1st Cavalry Division
"First Team"
With over 17,000 soldiers, the 1st Cavalry Division is the premier heavy-armored division in today's United States Army. It is organized with six brigade-sized elements that include four maneuver brigades, a combat aviation brigade and division support battalion. Additionally, it consists of an air defense artillery battalion, signal battalion, military intelligence battalion, personnel services battalion, chemical company and military police company, horse cavalry detachment and division band, all of which have been integrated into its Brigade Special Troop Battalions. The division has roots dating back to the mid-1800s and is extremely rich in its distinctive history.
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, 1992 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.
Division teaming began in 1998 as a pilot program, pairing the 49th with the 1st Cavalry Division headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas, and California's 40th Mechanized Division with the Army's 4th Mechanized Division, also headquartered at Fort Hood. This original division teaming was announced at the 1998 National Guard Association conference by then Army Chief of Staff Gen. Dennis J. Reimer. It was part of a program to integrate the active and reserve components, or AC/RC integration. Under division teaming, one division would have the lead in certain areas, and the divisions would share resources. When one division deployed, the other would mobilize to provide replacement operations, Reimer said during his conference speech. The Army's 1st Cavalry Division required additional personnel in order to mobilize to Bosnia in 1998. Had the Army already begun a pilot program matching active-duty divisions to Guard divisions, additional personnel could have come from the Guard.
The 1st Cavalry Division was selected to assume the mission of "Task Force Eagle," conducting peace support operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina. On 16 April 1998, the decision to send the First Team on this unique and challenging mission was announced. Following 4 months of highly successful and intensive planning, training, and maintaining, "Americas' First Team" assumed the mission of ensuring peace and stability throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina. On October 7, 1998, The First Cavalry Division, under the command of Maj. Gen. Kevin P. Byrnes, assumed authority of the MultiNational Division (North) area of operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina from the 1st Armored Division. The division was the first CONUS based division to assume this mission. The 1st Cav's mission was to conduct operations to enforce the military provisions set forth by the Dayton Accords. The 1st Cav soldiers served as America's ambassadors. Their day-to-day presence and commitment to the citizens of this ravaged nation helped prove that a lasting and self-sustaining peace is possible. In order to conduct successful peace missions while in theater, soldiers were extensively trained on mine awareness, country and cultural customs nad checkpoint and convoy operations. Training was conducted on all levels including individual readiness training, leader/staff training, Operation Joint Forge Training and the Mission Rehearsal Exercise. 1st Cav soldiers were placed in position of responsibilities never before experienced. These responsibilities ranged form monitoring former warring factions to assisting in the return of displaced persons and refugees. The preparation for the deployment included preparing family members for the long separation. The 1st Cav's family and soldiers' readiness program set a new Army standard. The First Team set the conditions to build self-sufficiency in our families.
The division expertly executed the SFOR 4 and 5 missions in Bosnia-Herzegovina and set new standards for follow on units. The SFOR 4 was comprised of soldiers from 2-5 Cav, 1-8 Cav, 2-8 Cav, 1-82 FA, 20 ENG Bde, A Battery 4-5 ADA, 1-545th MPs, 4th Bde HQs & 2-227th AVN Bn, the ENG Bde HQs, 13th Sig Bn, 312th MI Bn, III Corps units to include elements from 13th COSCOM, 410 MP Co, 205 MI Bn, 15 PSB and 15th Finance Bn. In six months, they conducted more than 11, 000 day inspections and conducted combined missions with the Russians.
SFOR 5 comprised of soldiers from HHC 2nd Brigade, 1-5 Cav, 1-12 Cav, 2-12 Cav, 3-82 FA, 91st ENG BN, C 4-5 ADA, 2/545th MPs, 15th FSB, and 1-7th Cav. They conducted daily mounted presence patrols in their HMMWVs and occasionally, in armored vehicles, among the Bosniac, Serb and Croat populace. During the six months, squads and platoons conducted over 9,000 combat patrols and escorted over 1000 convoy movements over some of the most rugged terrain and austere conditions. The soldiers conducted hundreds of weapons storage site inspections, established vehicle checkpoints designed to monitor and control movement and often conducted searches for and seizures of illegal contraband and weapons. The pilots, crew chiefs and mechanics set a new Army benchmark for safety and the number of hours flown--over 17,000 flying hours. The Engineers monitored the demining of more than 80,000 square meters of contested land and supervised the construction of 41 million dollars worth of base camp improvements.
