diff --git a/python/updateTribbleToCorrectSVNVersion.py b/python/updateTribbleToCorrectSVNVersion.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dc20597ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/updateTribbleToCorrectSVNVersion.py
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+# ====================================================================================================
+# update the tribble code to the appropriate version, given the current GATK verion.
+# this python script looks up the base version of the GATK, checks the date, and cross-references this
+# against the Tribble version.  If the current Tribble check-out has modifications it fails-fast
+# ====================================================================================================
+
+import os, subprocess, re 
+from subprocess import Popen, PIPE, STDOUT
+from datetime import datetime, date, time
+
+# test that we can use the SVN tool
+print "checking that we can use svn and svnversion commands..."
+outputSVN 			= Popen(["svn", 		"--version"], stdout=PIPE).communicate()[0]
+outputSVNVersion 	= Popen(["svnversion", 	"--version"], stdout=PIPE).communicate()[0]
+
+# match the regex
+m = re.search('version\s+(\d+\.\d+\.\d+)',outputSVN)
+m2 = re.search('version\s+(\d+\.\d+\.\d+)',outputSVNVersion)
+
+if ((not m) or (not m2)):
+	raise Exception("Unable to find svn and svnversion commands") 
+	
+if (m.group(1) != m.group(1)):
+	raise Exception('Unable to match versions for svn (version ' + m.group(1) + ') and svnversion (version ' + m2.group(1) + ') commands') 
+
+# check that we're in the base GATK directory
+outputSVN = Popen(["svn","info"], stdout=PIPE).communicate()[0]
+m = re.search('URL:\s+(.+)\s+',outputSVN)
+
+print "checking that we're in the base directory of a SVN check-out of the GATK..."
+if (not m):
+	raise Exception("Unable to find current working URL for this directory in SVN; make sure your in the base GATK directory when running this script")
+if (m.group(1) != "https://svn/Sting/trunk"):
+	raise Exception("Not in the correct working directory; we expect to be in a directory pointing to the URL https://svn/Sting/trunk")
+
+# now get the version and date for the GATK checkout
+print "getting the GATK check-out version and date..."
+dateMatch = re.search('Last Changed Date:\s+(\S+)\s+(\S+)\s+',outputSVN)
+versionMatch = re.search('Last Changed Rev:\s+(.+)\s+(.+)\s+',outputSVN)
+if ((not dateMatch) or (not versionMatch)):
+	raise Exception("Unable to match either the version or the check-out date from the svn -info output: " + outputSVN)	
+
+dt = datetime.strptime(dateMatch.group(1)+" "+dateMatch.group(2), "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
+print "		The date of the current GATK check-out is = " +  dt.strftime("%A, %d. %B %Y %I:%M%p")
+
+# now look through the tribble logs for the last version before the current GATK date
+# the log entries look like: r213 | hanna | 2010-09-22 11:28:16 -0400 (Wed, 22 Sep 2010) | 2 lines
+outputSVN = Popen(["svn","log","--quiet","tribble"], stdout=PIPE).communicate()[0]
+m = re.findall("r(\d+)\s\|\s\S+\s\|\s(\S+\s\S+)",outputSVN)
+diff = None
+bestRev = 0
+for match in m:
+	rev = match
+	tribbleDate = datetime.strptime(match[1] , "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
+	# print tribbleDate.strftime("%A, %d. %B %Y %I:%M%p")
+	if (dt > tribbleDate):
+		if (diff == None):
+			diff = dt - tribbleDate	
+			bestRev = match[0]
+		elif (dt - tribbleDate < diff):
+			diff = dt - tribbleDate
+			bestRev = match[0]
+
+if (bestRev == 0):
+	raise Exception("Unable to find correct revision that predates the current GATK checkout...failing")
+	
+# now update the tribble directory to the found revision
+print "attempting to update Tribble to the correct version of r" + bestRev
+print ""
+print "SVN update output:"
+print Popen(["svn","update","-r","r"+str(bestRev),"tribble"], stdout=PIPE).communicate()[0]
+
+