The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division ("Third Grey Wolf Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division") is a

combined arms Combined arms is an approach to warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme vio ...

armored brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division based in

Fort Hood, Texas Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarter ...

. Its major equipment includes M1A2SEP Tanks, M2A3 & M3A3 Bradley

infantry fighting vehicle An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct-fire support. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forc ...

s, M109A6 Paladin howitzers, and M1114 up-armored Humvees.

Regiments

7th Cavalry Regiment The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment formed in 1866. Its official nickname is "Garryowen", after the Ireland, Irish air "Garryowen (air), Garryowen" that was adopted as its march tune. The regiment participated i ...

8th Cavalry Regiment The 8th Cavalry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army formed in 1866 during the American Indian Wars. The 8th Cavalry continued to serve under a number of designations, fighting in every other major U.S. conflict since, except Worl ...

9th Cavalry Regiment The 9th Cavalry Regiment is a parent cavalry regiment of the United States Army. It is not related to the 9th Kansas Cavalry Regiment of the Union Army. Historically, it was one of the Army's four segregated African-American regiments and was pa ...

12th Cavalry Regiment The 12th Cavalry is a cavalry regiment of the United States Army. History On 2 February 1901, Congress authorized the organization of the Twelfth Regiment of Cavalry, Army of the United States. Under this authority, the regiment was formed at ...

82nd Field Artillery Regiment 82nd Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery regiment of the United States Army. The regiment has been involved with American conflicts dating back to then US involvement in the Mexican Civil War and more recently with the War on Terrorism ...

Heraldry

The 3rd Brigade is a subordinate component of the 1st Cavalry Division and wears the same shoulder sleeve insignia.

Initial organization

The 3rd Brigade, 1st

Cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

Division was first constituted on 29 August 1917. It was organized in December 1917 as Headquarters, 3rd Brigade, an element of the 15th Cavalry Division. The brigade demobilized on 15 July 1919. The brigade was reconstituted on 10 August 1921, joining the newly constituted 1st Cavalry Division. Never officially reorganized, the Brigade remained on inactive status until its activation on 15 October 1940.

World War II

The brigade was converted and redesignated as HHC, 9th Armored Division Trains, and the unit deployed to the European Theater where it received campaign participation credit for the operations in Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe. The unit was awarded two

Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...

s with streamers embroidered Europe 1944 and Europe 1945. Following

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 ...

, the unit returned to the United States and was inactivated.

South Korea

The brigade remained inactive until 15 July 1963, when it was relieved from assignment to the 9th Armored Division, converted and redesignated as HHC, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. The brigade was activated on 1 September 1963, with the Division on station in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

at the

Korean Demilitarized Zone The Korean Demilitarized Zone (Korean: ; Hanbando Bimujang Jidae) is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in ha ...

Vietnam War

In July 1965, the division colors moved to

Fort Benning Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

and underwent reorganization as an

airmobile Air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft—such as the helicopter—to seize and hold key terrain which has not been fully secured, and to directly engage enemy forces behind ...

unit. No soldiers moved, and the soldiers remaining in Korea put on the patch of the 2nd Infantry Division. The brigade was filled with soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division and the

11th Airborne Division The 11th Airborne Division ("Arctic Angels") is a United States Army airborne formation, first activated on 25 February 1943, during World War II. Consisting of one parachute and two glider infantry regiments, with supporting troops, the div ...

. The 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmoble) sailed from Charleston, South Carolina to

Qui Nhơn Quy Nhon ( vi, Quy Nhơn ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2019 its population was 457,400. Hi ...

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

on 17 September 1965. The first major action undertaken by the brigade began on 10 October 1965, and was followed by participation in the

Battle of Ia Drang The Battle of Ia Drang (, ; in English ) was the first major battle between the United States Army and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), as part of the Pleiku Campaign conducted early in the Vietnam War, at the eastern foot of the Chu Pong Mas ...

(14 November, 15,17) officially known as the Pleiku Campaign. The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) received the Presidential Unit Citation for the period 23 October to 26 November 1965. While the rest of the division left South Vietnam at the end of April 1971, the 3rd Brigade was formed into a separate unit and assumed operational control of the old 1st Cavalry Division area of operations in South Vietnam until 1972. On 20 June 1972 in a ceremony attended by

COMUSMACV U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) was a joint-service command of the United States Department of Defense. MACV was created on 8 February 1962, in response to the increase in United States military assistance to South Vietnam. MACV ...

General

Creighton Abrams Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. (September 15, 1914 – September 4, 1974) was a United States Army general who commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972, which saw United States troop strength in South Vietnam reduced ...

the brigade stood down and left South Vietnam for Fort Hood, Texas, to rejoin the 1st Cavalry Division. When its colors arrived at Fort Hood on 29 June 1972, the unit officially became the "Greywolf" Brigade, named after General

George Crook George R. Crook (September 8, 1828 – March 21, 1890) was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. During the 1880s, the Apache nicknamed Crook ''Nantan ...

, considered the U.S. Army's greatest Indian fighter. The brigade underwent a change from an airmobile configuration to an infantry brigade (heavy or mechanized infantry). The "Greywolf" Brigade remained with the division until its inactivation in 1980. The 3rd Brigade was composed of the following elements: * HHC, 3d Brigade * 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry * 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry * 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry (added while the unit was in South Vietnam) * F Troop, 9th Cavalry

Post Operation Desert Storm

The brigade remained on the inactive roles until 21 May 1991, when the 1st "Tiger" Brigade, 2nd Armored Division was redesignated as the 3rd "GREYWOLF " Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. Since that time, the brigade has participated in several National Training Center rotations, deployed task force sized elements to Kuwait, and in September 1996, conducted the first post- Desert Storm, no-notice, brigade-sized deployment to Kuwait in support of Operation Desert Strike.

