U.S. 12th Cavalry Regiment
Encyclopedia
The 12th Cavalry is a cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 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...

.

History

On February 2, 1901, Congress authorized the organization of the Twelfth Regiment of Cavalry, Army of the United States. Under this authority, the regiment was formed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas on February 8, 1901.

From 1901 until 1911, the Regiment served posts in Texas, Georgia, and the Philippines.

During World War II the 12th Cavalry served as an infantry regiment within the 1st Cavalry Division.

The regiment was deactivated prior to the 1st Cavalry Division's service in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

, but its lineage was resurrected in with the creation in 1957 of the Combat Arms Regimental System, in which the battalions listed below were created.

After Operation Iraqi Freedom II, the 12th Cavalry Regiment underwent a major transition as elements from 2/7CAV, 1/9CAV, and 3/8CAV were reflagged and combined with the Regiment to create the battalions currently in operation. The 2nd Battalion, Twelfth Cavalry Regiment, as well as 2/7CAV and 1/9CAV moved to the 4th Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, and are currently operating from Fort Hood, Texas. The 1st Battalion, Twelfth Cavalry Regiment as well as 3/8CAV continue to operate at Fort Hood, Texas, and are now with the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division.

1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry

The Regiment returned to Texas to conduct border patrol duty in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. There the 1st Squadron engaged small detachments of raiding bandits until February 22, 1916.

The 1st Squadron then reported for duty to Corozal in the Panama Canal Zone. The Squadron remained in Corozal until 1921 when the Regiment was reorganized during the drawdown following the First World War.

On January 3, 1933 the Twelfth Cavalry was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division and participated in division maneuvers. The unit was reorganized as an infantry regiment in preparation for overseas service.

The Twelfth Cavalry arrived in Australia on July 26, 1943 and began six months of jungle and amphibious training. The Regiment's first assault in the Pacific War came on February 29, 1944 when her soldiers assaulted the Los Negros Islands in the Admiralty Islands, north of New Guinea. The Twelfth Cavalry was assigned to the Leyte-Samar Campaign and helped liberate those islands from Japanese control in spite of stubborn resistance. Continuing the attack onto the island of Luzon, Regimental history was highlighted on February 3, 1945 when a flying column of Cavalrymen cut a 100 mile path through enemy-held territory to be the "First in Manila".

After World War II, the Twelfth Cavalry settled in for occupation duty in Japan and was inactivated on March 29, 1949. The Twelfth Cavalry was reactivated on February 15, 1957 as part of the 1st Armored Division at Fort Polk, Louisiana. The 1st Squadron was designated "1st Reconnaissance Squadron."

The Twelfth was again inactivated on February 3, 1962. On September 1, 1963 the squadron was redesignated the First Battalion and reactivated and assigned to the First Cavalry Division in Korea. In June 1965, the battalion's colors were returned to Fort Benning, Georgia and assigned to a battalion of the 11th Air Assault Division (Test), in preparation for duty in the Republic of Vietnam.

During the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

, units of the Battalion participated in 12 campaigns and earned three Presidential Unit Citations and three Valorous Unit Awards for actions against the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army. On May 5, 1971 the Battalion returned from Vietnam to its new home at Fort Hood, Texas.

On June 15, 1983, the 1st Battalion was relieved of its assignment to the First Cavalry Division and was inactivated at Fort Hood, Texas. Three years later, on October 4, 1986, the Battalion was reactivated as the 1st Squadron at Fort Knox, Kentucky. There, the squadron assumed the mission of training new armor soldiers. On December 16, 1992 the Squadron was redesignated the First Battalion and moved to Fort Hood, Texas.

As of May 2002, the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry transitioned to the M1A2 SEP tank - the first unit in the 1st Cavalry Division to do so.

In March 2004, 1st Battalion deployed as part of 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division to East Baghdad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. Organized as a Task Force with attached infantry and engineer companies and operating from Camp Eagle outside Sadr City, 1-12 CAV battled the Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr throughout 2004. Commanded by LTC Tim Meredith, with senior NCO CSM Donald Battle, Task Force 1-12 Cavalry racked-up one of the most successful records for defeating enemy forces, executing significant civil-military programs.

