The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division (the "Black Jack Brigade") is a cavalry unit of the United States Army based in Fort Hood, Texas.
Current Units Headquarters and Headquarters Troop (HHT) 2nd Brigade Combat Team (2nd BCT) 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment (1-5th CR) 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment (1-8th CR) 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment (1-9th CR) 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment (4-9th CR) 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment (3-16th FAR) 8th Brigade Engineer Battalion "Trojan Horse" (8th BEB) 15th Brigade Support Battalion (15th BSB)
History
Mexican Campaign The history of the 2nd "Black Jack" Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division can be traced to 29 August 1917, when it was first constituted in the Regular Army as Headquarters, 2nd Cavalry Brigade. It was organized on 27 December 1917 at Fort Bliss, Texas, as an element of the 15th Cavalry Division. The brigade's early years consisted of rigorous training and patrolling of the Mexican border. Operating from horseback, the cavalry was ideal for fighting in the harsh desert terrain. It was relieved on 12 May 1918 from assignment and demobilized on 9 July 1919 at Fort Bliss, Texas. It was reconstituted on 20 August 1921 in the Regular Army as Headquarters, 2nd Cavalry Brigade and assigned as a member of the 1st Cavalry Division. The unit was organized on 14 September 1921 at Fort Bliss, Texas. At that time, subordinate units consisted of the 2nd Machine Gun Squadron, the 7th Cavalry Regiment, and 8th Cavalry Regiment.
WWII In February 1943, the 2nd Brigade was alerted for an overseas assignment as a dismounted infantry unit assigned to the Pacific theater. The Black Jack Brigade's first WWII combat duty occurred in the 1944 Admiralty Island campaign. In three months of hard fighting they seized the islands of Los Negros, Hauwei, Butjo Luo, and Manus, and alongside the 1st Brigade, destroyed a force of over Japanese. The newly secured islands provided a strategically vital offensive base for Allied air and naval power, from which they could disrupt enemy supply lanes in a radius and provide critical support for the Allied advance during the invasion of the Philippines.
The Black Jack Brigade was called upon again during the liberation of the Philippines, where the brigade fought in both the Leyte and Luzon campaigns. On 20 October 1944, 2nd Brigade soldiers were among the first to storm the beaches of Leyte in what was the largest amphibious operation to date in the Pacific theater. Their contributions led to a victory that would prove to be decisive in the battle for the Philippines.
On 9 January 1945, the 2nd Brigade then participated in the invasion of Luzon, the largest of the Philippines Islands. The brigade was the first into Manila, liberating the Philippine Capital and freeing over 4000 civilians from enemy prison camps. The conquest of Leyte and Luzon were vital to operations in the Pacific, as they denied critical resources to the enemy and provided a staging area from which assaults in the Japanese home islands could be launched. The brigade left Luzon in August 1945 for occupation duty in Japan, becoming the first Allied unit to enter the city of Tokyo. The brigade was inactivated on 25 March 1949 and relieved from assignment to the 1st Cavalry Division.
German occupation On 20 May 1949 it was converted and redesignated as the 2nd Constabulary Brigade. The brigade served in Germany until it was inactivated on 15 December 1951.
Korea On 1 September 1963 the brigade was reactivated again in Korea as the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. The brigade remained at Camp Howze in Korea until 1 July 1965, when the division colors were transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia.
Vietnam The division was reorganized and activated as the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), the Army's first Air Assault division. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara shocked many observers when he announced that this new air assault division would be combat ready in only eight weeks. The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) exceeded that demanding goal by reaching REDCON-1 status on 28 July 1965 and deploying to Vietnam in mid-August, only six weeks after the division's organization. The men of 2nd Brigade boarded the USNS General Simon B. Buckner on 16 August 1965, en route to Vietnam.
On 14 September 1965, the 2nd Brigade disembarked the USNS Buckner and landed at Qui Nhơn. The brigade, consisting of 1/5 Cavalry, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, loaded into helicopters and flew in-land to the division base camp at Camp Radcliff, An Khê District.
The 2nd Brigade became the first brigade in the division to see combat when on 18 September 1965 the 2/12 Cavalry was OPCONed to 101st Airborne Division to participate in Operation Gibralter.
The 2nd Brigade would next see combat in Operation Silver Bayonet, where under the order of US Commanding General William Westmoreland the 1st Cavalry Division air assaulted into Pleiku Province to pursue and destroy the enemy over of jungle. Operation Silver Bayonet, also known as the Pleiku campaign, was a 35-day campaign in which the division maintained almost constant contact with the enemy and experienced some of the fiercest fighting of the Vietnam War. The division saw its first contact on 1 November 1965, when a troop from 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment Cavalry, the division's reconnaissance squadron, overran an enemy aid station belonging to the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 33rd Regiment. After landing to exploit the site, they were engaged by a PAVN battalion, in fighting which was too close to allow for artillery or tactical air reinforcement. 1/12 Cavalry, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment and 2nd Brigade's 2/12 Cavalry rushed to the embattled troop's aid, air assaulting into the fight amidst intense ground fire. They quickly inflicted hundreds of casualties upon the PAVN battalion.
