197th Infantry Brigade (United States)
197th Infantry Brigade | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Branch | U.S. Army |
Type | Infantry |
Role | Training |
Size | Brigade (1,900) Mobilization(5,000-7,000) |
Nickname(s) | Sledgehammer / (special designation) "FOLLOW ME"[1] |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | General William W. Hartzog, about 1985-1987 LTG Carmen J. Cavezza, 1981–1983 LTG Michael Spigelmire, late 1970s BG Edwin L. Kennedy, 1971-1973 MG William B. Steele, 1973–1974 COL Jack L. Treadwell, 1966–1968 |
Insignia | |
Distinctive unit insignia |
The 197th Infantry Brigade ("Sledgehammer" / "FOLLOW ME") is an active
History
For the new
In late 1965 an infantry battalion of the 197th Infantry Brigade was inactivated at Fort Benning to provide personnel for expanding the Army in Vietnam.
The intent of this reorganization at the time was that the brigade would align with XVIIIth Corps possible contingency assignment to potential middle east situations. If activated, the brigade would be the Corps heavy force element. It was also understood that the brigade would become as a longer-term objective, though remaining at Ft, Benning, a divisional maneuver brigade of a mechanized division that would at some point activate at Ft. Stewart, Georgia. The division that would form was believed at the time to be the 24th Mechanized Division.
An aggressive brigade training and validation by Forces Command followed the new mission assignment for the brigade. It included many joint exercises and other deployments locally at Ft. Benning in support of Infantry Center missions that were part of a massive Army modernization that was initiating.
The Infantry Center missions along with the aggressive reorganization and training program relative to the new mission orientation of the brigade saw deployments such as the following. As part of the XVIIIth Corps mission, the brigade deployed as a brigade or as subordinate formations to MacGregor Range, New Mexico, Ft, Stewart, Georgia and Eglin Air Force Base, Florida and participation in XVIIIth Corps CPXs at Ft.Bragg, North Carolina, The brigade also made demanding deployments to Infantry Center missions. As examples the brigade's 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry deployed a detachment for four months of first 69, then after an extensive machine-gun gunnery period, 49 soldiers in support of the Squad Automatic Weapons Test administered by the U.S. Army Infantry Board in 1974 for four-month. The 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 58th Infantry, almost immediately after their return from a month long gunnery and maneuver training density at McGregor Range, New Mexico, deployed Companies A and B for six months in support of Mechanized Infantry Combat Vehicle (MICV) Tests 1 & 2, what became the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle in 1976.
Company A, with three tank sections from the 2nd Battalion 69th Armor (7 tanks) under operational control reconfigured for the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MiILES) using test battle scenarios that collected the digitized engagement data as a Soviet Motorized Rifle Battalion. Company B configure as a U.S. mechanized force using bot M113s and ht e MICVs. These and other support missions by the brigade and its soldiers made major contributions to the Army's then massive modernization effort in progress that would continue through the 1990s.
One scenario of the MICV Test at Turrentine Range and Company A's performance of a Soviet armored attack may have played a role in the ultimate production Bradley M2 acquiring the tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missile (TOW) launcher installed on the vehicle's torrent. A significant development supported by the work of the two 1st Battalion, 58th Infantry companies.
Also important and in keeping with larger Army objectives at this time was a major National Guard partnership training mission with a sister Tennessee National Guard mechanized brigade. This mission continued for a year until the Tennessee brigade reorganized as armored cavalry. This activity involved companies for example of the 58th Infantry handrexeipting the companies M113s to the sister mechanized company from Tennessee and then administering the Army Training and Evaluation Program (ARTEP) to the company during their summer active training (AT).
Primarily, garrisoned at
During the Gulf War (
The 197th was inactivated within months of returning from the war, and its units reflagged as the
Reactivated in 2007 at
The 197th Infantry Brigade was inactivated on 13 December 2013 in order that the U.S. Army would reach manning goals through reductions in the force.
On July 31, 2020, the brigade was activated as a Training Brigade at Ft. Benning, GA.