October 2006 - December 2007 1st Battalion deployed as part of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division to Baqubah, Iraq. Under the command of LTC Goins and CSM Harris. While in Baqubah the battalion was spread then across the Diayla Province, then known as a safe haven for ISI (Islamic State of Iraq) and AQI (Al Queda in Iraq). Baqubah was announced to be the capital of the ISI and the coalition forces were to routed out. After a long and hard fought 7 months, Operation Arrowhead Ripper was kicked off. The operation was a bounding success, with the city and infrastructure becoming more secure. The 1-12 CAV was in Baqubah for 15 months and during that it was one of the hardest deployments ever seen by the battalion.

The battalion deployed again in December 2008 to the volatile Ninewa Province, Iraq, this time, under the command of LTC Michael Fadden and CSM Eddie Delvalle. A downfall in leadership ever in the history of the battalion.

2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry

As of 1933, the Squadron was headquartered at Fort Ringgold, near Rio Grande City, the Second of the 12th rode patrols along the southern border for almost forty years under different headquarters. Late in 1940, the battalion returned to Fort Bliss and trained for war as part of the 1st Cavalry Division's Second Brigade and participated in the historic Louisiana Maneuvers
Louisiana Maneuvers
The Louisiana Maneuvers were a series of military exercises held all over north and west-central Louisiana, including Fort Polk, Camp Claiborne and Camp Livingston, in August and September 1941...

.

The battalion traded its horses for jeep and amphibious assault vehicles in February 1943. In mid-June 1943, the Division shipped out for Australia, where it trained in preparation for combat on the Pacific Rim. The battalion saw its first combat on Los Negros Island
Los Negros Island
Los Negros Island is the third largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is significant because it contains the main airport of Manus Province on its eastern coastline, at Momote. It is connected to Lorengau, the capital of the province, on Manus Island via a highway and bridge...

 in March 1944.

The battalion also participated in the invasion of the Philippines
Philippines campaign (1944-45)
The Philippines campaign of 1944–45, the Battle of the Philippines 1944–45, or the Liberation of the Philippines was the American and Filipino campaign to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines, during World War II. The Japanese Army had overrun all of the...

. Landing on Leyte
Leyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...

 on October 20, 1944, the regiment was assigned the most difficult terrain in the central mountain ranges and faced fierce fighting. The fight was characterized by the bloody fight for Hill 2348 on November 15. After being cut off from their supply lines, the battalion held off waves of suicide attacks. Finally on the night of December 2, the troopers counterattacked and took the hill. The First Team took Leyte killing 56,200 enemy soldiers while losing 241 of their own.

On January 27, the battalion stormed ashore on Luzon. It took six months, but on June 30, 1945, the entire island was secured. Selected by MacArthur to be the first into Japan, the battalion took on occupation duty near Yokohama until its deactivation in 1949.

Reactivated in 1957, the battalion deployed to Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 in 1965 and fought the Division's first engagement from September 18 to September 20 as part of Operation Gibraltar. During the Tet Offensive, the battalion played a critical role in the 3rd Brigade's successful mission to relieve Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...

. The Battalion participated in the Cambodian Incursion
Cambodian Incursion
The Cambodian Campaign was a series of military operations conducted in eastern Cambodia during mid-1970 by the United States and the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. These invasions were a result of policy of President Richard Nixon whose decision it was to invade...

 and earned its 16th Campaign streamer for the Sanctuary Counteroffensive. On March 26, 1971, the battalion stood down after five and a half years of daily combat in the jungles of Vietnam and returned to the United States at Fort Hood, Texas for permanent duty for the first time since 1943. After progressing from Tri Cap to Armor division configurations in the 70's, the "Blue Lancers" of 2/12 Cav found themselves as a mechanized infantry battalion, equipped with M113A1 armored personnel carriers (APC)s. The battalion participated in several deployments on REFORGER as well as having been tasked as one of the test beds for the 1st Cavalry Division's Restructure Study (DRS). For the next several years, 2/12 Cav (Mech) was thoroughly engaged in the peacetime training and preparation of its officers, NCOs, and enlisted soldiers in the eventuality of a combat deployment to Europe during the Cold War against Warsaw Pact forces. Shortly after the arrival of the M1 Tank at Fort Hood in 1981, the "Last of the Blue Lancers" [taken from some immortal words uttered one day by an anonymous staff sergeant] finally faded away when 2/12 Cav (Mech) was re-flagged as 3/10 Cav (Armor). An interesting note about the unit was that at one time—shortly before it completed its transition to armor—2/12 Cav (Mech) was the only mechanized infantry battalion in the US Army that was tank-gunnery qualified.

