The motto of First Light Armored Infantry Battalion is 'Tip of the Spear'.  The name comes from the mission of the Light Armored Infantry Battalion, to be on the leading edge providing a screening force and reconnaissance for the Division. 

For any who where members of the battalion in the '89-'93 era, you will remember our Battalion C.O.  Lt. Col. C. O. Myers III.   He ran the Battalion efficiently and effectively, was well liked and respected.   However, after the Gulf War the Battalion  command was transferred (Lt. Col. Myers promoted) to Lt. Col. Cole.  Lt. Col. Cole turned the Battalion from a battle honed instrument of destruction, one of the 1st MARDIV's most valuable battle field assets, into a political pawn.  For those who where there.. you may remember all the Dog 'n' Pony shows, the VIP's who came from afar to gaze upon this fine piece of Marine hardware.  You may also remember a  poem which floated around (unofficially poking fun at our politician/ C.O.).  For those who lived through those trying years....read on and remember......

TIP OF THE SPEAR

Long ago. when the Spear first came into being, man used it to kill, but he determined it was too fragile for the use in which it was intended.  First man bent the Spear, and then he bent two and was punished with "cave hours".  Man was then forced to invent the wheel in order    to safely carry the Spear to the killing fields.  But even with the wheel, man determined that the Spear should not be transported on the main roads at night, even if torches were carried on the wheel to light the way  man soon found he had very little time to become proficient with the Spear because there were so many meetings with the head of the clan.  The head of the clan told the men that it was not necessary to train with the Spear because they would train on  a large table of sand right outside the cave.  Soon the Spear was never used to kill, but only as a showpiece.  The owner of the Spear would invite may important people from other clans over look at his Spear and talk about it's employment.  But even though a rival clan expected to attack before 365 moons should pass, the meetings continued and the training did not.

-Author Unknown

As you can imagine the general morale of the unit with a C.O. like that.. we spent more time in garrison and little in the field or on the range.  I would love to finally find out who wrote these words of wisdom.   Please email me.