13th "Shavnabada" Light Infantry Battalion

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=13th Light Infantry Battalion


caption=13th "Shavnabada" Light Infantry Battalion Shoulder Sleeve Insignia.
nickname=Shavnabada
motto= "Be a man among men" ("ikavi kaci kacebs shoris")
type= Light Infantry (Conventional)
branch=Land Forces of Georgia
dates= January 7, 1992 –
country=Georgia
command_structure=Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Georgia (JSAFG)
Land Forces Command (LFC)
1st Infantry Brigade (1BDE)
size=~600
specialization=Counter-terrorism, Direct action, Special reconnaissance,
current_commander=Captain Davit Sulkhanishvili
notable_commanders=Colonel Akia Barbakadze, Major General Koba Kobaladze, Major Giorgi Shengelia
battles= Abkhazia, 1992-93
South Ossetia, 1992
South Ossetia 2004
Operation Iraqi Freedom 2005, 2008
anniversaries=July 2

The 13th "Shavnabada" Light Infantry Battalion ( _ka. მე-13 "შავნაბადა"-ს მსუბუქი ქვეითი ბატალიონი) also known as the (official name) 13th Light Infantry Battalion (formerly the 113th mechanized infantry Battalion) is a military unit within the Georgian Armed Forces, so named for a type of cloak worn by medieval warriors. The most famous cloak is said to have worn by the patron saint of Georgia, Saint George, when he, according to a legend, appeared to lead Georgian army to a victory. The battalion's crest includes the word "Shavnabada" in Georgian, the battalion's symbol, the Griffin, and the number "13".

The "Shavnabada" Light Infantry Battalion was established with the independence of Georgia from the Soviet Union in 1991. It saw combat in Abkhazia in the course of the 1992-93 war conducting an amphibious assault against Gagra from the Black Sea. In 2003, the battalion received Georgia Train and Equip Program (GTEP) from the U.S. Marine Corps.

More than 90 percent of the soldiers served in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) in 2005 with the United States Army's 3rd Infantry Division in the Green Zone of Baghdad. Many are also veterans of fighting a guerilla insurgency in the South Osetia region of the country in October 2004.

References

* [http://georgia.usembassy.gov/events/2005/event20050526indepday.html 13th Battalion Celebrates Independence Day in Baghdad.]
* [http://www.mod.gov.ge/?l=E&m=11&sm=3&st=620&id=30 Shavnabada Battalion Welcomed Home from Iraq] . Ministry of Defense of Georgia. October 9, 2005.
* [http://georgia.usembassy.gov/events/2005/event2005100913thBattalion.html Ambassador Tefft Welcomes Home Georgia’s 13th Battalion From Iraq] . Embassy of the U.S. to Georgia. October 9, 2005.
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/07/mil-030729-mcn02.htm Mortars 'rain down from heaven' in Georgia]
* [http://shavnabada.photos.military.com/gallery/2174539#138141143 Images from OIF 3 -- 2005]