Organization
1968–1978
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC)
- 3d Battalion, 7th Infantry
- 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 58th Infantry
- 2d Battalion, 69th Armor
- 15th Cavalry
- 72d Engineer Company (Combat)[5]
- 2d Battalion, 10th Field Artillery
- 298th Signal Platoon (Detachment)
- 179th Military Intelligence Detachment
- 197th Military Police Platoon
- 197th Support Battalion
- 197th Aviation Platoon (Detachment)
- 197th Infantry Brigade Replacement Detachment
- 183d Chemical Platoon
1979–1987
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company
- 3d Battalion, 7th Infantry
- 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 58th Infantry
- 2d Battalion, 69th Armor
- 5th Battalion, 82d Field Artillery
- 15th Cavalry
- 72d Engineer Company (Combat)[5]
- 179th Military Intelligence Detachment
- 187th Pathfinder Platoon
1987-Gulf War
During Operation
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company
- 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry
- 2d Battalion, 18th Infantry
- 69th Armored
- 41st Field Artillery
- 5th Air Defense Artillery
- 3d Squad, 4th Platoon, Battery A, 1st Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery (attached)
- 197th Support Battalion
- 72d Engineer Company
- Troop D, 4th Cavalry
TRADOC 2007–2013
When activated under TRADOC in 2007, the brigade consisted of:
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company
- 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment
- US Army Infantry Experimental Forces Company
- BradleyMaster Gunner Course
- Mechanized Leader Course
- Stryker Leader & Transition Courses
- Stryker/Bradley Proponent Office
- Mechanized New Equipment Training Company
- 2d Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment
- CONUS Replacement Center (CRC)
TRADOC 2020-
When activated under TRADOC in 2020, the brigade consisted of:
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company
- 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry Regiment (OSUT)
- 2nd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment (OSUT)
- 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment (OSUT)
- 3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment (OSUT)
- 3rd Battalion, 54th Infantry Regiment (OSUT)
Lineage and honors
Lineage
- Constituted 24 June 1921 in the Organized Reserves as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 197th Infantry Brigade, and assigned to the 99th Division
- Organized in November 1921 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Redesignated 23 March 1924 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 197th Brigade
- Redesignated 24 August 1936 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 197th Infantry Brigade
- Converted and redesignated 12 February 1942 as the 99th Reconnaissance Troop (less 3d Platoon), 99th Division (Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 198th Infantry Brigade, concurrently converted and redesignated as the 3d Platoon, 99th Reconnaissance Troop, 99th Division)
- Troop ordered into active military service 15 November 1942 and reorganized at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi, as the 99th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop, an element of the 99th Infantry Division
- Reorganized and redesignated 2 August 1943 as the 99th Reconnaissance Troop, Mechanized
- Inactivated 29 September 1945 at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts
(Organized Reserves redesignated 25 March 1948 as the Organized Reserve Corps; redesignated 9 July 1952 as the Army Reserve)
- Converted and redesignated (less 3d Platoon) 1 August 1962 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 197th Infantry Brigade, and relieved from assignment to the 99th Infantry Division concurrently withdrawn from the Army Reserve and allotted to the Regular Army (3d Platoon, 99th Reconnaissance Troop, Mechanized, concurrently redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 198th Infantry Brigade - hereafter separate lineage)
- Activated 24 September 1962 at Fort Benning, Georgia
- Inactivated 16 August 1991 at Fort Benning, Georgia
- Transferred 9 November 2006 to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command
- Headquarters activated 18 July 2007 at Fort Benning, Georgia[6]
- Inactivated 12 December 2013 at Fort Benning, Georgia[7]
- Activated 31 July 2020 as a training Brigade at Ft. Benning, Georgia.
Campaign participation credit
- World War II: Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe
- Southwest Asia: Defense of Saudi Arabia, Liberation and Defense of Kuwait[6]
Decorations
- Belgian Fourragere 1940
- Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at the SIEGFRIED LINE
- Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at ELSENBORN RIDGE
- Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the ARDENNES[6]
References
- ^ "Special Unit Designations". United States Army Center of Military History. 21 April 2010. Archived from the original on 9 July 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
- ^ Wilson, John B. (1998). "Chapter XI: A New Direction – Flexible Response". Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades. United States Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010.
- ^ Wilson, John B. (1998). "Chapter XII: Flexible Response". Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades. United States Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010.
- ^ "197th Infantry Brigade". United States Army. 4 November 2010. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011.
- ^ a b David Isby and Kamps, Armies of NATO's Central Front, 1985, 381.
- ^ a b c "Lineage and Honors Information: Headquarters, 197th Infantry Brigade (Follow Me)". United States Army Center for Military History. 20 November 2007. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2015.. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Wright, Ben (12 December 2013). "197th Infantry Brigade officially deactivated at Fort Benning". Ledger-Enquirer. Columbus, Ga. Retrieved 12 November 2016.