13th "Shavnabada" Light Infantry Battalion

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13th Light Infantry Battalion

13th "Shavnabada" Light Infantry Battalion Shoulder Sleeve Insignia.
Active January 7, 1992 –
Country Georgia
Branch Land Forces of Georgia
Type Light Infantry (Conventional)
Role Counter-terrorism, Direct action, Special reconnaissance,
Size ~600
Part of Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Georgia (JSAFG)
Land Forces Command (LFC)
1st Infantry Brigade (1BDE)
Nickname Shavnabada
Motto Be a man among men ("ikavi kaci kacebs shoris")
Anniversaries July 2
Engagements Abkhazia, 1992-93
South Ossetia, 1992
South Ossetia 2004
Operation Iraqi Freedom 2005, 2008
Commanders
Current
commander		 Captain Davit Sulkhanishvili
Notable
commanders		 Colonel Akia Barbakadze, Major General Koba Kobaladze, Major Giorgi Shengelia

The 13th "Shavnabada" Light Infantry Battalion (Georgian: 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.

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