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________________________________________________________________________
The 1st
Cavalry Division Motto: The First Team
SHOULDER SLEEVE INSIGNIA. Description: On
a yellow triangular
Norman
shield with
rounded corners 5 1/4 inches in height overall, a black diagonal stripe
extending over the shield from upper left to lower right and in the upper right
a black horse's head cut off diagonally at the neck all within a 1/8 inch green
border.
Symbolism: Yellow, the traditional cavalry color, and
the horse's head refer to the division's original cavalry structure. Black,
symbolic of iron, alludes to the transition to tanks and armor. The black
diagonal stripe represents a sword baldric and is a mark of military honor; it
also implies movement "up the field" and thus symbolizes aggressive
elan and attack. The one diagonal bend, as well as the one horse's head, also
alludes to the division's numerical designation.
Background: The shoulder sleeve insignia was
originally approved
January 3, 1921
with several
variations in colors of the bend and horse's head to reflect the subordinate
elements of the division. The current design was authorized for wear by all
subordinate elements of the division on
December 11, 1934
and previous
authorization for the variations was cancelled.
DISTINCTIVE UNIT INSIGNIA. Description: A
metal and enameled device, 1 inch in height overall, consisting of a gold
colored Norman shield with a black horse's head couped in sinister chief, and a
black bend charged with two five-pointed stars.
Symbolism: The device is a miniature reproduction of
the 1st Cavalry Division's shoulder sleeve insignia with the addition of two
five-pointed stars. The Division Commander and the Division Staff wore the
distinctive insignia design from 1922 to 1934 as a shoulder sleeve insignia.
Background: The distinctive unit insignia was approved
August 25, 1965
.
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History
of the 1st Cavalry Patch
The
patch of the 1st Cavalry Division has a history as colorful as its design,
reflecting the proud heritage of the United States Cavalry in a timeless manner.
The insignia selected for the First team patch was designed by Colonel and Mrs.
Ben Dorsey. The colonel was then commander of the 7th Cavalry Regiment at
Fort Bliss, Texas. Mrs. Dorsey related that the combination of the golden
sunset at Fort Bliss and the traditional colors of the Cavalry; blue and yellow,
were a great influence on the background color and the insignia. The choice of
the horse's head for the insignia was made by the family after they observed a
mounted trooper ride by their home on a beautiful blue-black thoroughbred.
Later, to improve visibility, the color scheme was modified replacing the blue
for black, the symbolic color of iron and armor.
On a "sunset" yellow triangular Norman Shield with rounded corners 5
1/4 inches in height, a black diagonal stripe extends over the shield from upper
left to the lower right. In the upper right, a black horse's head cut off
diagonally at the neck, appears within 1/8 inches of an Army Green border. The
traditional Cavalry color of yellow and the horse's head is symbolic of the
original organizational structure of the Cavalry. The color black is
symbolic of iron, alluding to the organizational transition from mounted horses
to tanks and heavy armor. The black stripe, in heraldry termed a
"Sable Bend", represents a "baldric" (a standard Army issue
belt worn over the right shoulder to the opposite hip - sometimes referred to as
a "Sam Browne belt") which retains either a scabbard which sheaths the
trooper's saber or revolver holster.
During the Vietnam engagements, the yellow background of the patch for Battle
Dress Uniform (BDU) was changed to a subdued Olive Drab (OD) green in order to
minimize targeting of personnel. The yellow/black patch is retained for
Class "A" uniform dress. Otherwise the patch has not changed
from the original design and shape.
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Another
Version To Consider;
When the
1st Cavalry was activated in 1921, a request was made that interested persons
should submit designs for a unit shoulder patch.
Among the designs submitted was the distinctive patch
which developed into the shoulder insigne worn by the men of the 1st Cavalry
today.
The original patch was designed by Colonel and Mrs. Ben
H. Dorcey of Fort Bliss, Texas. Mrs. Dorcey's warm affection for the
thousands of troopers who have worn her patch has earned her the title of
"Mother of the 1st Cavalry Division".
Mrs. Dorcey's explanation of the design is "it is
big, to be worn by big men, who go places and do big things, and so as to be
easily seen across the wide parade grounds at Fort Bliss".
The gold of the background symbolizes the setting sun
of the Texas prairie; and the wide black stripe is a symbol of
"service", as represented by the troopers service stripes. The
shape of the patch represents the shield of the medieval knight and all he
represented in chivalry and valor. The horse's head symbolizes the love of
the cavalryman for his mount, and is placed on the patch facing forward,
symbolic of the charge.
