1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment
"The Regulars"
On order, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment rapidly deploys within the EUCOM, CENTCOM, or other directed areas of vital interest to conduct combat or stability operations. The Sixth United States Infantry was born during a story period of American history, nourished on the ideals set forth in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and reached maturity on the battlefields of innumerable campaigns in 10 separate wars. It also has the distinction of having been commanded by Colonel Zachary Taylor, who later became the twelfth president of the United States of America.
The 1st Battalion, Sixth Infantry has a long and proud history, dating back to The War of 1812. The battalion has participated in: The War of 1812, The Mexican War, The Civil War, Indian Wars from 1823-1879, The War with Spain, Philippine Insurrection, Mexican Expedition, World War I, World War II, and Vietnam. The 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry (formerly 3-12 Infantry) was also part of IFOR, Task Force Eagle, which was charged with implementing the military aspects of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In Aug. 1997, the 1st Battalion, Sixth Infantry deployed to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for Operation Able Sentry as part of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force. In May 1998, Bravo Company was deployed again to Bosnia-Herzegovina in support of Operation Joint Endeavor, Operation Joint Forge (OJE/OJF).
The present Sixth United States Infantry traces its lineage back to 11 January 1812, when the Congress authorized a strengthening of the regular Army in preparation for the threatening conflict that became known as the War of 1812. The unit was first known as the 11th Infantry Regiment and served as such on the Canadian border throughout the War of 1812.
In 1831 and 1832, the regiment entered the series of actions to be known as the Black Hawk War, against the Sac and Fox Indians. On 2 August 1832, the 6th Infantry caught the Indians at the junction of the Bad Axe River with the Mississippi (in present day Wisconsin), and killed most of Black Hawk's band (records say that 950 Sac were massacred), earning the Campaign Streamer - BLACK HAWK. In 1837, the units of the Regiment left Jefferson Barracks for Florida via Louisiana. As part of a force commanded by Colonel Zachary Taylor, the Regiment entered the (Second) Seminole Indian War in eastern Florida in 1837. It was the first "guerrilla-style" war fought by US troops.
At the outset of the Civil War in April 1861, the Regiment was directed to hurry eastward from California and join the Federal forces. According to one biographer of the time, "Several of the Regiment's best and bravest officers, honest in the mistaken construction of the Constitution and true to their convictions as to their duty, had tendered their resignations and given themselves to the Confederate cause." During the American Civil War, the 6th U.S. Infantry Regiment lost during service 2 Officers and 29 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and 1 Officer and 43 Enlisted men by disease. Total lost: 75.
For six years after the Civil War, the Regiment served at various stations in Georgia and South Carolina, and moved to Fort Hays, Kansas, in October 1871. For the next several years, the regiment saw duty on the frontier in Kansas, Colorado, the Dakotas, Iowa, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah. In 1872, the regiment was in the Dakota Indian Territory, fighting many engagements against hostile Indian forces. In 1872 and 1873, the regiment earned Campaign Streamers - NORTH DAKOTA 1872 and NORTH DAKOTA 1873. The next several years saw much action for the regiment during the Indian Wars, and they were awarded Campaign Streamers - MONTANA 1879, LITTLE BIG HORN, CHEYENNES, and UTES.
In 1880, the Regiment moved to Fort Thomas, Kentucky, where it remained until called to action again in June 1898, in the Spanish-American War. On 1 July 1898, the Sixth Regiment took the brunt of the fighting during the charge up San Juan Hill, but carried its standard high and bravely, and always forward, and won the battle. The Regiment sailed in late July 1898 to the Philippines to help quell the Philippine Insurrection. The Moro tribe was one of the toughest enemies the 6th had ever faced - every one of them fought to the death, and preferred to do it in hand-to-hand style. The regiment fought over fifty engagements, and it left with Campaign Streamers for JOLO, NEGROS in 1899, and PANAY in 1900. In March 1905 the regiment returned to the Philippines to do battle with the Moros again. For three days in 1906, elements of the regiment fought in the Battle of Bud Dago, one of the fiercest conflicts of the entire island campaign. The successful ending to the battle broke the Moro strength and ended the fighting in that part of the island.
Following service in the Philippines, the 6th returned to The Presidio in California. In May 1914, it entered into service on the Mexican border. In March 1916, it proceeded to San Antonio, Chihuahua, as part of the Punitive Expedition. In February 1917 the Punitive Expedition was withdrawn and the regiment returned to the United States, stationed at Ft. Bliss. Because of their action, the regiment was awarded another campaign streamer - MEXICO 1916-1917.
