The 170th Infantry Brigade of the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 was reestablished 15 July 2009 at US Army Garrison Baumholder

Baumholder

Baumholder is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, in the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and France...

 in Germany as part of the Grow the Army

Grow the Army

Grow the Army is a transformation and restationing initiative of the United States Army announced in 2007 and scheduled to be completed by fiscal year 2013. The initiative is designed to grow the U.S...

 plan. The 170th Infantry Brigade was formed by reflagging the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division

1st Armored Division (United States)

The 1st Armored Division—nicknamed "Old Ironsides"—is a standing armored division of the United States Army with base of operations in Fort Bliss, Texas. It was the first armored division of the U.S...

. The soldiers and equipment will remain in place but the 2d Brigade flag will transfer to Ft. Bliss, Texas, joining other elements of the 1st Armored Division. The 170th Infantry Brigade is organized as an enlarged hybrid of the Army of Excellence (AOE) and modular brigade designs, as it incorporates both organic artillery and engineer battalions together with three infantry and armor units. However, the 170th may return to the United States in 2012 or 2013; where it may convert to a modular heavy brigade combat team, subordinate to the 1st Armored Division, depending on the outcome of discussions to leave two heavy brigades in Europe.

Structure

The Baumholder-based 170th Infantry Brigade includes the following subordinate units:

• Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 170th Infantry Brigade – formed from HHC, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division
  1st Armored Division (United States)
  The 1st Armored Division—nicknamed "Old Ironsides"—is a standing armored division of the United States Army with base of operations in Fort Bliss, Texas. It was the first armored division of the U.S...
  
  
• Troop D, 5th Cavalry Regiment
• 4th Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment
  70th Armor Regiment (United States)
  The 70th Armor is an armored regiment of the United States Army. The regiment exists only as separate battalions with no regimental headquarters. 2nd Battalion is part of the 1st Armored Division out of Fort Riley, Kansas...
  
  
• 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment
• 3rd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment
• 1st Battalion, 84th Field Artillery Regiment
• 40th Engineer Battalion (in addition to EN companies, also controls the below units)
  • 589th Signal Company
  • 502nd Military Intelligence Company
  • 2nd Platoon, 501st Military Police Company
• 24th Brigade Support Battalion

World War I

The 170th Infantry Brigade was first activated 25 August 1917 at Camp Custer, Michigan, as one of two brigades of the 85th Infantry Division, National Army consisting of the 339th and 340th Infantry Regiments. After a year of training the division left the U.S. for England. When the American Expeditionary Force North Russia was formed to be sent to Arkhangelsk, Russia, the 339th Infantry Regiment provided the infantry component, with support units also taken from the 85th Division sent along as well. While there, the 339th saw combat against the Bolsheviks. The 340th Infantry Regiment and the remainder of the 85th Infantry Division was stationed in Lorraine, on the Western Front in France as a depot division and therefore did not participate in any combat operations.

Interwar

The brigade, along with its parent unit the 85th Infantry Division, was reestablished as part of the Organized Reserves

United States Army Reserve

The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....

 in 1921. However, when the 85th Infantry Division was reactivated on 15 May 1942, it was as a triangular division

Triangular division

A triangular division is a designation given to the way divisions are organized. In a triangular organization, the division's main body is composed of three regimental maneuver elements. These regiments may be controlled by a brigade headquarters or directly subordinated to the division commander...

 with direct control of the 337th, 338th, and 339th Infantry Regiments. The brigade was again deorganized.

24th Infantry Division

With the reestablishment of brigades in the TOE of divisions in the 1960s following the short-lived experiment with pentomic

Pentomic

Pentomic refers to a structure for infantry divisions adopted by the U.S. Army in 1957 in response to the perceived threat posed by tactical nuclear weapons use on the battlefield....

 organization, the 2nd Brigade

2nd Brigade, 24th Infantry Division (United States)

The 2nd Brigade, 24th Infantry Division was an infantry brigade of the United States Army. Before its most recent deactivation in 2006, it was based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. It was a divisional brigade of the 24th Infantry Division.- History :...

, 24th Infantry Division was in 1963 assigned the heritage of the 170th Infantry Brigade. The 24th Division was inactivated in 1970, then reactivated from 1975 to 1996. When the 24th was reactivated again in 1999 it was as a headquarters unit only with separate National Guard brigades attached and no organic brigades of its own. It was inactivated again on 1 August 2006.

OEF

In early 2011, the 170th IBCT deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom 11-12 to Regional Command North. During the brigade's deployment, it partnered with the 303rd Afghan Uniformed Police and the Afghan Border Police's 5th Zone. Key highlights of the deployment include the handover of security responsibilities for Mazar E Sharif from the International Security Assistance Force to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The brigade also deployed two of its battalions for separate missions in support of other regional commands. 3-4 Infantry Battalion deployed in November 2010 to Regional Command Capitol where it initially assumed part of the NTMA training mission in and around Kabul. It later transitioned to a Security Force Mission across Afghanistan, ensuring various NTMA elements and VIPs were able to accomplish their tasks in a secure environment. The brigade's armor battalion, 4-70 Armor deployed to Regional Command South where it operated under Combined Team Uruzgan, partnered with the Australian Army. The brigade is expected to redeploy back to Baumholder, Germany in early 2012 where it will prepare for future operations under the current command team of COL Patrick Matlock and CSM Cornelius Grinston.

External links

• Brigade Website http://www.170infantry.army.mil
• Mark St.Clair, and John Vandiver, Name changes set for 2 Germany-based units, Stars and Stripes
  Stars and Stripes (newspaper)
  Stars and Stripes is a news source that operates from inside the United States Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it. The First Amendment protection which Stars and Stripes enjoys is safeguarded by Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests,...
  
  , Friday, 7 March 2008
• https://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/mcgrath/Brigade_p159_240.pdf
• Stars and Stripes "1st AD brigade gets new colors"