Source: Book
-1st Cavalry Division The First team - Prepared by the Information
Section, Headquarters 1st Cavalry Division. Korea, 1958 (Revised (1960)
Courtesy of John Maclean's Cavalry
Country!
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History of the 1st Cavalry
Division
1st Cavalry Division units have served the nation from 1855 to the present;
building a history rich in pride with solid ties to the traditions and heritage
of the United States Cavalry.
The famed 1st Cavalry Division was baptized by fire and blood on the western
plains in an era of horse-mounted cavalry. Dubbed the "First Team" by
Major General William C. Chase, the division has always strived not only to be
the first, but to be the best.
The division's roots date back to 1855 when the 2nd Cavalry Regiment was
organized. Redesignated as the 5th Cavalry in 1861, this unit participated in a
number of famous Civil War engagements, including Bullrun, Antietam, Gettysburg,
Wilderness, and Appomattox.
The sound of the bugle and the cry of
"Charge!" sent the thundering hooves of the U.S. Cavalry
troopers to protect the western-bound settlers in an era when Indians roamed the
western frontier and pioneering settlers clung to their land with determination
and luck.
The 5th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Cavalry regiments that would
one day form the Division, clashed with the Sioux, Comanche, Arapaho, Apache,
and Ute Indian Nations during the Indian Wars, led by colorful characters like
Col. George Armstrong Custer.
As the Indian campaigns concluded, the Cavalry patrolled the far western
frontiers from the frozen tundras of Alaska to the scorching deserts of the
southwest. Just prior to World War I, the Cavalry engaged Pancho Villa's forces
during the punitive expedition into Mexico.
With the initiation of the National Defense Act, the 1st Cavalry Division was
formally activated on September 13, 1921 at Fort Bliss, Texas. That day, the 7th
and 8th Cavalry Regiments were assigned to the division. The 5th Cavalry
Regiment was assigned on December 18, 1922.
In addition to three of the four regiments of the cavalry, the original
organization included the 82nd Field Artillery Battalion (Horse), the 13th
Signal Troops, the 27th Ordnance Company, Division Headquarters, and the 1st
Cavalry Division Quartermaster Train which later became the 15th Replacement
Company. Major General Robert L. Howze was assigned as the first division
commander.
The division's early history is largely a saga of rough riding, patrolling
the Mexican border, and constant training.
Operating from horseback, the cavalry was the only force capable of piercing
the desert's harsh terrain and halting the band of smugglers that operated along
the desolate Mexican border.
As the depression of the 30's forced thousands of workers into the streets,
the division was asked to provide training for 62,500 people in the Civilian
Conservation Youth Corps. These workers constructed barracks for 20,000
anti-aircraft troops at Fort Bliss, Texas in preparation for the Air Age.
Although the division was created as a result of a proven need for large
horse-mounted formations, by 1940, the march of progress had left the horse far
behind.
The era of the tank, automobile, aircraft, and parachute had dawned and
eclipsed the age of the armored horseman. The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl
Harbor erased all doubt. An impatient 1st Cavalry Division was dismounted in
1943 and processed for overseas movement to the Southwest Pacific as foot
soldiers.
World War II
After six months of training in Australia, the division got its first taste
of combat. On February 29, 1944 the men of the division sailed for the Admiralty
Islands and stormed ashore in an amphibious landing at Los Negros Island. After
a fierce campaign in which the enemy lost some 7,000 combat soldiers, the
division could look with pride on its first combat test of World War II.
The next action for the Cav troops was on the Philippine Island of Leyte. The
division fought tirelessly against the Japanese fortification. With the last of
the strong-holds eliminated, the division moved on to Luzon, the main island of
the Philippines.
One of the First Team's most noted feats was accomplished during the fighting
for Luzon. On January 31, 1945, General Douglas MacArthur issued the order,
"Go to Manila, free the prisoners at Santo Tomas, take Malacanan Palace and
the legislative building."
The next day, the "flying column," as the element came to be known,
jumped off to slice through 100 miles of Japanese territory. Hours later, the
1st Cav was in Manila and the prisoners were freed. The First Team was
"First in Manila."
As the war came to a sudden end, MacArthur's First Team was given the honor
of leading the Allied Occupational Army into Tokyo, achieving its second notable
first -- "First in Tokyo."
Korea
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On July 18, 1950, the 1st Cavalry Division plunged ashore at Pohangdong,
South Korea to successfully carry out the first amphibious landing of the Korean
conflict. The landing at Pohangdong helped halt the North Korean war machine at
the Pusan perimeter. The division broke out of the perimeter in mid-September
and started north. Crossing the 38th Parallel on October 9, 1950, the troopers
of the 1st Cavalry Division crashed into Pyongyang, capturing the capital city
of North Korea on October 19. This marked the third first for the division --
"First in Pyongyang."
