By Spc. Allison Churchill
41st Fires Brigade
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq – A flag-raising ceremony at the tactical operations center for 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment, 41st Fires Brigade, announced the beginning of a non-traditional mission and continued progress for Wasit province, July 16.
"Today, we stand tall in Wasit province, completely transformed, reorganized, re-equipped and retrained ...the nation's premier full-spectrum counterinsurgency fighting force – a power projection formation without peer," said Lt. Col. Timothy Bush, 2-20 FA commander and Toledo, Ohio, native.
Bush also made three promises: To the people of Wasit, he promised to do whatever it takes to create a stable province; to the Iraqi security forces, he pledged to work with them to, "create a glorious future," for the province and Iraq; to the enemies of the Iraqi people and coalition forces, we will never quit and never relent.
"We recognize in you the same values that we hold so dear – loyalty, duty, service, honor and integrity – and we know that your courage and sacrifice will be written large in the future histories of the Republic of Iraq," Bush said.
The credit for the battalion's quick transformation from multiple-launch rocket systems to counter-insurgency operations goes to the Soldiers, platoon sergeants and leaders, said, Maj. William Burnett, operations and executive officer, 2-20 FA, and a native of Kailua, Hawaii.
"They're the ones who are going to be accomplishing everything we've set up," said Burnett.
Deep Strike's 11 patrol sets started rotating through missions, July 9. The battalion Military Training Team is scheduled for training in Taji later this month.
