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 612th Combat Patch Ceremony::

     28th of September saw the the 612th Guntruck Company transition to War Veterans with the awarding of the 1st COSCOM Combat Patch.  The Combat patch is is awarded to those that participate in or actively support ground combat operations against hostile forces in which they are exposed to enemy action or fire for more than 30 days.

     The 1st COSCOM will be dissolved once redeployed to Ft. Bragg, however, it remains rich in history  throughout its support to the Dragon Brigade.  1st COSCOM was created in response to increased troop requirements growing out of the Korean conflict. The 1st Logistical Command was activated Oct. 4, 1950, at Fort McPherson, Ga. As a general reserve unit with 15 officers and 35 enlisted soldiers, 1st Log Command functioned as a planning headquarters.

     Reorganization in 1974 enabled COSCOM to better meet the changing needs of the XVIII Airborne Corps, as well as Fort Bragg garrison operations. The 18th Personnel and Administration Battalion and the Operational Support Battalion were formed in February 1974. In June, COSCOM lost its largest unit when the 35th Engineer Group became the 20th Engineer Brigade and moved across post - directly under the command of the XVIII Airborne Corps. In July, the 55th Medical Group was redesignated as the 44th Medical Brigade, but retained the same mission and the same position within the COSCOM command. Also in July, the 7th Transportation Battalion was reactivated to take over the duties of the 774th Transportation Battalion.

     The 1st Corps Support Command today has more than 8,700 soldiers skilled in more than 105 of the Army's inventory of military occupational specialties.  The 1st Corps Support Command (COSCOM) is the lifeline to soldiers of the XVIII Airborne Corps and its maneuver divisions worldwide. Anywhere the Corps goes to offer aid...keep the peace...or fight freedom's battles, 1st COSCOM "First Team" is there. The Commander's intent is "Nothing fails due to logistics"...and we live it...every day!" As the Army's only contingency support command, 1st COSCOM can provide essential combat service support to a single division or an entire corps of more than 90,000 soldiers.

     The Patch ceremony was preceded with the the awarding of two purple hearts to SPC Hudson and SGT Shook for wounds received during the 28 May convoy in which the vehicle they were riding in hit an improvised explosive device in the road.  SFC Sanchez and 2LT Sheads, the other passengers in the vehicle, received their purple hearts in July.

612th Promotions and Reenlistments::

    

     Promotions on the first include many long awaited promotions.  SGT Jones, of Headquarters, was promoted to Staff Sergeant and SSG Mayes, of Headquarters, was promoted to Sergeant First Class.  SPC Larson of First Platoon was promoted to Sergeant. PVT Strickland, of Headquarters,  was promoted to PV2. 

Congratulations on your Promotions!

NCO Induction Ceremony ::

     The NCO induction ceremony is a celebration of the newly promoted joining the ranks of a professional noncommissioned officer corps and emphasizes and builds on the pride we all share as members of such an elite corps. The ceremony should also serve to honor the memory of those men and women of the NCO Corps who have served with pride and distinction.

612th Quartermaster is inducting 8 newly promoted NCOs on the 4th of October.  The ceremony's guest speaker was CSM Fritzsching. 

The Muslim Culture : Impacting 612th ::


     Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim lunar year. It has double significance as this is the month that the Holy Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad and that night has been called the Night of Power - Layla-tul Qadr, the night where a single moment of enlightenment of the Noor of Allah converts the night into a period of Spiritual glory and majesty that touches eternity. Pious Muslims strive to make themselves pure, especially during this month, by ritual and spiritual observances to make ready for Companionship on High. This month has been declared sacred in the Holy Quran.  During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sun-up to sun-down daily, not having anything to eat, drink, smoke, or indulging in sexual relations.  A special feast is prepared for the breaking of the fast, where everyone present is invited to partake of the dinner after the all-day fast.

An article from the Washington Post attempts to link the increased violence with the Islamic holiday of Ramadan. 

"I saw heads flung far from motionless bodies, eyes plucked from their sockets, corpses trampled in the dust. . . .What flames of vengeance flickered over these corpses! How men's hearts rejoiced at this hideous spectacle!"

So reported a Muslim scribe after a great military victory over the Christian Crusaders near the end of the month of Ramadan. It was 1187 and both sides were joined in a holy war that spanned centuries; this time the sultan Saladin wiped out the Frankish army and went on to reclaim Jerusalem for Islam.

That triumph over what Muslims considered an infidel occupation force still resonates among extremists like Osama bin Laden, whose communiques suggest that he's reliving the Crusades. And in light of recent bombings linked to al Qaeda and rising attacks against coalition troops in Iraq, some scholars, military and terrorism experts see signs of what they call a Ramadan offensive -- an effort by radicals to parlay a heightened atmosphere of religious zeal into violence.

"Theoretically, of course, Ramadan is a month of peace and fasting," says Murhaf Jouejati, a Syrian American expert on Middle Eastern conflicts. But the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq seems to have created an excuse for jihad: Militants believe it's permissible to fight "if the enemy is in your domain," he says. "You fight him with increased fervor."

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