The unit was reactivated in 1986, with the mission of training Armor officers at Fort Knox. The battalion's colors were later moved to the First Team at Fort Hood, Texas in December 1992. Since then, the Chargers have aggressively defended freedom and set high standards in training at places like the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. In the summer of 1995, Alpha company was called out with Task Force 1-5 CAV on a contingency response to hostilities in the Persian Gulf. A year later, from September to December 1996, Bravo and Charlie company deployed with Task Force 1-5 Cavalry again, this time as a part of 3rd Brigade for Operation Desert Strike. Despite not being on an alert status, Bravo and Charlie companies mustered, deployed, drew propositioned equipment and occupied defensive battle positions in 96 hours. Meanwhile, with two companies plus their support slices deployed, the remainder of the battalion turned in the battalion's 58 M1A1 HC tanks to General Dynamics War Reserve.

In January 1997, the 2nd Battalion drew the new M1A2 tanks, making it the most lethal battalion in the world. The winds of sand blew again for the Chargers in June 1997. This time the entire task force deployed to Kuwait, drew propositioned equipment, and initiated a rigorous two and a half month training cycle known as Intrinsic Action 97-02. The Chargers battled blowing sand, 130-plus degree temperatures, and 50 mile an hour winds, all while maintaining an above 90% operational readiness rate and a high quality of life for the soldiers.

In the fall of 1998 2nd Brigade was organized into a Task Force with 1-5 Inf and 1-12 Armor, to go to Bosnia as SFOR5. To avoid complication of two battalions of 'Chargers' 2-12 Armor was redesignated as the 'ThunderHorse' Battalion.

In January 2004, 2-12 CAV deployed as part of 2nd Brigade in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The battalion conducted a relief in place with 2-70 Armor and assumed responsibility for a portion of Western Baghdad including the Abu Ghraib district. In Abu Ghraib, Task Force 2-12 CAV included Annihilator A/1-5 CAV, Blackhawk B/2-12 CAV, Cold Steel C/2-12 CAV, Hound HHC/2-12 CAV, and platoon of Soldiers from the Estonian Scouts Battalion. TF Thunder operated in the Abu Ghraib area from January to October of 2004 before conducting operations in support of the 39th BCT in the vicinity of Taji and subsequently the 1st Marine Division in the vicinity of Falluja from October to December of 2004. In January 2005, Task Force Thunder began operations in the North Babil provence to support Iraqi elections. After elections, TF Thunder conducted a relief in place and moved to Kuwait to conduct redeployment operations. LTC Tim Ryan and CSM Robert Booker led the Task Force throughout the deployment.

In October 2006, 2-12 CAV deployed as part of 4th BCT, 1st CAV out of Ft. Bliss Texas to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Battalion was attached to 2BCT, 1ID in western Baghdad. As part of Task Force Dagger, 2-12 CAV patrolled the Baghdad neighborhoods of Gazyaliyah and Shulla. 2-12 CAV redeployed to Ft. Bliss in December 2007.

In March 2008, 2-12 CAV was reflagged as 1st Battalion, 77th Armor
77th Armor Regiment (United States)
The 77th Armor is an armored regiment of the United States Army. The 77th Armor Regiment is part of the U.S. Army Regimental System with only a single battalion, the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment, and is therefore classified as both a single battalion, and the remainder of the Regiment itself...

 "Steel Tigers". And 3-67 AR 4th Infantry Division, 4th Brigade Combat Team "Cobras" from Ft. Hood, Texas were reflagged as 2-12 CAV "Longknife" and deployed to Tallil in southern Iraq in support of OIF 08-10 on June 11, 2008.

In September 2010 2-12 CAV deployed in support of "Operation New Dawn", this time to Kirkuk, Iraq.

Current status

  • 1st Battalion is a Combined Arms Battalion of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division stationed at Fort Hood, Texas
    Texas
    Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

    .
  • 2nd Battalion is a Combined Arms Battalion of the 4th Brigade
    4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division (United States)
    The 4th Brigade Combat Team is a combined arms Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division. Its major equipment includes M1A2SEP Tanks, M2A2 & M3A2 ODS Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, M109A6 Paladin Howitzers, and M1151 Up-armored Humvees.-Units:*2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment*1st Squadron, 9th...

    , 1st Cavalry Division stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.

External links


These links have been update as of 27 July 2010
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