The sudden intervention of Communist Chinese forces dashed hopes of a quick
end to the war. First Team troopers fought courageously in the see-saw campaigns
that followed, and successfully defended the city of Seoul.
By January 1952, the division, after 18 months of continuous fighting,
rotated back to Hokkaido, Japan, returning to Korea in 1957 where they patrolled
the Demilitarized Zone until 1965.
Vietnam
The division went home in 1965, but only long enough to be reorganized and
prepared for a new mission. Within 90 days of becoming the Army's first air
mobile division, the First Team was back in combat as the first fully committed
division of the Vietnam War.
Their first real combat test came during the Pleiku campaign ; 35 days of
continuous air mobile operations beginning October 29, 1965. The troopers
destroyed two of the three regiments of a North Vietnamese Division, earning the
first Presidential Unit Citation given to a division in Vietnam.
The division began 1968 by terminating Operation Pershing, the longest of the
1st Cav's Vietnam actions. For nearly a year the division scoured the Bong Son
plain, An Lo valley and the hills of coastal II Corps, seeking out enemy units
and their sanctuaries. When the operation ended on January 21, the enemy had
lost 5,401 soldiers and 2,400 enemy soldiers had been detained. Some 1,300
individual and 137 crew served weapons had been captured or destroyed.
Moving to I Corps, Vietnam's northern most tactical zone, the division set up
Camp Evans for their new base camp. In late January, the enemy launched the Tet
Offensive, a major effort to overrun South Vietnam. Some 7,000 enemy, primarily
well equipped, crack NVA regulars blasted their way into the imperial city of
Hue and Quang Tri, the capital of Vietnam's northern most province.
The Cav went on the move and by February 1, Quang Tri was liberated followed
by Hue. After shattering the enemy's dreams of a Tet victory, the 1st Cavalry
Division "Sky-troopers" moved to relieve the besieged Marine Base at
Khe Sann.
In May 1970, the First Team was "First into Cambodia," hitting what
was previously a Communist sanctuary. Troopers deprived the enemy of much needed
supplies and ammunition, scattering the enemy forces. The division's Vietnam
service ended in 1972 when its last brigade began withdrawing. The 1st Cav had
been the first division to go, and the last to leave.
"Firsts" had become the trademark of the First Team. General
Creighton Abrams, while commander of all U.S. Forces in Southeast Asia, said of
the 1st Cav, "The big yellow patch does something to an individual that
makes him a better soldier, a better team member, and a better American than he
otherwise would have been."
Modern Cav
The 1st Cav returned to the United States on May 5, 1971 where it was
reorganized as the "First Triple Capability (TRICAP) Division." This
TRICAP designation stemmed from its organization, consisting of an armored
brigade, a mechanized infantry brigade, an airmobile brigade, and support troops
tailored to assist the combat elements of the division.
In January 1975, the 1st Cav was once again reorganized, becoming the Army's
newest armored division. During the Division's most recent past, the unit
successfully completed field testing of TACFIRE, a computerized system to
increase the effectiveness of artillery.
The division also received the mission in September 1978, for testing the
Division Restructure (DRS) concept, used to determine the most effective use of
manpower and weapons systems for the battlefields of the future.
Since fielding the M-1 Abrams main battle tank in 1980 Force Modernization
has continued as a major division focus. The First Team became the
"First" division to field the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, M2
Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV),
and the Multiple Launch Rocket System.
The division's first National Training Center rotation in September 1982,
kicked off a long on-going series of tough, realistic desert battles. The first
units were the 1st Brigade's 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, and 3rd Battalion, 10th
Cavalry.
The Division now conducts three NTC rotations year.
During exercise REFORGER (Return of Forces to Germany) '83, the First Team
became the "First unit to train as a division-size element in Northern
Europe."
All the training, modernization, planning, and operations culminated in
REFORGER '83, when the First Team deployed nearly 9,000 soldiers to Holland,
drew propositioned equipment, moved to a staging area and conducted exercise
"Certain Strike" on the plains of Northern Germany. The success of the
exercise proved that the division was fully capable of performing its wartime
mission. This was the "First U.S. deployment to Holland and Northern
Germany since W.W.II."
October 16, 1987 the First Team became the "First" division to
field and train with Mobile Subscriber Equipment (MSE), the military version of
a cellular telephone system. The system became fully operational October 25,
1988.
In January of '89, the Cav's 2nd Brigade amassed a series of
"Firsts" during its NTC rotation.