As of late 2002 the 1st Cavalry Division was transitioning to a "digitialized" equipped force. Unclassified sources list one maneuver brigade per year are transitioning, beginning in FY01. Therefore, only two of the three ground maneuver brigades were transitioned as of late 2002, and probably only one brigade was retrained to use the new equipment.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
The First Cavalry Division received deployment orders on March 2, 2003 to reposition forces as required to support the President Bush's global war against terrorism. The III Corp's release did not specify where the division was being sent though a release from the Division itself states that it would be sent to the CENTCOM AOR. This deployment order was later cancelled or postponed following the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
During a DOD briefing on July 23, 2003 the 1st Cavalry Division was identified as a unit that would deploy in 2004 as part of the OIF 2 rotation. 1st Cavalry Division announced in August 2003 that it would deploy to the CENTCOM AOR in early 2004. The division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team will begin deploying in January, followed by the remainder of the division. Joining the division in this rotation is the 39th Enhanced Separate Infantry Brigade. The deployment is expected to last one year.
The transition of authority to the 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, was a long process. Planning went into high gear. CJTF 7 officials did not want to lose the experience that the 1st Armored Division had painfully built up in a year in Baghdad. Officials from the 1st Cavalry Division visited their counterparts in Baghdad, and 1st Armored Division personnel began sending information to Fort Hood. The cavalry division went through training at Fort Hood, the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., and the Joint National Training Center at Fort Polk, La., before deploying.
The Fort Hood unit also began getting raw data from Baghdad and running its own analyses. They then matched their conclusions with those of the 1st Armored Division people in Iraq. The 1st Cavalry Division's initial party deployed in January. Key staff people met with their counterparts, and the initial party laid the foundation for follow-on groups.
They began a "left-seat/right-seat" training regimen. Under this program, 1st Cavalry Division people observed 1st Armored Division people doing their jobs. They would then switch; the 1st Cavalry person would do the job and the 1st Armored Division person would critique the soldier's performance. "This went right down to the squad level," Hutton said. "It was enormously important."
But the 1st Cavalry Division did not just duplicate what the 1st Armored Division did. For example, the cavalry unit is not based at the Baghdad airport, as the armored division was. Eventually, the airport will revert to the Iraqi people, and they will need the spaced.
By March 2004 troopers stayed in Camp New York for only a few days, while part of the division waits for its vehicles and equipment to convoy to Baghdad. To stay cool, the Soldiers temporarily living in the camp stay in air-conditioned tents and sleep on cots in huge bay-like areas. The tents also have lighting and electricity. About a quarter-mile away from the sleeping quarters, Soldiers can clean up in the shower trailer with warm-running water. Although there is running water, there are not any sewers and using the facilities includes locking the door to the port-a-john.
On 15 April 2004 Task Force Baghdad, made up mostly of the 1st Cavalry Division, assumed responsibility for Baghdad and its environs from the 1st Armored Division. Maj. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey handed over the responsibility to Maj. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli in a "no-fuss, no-muss" manner. "We weren't going to have a ceremony for this," said Army Lt. Col. Jim Hutton, the public affairs officer for Task Force Baghdad. "Our people have more important things to do." Portions of the 1st Armored Division, which has its headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany, remained in Iraq as part of the combat force plus-up that Army Gen. John Abizaid, U.S. Central Command commander, requested.
There are three Rest & Relaxation options available to soldiers in the 1st Cavalry Division. Option 1: Green Zone. Soldiers are given the opportunity to go to the Green Zone for 3-4 days. It is a nice area with a mall, swimming pool and other recreation things to entertain the soldiers. Option 2: Qatar. Qatar is a lot like the Green Zone but it is more of a resort. Option 3: Mid tour leave, which consist of 15 days chargeable leave. The leave days do not start until the soldier reaches his/her destination. The units must have 90% combat strength at all times. All three R & R options are mission dependent and are subject to change.
