World War I Headquarters and Headquarters Company was constituted 24 May 1917 into the Regular Army as Headquarters, 1st Brigade, an element of the 1st Expeditionary Division (later redesignated as the 1st Infantry Division). • 1st Infantry Brigade •
16th Infantry Regiment •
18th Infantry Regiment • 2nd Machine Gun Battalion
Commanders 1st Infantry Brigade • 1917 • 9 June Colonel
Omar Bundy • 28 June Brigadier General
Omar Bundy • 25 August Colonel
Ulysses G. McAlexander (ad interim) • 30 August Brigadier General
Omar Bundy • 8 September Brigadier General
George B. Duncan • 1918 • 16 January Colonel
John L. Hines (ad interim) • 21 January Brigadier General
George B. Duncan • 5 May Brigadier General
John L. Hines • 27 August Brigadier General
Frank Parker • 18 October Colonel
Hjalmar Erickson (ad interim) • 21 November Brigadier General
Frank Parker • 20 December Colonel
Charles A. Hunt (ad interim) • 1919 • 5 January Brigadier General
Frank Parker • 12 January Colonel
Charles A. Hunt (ad interim) • 17 January Brigadier General
Frank Parker • 27 January Colonel
William F. Harrell (ad interim) • 29 January Brigadier General
Frank Parker • 16 February Colonel
Charles A. Hunt (ad interim) • 29 March Brigadier General
Frank Parker • 1 April Colonel
Charles A. Hunt (ad interim) • 11 April Brigadier General
Frank Parker • 25 April Colonel
Charles A. Hunt (ad interim) • 7 May Lieutenant Colonel Edward R. Coppock (ad interim) • 9 May Lieutenant Colonel William F. Hoey (ad interim) • 13 May Brigadier General
Frank Parker • 8 July Colonel
William W. McCammon (ad Interim) • 18 July Brigadier General
Frank Parker • 21 July Colonel
William W. McCammon (ad interim) • 24 July to 3 September Brigadier General
Frank Parker Interwar period The 1st Infantry Brigade arrived at the port of New York on the
USS Mobile on 3 September 1919 after nine months of occupation duty near
Coblenz, Germany. It participated in the 1st Division victory parade down 5th Avenue in New York City on 10 September 1919, and in
Washington, D.C., on 17 September 1919. It was temporarily posted to
Camp George G. Meade,
Maryland, where emergency period personnel were discharged from the service. It was transferred to
Camp Zachary Taylor,
Kentucky, and arrived there on 4 October 1919. Transferred in September 1920 to
Camp Dix,
New Jersey. The Headquarters and Headquarters Company were transferred on 19 September 1922 to
Fort Wadsworth,
New York, with subordinate regiments transferred to posts in the New York City area. The entire brigade participated in the 1st Division parade down 5th Avenue in New York City on 3 October 1924 during the massive reunion of the Society of the 1st Division. Redesignated HHC, 1st Brigade on 23 March 1925. Headquarters transferred to 39 Whitehall Street, New York City, on 10 October 1931. Concurrently, the HQ Company was transferred to
Fort Jay, New York. HQ Company was transferred several more times in the 1930s: to 39 Whitehall Street on 13 February 1934; to
Miller Field, on 31 August 1935; and back to Fort Wadsworth on 3 January 1938. The Headquarters was transferred on 8 April 1933 to Fort Dix, to assume command and control of the Southern
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) District, Second
Corps Area. As such, the brigade and subordinate units controlled CCC activities in New Jersey and
Delaware. The Headquarters performed that mission until 30 October 1934, but remained at Camp Dix until 29 August 1935, when it returned to 39 Whitehall Street. Redesignated HHC, 1st Infantry Brigade on 24 August 1936. Headquarters transferred on 21 April 1938 back to Fort Wadsworth. Typically, each May, brigade units road marched from home stations to Camp Dix, and provided training assistance during the summer to the
Citizens' Military Training Camp (CMTC) and the
Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) camps, and to infantry elements of the
77th and
78th Divisions. Subordinate regiments usually held marksmanship and tactical training in late summer and early fall at Camp Dix before marching back to their home stations.
World War II When the 1st Division was converted to a
triangular division, the brigade headquarters and headquarters company was disbanded on 11 October 1939 and personnel were transferred to the Infantry Section, Headquarters, 1st Division, the 1st Division Headquarters and Military Police Company, or to the 18th Infantry. The brigade was reconstituted in the Regular Army on 1 July 1943 as the
1st Airborne Infantry Brigade and activated on 6 July 1943 at
Camp Meade,
South Dakota. The brigade later moved to
Camp Mackall,
North Carolina, where it was disbanded on 27 January 1944.
Cold War Under the United States Army's
pentomic reorganization, the 1st Infantry Brigade was reconstituted in the Regular Army on 8 July 1958 an independent unit, stationed at Fort Benning until it was inactivated on 24 September 1962. The 1st Brigade rejoined the 1st Infantry Division on 2 January 1964, after being activated at Fort Riley, Kansas.
Operation Desert Storm In 1990, it deployed with the Big Red One to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Leading the breach of Iraqi defenses on 24 February 1991, the Brigade actively fought and destroyed the enemy in the 3 campaigns involving the Defense of Saudi Arabia and the Liberation of Kuwait. In recognition of their contributions, each of the Brigade's battalions received the Valorous Unit Citation.
Operation Iraqi Freedom On 23 July 2003,
US Army Forces Command alerted the 1st Brigade for deployment to the
Iraq Theater of Operations in support of
Operation Iraqi Freedom. The brigade deployed its main body starting on 2 September, closing in
Kuwait by 11 September. Initially attached to the
82nd Airborne Division, the brigade occupied Area of Operations Topeka and conducted Transition of Authority with the 3rd Squadron,
3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, on 26 September. On 20 March 2004, CJTF-7 attached 1st Brigade to the
1st Marine Division to continue its offensive operations in AO Topeka. In the following twelve months, the brigade's offensive operations killed 541 insurgents, wounded 101 more, and detained over 2,081 enemy fighters, including the capture of 18 high-value targets and 20
foreign fighters. The brigade responded to hundreds of small arms and RPG engagements, as well as over 550 IED (
improvised explosive device) attacks. In order to disrupt the enemy's ability to conduct operations, the brigade captured 41 heavy
machine guns, 175
RPG launchers, 3,134
mortar and
artillery rounds, 1,781
rockets, and 17
surface-to-air missiles. In addition to combat operations, the brigade formed and trained the 60th Iraqi National Guard Brigade, including the 500th, 501st, and 502nd ING Battalions. 1st Brigade also sponsored over $23.8 million in civil projects in the
Al Anbar province. The BCT returned to
Fort Riley in September 2004. In January 2005 the 1st Brigade was again called upon to prepare for deployment for OIF. The brigade spent the majority of 2005 refitting and training for deployment in fall 2005. This training culminated with the brigade's deployment to the Joint Readiness Training Center in August and September 2005. In January 2006 the 1st Brigade received a mission change and began restructuring in order to better train military transition teams for their deployment. Several security force companies, or SECFOR companies, began preparing to deploy to Iraq in the fall of 2006. On 23 September 2009, the brigade officially moved the military transition team mission to
Fort Polk, Louisiana, and stood up as a deployable heavy brigade combat team. The last of the MiTTs trained by the brigade completed their mission in October 2010.
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On the 24th of February 2022, the same day as the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine started, President
Joe Biden extended the 1st Brigade Combat Team's deployment to Europe where it would be used to bolster
NATO deterrence in Europe. ==Organization==