LSA ANACONDA, BALAD, Iraq -- Soldiers from the 29th Signal Battalion were presented with the 3rd Signal Brigade shoulder-sleeve insignia for former wartime service in a ceremony Thursday.
Lt. Col. Daniel R. Kestle, the 29th Sig. Bn. Commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. Gerald W. Williams, the battalion's command sergeant major, presented each of the five company commanders and first sergeants with the combat patch.
The company commanders and first sergeants then presented their Soldiers with the combat patches.Kestle addressed the group and said they were the first 29th Signal Battalion Soldiers in more than 60 years to be awarded a combat patch.
He added that Col. Alan R. Lynn, the 3rd Sig. Bde. commander, had originally planned to be there for the ceremony but could not attend due to last minute combat operations.
Kestle reminded the Soldiers that they were still in a hostile environment and told them Lynn wanted all the Soldiers to know that he was proud of the unit's professionalism and its tactical and technical competence.
The 29th Sig. Bn., from Fort Lewis, Wash., is the largest tactical signal battalion in the Army. The battalion is currently attached to the 3d Signal Brigade from Fort Hood, Texas for Operation Iraqi Freedom II.