The Freedom Rest Program that is located in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. The program lasts five days and four nights. The soldier has at their disposal video games, weight room, swimming pools, dining facility, a small PX and some other actives for their leisure. The soldier does not have to pay for anything, except for items in the PX.
The next program is the CJTF-7 Fighter Management pass program (FMPP) at Camp As-Sayliyah, Qatar. It is five-days/four nights for 3BCT Personnel deployed in Iraq for rest and recuperation (R&R). The in-theater pass is free to 3BCT personnel, which provides meals and lodging. Additional amenities, to include name brand fast food, shopping trips, local excursions, fishing trips, water sports and golf. Billeting is warehoused, air conditioned, communal tents. Alcoholic beverages are limited to three drinks per day at the Club Oasis located on the pass site. Local excursions are permitted.
The last program is the Environmental Leave Program. This is the program where your spouse gets two weeks home on leave. The leave will start the day after they sign in at one of the three hubs. The hubs are Atlanta, Dallas, and Baltimore Washington International (BWI) Airport. There is a possibility that the BWI hub might go away. The military will fly Soldiers for free to one of these hubs and then to the airport nearest their final location. They will actually get two weeks on the ground. The leave does not include travel time from and to Iraq by way of the hub. Units are mandated by the 1st Cavalry Division to also fill these slots.
The priority of who goes on environmental leave is broken down into categories. There are six categories with Category I as the highest and Category VI being the lowest. Below is the description of each category:
- CAT I: This consist of personnel that have family members that die, but does not fit under the Division emergency leave policy. Under Division's emergency, the soldier's immediate family has to unfortunately pass away for him to return home. If the soldier's spouse's father dies, he does not fit under the Division's emergency leave policy. The Battalion Commander controls this. He determines who and when someone goes home under this category.
- CAT II: Personnel with children that were born while the soldier was deployed to Iraq qualify under this category. If the child was born after the Soldier got on the plane to deploy, then the soldier qualifes for this category. This also consists of Soldiers with a baby on the way. Soldiers will be sent home after the baby is born. The reason for this is that if the baby is not born during the two weeks you will not be extended. Only for C-section will the soldier be considered for going home before the baby is born. This is controlled at battalion level.
- CAT III: This is for personnel that came from an unaccompanied tour (i.e. Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan) and did not get the 90 days with their dependants. This is only for soldiers with dependants. No one in the company right now qualifies for this category. This is also controlled at battalion level
- CAT IV: Most of the soldiers qualifies for this category. This category consists of personnel who have not been to Freedom Rest or Qatar. If the soldier has gone to Freedom Rest or Qatar after June 1 than they will fall to a lower category. This category is controlled at company level.
- CAT V: Personnel who have been to Freedom Rest after June 1, but have not been to environmental leave or Qatar are in this category. This is controlled at company level.
- CAT VI: Personnel who have been to Qatar, but have not gone on environmental leave qualify for this category.
Once a soldier has gone on environmental leave he or she will not be eligible for any more Freedom Rest or Qatar unless everyone who wants to go on environmental leave has gone on leave. Personnel who want to go on leave, but are not allotted that option can go to Freedom Rest and Qatar as many times as possible with slots allotted and mission tempo.
The last piece of this is an Order of Merit (OML) for each category. Every month the Battalion gets the slots available to the company for environmental leave, Freedom Rest and Qatar. For the month of June, the Soldiers drew 10 dog tags out of an ammo can. The soldiers drawn are the first ten that will go on leave. If the slots for the month is five for CAT IV then the first five will go and the next five will move up for the slots available in July. Once the ten are drawn, they are put off to the side and conduct the Freedom Rest lottery. To participate in the Environmental leave lottery you must participate in the Freedom Rest and Qatar lottery. If a Soldier gets picked for the Freedom Rest they fall to a CAT V. If they do not want to go to Freedom Rest they do not have to, but you will still fall to a CAT V whether they go or not. The same goes for the Qatar lottery. There are some good things about the lottery. With the amount of Freedom Rest slots, there will be more CAT Vs than CAT IVs and also the 3BCT is getting a lot of slots for leave. This means that soldiers that fall to CAT V due to Freedom Rest still have a good chance to go on leave.
