1st Battalion - 12th Cavalry Regiment
As part of the Army's transformation towards a modular force, 1-12 CAV stood down from the 1st Brigade on July 12, 2005 and was stood up with the 3rd Brigade on July 14, 2005.
On 2 February 1901, Congress authorized the organization of the Twelfth Regiment of Cavalry, Army of the United States. Under this authority, the regiment was formed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas on 8 February 1901.
From 1901 until 1911, the Regiment served posts in Texas, Georgia, and the Philippines. The Regiment returned to Texas to conduct border patrol duty in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. There the 1st Squadron engaged small detachments of raiding bandits until 22 February 1916. The 1st Squadron then reported for duty to Corozal in the Panama Canal Zone. The Squadron remained in Corozal until 1921 when the Regiment was reorganized during the drawdown following the First World War.
On 3 January 1933 the Twelfth Cavalry was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division and participated in division maneuvers. The unit was reorganized as an infantry regiment in preparation for overseas service.
The Twelfth Cavalry arrived in Australia on 26 July 1943 and began six months of jungle and amphibious training. The Regiment's first assault in the Pacific War came on 29 February 1944 when her soldiers assaulted the Los Negros Islands in the Admiralty Islands, north of New Guinea. The Twelfth Cavalry was assigned to the Layette-Samar Campaign and helped liberate those islands from Japanese control in spite of stubborn resistance. Continuing the attack onto the island of Luzon, Regimental history was highlighted on 3 February 1945 when a flying column of Cavalrymen cut a 100 mile path through enemy-held territory to be the "First in Manilla".
After World War II, the Twelfth Cavalry settled in for occupation duty in Japan and was inactivated on 29 March 1949. The Twelfth Cavalry was reactivated on 15 February 1957 as part of the 1st Armored Division at Fort Polk, Louisiana. The 1st Squadron was designated "1st Reconnaissance Squadron."
The Twelfth was again inactivated on 3 February 1962. On 1 September 1963 the squadron was redesignated the First Battalion and reactivated and assigned to the First Cavalry Division in Korea. Later that year, the Battalion returned to Fort Benning, Georgia and prepared for duty in the Republic of Vietnam.
During the Vietnam conflict, units of the Battalion participated in 12 campaigns and earned three Presidential Unit Citations and three Valorous Unit Awards for actions against the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army. On 5 May 1971 the Battalion returned from Vietnam to its new home at Fort Hood, Texas.
On 15 June 1983, the 1st Battalion was relieved of its assignment to the First Cavalry Division and was inactivated at Fort Hood, Texas. Three years later, on 4 October 1986, the Battalion was reactivated as the 1st Squadron at Fort Knox, Kentucky. There, the squadron assumed the mission of training new armor soldiers. On 16 December 1992 the Squadron was redesignated the First Battalion and moved to Fort Hood, Texas.
As of early 2001, the 1st Battalion, 12th Calvary Regiment was scheduled to transition to the M1A2 SEP tank.
