The 199th Infantry Brigade (Light) is a unit of the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
which served in the
Army Reserve
A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...
from 1921 to 1940, in the active army from 1966 to 1970 (serving in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
), briefly in 1991–1992 at
Fort Lewis, and from 2007 as an active army training formation at
Fort Benning.
Early history
Constituted 24 June 1921 in the Organized Reserves as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 199th Infantry Brigade, an element of the 100th Division. Organized in December 1921 at Huntington, West Virginia. Redesignated 23 March 1925 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 199th Brigade. Location changed 27 October 1931 to Parkersburg, West Virginia. Redesigned 24 August 1936 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 199th Infantry Brigade.
[ ]
Converted and Redesignated 23 February 1942 as 100th Reconnaissance Troop (less 3rd Platoon), 100th Division (Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 200th Infantry Brigade, concurrently converted and redesignated as the 3rd Platoon, 100th Reconnaissance Troop, 100th Division). Troop ordered into active military service 15 November 1942 and reorganized at Fort Jackson, South Carolina as the 100th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop, an element of the 100th Infantry Division. Reorganized and Redesignated 2 August 1943 as the 100th Reconnaissance Troop, Mechanized. Reorganized and Redesignated 7 September 1945 as the 100th Mechanized Reconnaissance Troop. Inactivated 11 January 1946 at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia. Redesignated 15 October 1946 as Reconnaissance Platoon, 100th Airborne Division. Activated 2 December 1946 at Louisville, Kentucky. (Organized Reserves Redesignated 25 March 1948 as the Organized Reserve Corps; Redesignated 9 July 1952 as the Army Reserve). Reorganized and Redesignated 31 August 1950 Anti-tank Platoon, 100th Airborne Division. Reorganized and Redesignated 12 May 1952 as the 100th Reconnaissance Company, an element of the 100th Infantry Division. Inactivated 22 April 1953 at Louisville, Kentucky. Activated 9 April 1955 at Neon, Kentucky. Disbanded 17 April 1959 at Neon, Kentucky.
Reconstituted (less 3rd Platoon) 23 March 1966 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 199th Infantry Brigade (3rd Platoon, 100th Reconnaissance Company- hereafter separate linage.) Activated 1 June 1966 at Fort Benning, Georgia. Inactivated 15 October 1970 at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Vietnam War
The unit was formed for the second time. It trained at Fort Benning, Georgia and Camp Shelby, Mississippi from September to November 1966 in preparation for deployment to Vietnam from Fort Benning, Georgia. The 199th was the only combat unit to train at Camp Shelby during the Vietnam War.
Nicknamed "the Redcatchers", the unit was hastily moved to
Sông Bé Sông Bé may refer to:
* Bé River, a river of southern Vietnam
* Sông Bé province, a former Vietnamese province named after the river
{{Disambiguation ...
, Vietnam on 10 December 1966 to provide an increased U.S. presence in the
III Corps Tactical Zone and remained there until its return to Fort Benning on 11 October 1970, where it was inactivated.
[Stanton, p 89] The unit was briefly reactivated at
Fort Lewis Washington from the remains of the
9th Infantry Division.
The brigade was conducting
Operation Uniontown in
Đồng Nai Province when the 1968
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the force ...
began. It immediately began a defense of U.S.
II Field Force
II Field Force, Vietnam was a United States Army Corps-level command during the Vietnam War.
Activated on 15 March 1966, it became the largest corps command in Vietnam and one of the largest in Army history. II Field Force was assigned the lineag ...
headquarters at
Long Binh Post
Long Binh Post (''Tổng kho Long Bình'') is a former U.S. Army base located in Long Bình, Đồng Nai between Biên Hòa and Saigon, Vietnam. The base functioned as a U.S. Army base, logistics center, and major command headquarters for Unit ...
against
attacks by the VC 275th Regiment. One battalion was moved by helicopter to attack a Viet Cong command post at the
Phu Tho racetrack inside
Saigon, then engaged in
house-to-house fighting
Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and city, cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both the Military operation, operational and the Military tactics, tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban war ...
in
Cholon.
During 1969, the 199th was responsible for the security of the region north and east of the capital, and in 1970 moved into the "
Iron Triangle" when other units participated in the
Cambodian Incursion.
*Units assigned to the 199th Infantry Brigade (Light):
**Brigade infantry
***2nd Battalion,
3rd Infantry
***3rd Battalion,
7th Infantry
***4th Battalion,
12th Infantry
***5th Battalion, 12th Infantry
**Brigade artillery
***2nd Battalion,
40th Artillery
**Brigade reconnaissance
***Troop D,
17th Cavalry
The 15th Lancers (Baloch) is an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 17th Cavalry and the 37th Lancers (Baluch Horse).Ahmad, Lt Col RN. (2010). ''Battle Honours of the Baloch Regiment''. Abbottab ...
