Pvt. Carroll Shavasia of Newark, N.J. slaps a pie in the face of 1st Sgt. Veronica McReynolds at the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment birthday party on Friday. (Seth Robson / S&S)
VILSECK, Germany — The 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment — the Army’s oldest continuously serving active regiment — celebrated its 172nd birthday Friday with a party at Vilseck.
Members of the regiment’s rear detachment donned Stetson hats and spurs for the party, which was a chance for families of 2nd Cav soldiers deployed to Iraq to let their hair down.
Bouncy castles, face-painting and balloons were the big draws for Ailani Rucobo, 3, according to her mother, Yvonne Rucobo, 34, of El Paso Texas.
Ailani’s dad, Staff Sgt. Hugo Rucobo, is in Iraq with the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cav, Yvonne Rucobo said, adding that the party is a good chance for her three children to use up some energy.
The person who organized the bash — Capt. Shawn Giacobbe, 26, of Philadelphia — said the regiment celebrates its birthday every year but this year’s party was bigger than normal.
"We are planning to take pictures and show them (to troops downrange) so they know we are taking care of their families back home," he said.
Giacobbe said Army Community Services, Morale, Welfare and Recreation and the Boy Scouts were also invited to participate so they could introduce themselves to any newly arrived families at Vilseck.
Another 2nd Cav officer, Maj. Tiger Bartle, 33, of Seattle, said the regiment is the only one in the Army that hasn’t been inactive in the past 172 years.
The unit started during the Seminole Wars in Florida, served in World War II and spent 47 years in Germany during the Cold War before heading back to the States. It returned to Germany and deployed to Iraq last year, he said.
