1st -17th Cavalry - 82nd Airborne
"Palehorse"
According to their Mission, the 1-17th CAV: On order, 1-17 Cavalry deploys worldwide within 18 hours to conduct airborne forced entry, reconnaissance, security, and combat aviation operations; conduct maintenance and force protection to sustain the force. The 1st Squadron(Air), 17th Cavalry consists of;
3 OH-58D(I) Kiowa Warrior Troops; 1 Ground Reconnaissance(HUMMV) Troop; 1 Maintenance Troop; and 1 Headquarters and Headquarters Troop.
The 17th Cavalry Regiment was constituted on 1 July 1916, making the 1st Squadron (Air), 17th Cavalry Regiment, the oldest unit in the Brigade. It was the first Division unit to receive aircraft when the Reconnaissance Company was redesignated A Troop, 17th Cavalry in 1957. On 25 May 1964, the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron, 17th Cavalry was activated. Troop B of the Squadron saw action in the Dominican Republic when it deployed with the 82d Airborne in 1965 and served as the Division's security element. Troop B also deployed to the Republic of Vietnam in 1968 in support of the Division's 3rd Brigade for a period of 22 months. On 18 January 1973 the Squadron was reorganized to more closely resemble its present organization. A Troop, 7/17 Cavalry returned from Vietnam and became D Troop, C Troop was converted to an Air Cavalry Troop, and became the 1st Squadron (Air) 17th Cavalry. On 27 October 1983, Troop B again deployed, this time to the Island of Grenada, West Indies. The Squadron maintained elements on the island well into 1984.
The 17th Cavalry Regiment was organized under the provisions of the National Defense Act of 1916 at Ft Bliss, Texas on 30 June 1916 and constituted on 1 July 1916. General Pershing had taken his columns into Mexico only a short time before and the need of cavalry troops was pressing. Thirty-two officers and seven hundred ninety-one veterans from the lst, 3rd, 6th, 8th and 14th Regiments were transferred as the nucleus of the new regiment. The cavalry organization of seventeen regiments, in effect when the United States entered the war against Germany, was based upon the National Defense Act of 1916. In May 1917, emergency laws called for an immediate increase to full strength authorized by the National Defense Act, and organization of the remaining eight new cavalry regiments began at once.
The demobilization of the National Guard of Hawaii followed the end of World War I. As a result the 17th Cavalry was the only mobile line organization in the Hawaiian Department. The regiment, strengthened by various recruit contingents which joined during the summer of 1919, furnished the garrison at Ft Shafter and Schofield Barracks, until the fall of 1920, when the arrival of additional troops relieved the cavalry of some of their duties. The 17th Cavalry was inactivated September 26, 1921 at Presidio of Monterey, California.
World War Two found each division with a reconnaissance platoon. The 82d Airborne Division was no exception. The Division Reconnaissance Platoon's mission was to gather intelligence in one form or another. Sometimes they attempted to draw fire to expose enemy positions. These EYES AND EARS were eventually strengthened following the war, reorganized and redesignated the 82d Reconnaissance Company on December 15, 1947. On July 15, 1950 it was again redesignated as the 82d Airborne Reconnaissance Company.
Divisional reorganizational changes were implemented following the Korean War. Smaller sized cavalry elements were approved for service as separate squadrons under the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS). Under this system parent regiments were carefully selected. Except for the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 11th, and 14th Armored Cavalry Regiments (which retained their regimental structure), the 1st through the 17th Cavalry regiments were included. In 1957, with the advent of CARS, Troop B, 17th Cavalry, was organized in the 101st Airborne Division and was soon followed by Troop A, 17th Cavalry, in the 82d Airborne Division.
The 1980's were marked an emphasis on the airborne air cavalry. Receipt of the newest of helicopter technology, AH-1S (ECAS), OH-58C. and UH-60, aircraft increased the capabilities of the squadron. Continuing to maintain itself at a high level of readiness, the Squadron(-) participated in Operation Urgent Fury with the 82d Airborne Division.
In late December 1989, D Troop, 1-17 CAV deployed to Panama with TF WOLF as part of Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY. In the summer of 1990 the 1st Squadron received the new OH-58D scout aircraft. In August 1990, the 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry was conducting a rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center when the 82D Airborne Division was deployed to Saudi Arabia in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
In the summer of 1990 the 1st Squadron received the new OH-58D scout aircraft. In August 1990, the 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry was conducting a rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center when the 82D Airborne Division was deployed to Saudi Arabia in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Troop B and part of Troop A deployed with Task Force 1-82. The units were alerted on the 5th of August 1990 and deployed on the 8th. The Squadron returned from Ft. Chaffee and deployed with the Headquarters and Delta pilots and aircraft on the 12th of August. The remainder of the Squadron deployed in September. The Squadron was commanded by LTC Roger I. Anglin, the executive officer was MAJ Michael C. Flowers, and the S3 was MAJ Robert D. Richardson.
In 1993 the 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry upgraded their aircraft fleet to OH-58D(I)s and turned in the last AH-1F aircraft on 21 June 1993. The Aviation Resource Initiative (ARI) forced the squadron to a pure aircraft fleet and E Troop (UH-60) was deactivated and reflagged as the Squadron's Maintenance Troop.
the 1-17th CAV has been to Iraq on three seperate occasions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. As of November 2005, various elements of the 1-17th CAV were known to operating around Lake Tar Tar in northwestern Iraq.
