FORT RILEY, Kan. - On an overcast morning at Fort Riley’s Cavalry Parade Field, Soldiers of the “Pale Rider” squadron ended one chapter in their proud history and began another. The 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, cased its colors June 5 and was redesignated as the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st ABCT, 1st Inf. Div.
The 1st Sqdn., 4th Cav. Regt, deactivated and cased its colors April 15 at Fort Riley as part of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div.
“Today’s casing ceremony, which is steeped in military tradition, serves a dual function,” said 1st Lt. Ryan Ley, an assistant operations officer for 1st Sqdn., 4th Cav. Regt. “The inactivating squadron is rendered its honors and the heritage and prestige of the other is retained.”
It was important to conduct ceremonies like June 5’s because they are the foundation of unit traditions and history, said 1st Sgt. Christopher Becker, senior noncommissioned officer for Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Sqdn., 4th Cav. Regt., 1st ABCT, 1st Inf. Div.
“Discipline is the foundation of the unit’s formation and this ceremony showcases the unit’s discipline,” he said. The senior reviewing officer and host for the ceremony was Lt. Col. David DeFelice Jr., commander of the former 4th Sqdn., 4th Cav. Regt., and newly reactivated1st Sqdn. 4th Cav. Regt.
“There’s a lineage, a history and a connection with every unit to its past and there’s a connection to every unit to its future,” DeFelice said. “To do a simple ceremony like this, we say goodbye gracefully and properly to a unit, a squadron that has served valiantly for the Army since 1855.”
Both units were constituted in March 1855 and organized at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, in the same year.
Each squadron is credited with participating in campaigns ranging from the Civil War to Operation Enduring Freedom.
Many former and current members of the 1st and 4th squadrons and their family members attended the ceremony.
“I hope the ceremony made them proud and that we allowed the 4th Squadron to exit properly,” DeFelice said. “I hope their families are proud of what the 4th Squadron has stood for, but I also hope we did the 1st Squadron veterans proud.”
| Date Taken: |
06.05.2015 |
| Date Posted: |
07.07.2015 11:43 |
| Story ID: |
169243 |
| Location: |
FORT RILEY, KANSAS, US |
| Web Views: |
70 |
| Downloads: |
0 |
PUBLIC DOMAIN
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