This was the first combined use of the AH-64 Apache, M2 Bradley, and MSE. In
addition, the First Teams' Apaches launched the first Hellfire anti-armor
missiles ever fired at the National Training Center. One of the missiles was
guided to it's target by the new OH-58D Observation Helicopter.
Persian Gulf
In August 1990, the 1st Cav was alerted for deployment to Southwest Asia as
part of the joint forces participating in Operation Desert Shield. The focus at
that time was the defense of Saudi Arabia against potential Iraqi attack.
During August, the division trained on a massive scale, firing all weapons,
preparing equipment and people for overseas movement, and planning surface, sea,
and air movement. Actual deployment to Saudi Arabia began in September,
extending into mid-October. Equipment was moved by convoy and rail to ports in
Texas and then by ships to the port of Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
First Team soldiers flew from Robert Gray Army Airfield to Dhahran
International Airport in Saudi Arabia. There, they settled into warehouses and
tents to await the arrival of their equipment. As soon as their equipment had
arrived they moved to an assembly area in the desert 160 miles west of the port.
During October, November and December 1990, the division drew new equipment,
trained, and planned defensive operations. By the end of December, the 1st
Cavalry Division was one of the most modern and powerfully equipped divisions in
the Army. The division's tankers drew, trained on and fired the M1A1 Abrams
"Main Battle Tank" armed with a 120 millimeter smooth bore gun and one
of the most sophisticated automotive and fire control systems in the world.
First Team infantrymen received the newest version of the Bradley Fighting
Vehicle, the up-armored M2A2 which like the new Abrams proved its worth in
combat. Both vehicles were reliable, survivable and deadly during Desert Storm
operations.
The first glimpse of that performance came in December 1990 on the division's
Pegasus Range, a full gunnery training facility built up from the sands of the
Saudi desert. Every tank and Bradley crew fired their new weapons on Pegasus
range as part of new equipment transition training.
Throughout this period, the division's leaders were planning and rehearsing
the First Team's role as the theater counterattack force - the force that would
defeat any Iraqi attack into Saudi Arabia.
Before hostilities, the First Team gained valuable experience in combined
operations through coordination with French, Egyptian and Syrian forces. With
the First Team's 2nd Brigade and the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) under
its tactical control, the 1st Cavalry Division conducted a complex light
force/heavy force defense of critical theater logistics bases.
In January 1991, the division was attached to VII (US) Corps and the focus of
the First Team clearly began to shift toward offensive action. The division
moved early 500 kilometers to another assembly area near King Khalid Military
City (KKMC) in northern Saudi Arabia.
This put the division in a key strategic location covering the historic Wadi
al Batin approach into Saudi Arabia and threatening Iraq along the same avenue
into western Kuwait.
The time spent near KKMC was short, and the division once again packed up its
17,000 soldiers now accustomed to "jumping." The division moved north
toward the juncture of the Saudi, Iraq and Kuwait borders through a series of
defensive positions designed to thwart any preemptive attack along the Wadi.
First Team deterrence was successful - no attack came. Meanwhile, the air war
began and other Allied ground forces began to reposition for the offense. While
other ground forces prepared for war, the First Team began a calculated war of
deception along the Saudi border.
The goal was to lure Saddam Hussein into believing the Allied attack would
come from this direction, and trick him into emplacing additional forces there.
While the division's 8th Engineer Battalion improved positions and conducted
"Berm Buster" missions to destroy Iraqi obstacles, the division's 1-7
Cav, screened well forward, clashing with Iraqi forces. The First Team began its
secret fight to deceive Iraq long before the world would come to know that
"ground-war fighting" had already begun.
The First Team's Multiple Launched Rocket Systems repeatedly lit the night
sky, battering deep enemy targets, while its sister cannon batteries fired
Copperhead rounds, rocket-assisted projectiles, and thousands of high explosive
and improved conventional munitions into Iraq. The Aviation Brigade flew
obstacle reduction and aerial reconnaissance missions and designated targets for
destruction by the division's artillery. The enemy responded. Iraqi divisions
focused forces toward the coalition threat in the Wadi, and the First Team froze
them. Hussein's flanks were left thinned, allowing the other Allied Forces to
attack virtually unopposed. The deception had worked.
On February 20th, in Desert Storm's "First" major mounted ground
engagement, the division's 2nd (Blackjack) Brigade attacked 10 miles into Iraq,
confirming and destroying enemy positions. Success exacted its price. During
this engagement, the Blackjack Brigade suffered the agony of the
"First" three Army soldiers to be killed in action. On the opening of
the ground war, the Blackjack Brigade supported by the Aviation Brigade Apaches,
moved into Iraq on a reconnaissance-in-force. The brigade broke contact after
penetrating enemy obstacles, taking fire and causing the enemy to light fire
trenches. They withdrew south to join the division for its final attack.
