World Wars The 173rd Infantry Brigade was constituted on 5 August 1917 as an
infantry brigade and organized on 25 August at
Camp Pike,
Arkansas, as an element of the
87th Division along with the
174th Infantry Brigade. The brigade deployed to France along with the rest of the division in September 1918, but it did not participate in any campaigns and never saw combat, instead being utilized as a pool of laborers and reinforcements for frontline units. •
BG Robert Campbell Van Vliet, 25 August 1917 – 8 June 1918 •
COL John O'Shea, 9 June 1918 – 14 July 1918 • BG
Otho B. Rosenbaum, 15 July 1918 – 26 July 1918 • COL John O'Shea, 27 July 1918 – 28 July 1918 • BG Otho B. Rosenbaum, 29 July 1918 – 19 September 1918 • COL John Shea, 20 September 1918 – 2 December 1918 • BG
George Herbert Harries, 3 December 1918 • COL John Shea, 4 December 1918 – 20 December 1918 • BG Marcus D. Cronin, 21 December 1918 – 9 January 1919 • COL John Shea, 10 January 1919 – 19 January 1919 • BG Marcus D. Cronin, 20 January 1919 – 8 February 1919 On 24 June 1921, the unit was reconstituted as the
Headquarters and Headquarters Company (
HHC), 173rd Infantry Brigade, After the war, the troop reverted to
reserve status and was posted at
Birmingham, Alabama from 1947 until 1951. On 1 December 1951, the troop was inactivated and released from its assignment to the 87th Infantry Division. The reorganization also allowed for the use of "separate" brigades which had no division headquarters and could be used for missions that did not require an entire division. The 173rd Brigade was selected to become a separate brigade and a special airborne task force, which could deploy rapidly and act independently. in the form of Company D,
16th Armor. Consistent with
regimental combat teams activated before them, these separate brigades were given their own
shoulder sleeve insignia. The soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade created a patch with a wing on it to symbolize their status as an airborne unit, along with red, white, and blue, the national colors of the United States. The SSI would be given to them in May 1963. which was chartered to serve as the quick reaction force for the
Pacific Command. Under Williamson, the unit trained extensively, making mass parachute jumps. They earned the nickname
Tien Bing (), literally
Sky Soldiers, from the
Taiwanese paratroopers.
Vietnam War , March 1966 The brigade arrived in South Vietnam on 7 May 1965, the first major ground combat unit of the United States Army to serve in the country. Williamson boldly predicted on arrival that his men would defeat the
Viet Cong (VC) quickly and that they "would be back in Okinawa by Christmas". The brigade was put under the command of
II Field Force, Vietnam. The 1st and 2nd Battalions, 503rd Infantry were the first Army combat units from the 173rd sent into South Vietnam, accompanied by the
3rd Battalion, 319th Artillery. were attached to the brigade for one year in 1965. Late in August 1966, the 173rd received another infantry battalion, the 4th Battalion, 503rd Infantry from
Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The 3rd Battalion, 503rd joined the brigade at
Tuy Hoa Province in September 1967 following the former's activation and training at
Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The 173rd was also assigned Company N (
Ranger),
75th Infantry. At its peak of its deployment in Vietnam, the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate) comprised over 7,000 soldiers. The brigade was the first unit sent into
War Zone D to destroy enemy base camps, introducing the use of small
Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols. On 8 November 1965, the 173rd took part in
Operation Hump, just north of
Biên Hòa on the outskirts of
Saigon, seeing many engagements with VC forces during that time. In January 1966 they launched
Operation Marauder, the first U.S. military operation in the
Plain of Reeds. They participated in
Operation Crimp in 1966, a failed attempt to root out VC forces from the
Củ Chi tunnels.