Operation Iraqi Freedom II

In early 2004, 3d Brigade began deploying to Iraq for

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. The brigade protected the

Green Zone The Green Zone ( ar, المنطقة الخضراء, translit=al-minṭaqah al-ḫaḍrā) is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It was a area in the Karkh district of central Baghdad, Iraq, that was the governmental ...

and surrounding neighborhoods in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. The last elements returned home in March 2005. The brigade was organized as follows: * HHC, 3d Brigade * 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry * 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry * 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry * F Troop, 9th Cavalry * 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery * 8th Engineer Battalion * 215th Forward Support Battalion The brigade re-task organized in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

before entering

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

: * 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry was detached to the 39th Brigade Combat Team,

Arkansas Army National Guard The Arkansas Army National Guard (ARARNG) is a component of the Arkansas National Guard and the United States National Guard. National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau. Arkansas ...

* 1st Battalion, 153rd Infantry was attached from the 39th Infantry Brigade * 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry was attached from the 81st Armored Brigade,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Army National Guard * 112th MP Battalion,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Army National Guard Also attached were: * 571st Military Police Company; * Troop F (Bristol), 2nd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Army National Guard; * Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 160th Infantry, California Army National Guard * a company from the

8th Marine Regiment The 8th Marine Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. When last active, it was based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and fell under the command of the 2nd Marine Division and the II Marine Exped ...

; * Additionally a large number of individuals from the

Individual Ready Reserve The Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) is a category of the Ready Reserve of the Reserve Component of the Armed Forces of the United States composed of former active duty or reserve military personnel. Its governing statute is codified at . For soldi ...

joined the Brigade The brigade received the following unit citations: * HHC, 3rd Brigade was awarded a

Meritorious Unit Citation The Meritorious Unit Citation is a collective group decoration awarded to members of Australian military units. It recognises sustained outstanding service in warlike operations. The Meritorious Unit Citation was created in 1991, along with the ...

(MUC) for the period of 17 March 2004 through 23 March 2005. * 1st Battalion, 153rd Infantry was awarded an MUC (17 March 2004 – 23 March 2005) * 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry was awarded an MUC (17 March 2004 – 23 March 2005) * 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry was awarded an MUC (23 March 2004 – 5 March 2005) * 2nd Battalion, 82nd Artillery was awarded an MUC (17 March 2004 – 23 March 2005)

Modularization

Under the modularization of the 1st Cavalry Division, two battalions were transferred to 4th Brigade and the 8th Engineers were inactivated. One battalion was transferred in from 1st Brigade, F Troop was expanded into a

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

, and a

special troops battalion A special troops battalion (STB) is an organic unit of a modular brigade, division (or equivalent), corps or higher echelon United States Army organization. It may comprise companies from different branches of the army, but typically has a Headquar ...

was organized. * HHC, 3 ABCT * 6th Squadron (

RSTA Reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) refers to a joint doctrine of reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition conducted by the United States Armed Forces. RSTA operations are designed to support military operation ...

), 9th Cavalry Regiment * 1st Battalion, 12th

Regiment * 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment * 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment * Special Troops Battalion * 215th Support Battalion (Brigade)

Operation Iraqi Freedom 2006–07

In September 2006 the 3rd "GREYWOLF" Brigade began deploying to Iraq for its second OIF combat tour. During this tour, it was deployed to the Diyala Province and based out of Baqubah. While serving as the main regional force for Coalition efforts in the area it fell under the command of Multi-National Division-North (MND-N). During the 2006–2008 tour MND-N was commanded by the 25th Infantry Division and based out of COB Speicher in

Tikrit Tikrit ( ar, تِكْرِيت ''Tikrīt'' , Syriac language, Syriac: ܬܲܓܪܝܼܬܼ ''Tagrīṯ'') is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Gover ...

. The brigade was a part of the controversial theater "extension" that increased all combat tours to 15 months. This pushed their re-deployment home from theater to December 2007.

Operation Iraqi Freedom 2008–09

In December 2008 the GREYWOLF Troopers deployed to Iraq for their third tour. On 19 January 2009, they assumed control of FOB Marez in Mosul from the "Brave Rifles" of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. As during their last Iraq rotation the Greywolf Brigade were once again under the 25th Infantry Division and MND-N.

Operation New Dawn 2011

In January 2011, the GREYWOLF Brigade deployed to the southern provinces of Iraq with forces in Muthanna, Dhi Qar, Maysan and Basrah. The primary mission of the brigade was to continue to improve Iraqi Army and Police forces through an Advise and Assist mission. Their secondary mission was to conduct route security missions to assist in maintaining open ground lines of communication. Both missions would support the United States military forces eventual departure from Iraq in December 2011. On 17 December 2011, Greywolf's Special Troops Battalion was the last combat unit to redeploy from the war-torn nation, thus ending America's 9-year long war.

Reorganization

With the inactivation of the 4th Brigade Combat Team "Long Knife" in 2013, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment rejoined the Brigade after 8 years.http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/story.php?id=12275 Long Knife cases colors The 3rd Engineer Battalion replaced the 3rd Special troops Battalion which had been formed from the 8th Engineer Battalion in 2005.