On February 26, the Commander of the Allied Forces, General Norman
Schwarzkopf directed, "send in the First Team. Destroy the Republican
Guard. Let's go home."
The division charged west pausing only to refuel before passing through
breeches in the enemy obstacle belt. Racing north, then east, the division moved
in a vast armada of armor, stretching from horizon to horizon, Within 24 hours,
the first Team had gone 300 kilometers, slicing deep into the enemy's rear. As
the division prepared to destroy a Republican Guard division, the cease fire
halted it.
1st Cavalry Division units setup defensive positions where the cease fire had
stopped their attack, then expanded north to "Highway 8," clearing
bunkers and looking for enemy equipment and soldiers. The 1st (Ironhorse)
Brigade stretched through the historic Euphrates River Valley. Within 2 weeks
the 1st Cav moved south into Saudi Arabia and its new assembly area (AA)
Killeen. There on the plain of the Wadi al Batin - the Cav began to prepare for
redeployment home.
During Operation Desert Storm, the First Team had several firsts:
"First" to defend along the Saudi-Iraq border; "First" to
fire Copperhead artillery rounds in combat; "First" to conduct
intensive MLRS artillery raids; and in its pre-G-Day attacks the First Team was
"First" to conduct mounted combat in Iraq. Unprecedented logistical
and communications requirements were met consistently by the Division Support
Command and the 13th Signal Battalion with its Mobile Subscriber Equipment.
Addressing the division in AA Killeen on Palm Sunday, VII (US) Corps
Commander Lt. Gen. Frederick Franks emphasized the division's major role in the
allied victory. "You were leading the corps - you were the major combat
power VII Corps had. You were the First Team. You led us into combat. You began
the fight, you led the way..."
Today's Cav
Upon its return to the United States, the 1st Cavalry Division became the
largest division in the Army, with the reactivation of its 3rd "Greywolf"
Battle Team May 21 1991. Included in this battle team was the 3rd Battalion,
41st Infantry Regiment; 1st and 3rd Battalions, 67th Armor, 1st Battalion, 3rd
Field Artillery Regiment; and the 502nd (redesignated 215th) Forward Support
Battalion.
October of 1992 saw the activation of the Engineer Brigade, 1st Cavalry
Division. Through the Army's "Engineer Restructuring Initiative," the
nucleus of the brigade was formed around the division's historic 8th Engineer
Battalion. The 20th Engineer Battalion was brought from Fort Campbell, Kentucky
to join the brigade and the 91st Engineer Battalion was activated to complete
it.
In November 1992, the unit designations for the battalions remaining from the
former "Tiger" Brigade of the 2nd Armored Division were returned to
them prior to their reactivation at Fort Hood on December 2, 1992. This action
was done to realign the historical designations of units to their parent
divisions.
On November 29, the Cav in turn regained the titles of its historical units:
3-41 Infantry was redesignated 1-9 Cavalry, 1-67 Armor became 3-8 Cavalry, and
1-3 Field Artillery took the title 2-82 Field Artillery. On December 16, 1992,
other 1st Cavalry Division units redesignated to accomplish the realignments for
historical purposes. These changes included: 1-32 Armor redesignating as 2-12
Cavalry, 3-32 Armor to 1-12 Cavalry, and Battery A, 333 Field Artillery to
Battery B, 26th Field Artillery.
In August of 1993, the reflagging actions were completed when the 2nd Armored
Division's 4th Battalion, 6th Infantry was reflagged the 2nd Squadron, 7th
Cavalry Regiment, which was assigned to the First Team's 3rd Greywolf Brigade.
Following its reorganization, the division became the Army's largest division
and only armored contingency force, ready to deploy anywhere in the world on a
moment's notice.
Since then, elements of the First Team have returned to Kuwait no less than
three times -- as part of a ten-year training agreement between the U.S. and
Kuwait and also in a crisis situation when Iraq infringed on Kuwaiti border
rules.
Meanwhile, the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California remains a
mainstay of training for the division which deploys brigades there three times a
year. Here they have 1,000 square miles for maneuver training against the best
trained opposing force in the world.
Training, maintaining readiness and staying on the leading edge of today's
technology continue to be priorities, while the First Team takes great strides
to preserve its pride filled heritage and to live the legend its forefathers
created.
http://www.first-team.us/journals/8th_rgmt/
1st Cav
Division in the Persian Gulf War
Personal Stories
from the 1st Cavalry Division
http://www.2-1cavalry.com/
"A"
Troop, 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division
http://www.1stcavmedic.com/
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