Posted on 05/14/2004 1:18:48 PM PDT by Cannoneer No. 4
The Army announced today that it will adjust the design of the fourth Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) from a Cavalry to an Infantry configuration.
The 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment (Light), stationed at Fort Polk, La., will begin the transformation to an Infantry-based Stryker Brigade upon its return from Operation Iraqi Freedom. The unit is expected to attain an initial operational capability (IOC) as an infantry-designed SBCT by late 2006.
The conversion of the 2d ACR to an infantry-centric SBCT supports the Army’s transition to modularity, standardizes the design for all six planned SBCTs, and increases the number of Army infantry formations available to combatant commanders worldwide to set the tempo of battle and act decisively against enemy forces.
“Global demands for infantry-centric formations, coupled with the Army’s ongoing transformation to modularity, require a change in design for the fourth Stryker Brigade Combat Team, from a cavalry construct to a standard infantry-centric SBCT formation,” said Col. Ben Allen, Director of Integration, Department of the Army Programs.
The design change will not change the home stationing for the unit at Fort Polk.
For more information:
Please contact Maj. Gary Tallman at 703-697-4314, gary.tallman@hqda.army.mil
The 14th Cav was there before either the 2nd or the 11th. They are now alive and well as RSTA at Ft Lewis/Iraq.
The end of the war found the 2d Cavalry Group in Czechoslovakia in contact with the Russians and arranging the details of the surrender of some 2,000 German artillery officer candidates who had surrendered just 2 days prior to V-E Day. The speed and vigor with which the 2d Cavalry Group operated earned for it the title “Patton’s Ghosts,” a title which speaks for itself.
2nd ACR reached the Frontier of Freedom before we recognized it as such.
14th Cavalry exists today as a US Army Regimental System unit and not as a tactical echelon between squadron and division. In 1972 a reduction in the force structure of the U.S.Army resulted in a decision by the Secretary of the Army to retire the colors of the Fourteenth and replace them with those of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. On the 17th of May the soldiers of the Fourteenth placed their Suivez Moi insignia among treasured keepsakes and donned the insignia of the Blackhorse Regiment.
You mean mount horses for the first time in your life?
Mark
Capt.
For some of them, yes.
What was that like?
Bill
Sgt.
Scary. Invigorating. I mean, we were going up stuff a foot wide. You were a thousand feet up on a cliff that you knew, if you fell, you were dead. It was very invigorating, I think that's probably the [word]. Fortunately, I had a very good horse. So, no big deal for me. I know some of the guys had some aggressive horses. Andy had a very, very aggressive horse that liked to fight other horses. And he had a little more of a hard time controlling it.
Paul
Master Sgt.
That's the one thing about it is, in my time there, I don't remember seeing anything but studs. They were all male horses. And anytime you get that many male horses together, they start to fight, whether you're on their back or not. You'd get out there with a whole group of these male horses with a Type A personality, and none of them would want to be last. So they'd start taking off running with you on them. Or they'd start fighting and biting each other. That was a constant hassle with the horses.
Pete
Staff Sgt.
While we were first riding up, you're looking around thinking, "Here I am riding a horse in the middle of Afghanistan." It's a little weird. It's kind of a little bit further out than the things you might have thought you'd normally be doing. It was definitely interesting, though.
Mark
Capt.
All these guys did an incredibly magnificent job learning how to ride under those type of conditions, the first time in combat. A few of them had ridden horses when they were five or six years old that were going around and around in a little carnival or circus.... And now they're learning how to ride in combat in mountainous terrain, narrow treacherous mountain cliffs, often riding at night. And there are mines in the area. Over the next several weeks, we were riding ten to 30 kilometers per day. We were wearing out some horses. And Will became known as "the bravest horseman in all of Afghanistan."
How'd that happen?
Will
Sgt.
I had a particularly good, strong, spirited horse one day. We had been riding for a few hours, not terribly long. And I had already gone through several ordeals with this horse, being thrown off, and drug for kilometers through the desert, but nothing seemed to tire this horse out.
So, when these guys would come down off of a high mountain pass, they would double back, I guess. I don't know what you would call it, zig-zag down an incredibly steep slope. If you had fallen off the side of this thing, I mean you would fall to your death probably. But these horses would zig-zag down in each others' tracks.
I had zero control of my horse for some reason. And, he's coming down this mountain pass. And right where they're breaking, and going into the zig-zag, happened to actually be General Dostum. When our horses came together, he looked at me a little concerned. And I wasn't sure why. But I think he knew why, being more of a horseman than I was. And my horse turned and faced straight down the hill. And I was thinking, "Hmm, this is going to be a pretty quick zig-zag, I think." And he crouched down like a cat, and just sprung off the side of the mountain.
And, I think about three to five horse lengths later, his front feet hit. And, this guy just took off like lightening down the side of a cliff. The only thing that went through my mind was this 1980s movie, "The Man from Snowy River." And so, I was like, "Okay, the guy from Snowy River, he put his head on the back of the horse, and he put his feet up around his neck."
And so, my feet came up, my head goes back. And I have like horsetail on the back of my head. And this guy just tears down the side of this mountain where at the bottom of it is like a gully about six to 12 feet deep, and about four feet wide.
So, he comes to that thing. And of course, I'm thinking, "Well, we're going to crash because we don't have wings or brakes." And he successfully jumped over that. And, I just pulled back on one side of the reins. Because pulling back on both of them didn't do anything. And we ran around in a pretty tight circle until he stopped.
And I guess about 20 minutes later, the General and some of his entourage had finally caught up. And he had stopped, and looked at me kind of strange again, but a little different this time. And, he said something to me. And he started off again on his horse. And he turned around, and he said something again. And I knew that he was pretty serious about what he was saying. And, then we walked off. And, his translator said, "The General just paid you a great compliment." And I was like, "Wow, that's great. What did he say?" And, he said, "Truly, you are the finest horseman he has ever seen."
And I'm thinking, "Great. Let him think that anyway." And then he had stopped and said, "In addition to this, I was the most daring and brave man he had ever known." So, I guess if you get a good horse, he'll make you famous. A cowboy is nothing without his horse.
"A cowboy is nothing without his horse."
There's a story that no other US soldier has...thanks for posting.
Interesting post. As an airborne infantry guy I try to keep up on this stuff as well as the "Transformation" to a 21st Century Army that is going on.
I'll be going to the Armed Forces day at Andrews AFB Sunday and while I enjoy watching the F18,16 and 15, I always look forward to looking at the new developments with the Armor and Infantry in the Army area.
As an historically-minded infantryman who has served in a cavalry organization, I am sympathetic to all of this. But, horse cavalry is long gone. When I served at Ft. Riley, I was the President of the Riding Club, arguably the last vestige of equestrian connections at the home of the cavalry. We would, on occasion, take a club ride up to a meadow near where the officers stable once stood. It was here that the last of the cavalry mounts were gathered and shot, in accordance with the order bringing to end the era of horse cavalry. The horses were buried in a mass grave. Whenever we rode up into this meadow, our horses would all demonstrate the strangest behavior that I have every seen amongst a group of horses. Several of our old horse cavalry veterans were convinced that the horses sensed what had happened on that ground.
We need to remember our history and heritage, but we cannot let it stand in the way of the task that stands before us.
Hunter Ellis looks at the rich history of cavalry units and horse artillery teams, learns the techniques of "horse soldiering", and rides with the mounted officers of U.S. Border Patrol.
bump
Tactical to Practical ping
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.