1-38th Infantry Regiment
The 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry was assigned 1 June 2006 to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2d Infantry Division, and activated at Fort Lewis, Washington.
Soldiers from Fort Lewis, WA, assigned to Task Force Blaze put their wildland firefighting training into action for the first time 19 August 2006 by taking on the wildfires burning in the state of Washington. Following three days of classroom and field instruction from experienced wildland firefighters, the Soldiers were ready to face the flames. Soldiers on the fire teams who have been in combat fire fights overseas said that they are now part of a different kind of fire fight. Nearly 500 of his fellow Soldiers from Fort Lewis spent the day performing mop-up operations on forest fires in the Tripod Complex in north central Washington. The arduous work requires a high level of physical fitness and has an undeniable element of danger -- conditions to which US Soldiers are accustomed.
The 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry was constituted 15 May 1917 in the Regular Army as Company A, 38th Infantry. It was organized 1 June 1917 at Syracuse, New York. The 38th Infantry was assigned 1 October 1917 to the 3d Division. The regiment took part in the French Campaigns of 1918 in the 3d Division; its most remarkable feat being at Chateau Thierry on the Marne, July 15, where it broke the point of the German attack. This division is shown by the broken chevron, the rock and motto. The divisional insignia forms the base of the shield.
The Distinctive Unit Insignia is a gold color metal and enamel device 1 7/32 inches (3.10cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Azure, in chief a chevron reversed rompu point enhanced Argent, in base three bendlets sinister of the last. Above the shield a wreath of the colors a boulder Proper. Attached below the shield a gold motto scroll inscribed "THE ROCK OF THE MARNE" in blue letters. The distinctive unit insignia was approved on 25 November 1922.
The coat of arms was approved on 7 July 1921. Shield: Azure, chief a chevron reversed rompu point enhanced Argent, in base three bendlets sinister of the last. Crest: On a wreath of the colors (Blue and White) a boulder Proper. Motto: THE ROCK OF THE MARNE.
The 1st Battalion was inactivated 1 October 1933 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and activated 1 May 1939 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The 38th Infantry was relieved 16 October 1939 from assignment to the 3d Division and assigned to the 2d Division, which was later redesignated as the 2d Infantry Division. Organic to the 2d Infantry Division when it was alerted for deployment to Korea in early July 1950 were the 9th, 23d, and 38th Infantry Regiments, some of the most famous in the Army. The division was short an estimated 5,000 soldiers, mostly in the Infantry regiments and Field Artillery battalions. This shortage was made up by reassigning soldiers from the depots, service schools, and nondeploying units. By the time the division embarked it was at full strength, but the Army did not have a functioning replacement system to meet its growing requirements in Korea.
On 25 December 1953 the 38th Infantry Regiment (2nd Infantry Division) repelled Chinese forces during an intense battle, the Battle of T-Bone Hill. T-Bone Hill was a mountain in the western part of North Korea about 15 miles above the 38th parallel. It was named by the GIs who fought and died there. At the ending of the war the Communists erected an arch of tree limbs and called out for UN troops to "come over and we will walk through the arch as brothers." This area was defended by the 3rd Infantry Division.
Corporal Ronald E. Rosser, Infantry, United States Army, a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty on 12 January 1952, in the vicinity of Ponggilli, Korea. While assaulting heavily fortified enemy hill positions, Company "L," 38th Infantry Regiment, was stopped by fierce automatic-weapons, small-arms, artillery, and mortar fire. Corporal Rosser, a forward observer was with the lead platoon of Company "L," 38th Infantry, when it came under fire from two directions. Corporal Rosser turned his radio over to his assistant and, disregarding the enemy fire, charged the enemy positions armed with only carbine and a grenade. At the first bunker, he silenced its occupants with a burst from his weapon. Gaining the top of the hill, he killed two enemy soldiers, and then went down the trench, killing five more as he advanced. He then hurled his grenade into a bunker and shot two other soldiers as they emerged. Having exhausted his ammunition, he returned through the enemy fire to obtain more ammunition and grenades and charged the hill once more. Calling on others to follow him, he assaulted two more enemy bunkers. Although those who attempted to join him became casualties, Corporal Rosser once again exhausted his ammunition obtained a new supply, and returning to the hilltop a third time hurled grenades into the enemy positions. During this heroic action Corporal Rosser single-handedly killed at least 13 of the enemy. After exhausting his ammunition he accompanied the withdrawing platoon, and though himself wounded, made several trips across open terrain still under enemy fire to help remove other men injured more seriously than himself. This outstanding soldier's courageous and selfless devotion to duty is worthy of emulation by all men. He has contributed magnificently to the high traditions of the military service.
The unit was redesignated 8 November 1957 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battle Group, 38th Infantry, and relieved from assignment to the 2d Infantry Division. It inactivated 4 March 1958.
Organic elements were constituted 26 January 1962, and the Battle Group was assigned 19 February 1962 to the 2d Infantry Division and activated at Fort Benning, Georgia. It was reorganized and redesignated 10 May 1963 as the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry
On 1 July 1965, the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) was officially activated. It was made up of resources of the 11th Air Assault Division (Test) and brought to full strength by transfer of specialized elements of the 2nd Infantry Division. As a part of this reorganization, the 1st Battalion (Airborne) 38th Infantry was redesignated the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 5th Cavalry Regiment and the 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 38th Infantry was redesignated the 2nd Battalion, (Airborne), 5th Cavalry Regiment. On 3 July 1965, in Doughboy Stadium at Fort Benning, Georgia the colors of the 11th Air Assault Division (Test) were cased and retired. As the band played the rousing strains of Garry Owen, the colors of the 1st Cavalry Division were moved onto the field. The 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry was inactivated 16 December 1986 in Korea and relieved from assignment to the 2d Infantry Division.
Headquarters transferred 28 August 1987 to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command and activated at Fort Benning, Georgia. The mission of the 1-38th was to execute Basic Combat Training Program Of Instruction (POI) to standard in order to produce the best Soldiers prepared for Advanced Individual Training (AIT). The Battalion was redesignated 1 October 2005 as the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment. Headquarters inactivated 27 April 2006 at Fort Benning, Georgia, and withdrawn from the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command.