Lawrence Joel from the 173rd Brigade, receiving the Medal of Honor The attached helicopter unit became the Casper Aviation Platoon, befitting a separate infantry brigade as the only separate aviation platoon deployed in Vietnam. Casper platoon was part of the HHC 173rd Airborne Brigade and its members wore the brigade patch. The attached Assault Helicopter Company, the 335th AHC, the "Cowboys", deployed with the brigade all over Vietnam into mid-1968 and comprised the Airmobile capability along with the Caspers. Soldiers of the brigade became involved in
Operation Attleboro in fall of 1966, an operation that started out as a small search and destroy mission north of Saigon, but eventually involved 22,000 troops from 21 battalions. Soldiers of the brigade also took part in smaller humanitarian missions in between major combat operations. On 22 February 1967, the 173rd conducted
Operation Junction City, the only combat parachute jump of the Vietnam War. The operation saw three brigades controlling eight battalions dropped by
helicopters and
US Air Force aircraft into
War Zone C, in
Tây Ninh Province. During the battle, the brigade operated out of the northeastern part of the war zone along with the
196th Infantry Brigade (Separate), as four other brigades from the 1st and
25th Infantry Divisions attempted to surround and destroy the
9th Division in the War Zone. The operation was a success, and the battered VC division fled. In August of that year, the brigade received its
distinctive unit insignia. The soldiers chose to have it contain a parachute and dagger to symbolize their participation in Operation Junction City and the other heavy fighting they had been through. The DUI was also inscribed "Sky Soldiers" as homage to the nickname that the Taiwanese soldiers had given them. . On 20 June, Company C, 2nd Battalion (Airborne),
503rd Infantry (C/2-503) discovered the bodies of a Special Forces
CIDG unit that had been missing for four days on Hill 1338, the dominant hill mass south of Dak To. Supported by A/2-503, the Americans moved up the hill and set up for the night. At 06:58 the following morning, Alpha Company began moving alone up a ridge finger and triggered an
ambush by the 6th Battalion of the 24th PAVN Regiment. Charlie Company was ordered to support, but heavy vegetation and difficult terrain made movement extremely difficult. Artillery support was rendered ineffective by the limited range of visibility. Close air support was impossible for the same reasons. Alpha Company managed to survive repeated attacks throughout the day and night, but the cost was heavy. Of the 137 men that comprised the unit, 76 had been killed and another 23 wounded. A search of the battlefield revealed only 15 dead North Vietnamese. In response to the destruction of Alpha Company,
MACV ordered additional forces into the area. On 23 June, the 1st Battalion,
12th Cavalry Regiment (1st Brigade, 1st Air Cavalry Division) arrived to bolster the 173rd. The following day, the
Army of the Republic of Vietnam's (ARVN) elite 1st Airborne Task Force (the 5th and 8th Battalions) and the 3rd Brigade, 1st Air Cavalry Division (5th Battalion,
7th Cavalry Regiment; 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry; and an additional infantry battalion) arrived to conduct search and destroy operations north and northeast of
Kon Tum. General Deane sent his forces west and southwest of Dak To to search for the PAVN 24th Regiment. By October, the 173rd, the 4th Infantry Division, and six ARVN battalions were moved to Dak To. The PAVN, in turn, had moved almost 6,000 troops in four infantry regiments and one artillery regiment. The battle around Dak To became more costly as 4-503 of the 173rd was ordered to occupy Hill 823, south of
Ben Het Camp, for the construction of Fire Support Base. Only the battalion's Company B was available for the attack, which was borne by helicopter. The company was able to take the hill but suffered 9 dead and 28 wounded. The following morning Bravo Company was relieved by Lieutenant Colonel David J. Schumacher's 1–503, which (against the admonitions of Colonel Livsey) was divided into two small task forces. Task Force Black consisted of Charlie Company supported by two platoons of Dog Company and Task Force Blue which was composed of Alpha Company and the remaining platoon of Dog Company. Task Force Black left Hill 823 to find the PAVN who had attacked B/4-503. At 08:28 on 11 November, after leaving their overnight laager and following a PAVN communications wire, the force was ambushed by the 8th and 9th Battalions of the PAVN 66th Regiment and had to fight for its life. Task Force Blue drew the job of going to the relief of the beleaguered task force; however, Task Force Blue ran into resistance and was pinned down by enemy fire on all sides. C/4-503 was then assigned the mission of relieving Task Force Black and they too encountered significant PAVN fire, but they made it, reaching the trapped men at 15:37. U.S. losses were 20 killed, 154 wounded, and two missing. Following an attack on the Đắk Tô Base, and actions on hill 882 by the 1-503rd that saw 7 men dead and 34 wounded, 330 men of 2-503 moved in to assault
