1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (United States)

Organization

The 1st Brigade Combat Team is a subordinate unit of the 10th Mountain Division, however its modular nature means it is capable of operating independently of the division's Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion.

The brigade consists of six subordinate battalions; its combat element consists of two infantry battalions, the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment. The 1st Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment provides armored reconnaissance services to the Brigade Combat Team, while the 3rd Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment provides field artillery support. The brigade's Headquarters and command services are provided by 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Special Troops Battalion. All supporting services for the brigade are provided by the 10th Brigade Support Battalion. All of these battalions are located at Fort Drum with most of the rest of the 10th Mountain Division.

History

On 13 February 1985, the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) was reactivated at Fort Drum, New York. In accordance with the Reorganization Objective Army Divisions plan, the division was no longer centered around regiments, instead two brigades were activated under the division. The 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division was activated at Fort Drum while the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division was activated at Fort Benning, moving to Fort Drum in 1988. The division was also assigned a round-out brigade from the Army National Guard, the 27th Infantry Brigade. The division was specially designed as a light infantry division able to rapidly deploy. Equipment design was oriented toward reduced size and weight for reasons of both strategic and tactical mobility. The division also received a distinctive unit insignia.

Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida on 24 August 1992, killing 13 people, leaving another 250,000 homeless and causing damages in excess of 20 billion dollars. On 27 September 1992, the 10th Mountain Division assumed responsibility for Hurricane Andrew disaster relief as Task Force Mountain. Division soldiers set up relief camps, distributed food, clothing, medical necessities and building supplies, as well as helping to rebuild homes and clear debris. The last of the 6,000 division soldiers to deployed to Florida returned home in October 1992.

Operation Restore Hope

On 3 December 1993, the division headquarters was designated as the headquarters for all Army Forces (ARFOR) of the Unified Task Force (UNITAF) for Operation Restore Hope. Major General Steven L. Arnold, the division Commander, was named Army Forces commander. The 10th Mountain Division’s mission was to secure major cities and roads to provide safe passage of relief supplies to the Somali population suffering from the effects of the Somali Civil War. Due to 10th Mountain Division efforts, humanitarian agencies declared an end to the food emergency and factional fighting decreased. When Task Force Ranger and the SAR team were pinned down during a raid in what later became known as the Battle of Mogadishu, 10th Mountain units provided infantry for the UN quick reaction force sent to rescue them. The 10th had 2 soldiers killed in the fighting, which was the longest sustained firefight by regular US Army forces since the Vietnam War. The division began a gradual reduction of forces in Somalia in February 1993, until the last soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry returned to the United States in March 1994.

Operation Uphold Democracy

The division formed the nucleus of the Multinational Force Haiti (MNF Haiti) and Joint Task Force 190 (JTF 190) in Haiti during Operation Uphold Democracy. More than 8,600 of the division's troops deployed during this operation. On 19 September 1994, the 1st Brigade conducted the Army’s first air assault from an aircraft carrier. This force consisted of 54 helicopters and almost 2,000 soldiers. They occupied the Port-au-Prince International Airport. This was the largest Army air operation conducted from a carrier since the Doolittle Raid in World War II.

The division’s mission was to create a secure and stable environment so the government of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide could be reestablished and democratic elections held. After this was accomplished, the 10th Mountain Division handed over control of the MNF-Haiti to the 25th Infantry Division on 15 January 1995. The Division redeployed the last of its soldiers who served in Haiti by 31 January 1995.

War on Terrorism

In late 2001, following the 11 September 2001 attacks, elements of the division, including its special troops battalion and the 1-87th Infantry, deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. These forces remained in the country until mid-2002, fighting to secure remote areas of the country and participating in prominent operations such as Operation Anaconda, the Fall of Mazar-i-Sharif, and the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi. The division also participated in fighting in the Shahi Khot Valley in 2002. Upon the return of the battalions, they were welcomed home and praised by President Bush.

In 2003, the division's headquarters, along with the 1st Brigade, returned to Afghanistan. During that time, they operated in the frontier regions of the country such as Paktika Province, going places previously untouched by the war in search of Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces. Fighting in several small-scale conflicts such as Operation Avalanche, Operation Mountain Resolve, and Operation Mountain Viper, the division maintained a strategy of small units moving through remote regions of the country to interact directly with the population and drive out insurgents. The 1st Brigade also undertook a number of humanitarian missions.

Reorganization and recent deployments

Upon the return of the division headquarters and 1st Brigade, the 10th Mountain Division began the process of transformation into a modular division. On 16 September 2004, the division headquarters finished its transformation. The 1st Brigade became the 1st Brigade Combat Team, while the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division was activated for the first time. In January 2005, the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division was activated at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

The 1st Brigade Combat Team and the 2nd Brigade Combat Team deployed to Iraq in the fall of 2009, as a part of the 2009–2010 rotation to Iraq.

1st Brigade Combat Team was scheduled for a third deployment, returning to Iraq in fall of 2009, but the deployment was canceled on 16 October 2009. The brigade deployed in Afghanistan in 2010) and returned to garrison in early 2011.

Honors

The 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division earned two campaign streamers in World War II and two campaign streamers in the War on Terrorism for a total of four campaign streamers and two unit decorations in its operational history. Note that some of the brigade's battalions received more or fewer decorations depending on their individual deployments.