10th Mountain’s 3rd Brigade goes into that great good night
In 2004, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division was formed just for the Afghanistan War. While I was at Fort Drum, the 3rd brigade was an Aviation Brigade – a light infantry version of the armor-heavy brigade found in most mechanized infantry divisions. But, the Army needed infantry for the terror war. The Brigade is now finishing it’s fourth rotation to Afghanistan – and it’s going to be rotating right out service, according to NBC News;
Whatever happens in Afghanistan, all of the Third Brigade will be home in upstate New York by the end of July. With commitments diminishing, the Army is reducing its ranks, and the Third Brigade has been selected for inactivation. It will happen formally in a ceremony in which the unit’s colors are “cased,” or basically retired. As for the men and women of the Spartans, they will head off to other assignments, other units, all after having an extended period at home with their families.
Captain Durso says the timing of winding down the Third Brigade is appropriate.
“The Brigade was created because of Afghanistan , all four of its deployments were to Afghanistan and now that Afghanistan is coming to an end, Third Brigade is coming to an end, so it’s served its purpose well.”
Wiki‘s list of the units in the 3BCT:
The brigade consists of six subordinate battalions; its combat element consists of two infantry battalions, the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment. The 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment provides reconnaissance services to the brigade, and the 4th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment provides field artillery support. The 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion (3rd BSTB) provides various combat support functions for the brigade, specifically one platoon of military police and one company each of engineers, military intelligence personnel, and communications specialists. All logistics services for the brigade are provided by the 710th Brigade Support Battalion (710th BSB).
Thanks to Ex-PH2 for the link.
Category: Military issues
And then there were two. Don’t touch my Commando Brigade!
Formerly A 2-14 here GD
“Right of the line!!”
An A Co. Vet here too, Go Terminators!
Terminator 40
Still have 2 black unit PT shirts with the Golden Dragon on the breast
They seem to have shrunk dramatically though
I hate when that happens haha
What years were you there brother?
Are they still leaving 4th BCT down at Polk?
I was wondering the same thing. This is sad, really sad. They’ll be back though. Another conflict will arise(the way the world is looking right now, I’m guessing it will be sooner rather than later)and they’ll be called back to serve and defend. You fought like lions, in inhospitable terrain and against a determined enemy. “With your shield, or on it” gents.
The Ironic thing is that both of the modern day Medals of Honor that were earned while serving with the 10th were from 3rd BCT.
According to what I was told and have seen on post, 1-71 Cav has been reflagged as 3-71 Cav (the unit SFC Monti was assigned to when he earned the MOH) and will be part of 1st BCT for the foreseeable future.
1-32 Inf (the unit Cpt Swenson was assigned to when he earned the MOH) will also be staying as an active unit on post. Off the top of my head, I do not remember where it is supposed to be going.
I was attached to both 2-87 and 3-71 at various times during OEF VII. Didn’t have much use for the officers I encountered (very few, in fairness), but there were some really good joes and NCOs there.
All of my best to the men and women of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division. You all served well, honorably and proudly. It is sad to see your colors retired. God bless each of you and thank you for serving. I hope your next assignments will be as proud as the accomplishments of the 3rd.
Here-Here to each of you and to a true Brigade of honor.
The IBCT structure is changing as Sparta stands down. Each remaining BCT grows a third IN BN, each FA BN gets a third firing battery, and the BSTBs transform into Brigade Engineer Battalions (BEBs), consisting of 2 EN Companies, a Signal Co and a MI Co. On Fort Drum, 1-32 IN will go to 1BCT. 2-87 IN to 2 BCT. 1-71 CAV (1BCT) will reflag to 3-71. 3rd BSTB and 710 BSB will disband. One battery of 4-25 FA will go to 3-6 FA (1BCT) and another battery will go to 2-15 FA (2BCT) as 4-25 disbands. Among other changes. Hope that helps anyone wondering what happens. The net loss for the Division is not as big as it seems.
I’ll never understand US Army unit designations. In the Marines we kept it simple in groups of 4 or 3 with units in numerical order.
Just a dumb Jarhead here being lost in the sauce.
That is because the Marines, after WW2, have always maintained roughly the same size and unit formations. The Army hasn’t. So every time a cut is made to the Army they generally start with those units with the least amount of battle honors (using regimental histories.
Which is why it is confusing. Even for Soldiers. And does nothing to build or keep esprit. IMHO.
You could have a battalion of a regiment, i.e. 1st Battalion 32nd Infantry Regiment (1-32 INF) yet only have one battalion currently active. But the lineage and honors of that regiment is distilled into that one battalion. And now that the Army went from a Division focus to a Brigade Combat Team (BCT) focus that confuses things even more.
It’s actually pretty simple, color bearing units get points for each year of active service and battle streamer/award. The Marines use the same “system” but apply it slightly differently as the USMC still has organized regiments with sequential companies while the Army (with some exceptions) does not.
Those with the most points are retained, over time. However, as not all inactivations/re-designations can occur simultaneously, some units can in-activate at one location then re-activate a short time later at another location.
I agree with your comments on the BCT’s, as the diffusive nature of the Iraq/AF might which brigades get retained.
Of course, as with all things in the service politics can play a role. That’s why we retained the 1st Armored Division over the 5th Infantry Division.
When I came in the Army we had 22 combat Divisions alone on active duty. By 1994 that was down to 10. That’s like the Marines cutting the 2nd and 3rd MARDIVs.
1st/506 RCT-2. 101st.Abn
Easy
CHOSIN!