Hill 875. At 10:30, as the Americans moved to within of the crest, PAVN machine gunners opened fire on the advancing paratroopers. The Vietnamese then unleashed
B-40 rockets and 57 mm recoilless rifle fire on the Americans. The paratroopers attempted to continue the advance, but the PAVN, well concealed in interconnected bunkers and trenches, opened fire with small arms and grenades. At 14:30 PAVN troops hidden at the bottom of the hill launched a massed assault from the rear. Unknown to the Americans, they had walked into a carefully prepared ambush by the 2nd Battalion of the 174th PAVN Regiment. Soon, U.S. air strikes and artillery fire were being called in, but they had little effect on the battle because of the dense foliage on the hillside. Resupply became a necessity, because of high ammunition expenditures and lack of water, but was impossible to accomplish: Six
UH-1 helicopters were shot down or badly damaged that afternoon trying to get to 2–503. The next morning the three companies of 4-503 were chosen to set out and relieve the men on Hill 875. Because of intense PAVN sniper and mortar fire (and the terrain), it took until nightfall for the relief force to reach the beleaguered battalion. On the afternoon of 21 November, both battalions moved out to take the crest. During fierce, close-quarters fighting, some of the paratroopers made it into the PAVN trench line but were ordered to pull back as darkness fell. The following day was spent in launching airstrikes and a heavy artillery bombardment against the hilltop, totally denuding it of cover. On 23 November, 2-503 and 4-503 were ordered to renew their assault while the 1st Battalion,
12th Infantry assaulted 875 from the south. This time the Americans gained the crest, but the PAVN had already abandoned their positions, leaving only a few dozen charred bodies and weapons. The battle of Hill 875 had cost 2-503 87 killed, 130 wounded, and three missing. 4-503 suffered 28 killed 123 wounded, and four missing. Combined with noncombatant losses, this represented one-fifth of the 173rd Airborne Brigade's total strength. For its combined actions during operations around Dak To, the 173rd Airborne Brigade was awarded the
Presidential Unit Citation.
1968–1971 The intense fighting during the Battle of Dak To took a heavy human toll on the 173rd. While several of its units, including the 2-503rd and A/3-319th were ordered to
Tuy Hòa to repair and refit, the 173rd was transferred to
Camp Radcliff in
An Khê and
Bong Son areas during 1968, seeing very little action while the combat ineffective elements of the brigade were rebuilt. Company D, 16th Armor was engaged in a battle that took place on 4 March 1968 at North Tuy Hòa. During the day, the company lost 8 men killed and 21 wounded. An estimated 2 enemy battalions, the VC 85th Main Force and the PAVN 95th Regiment, were rendered ineffective as they had 297 killed, with D/16 Armor receiving credit for killing 218. The company commander, Captain Robert Helmick, was awarded the DSC. One of the few combat operations that brigade conducted during this time was an
amphibious assault against PAVN/VC forces as part of an operation to clear the rice-growing lowlands along the Bong Son
littoral. The unit then served in An Khê until mid-1969, seeing little in the way of heavy fighting. From April 1969 until its withdrawal from South Vietnam in 1971, the brigade served in Bình Định Province. During more than six years of continuous combat, the brigade earned 14
campaign streamers and four
unit citations, the Presidential Unit Citation, a
Meritorious Unit Commendation, a
Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, and a
Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal. Sky Soldiers serving in Vietnam received 13
Medals of Honor, 32
Distinguished Service Crosses, 1,736
Silver Stars and more than 6,000
Purple Hearts. After widely publicized reports by battalion commander Lt. Col.
