Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Saturday, December 25, 2004
Section:Front Page; Page:1

By Edward Lee Pitts Military Affairs

CAMP CALDWELL, Iraq — During a Christmas Eve ceremony one Southern flag replaced another Southern flag when the 30th Brigade Combat Team on Friday handed over the authority of Iraq’s Eastern Diyala region to the 278th Regimental Combat Team.

"Today we honor and bid farewell to the Old Hickory of North Carolina and welcome the volunteers of Tennessee," said Maj. Gen. John Batiste, the commander of the 1st Infantry Division, to assembled elements of the Tennessee-based 278th Regimental Combat Team and the remnants from the 30th of North Carolina.

The 278th is attached to the 1st Infantry Division until the 42nd Infantry Division arrives in Iraq early next year.

At the brief transfer ceremony, the comman ders of the two units faced one another at attention in front of a U.S. color guard. A soldier marched off the field carrying the 30th’s flag, and the 278th colors took a position beside the U.S. flag in the color guard.

"We have the responsibility to ensure that we practice the warrior ethos," 278th commander Col. Dennis Adams told his assembled troops. "There is only one sort of discipline in combat — perfect discipline."

Col. Adams said he is satisfied with the regiment’s performance so far in Iraq. The regiment completed its convoys from Kuwait to the three bases it commands here without losing a soldier or suffering a major injury. "The most important resources we have are our Tennessee soldiers, our Texas soldiers and our Wisconsin soldiers," said Col. Adams referring to the elements from different states that are attached to the regiment for this mission.

The 30th, the first National Guard brigade to be deployed in support of the war on terror, leaves after arriving in Kuwait last February. They leave the 278th to patrol nearly 150 miles of Iraq’s border with Iran.

During their time here, the 30th found 251 improvised explosive devices and 369 caches of weapons. The brigade killed 17, wounded three and captured more than 450 insurgents during 110 ambushes, 36 raids and 3,000 traffic checkpoints. The brigade drank more than 2 million bottles of water and used 3 million gallons of fuel. The 30th medics treated more than 9,000 patients.

Maj. Gen. Batiste praised the brigade for building relationships with Iraqis that helped break down cultural barriers. He said these friendships would make the 278th’s job easier.

"To the volunteers of Tennessee — buckle your chin straps. We will give the good people of Iraq alternatives to the insurgency," Maj. Gen. Batiste said. "The people of Iraq need your help so they can help themselves."

A large contingent of Iraqis also attended the ceremony. Iraqi National Guard soldiers embraced and posed for pictures with the departing officers of the 30th Brigade.

"We love the Americans," said Lt. Col. Ali Kaki of the Iraqi National Guard. "Thank God they are here. If they didn’t come to free Iraq, we would have died, I’m afraid."

Brig. Gen. Danny Hickman, the 30th’s commander, said the 278th needs to learn the nuances of an ethnically diverse region with 150-160 political parties. The sector is made up of Kurds and Sunni Muslims.

"You have to understand the dozens of different factions and the factions within factions that make up the social, religious and political environment," Gen. Hickman said. "When you deal with a politician or a leader you have to really understand where they are coming from."

Gen. Hickman spent the evening eating dinner at the home of a Kurdish commander whom he said "treated me like a brother."

Col. Adams said Friday’s ceremony was not the first time the 278th and the 30th have crossed paths in a combat zone on Christmas Eve. The two units were preparing to cross the Delaware in the freezing rain with George Washington during the Revolutionary War on Dec. 22, 1776. During World War II the 30th and the 278th spent the night before Christmas surviving the Belgian winter during the Battle of the Bulge, he said.

Col. Bill Rochelle, who is preparing to enter Iraq as part of the 42nd Infantry Division, said the 278th is the perfect replacement for their Southern brethren in the 30th. "They are the only ones who understand each other," he said, joking about the Southern accents. "When these guys get together it starts getting a little thicker."

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

Maj. Gen. John R.S. Batiste, right, passes the 278th Regimental colors to Col. Dennis J. Adams, commander of the 278th.

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