32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (United States)

This article is about 32nd Infantry Brigade . For 32nd Infantry Division, see 32nd Infantry Division (United States) .
32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team

Shoulder sleeve insignia
Active 1967
Country  United States
Branch  United States Army
Type Light infantry
Garrison/HQ Wisconsin
Nickname(s) "Red Arrow" (Special Designation)[1]
"Les Terribles" (as World War I division)
Motto "Forward"
Engagements Operation Iraqi Freedom
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia

The 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team ("Red Arrow"[1]) is an infantry brigade combat team in the United States Army National Guard. It was formed from the deactivated 32nd Infantry Division in 1967. It is the largest unit in the Wisconsin National Guard.[2]

History

Formed in 1967 from the deactivated 32nd Infantry Division, the Red Arrow Brigade consisted of three battalions of light infantry as well as support and engineer units. The 32nd's shoulder patch, a line shot through with a red arrow, originated in the division's tenacity in piercing German lines during World War I that no other army could breach. It then became known as the Red Arrow Division.[3]

In April 1971, the brigade was converted to a mechanized brigade and became the 32nd “Red Arrow” Infantry Brigade (Separate) (Mechanized), Wisconsin National Guard. In January 1986 the 32nd Brigade participated in REFORGER '86. At times it included battalions of the 632nd Armor Regiment. The entire brigade deployed from Wisconsin, with all of its equipment, to Germany.

In October 1996, the 32nd “Red Arrow” Infantry Brigade (Mechanized), Wisconsin National Guard, was assigned to the 34th "Red Bull" Infantry Division (the 34th Division is headquartered in Minnesota). Due to this reorganization, the 32nd Brigade became a divisional brigade and was no longer a separate brigade.

On 1 October 2001, the brigade was reorganized as the 32nd Infantry Brigade (Separate) (Light), Wisconsin National Guard.[4] This resulted in the 32nd Brigade becoming a separate brigade, no longer attached to the 34th ID. On 23 January 2003 about 100 soldiers from various 32nd "Red Arrow" Infantry Brigade units reported for active duty for service as Task Force Red Arrow in support of Operation Noble Eagle (ONE). Task Force Red Arrow supplemented security for two years at three of Wisconsin's airbases, the 440th Airlift Wing in Milwaukee, the 128th Air Refueling Wing in Milwaukee, and the 115th Fighter Wing in Madison.

The brigade was reorganized again in September 2007 as the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Wisconsin Army National Guard. With this change the 2nd Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment was reorganized as a cavalry reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition unit, known as the 1st Squadron,105th Cavalry Regiment.

Units

32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team consists of the following elements:[5]

Operation Iraqi Freedom

Units deployed to Iraq in 2004–05

First Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment

Second Battalion, 127th Infantry Regiment

Second Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment

A Co. Camp Navistar, Al-Abdali, Kuwait.
B Co. Camp Victory Kuwait, then Camp Virginia after its closure.
C Co. Camp Buehring, Udairi Range, Kuwait, Ali Al-Salim airbase L.S.A.
D Co. Camp Virginia, Kuwait. HHC at Camp Buehring, Kuwait.

First Battalion, 120th Field Artillery Regiment (United States)

Qatar, Camp Virginia, LSA (Ali Al Salem), Balad, Baghdad, Hillah, Iraq

Units deployed to Iraq in 2009

In September 2008, the entire 32nd Brigade and six other related units received mobilization orders directing their return to Iraq. This would be the largest operational deployment of Wisconsin National Guard forces since World War II.[8] They began training and preparing for deployment in January 2009. The brigade completed three weeks of training at Camp Blanding Joint Training Center in Florida on 30 January 2009, prior to activation.[9]

The 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team prepares for deployment in February 2009.

In February 2009 the entire BCT, 3,200 Wisconsin Army National Guard soldiers, were activated along with six supporting units outside the brigade. They were given a send-off on 17 February 2009 at the Alliant Energy Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin. The soldiers reported to Fort Bliss in elements of 400–600 soldiers by 1 March to complete preparations for a one-year deployment. Sgt. Pete Smoczyk and Col. Tommy Makal, two World War II veterans who served in the 32nd Division during World War II, when it was last called up for overseas combat duty, also marched out with the brigade. Spc. Marissa Hendriks, Smoczyk's granddaughter, deployed to Iraq with the unit.[10]

The units activated were:

2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry Regiment

Detachment 1, Headquarters Co., 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry – Clintonville
Detachment 1, Co. A, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry – Ripon

1st Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment

Detachment 1, Headquarters Co., 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry – Abbotsford
Detachment 1, Co. B, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry – Rice Lake
Detachment 1, Co. C, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry – Onalaska

1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery

Wisconsin Rapids

32nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion

Detachment 1, Headquarters Co., 32nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion – Merrill

132nd Brigade Support Battalion

Detachment 1, Co. A, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion – Elkhorn
Detachment 1, Co. D, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion – Madison
Detachment 1, Co. E, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion – Appleton
Detachment 1, Co. F, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion – Eau Claire
Detachment 1, Co. G, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion – Wisconsin Rapids

The six additional units mobilized which augmented the 32nd Brigade Combat Team had a combined authorized strength of about 1,050 soldiers in 10 Wisconsin communities. Units mobilized with the 32nd BCT were:

Detachment 1, 32nd Military Police Company – Oconomowoc
Detachment 1, 829th Engineer Company – Richland Center
Detachment 2, 829th Engineer Company – Ashland
Detachment 1, 1158th Transportation Company – Black River Falls

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Special Designation Listing". United States Army Center of Military History. 21 April 2010. Archived from the original on 9 June 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  2. ↑ http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/journal_media_detail.asp?locid=19&prid=3116
  3. ↑ "Remembering Wisconsin’s citizen soldiers". Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  4. ↑ "'Back to the future' for new, lighter 32nd infantry brigade", National Guard, 2001.
  5. ↑ http://dma.wi.gov/dma/arng/32bct.asp
  6. ↑ http://dma.wi.gov/dma/news/2014news/14068.asp
  7. ↑ http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Catalog/HeraldryMulti.aspx?CategoryId=7139
  8. ↑ http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=51098
  9. ↑ http://dma.myflorida.com/programs/camp-blanding-old/about-cbjtc/
  10. ↑ Jones, Meg (17 February 2009). "Wisconsin Guardsmen get emotional send-off". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.

References

See also

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