The 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team is a unit of the

Illinois Army National Guard The Illinois Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. With the Illinois Air National Guard it forms the Illinois National Guard. National coordination of various state National Guard uni ...

, which perpetuates the history of the 33rd Infantry Division. Known as the 66th Infantry Brigade until 2005, it is one of the brigades of the 35th Infantry Division. The brigade was re-activated under the

Transformation of the United States Army The reorganization plan of the United States Army is a current modernization (2017–2028) and reorganization (2006–2016) plan of the United States Army that was implemented (2006–2016) under the direction of Brigade Modernization Command. Thi ...

and subordinated to the

. The 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team deployed to Afghanistan in December 2008 in support of

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

and re-deployed in August 2009.

History

The post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

reorganization of the

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG), in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States A ...

included the 33rd and 44th Infantry Divisions as

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

-based units. The 44th Infantry Division was inactivated in 1954, following its return from its mobilization for the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. The 33rd Infantry Division continued until 1968, when it was inactivated as part of a National Guard force reduction. The 33rd Infantry Brigade was then created as a non-divisional organization. The 66th Infantry Brigade, which had been part of the 44th Division and then the 33rd, continued in service as an Illinois organization assigned to the 47th Infantry Division. The 47th Division was inactivated in 1991, and the 66th Brigade was assigned to the 34th Infantry Division. In 1997, the 66th Brigade was reassigned to the 35th Infantry Division. As part of the Army's conversion to modular divisions and brigades in 2005, the separate 33rd Infantry Brigade was inactivated. The 66th Brigade was re-flagged as the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which continued to be aligned with the 35th Division.

Recent deployments

Soldiers of the 66th Brigade were activated for homeland security duty following the

September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. In 2008 and 2009, soldiers of the 33d Infantry Brigade Combat Team served in the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

. In 2019-2020 Det 1, 2d Battalion, 122d Field Artillery Regiment supported the 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment from the 33d Infantry Brigade Combat Team in the War in Afghanistan under Resolute Support- Operation Freedom Sentinel.

Task organization

As of 2017, the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team is composed of: * Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (33rd IBCT)

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2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment,

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1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

296th-infantry-regiment-distinctive-unit-insignia

1st Battalion, 296th Infantry Regiment. Mayagüez * 106CavalryRegtDUI

2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry Regiment, Kewanee * 122 FA Rgt DUI

2nd Battalion, 122nd Field Artillery Regiment (2-122nd FAR), Chicago * 766 Eng Bn DUI

766th Brigade Engineer Battalion (756th BEB), Decatur * 634th Brigade Support Battalion (634th BSB), Sullivan

In popular culture

The 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat team is depicted at various times in its history in the artwork entitled "Forever, My Brother" by Marc Wolfe. The brigade is depicted in the movie, '' How It Ends'', operating a roadblock on I-90 west. The brigade is routinely seen in archival footage, performing crowd control duties during the protests that accompanied the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

References

External resources