A security team from the First Army, based at the Rock Island Arsenal, was awarded the combat patch in a ceremony held in Afghanistan.
More than 135 hand-picked First Army officers were deployed as 13 teams in the spring of 2012 to support assist, train and advise the Afghan National Army as they take over security for their country. The Army calls it Security Force Assisting and Advising Teams, or SFAAT.
A dozen of those First Army soldiers got the First Army patch placed on their right shoulders in the May 31, 2012 ceremony at Forward Operating Base Gamberi.
Getting the First Army combat patch, which has a big “A” on it, is a first for the unit since the start of post-9/11 combat operations. This is only the second time in 50 years that First Army soldiers were deployed in support of ongoing operations in Afghanistan.
First Army, located at the Rock Island Arsenal, relocated in summer 2011 from Atlanta.
PHOTO: Lt. Col. Alan Wagner, the 191st Security Forces Advising and Assisting Team-Five officer in charge, with 191st Infantry Brigade, First Army Division West, proudly displays his First Army combat patch after a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Gamberi, May 31. (Photo by Matthew Thompson)
