By Sgt. 1st Class Charles Walton
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq - The humming of aircraft engines and the throbbing beat of helicopter blades filled the air as non-commissioned officers dressed the lines of their formations.
The 626th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) gathered to celebrate 90 years of support to the division.
"I am proud to be a Soldier and the history of this battalion is amazing. My birthday is today and sharing it with the battalion makes it a very special day," said Spc. Daphne Singleton of Zeeland, Mich.
Originally formed as the 326th Sanitary Train with the 101st Division National Army, July 23, 1918, the battalion carries with it a medical lineage and history. After the 101st Airborne Division was created for action in World War II, the Sanitary Train was designated the 326th Airborne Medical Company and participated in every campaign the division fought in during World War II including Normandy, Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge.
The battalion continued its service with the division as the 501st Airborne Medical Battalion and later the 326th Medical Battalion again in Vietnam and Desert Storm, after which it was made into a multi-functional logistics battalion and designated the 626th BSB.
"We are the oldest battalion in the 101st Airborne Division and hold the longest continuous lineage supporting Screaming Eagles," said Command Sgt. Maj. David Thompson of Fayetteville, N.C., 626th BSB command sergeant major. "Our Soldiers are very proud of their heritage and long history."
The battalion colors bear 20 campaign streamers and 15 unit decorations including the French and Belgian Croix de Guerre with palm, Netherlands Orange Lanyard, two Presidential Unit Citations and three Meritorious Unit Citations for combat actions.
"We have supported 3rd Brigade Combat Team ever since the Army created multifunctional support battalions," said Sgt. 1st Class Scott Peck of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "This battalion has deployed to Afghanistan once and Iraq three times since 9/11 and has provided all the supply, transportation, maintenance and medical support to the BCT in war."
Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Redding, 626th BSB commander, addressed his troops and spoke to the history and future of a commendable organization.
"The battalion motto, 'Assurgam,' has come to mean many things to many people over 90 years," Redding. "It has transcended the Latin translation of 'we rise up.'"
"To the Rakkasans of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, it means capability – the capability to ... destroy the enemy and the ability to maneuver unconstrained in the harshest physical environment on earth ... knowing that support for victory is at hand," said Redding, a native of Oxford, N.Y.
"The history of this battalion is the history of the 101st Division. As long as Screaming Eagles exist to defend freedom, Assurgam Soldiers will be ready."