Anthony Herbert, investigators confirmed that military interrogators of the 173rd Airborne Brigade "repeatedly beat prisoners, tortured them with electric shocks and forced water down their throats". A U.S. Army report detailed a pattern of "cruelty and maltreatment" between March 1968 and October 1969. Interrogators also employed a technique called the "
water rag", which involved pouring water onto a rag covering the captive's nose and mouth, which creates the sensatation of drowning and can lead to death by asphyxiation. However, with the ending of
conscription following America's disengagement from Vietnam, many of the Army's formations had to be rebuilt for the volunteer force. One of these was the 101st Airborne Division, which had also been redeployed to Fort Campbell. These inactivations, along with subsequent reorganization of U.S. Army divisions, saw several divisional brigades stationed in bases that were far from the division's headquarters and support units. These brigades had difficulty operating without support from higher headquarters. Such units could be stationed in bases far from major commands, not requiring division-level unit support, an advantage in places like Alaska and Europe, where stationing entire divisions was unnecessary or impractical. The first of the separate brigades was the
172nd Infantry Brigade, activated in 1998. In 2002, 2nd Battalion,
503rd Infantry (2-503rd) activated, providing a second infantry battalion. The unit finally reached "initial operating capability" on 14 March 2003, with all units ready for deployment. It would be in combat 12 days later. In 2003, as preparations were being made for
Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 173rd Airborne Brigade was assigned to be a part of an assault from the north of
Iraq. However, this plan fell through when the government of Turkey would not allow offensive operations to be conducted from its soil, and the entire 4th Infantry Division was left stuck on ships in the Mediterranean for the opening of the operation. This meant that the entire northern front of the war would be conducted by the 173rd Airborne Brigade and Army special forces operating with aircraft from Europe as their only supply line. As the brigade had no heavy or mechanized forces and only a few
Humvees and an artillery battery, heavier forces were attached to it in the form of two companies of
M113 Armored Personnel Carriers,
M1 Abrams tanks, and
M2 Bradleys from a
task force of 1st Battalion, 63rd Armor, which was attached to the brigade. The force also received force field artillery headquarters from the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery, which brought a
Tactical Operations Center, a Q-36
counterfire radar and Combat Observation and Lasing Team (COLT)a pair of Dragoneye
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles from the
US Marine Corps, to be operated by the Brigades Ground Surveillance Systems (GSS) team. The 173rd Airborne Brigade was made part of
Task Force Viking, a special operations task force that contained elements of the
10th Mountain Division The use of the 173rd as a part of a special operations task force was a unique first in U.S. Army history. The brigade would take off from
Aviano Air Base in Italy, a 4-hour flight from northern Iraq. As the preparations for the brigade were in their final stages, it moved 10 trains and 300 trucks worth of equipment to the air base, as well as 120 busloads of soldiers. Though the brigade's movement was impeded by Italian protestors, the Italian police provided escort operations to the brigade and ensured that it reached the Air Base without incident, and was not significantly delayed. under the command of
Colonel Mayville. The jump took a total of 58 seconds, though 32 paratroopers were unable to jump because they would have landed too far from the rest of the force. In the weeks before there had been heavy rain and the mud created problems for those doing the jump. The paratroopers secured the airfield, allowing the C-17s to land and bring in the heavy armor and the 1–63rd Armor contingents. and the
786th Security Forces Squadron. in Iraq, 2003. The next day, American forces advanced to
Kirkuk during
Operation Option North, hoping to control oil fields and military airfields in and around the city. Between 30 March and 2 April, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, along with the Special Forces detachment and the Kurdish forces, engaged and destroyed the 2nd, 4th, 8th and 38th Iraqi Infantry divisions as well as a force loyal to
Ansar al-Islam. The brigade used field artillery assets, as well as coordinated
airstrikes to attack Iraqi
Republican Guard units defending the city. Within a week these units began to fall apart due to desertions. The entire battle for Kirkuk cost the brigade only nine casualties. The unit then took part in
Operation Peninsula Strike, quelling
Ba'ath party resistance and other insurgent groups. These operations, though successful, would have been more effective if the 4th Infantry Division's four heavy brigades were able to enter Iraq through Turkey as originally planned. 4th ID had to relocate their forces from Turkey to Kuwait and were subsequently slowed down in Baghdad. The Turkish forces were eventually released. The brigade also participated in
Operation Bayonet Lightning in 2003, capturing weapons and materials that the Department of Defense claimed were possibly for use against coalition forces. On 21 February 2004, the brigade returned to Italy for a one-year rest before a new deployment. The brigade returned to Italy in March 2006. Seventeen soldiers from the brigade died during this deployment. stationed at
Warner Barracks in Bamberg, Germany, as well as the 1st Squadron (Airborne), 91st Cavalry Regiment, stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany. After the new units were integrated into the brigade, the preponderance of the forces within the brigade were stationed in Germany, apart from the brigade headquarters in Italy. This dynamic was intended to last only until additional facilities were constructed at the Dal Molin, now Del Din, airbase near Caserma Ederle at Vicenza. Immediately after its transformation, the brigade began intensive training in both Germany and Italy to prepare itself for future deployments.