On 9 November 1965 3rd Brigade took control of Operation Silver Bayonet and continued the search for the three PAVN regiments suspected to be operating in the Pleiku region. On 14 November elements of 3rd Brigade's 7th Cavalry Regiment air assaulted onto Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley to conduct a reconnaissance in force in search of the enemy regiments. Soon after securing the LZ, the 7th Cavalry Soldiers began taking intense small arms, mortar, and rocket fire from an enemy force that vastly outnumbered them. The chaotic fighting that followed would be among the most intense of the Vietnam War. After sustaining heavy casualties, 1/7 Cavalry was able to reorganize their units and establish a hasty battalion security perimeter around LZ X-Ray. One of their platoons, however, was cut off from the rest of the battalion, pinned down and trapped amidst a battalion sized PAVN force. The pinned unit, 2nd Platoon of Bravo Company, had suffered heavy casualties, and like the rest of 1/7, would endure multiple enemy attacks throughout the night. 1/7 Cavalry made three separate attempts to rescue the cut off platoon, but all three attempts were met with failure.
Early on 15 November, the 2/5 Cavalry air assaulted onto LZ Victor, approximately 3 km south east of the battle. On foot, they fought their way to LZ X-Ray, where after coordinating with 1/7 Cavalry, they pressed forward in search of the lost platoon. The 2/5 Cavalry rescued the platoon, which had been devastated with casualties, and enabled their recovery back to LZ X-Ray. 2nd Brigade's 2/5 Cavalry and elements of 1/5 Cavalry tied into the defense perimeter at LZ X-Ray and played a vital role in repelling and counter-attacking the enemy force over the next two days.
On 16 November, the battle at LZ X-Ray was effectively over. The PAVN had taken thousands of casualties and was no longer capable of sustaining a fight. 1/7 Cavalry returned to Camp Radcliff while 2/5 Cavalry, 2/7 Cavalry, and a company from 1/5 Cavalry maintained the perimeter at X-Ray. On the following day, all of the remaining units were ordered off of LZ X-Ray in preparation for a heavy bombing campaign in the area. 2nd Brigade's 2/5 Cavalry marched without incident to LZ Columbus. 2/7 Cavalry, with a company of 2nd Brigade's 1/5 Cavalry attached, marched towards LZ Albany. 2–7 Cavalry marched towards LZ Albany in a column, with 1/5's A Company bringing up the rear. Almost immediately after reaching the LZ, the head of the 2/7 Cavalry column was engaged by a massive L-shaped ambush staged by two battalions of PAVN. The ensuing close-quarters battle was fierce and bloody, with both sides taking devastating casualties. After the initial chaos subsided, hasty security perimeters were formed, with 2/7 Cavalry hunkered down on LZ Albany, while A Company 1/5 Cavalry set a small perimeter 700 meters away. The situation was dire for the soldiers at LZ Albany. They were low on ammunition and water, and the intense fire and close proximity of the enemy disrupted resupply and casualty evacuation efforts, as well as indirect fire and air support. 2nd Brigade's B Company, 1/5 Cavalry rushed to the aid of the soldiers at LZ Albany, landing at LZ Columbus and deploying to the battle on foot. Bravo Company fought their way to the A Company, 1/5 Cavalry perimeter and established and secured an LZ from which resupply and evacuation efforts could finally proceed. 2nd Brigade's men continued to repulse PAVN attacks throughout the night. On the morning of 18 November 1965, after 16 hours of continuous contact, the PAVN finally withdrew, U.S. losses in the action were 155 killed or missing. The firefights at LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany would come to be known as the Battle of Ia Drang. While sustaining heavy casualties, the 2nd and 3rd Brigades estimate that they killed more than 1700 PAVN soldiers and destroyed two full regiments of a PAVN division. For its actions during Operation Silver Bayonet, the 1st Cavalry Division earned the first Presidential Unit Citation awarded to a unit in Vietnam.
On 4 January 1966, 2nd Brigade participated in Operation Matador. Along with 1st Brigade, they air assaulted within the Bình Định Province to conduct a search and destroy mission against the PAVN 3rd Division. During this operation the units witnessed enemy soldiers fleeing into Cambodia, confirming for the first time the PAVN's use to sanctuaries in the neighboring country.
On 7 February 1966, 2nd Brigade took part in Operation White Wing, where they again conducted a search and destroy mission targeting the 3rd Division. All three regiments of the 2nd Brigade deployed to the Iron Triangle, a well-fortified defensive position thought to be the regimental headquarters of the PAVN in the Bình Định region. On 6 March 1967 Operation White Wing concluded as a major tactical success. 2nd Brigade maintained constant contact with the enemy over the entirety of the operation. Five of the 3rd Division's nine battalions were rendered combat ineffective and the PAVN temporarily lost its grip on the Bình Định Province.
On 16 May 1966, 2nd Brigade took part in Operation Crazy Horse, a search and destroy mission against the 2nd Viet Cong Regiment in the jungle covered hills between Soui Ca and the Vinh Thanh Valleys. For his heroic actions in support of Operation Crazy Horse, 2nd Brigade's SSG Jimmy G. Stewart was awarded the Medal of Honor.
2nd Brigade next participated in Operation Paul Revere II, where the first and second battalions of the 5th Cavalry Regiment inflicted heavy casualties on an enemy battalion at the Battle of Hill 534.
On 13 September 1966, 2nd Brigade participated on Operation Thayer I, a search and destroy campaign in the Bình Định Province which would involve one of the largest air assaults ever attempted by the 1st Cavalry Division. 2nd Brigade's PFC Billy Lauffer was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in support of Operation Thayer I.