CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait- Members of the 553rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion from Fort Hood, Texas conducted a combat patch ceremony on Mar. 23, 2011, recognizing their deployment to a combat zone.
The officers of each section placed the 4th Sustainment Brigade, also known as the 'Wranglers,' combat patch on the right arm of each of their fellow Soldiers.
The Wranglers' patch can be identified by the "W" or the two conjoined reverse chevrons and a green ivy leaf on a half-black and half-buff background, which are all tied together by a yellow border.
The "W" stands for the 4th Sustainment Brigade's name 'Wranglers' and is adapted from their previous shoulder sleeve insignia through their lineage of being part of the 4th Infantry Division. The countercharge of black and buff signifies teamwork and a cohesive unit. The contrast of these two colors refers to day and night around the clock vigilance. Buff is the primary color for Army support. The ivy leaf is modified from their history as the Division Support Command Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division.
According to U.S. Army regulations, Soldiers are authorized to wear a shoulder sleeve insignia for wartime service on their right arm to represent their deployment in a combat zone. The combat patch is worn under the American Flag and represents the unit under which they served while deployed.
"It was a great ceremony to experience," said Pfc. Christopher McGee of Bel Air, Maryland. "Being a part of the combat patch tradition was an honor, and since this is my first combat patch, I will always remember it." McGee is a contracting officer representative for the 553rd also known as the "Leopard Battalion."
"The patch ceremony was very dear to me because it is the last one I will be a part of," said Sgt. 1st Class Lashanda Trussell of Meridian, Miss. "It felt just as good as my first patch ceremony."
Trussell is currently on her twentieth year of service in the U.S. Army and will be retiring in 2012. She has deployed four times since 1991, and has also completed a total of five, six-month rotations to include assignments in Saudi Arabia and Kosovo.
The 553rd CSSB arrived in theater on Jan. 15, 2011, and will remain at Camp Arifjan for upwards of a year. A transfer of authority ceremony was held on Feb. 1 commemorating the 553rd assuming the mission of the 469th CSSB, a Reserve unit based out of San Jose, Calif. Their continued mission is to provide logistical support to the Iraqi theater of operation in support of Operation New Dawn.
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