Afghanistan, 2007–08 In 2006, the brigade was notified for a second tour of duty in Iraq from 2007 to 2008, but its deployment plan was changed to Afghanistan in February 2007 when the
Pentagon announced that it would relieve the
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division along with the
4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. their first deployment as a fully transformed brigade combat team. The brigade was dispersed throughout the east of the country, with units operating in
Kunar,
Paktika, and
Laghman Provinces. Throughout their 15-month deployment, the brigade participated in more than 9,000 patrols throughout the region. Journalist
Sebastian Junger and photographer
Tim Hetherington were embedded with Battle Company of 2nd Battalion which saw extensive action in the
Korengal Valley. Junger later wrote a highly acclaimed book,
War, and, with Hetherington, produced the award-winning documentary,
Restrepo, about the deployment. Only two weeks before the brigade was to return to Europe, a
platoon of 45 soldiers from the brigade stationed in the
Dara-I-Pech district was attacked by a large force of insurgents during the
Battle of Wanat. Though the platoon was able to drive the insurgents back with air support, the fight resulted in 9 soldiers killed and 16 wounded; the deadliest attack on troops in the country since 2005. The brigade repositioned the base three days later. The 173rd's tour ended in July 2008, and the last redeploying paratrooper from the brigade returned to Europe by the beginning of August 2008. 42 soldiers from the brigade lost their lives during the deployment. The brigade returned to Europe and home station after once again proving itself in combat throughout the eastern mountains of Afghanistan. On 14 June 2009, the 173rd IBCT(A) was announced as one of the brigade combat teams deploying to Afghanistan, and the unit prepared to once again return.
Afghanistan, 2009–10 From November 2009 until November 2010, the 173rd IBCT(A) once again returned to Afghanistan, this time to the provinces of
Logar and
Wardak. The brigade returned in early 2013. Nine soldiers from the brigade lost their lives during the deployment. In mid-2013, some of the returning forces reorganized and re-designated the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Also in mid-2013,
1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment (ABN) moved from Schweinfurt, Germany to
Grafenwoehr, Germany.
Operation Atlantic Resolve On 23 April 2014, four paratrooper companies of the 173rd were deployed to
Poland,
Estonia,
Latvia and
Lithuania to reassure America's NATO allies threatened by Russian military maneuvers along the borders of eastern Ukraine during the
2014–15 Russian military intervention in Ukraine. In September 2014, about 200 soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Regiment, 173rd BDE participated in the Rapid Trident exercise near
Lviv in western
Ukraine. In February 2015, 750 soldiers from the brigade and from units of the
Hungarian Armed Forces, namely 24th Bornemissza Gergely Reconnaissance Battalion,
34th Bercsényi László Special Operations Battalion, and the 25/88th Light Mixed Battalion participated in the exercise "Warlord Rock 2015". The goal of the activity was to exercise the combat, combat support and combat service units of both armies and to achieve a higher cooperation level in airborne operations planning, organization and management tasks. This program was known as Fearless Guardian which was congressionally approved under the Global Contingency Security Fund. Under the program, the United States trained three battalions of Ukrainian troops over a six-month period. In 2017, some 600 personnel (1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment) were deployed to the Baltic countries to be positioned in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia for six weeks to coincide with the duration of the joint Russian/Belarusian strategic
Zapad 2017 exercise that began 14 September 2017. In November 2017, 2-503rd Infantry Regiment (The Rock) traveled in US Air Force C-130s to Belgrade, Serbia to conduct training with the Serbian Airborne Forces where they conducted two combined jumps at drop zones near Belgrade.
Planned ambush uncovered A paratrooper assigned to the
1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, in
Vicenza, Italy, in 2019 through 2020 plotted an ambush on his unit, "to result in the deaths of as many of his fellow service members as possible." He was charged in June 2020 with
conspiring and attempting to murder military service members, and providing and attempting to provide
material support to terrorists. He faces a maximum sentence of
life in prison. ==Honors==