FORT HUACHUCA, Arizona -- Five new members of B Troop, 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment (Memorial) were awarded their spurs at a graduation ceremony May 5 at Brown Parade Field here.
Col. Keith McVeigh, Cpt. Omar PadroCortes, Staff Sgt. Phillip Lovato, Sgt. Kascia Vigil and Sgt. Iron Thomley received their certificates of graduation and brass spurs as part of the ceremony.
Chris Zimmerman, B Troop program coordinator, welcomed the audience and explained that "for more than 125 years, the United States Army cavalrymen have used this rectangle of grass for military ceremonies, drills and inspections.
"In May of 1886, B Troop Commander Capt. Henry Lawton led a force of hand-picked men from this field to pursue Geronimo and his band of renegade Apaches," Zimmerman said, explaining how the Soldiers pursued Geronimo for four months through the southwest United States and Mexico, securing his surrender in early September.
"Today we will honor the memory of those men by awarding the brass spurs of a true cavalryman to the graduates of the B Troop Cavalry Riding School on the very field where the Fourth Calvary left in pursuit of Geronimo in 1886," he said.
All five graduates made their first charge down Brown Parade Field with their assigned mounts accompanied by traditional cavalry charge and cannon fire.
Col. Whit Wright, Fort Huachuca garrison commander, admitted he was "a little biased but there is something about the cavalry. I'm not saying that intelligence training isn't exciting or that network engineering isn't cool. I'm not implying that antennae testing facilities aren't awesome or that somehow [unmanned aircraft systems] are somehow passé."
B Troop and cavalry operations are where his heart is, said Wright wearing the cavalry uniform..
"The shock and awe of the charge, the sound of thundering hooves, the cannon, the small arms fire and the bugle that makes your heart leap out of your chest," the garrison commander said.
According to Wright, three essential qualities of calvary troopers in late 1800s included "knowledge of the country, the ability to comprehend the situation at a glance and an audacious spirit."
And that description fits all five troopers he said highlighting they are all active duty Soldiers, spending their weekends and evenings taking care of their horses and four months of the riding school to "master the difficult business of handling a pistol and saber while mounted."
Wright said that as troopers, "when [they are] able to prove their ability with a horse and a saber they were awarded spurs. The time has come for this crew to join the ranks of the 4th Calvary Regiment."
Each graduate then received their spurs and all knelt in unison to buckle them onto their boots.
Zimmerman said one "unique thing about this class, is that everyone that started, finished. We had five people, we've never had five people graduate all at once. It was a milestone for us.
"It took everyone in the troop to get them through -- rearranging personal and work schedules to work together so everyone could pass." He added with a smile that he was "very proud of these guys. I think they are going to be a good addition to the troop.
""In three months they went from nothing to being able to do what you saw today. It's an amazing thing to watch, watching them convince themselves they can do it."
Zimmerman said that riding with B Troop is a unique experience. He still hears from B Troopers "who rode 30, 40 years ago that saying it was the best experience of their life."
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