By Capt. Murray Shugars
2-198th Combined Arms Battalion

SUSTAINMENT OP-ERATING BASE Q-WEST, IRAQ– Mississippi Army Na-tional Guard members were awarded with the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia for Wartime Service in a ceremony here September 13.

Soldiers with Head-quarters and Head-quarters Company, 2nd Battalion,198th Combined Arms, out of Senatobia, formed up at the Base Defense Operations Center to receive on their right shoulders this symbol of wartime service, commonly known as the combat patch.

“It has been a proud Army tradition since World War One to award the soldier with this emblem of participation in combat operations,” said Lt. Col. Kerry W. Goodman, commander of the 2-198th CAB and a native of Meridian.  “I am proud to present this symbol of service personally to these great Americans and to shake each hand.”

Conducting a formal ceremony was the idea of Command Sgt. Maj. Perry T. Campbell.

“Last time the 155th Brigade Combat Team deployed to Iraq in 2005, some soldiers never formally received the combat patch.  Soldiers just started wearing it without ceremony,” said the Senatobia native.

“The patch is important and deserves an occasion, for it represents a milestone in a military career. More than that, it instills pride and tightens the bond between soldiers. It’s a symbol of selfless service.”

The patch signifies wartime service, but it meant different things to different soldiers.  To one soldier with less than a year in service, the patch represented a rite of passage.

“When I was in basic training and advanced individual training, all my NCOs had combat patches.  They said that you earned that by going to war and that you wore the patch of whatever unit you deployed with,” said Private Chadwick S. Davis, electronic warfare crew specialist from Grenada.  “I wanted one since then, and I’m proud to wear the Thunder Bolt patch of 155th.” 

For other soldiers, the combat patch was a symbol of personal sacrifice.

“My little sister, Miracle, cries when I talk to her on the phone and keeps asking me when I’m coming home.  She’s going in fourth grade, and I always helped her with her homework.   When I go home, I’m going to have to explain why I had to leave,” said Spec. Daktaryaie D. Fox, of Kosciusko, a radio operator for the Base Defense Operations Center.  “I’m going to show her this patch on my right shoulder and explain that it shows my service.  I’m going to tell her that I’m wearing it for her and my family and my friends.  I’m wearing it for my country.”

(Editor’s Note: The Mississippi Army National Guard’s 155th Brigade Combat Team was mobilized on May 1 for deployment to Iraq.  After training at Camp Shelby the 3,400 soldiers, including troops from the Batesville and Sardis units, left for Iraq at the end of June. Capt. Murray Shugars is sending an ongoing series of reports from Q-WEST, the base where local troops are stationed.)