoodlums from the battle space who only wish to harm innocent Afghans."
The ceremony concluded with the military tradition of singing service songs. The 385th Soldier's sounded off with the 3rd Infantry Division Song followed by the 503rd paratroopers who sang the 82nd Airborne Division Song, before joining together to sing the Army song.
| Date Taken: | 02.07.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 02.07.2008 17:30 |
| Story ID: | 16146 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 231 |
| Downloads: | 148 |
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