(Armored)
***Company F,
51st Infantry (Long Range Patrol)
***Company M,
75th Infantry (Ranger)(Airborne)
**Brigade support
***
7th Support Battalion
***179th Military Intelligence Detachment
***87th Engineer Company
***313th Signal Compan
***152nd Military Police Platoon
***44th
military history detachment
***503rd Chemical Detachment
***856th Radio Research Detachment (Army Security Agenc
***40th Public Information Detachment
**Other units on temporary duty
***49th Infantry Platoon (Scout Do
***76th Infantry Detachment (Combat Tracke
***3rd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
*Casualties
# 754 killed in action
# 4,679 wounded in action
The brigade was deactivated in 1970 until it was reactivated in 1991 and 2006, but some and few units of the 199th Infantry Brigade were retained by the army. When the tension was increased between the Warsaw Pact and NATO to breakout the war and necessary to be reinforced, the 199th Infantry Brigade will be fully mobilized immediately and sent to Berlin to take on the duty and defend.
Recent history
During the drawdown of the
9th Infantry Division at
Fort Lewis in 1991–1992, a residual brigade, based around the division's 3rd Brigade, was briefly active as the 199th Infantry Brigade (Motorized) from 16 February 1991 before being reflagged on 16 July 1992 as the
2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment.
The structure of 199th Infantry Brigade at that time was:
* 199th Infantry Brigade (Motorized), Fort Lewis
** Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC)
** 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry(Possible)
** 1st Battalion,
33rd Armor
** 2nd Battalion,
1st Infantry
** 3rd Battalion,
47th Infantry
** 1st Battalion,
11th Field Artillery
** 99th Support Battalion (Forward)
** Troop A, 9th Cavalry (previously Troop B, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, rest of the squadron disbanded on the same date)
** 102nd Engineer Company (Company D, 15th Engineer Battalion)
** 9th Chemical Company
** Battery E, 44th Air Defense Artillery
Then-Lieutenant Colonel
Peter W. Chiarelli
Peter William Chiarelli (born March 23, 1950) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general who served as the 32nd Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army from August 4, 2008 to January 31, 2012. He also served as commande ...
commanded the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry.
On 27 June 2007, the
11th Infantry Regiment was reflagged as the 199th Infantry Brigade at Fort Benning. In October 2013, the brigade underwent changes to its task organization as part of restructuring within the Maneuver Center. The brigade was designated as the Leader Development Brigade and reorganized to contain both Armor and Infantry BOLC, OCS, and the MCCC.
*Units assigned to the 199th Infantry Brigade:
**Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 199th Brigade (Maneuver Captains Career Course Detachment)
**1st Battalion,
29th Infantry Regiment (
Abrams Abrams may refer to:
* Abrams (surname), a list of notable people with the surname
* '' Abrams v. United States'', 250 U.S. 616 (1919), U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding free speech during times of war
* M1 Abrams, main battle tank
* Abrams, W ...
,
Bradley
Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English.
Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular.
It is also an Anglicisation of t ...
,
Stryker
The Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in London, Ontario. I ...
, Sniper, Combatives, etc. instruction)
**2nd Battalion,
11th Infantry Regiment Infantry Basic Officer Leader Course (IBOLC)
**3rd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment (Officer Candidate School)
**3rd Battalion,
81st Armored Regiment (administrative command, control, and support)
**Army Noncommisioned Officer Academy
**Command and Tactics Directorate (Infantry, Armor, and Combined Arms instruction)
In popular culture
Michael Lee Lanning, a retired lieutenant colonel, served a tour in Vietnam with the Redcatchers as a lieutenant. He reported to Vietnam where as a second lieutenant he served as an infantry platoon leader and reconnaissance platoon leader. After his promotion to first lieutenant, he commanded a rifle company, Bravo Company of the 2d Battalion, 3d Infantry. He wrote two books about his experiences there: ''The Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam'' (New York: Ivy Books/Random House, 1987); and ''Vietnam 1969-1970: A Company Commander's Journal'' (New York: Ivy Books/Random House, 1988).
Notes
References
* {{cite book, last=Stanton, first=Shelby L., title=Vietnam Order of Battle, year=1987, publisher=Galahad Books, New York, New York, isbn=978-0-671-08159-1
"The Brigade: A History, Its Organization and Employment in the US Army"199th Infantry Brigade Home Page* Roger W. Houston
orbat.com archive.
Training brigades of the United States Army
199
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...
199th Light
Military units and formations established in 1921