Franz Liszt
It's official. We are the Gypsy Battalion. I can't say that anyone I command is necessarily nomadic in nature. Apparently, United States Forces - Iraq (USF-I) feels differently. Some may think that, perhaps, "Bedouin Battalion" would be more appropriate given that we are in the middle of the Arab Cradle of Civilization. I disagree though. Gypsy is the more appropriate term. None of us are native to this land. We are here on borrowed time. And, like the Gyspy, we are here today but gone tomorrow. We arrived in this country to serve at a place called Contingency Operating Base Speicher, which is adjacent to Saddam Hussein's birthplace - Tikrit. We did such a good job that the planners that be decided they had more work for us to do near Baghdad so they sent us south to Camp Liberty. No sooner than we had unpacked our rucksacks the winds of change began blowing again. The command came from the tower, "Further Southward you shall go!" And so, we struck the tents and moved. We moved with speed and efficiency that made me glow with pride. Not a complaint was heard. We didn't arrive here with the intent to be nomadic but we adapted the lifestyle with finesse. For the second time on this deployment, we jumped the TOC - all the while continuously engaged in the fight with full control over our subordinate units and our mission. Next stop? COB Adder near An-Nasiriyah.
Our mission here has proven to be so much different than anything we could have ever predicted. This is what happens when you do a good job - you keep getting handed even more responsibility and tougher assignments. By the time Operation New Dawn is all over we will be the only battalion of our type to have operated in the north, center and south while continuously supporting of all three regions. Just like the Gypsies of old, our caravans continue to grow as we gain more and more units under our care. At this point, we've also become the largest battalion of our type in terms of both geographic footprint and number of personnel. There is nowhere in Iraq where our Soldiers can't be found. Need us to jump the TOC again? No problem. We're the experts.
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