In December 1917, the 6th Regiment was assigned to the 10th Infantry Brigade, 5th Infantry Division, and began training stateside for the Great War. In the latter part of May 1917, the 6th Infantry Regiment was declared ready for introduction to combat and was placed at the disposal of the French for service at the front. In July 1918, a strategic offensive plan was agreed upon by the Allied commanders, the immediate purpose of which was to reduce the salients which interfered with further offensive operations. One of these was the St. Mihiel salient. The First U.S. Army was organized on August 10 and directed to launch an offensive on September 12 to reduce this salient. The 6th Regiment was destined to play an important role in this operation. On 1 December 1918, the 6th Regiment conducted a march from Luxembourg to the city of Trier, Germany, becoming the first American troops to enter that ancient city. The Regulars did not come back until it was over "Over There."
Between WWI and WWII, the regiment returned to the United States, where they continued to train to become one of the best regiments in the Army. In 1936, they were designated a mechanized unit by the War Department.
In February of 1941, the Regiment was stationed at. Ft Knox, Kentucky, conducting routine training and activities under the command of COL Harry B. Crea. In April, the regiment began supplying cadre for the Infantry Regiment of the 4th Armored Division, which was to be stationed at Pine Camp, NY. In May, the regiment continued to get replacements and conduct routine training. The regiment consisted of a regimental HQ, an A/T company, the regimental band, and two battalions - each with a HQ company and four line companies. In August, the regiment moved to Louisiana to conduct maneuvers, then returned to Ft. Knox in November. A few weeks later, on December 7th, war was declared, and soldiers awaiting release were returned to their barracks.
The Regiment was broken up 20 July 1944 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as elements of the 1st Armored Division as follows: 6th Armored Infantry (less 2d and 3d Battalions) as the 6th Armored Infantry Battalion 2d Battalion as the 11th Armored Infantry Battalion 3d Battalion as the 14th Armored Infantry Battalion
After 20 July 1944 the above units underwent changes as follows:
From 1945 to 1950 the Regiment was assigned throughout the American zone of Occupation in West Germany. In Berlin, 16 October 1950, the Regiment was reactivated with its original name - the 6th Infantry. On 3 February 1962, the Regiment was reorganized and redesignated as the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry.
On May 17, 1967, the 1st Battalion, Sixth Infantry was reorganized as a standard Infantry Battalion and was assigned to the 198th Infantry Brigade, in the Americal (23 Infantry) Division. The 6th Infantry was the division's first element ashore, arriving at Chu Lai in October to participate in its thirty-fifth campaign and ninth war. After a brief initial operation south of Duc Pho, the Battalion was assigned the mission of securing the installation at Chu Lai.
The Regulars participated in Task Force Oregon, Task Force Miracle, Operation Wheeler/Wallowa, Operation Burlington Trail, and had the mission of protecting Americal Division Headquarters and Chu Lai Defense Command from enemy ground mortar and rocket attacks. The 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry was awarded the Valorous Unit Citation for its victory at the battle of Lo Giang, 7-11 February 1968. Task Force Miracle was formed in February 1968 during the enemy's Tet offensive when the city of Da Nang was threatened by the 60th Main Force Viet Cong Battalion. The 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry and 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry assisted the Marines in the fighting. After four days of fierce fighting, the threat to Da Nang was obliterated and the task force was deactivated and returned to the Americal area of operation. During the Vietnam Conflict, the Sixth was awarded streamers - COUNTEROFFENSIVE PHASE III, TET COUNTEROFFENSIVE, COUNTEROFFENSIVE PHASE IV, COUNTEROFFENSIVE PHASE V, COUNTEROFFENSIVE PHASE VI, TET 69 / COUNTEROFFENSIVE, SUMMER-FALL 1969, WINTER-SPRING 1970, SANCTUARY COUNTEROFFENSIVE, COUNTEROFFENSIVE PHASE VII, and CONSOLIDATION I.
On 15 February 1969, the battalion was released from the 198th Infantry Brigade and assigned to the 23rd Infantry Division. On 12 September 1972, the battalion was relieved from the 23rd Infantry Division and assigned to the 1st Armored Division.
In 1972, the Regiment was reconstituted and assigned to West Germany.
In 1974, the regiment was split again, this time between Germany and the United States. The 1st Battalion was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division in Illesheim, Germany. The 3rd and 4th Battalions were assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 5th Infantry Division at Ft. Polk, LA, where elements participated in Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989, earning campaign streamer - PANAMA, and the Valorous Unit Award for Panama. In 1989, the unit also received the Army Superior Unit Award. The 6th Battalion was assigned to 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division in Bamberg, Germany, while the 7th Battalion was assigned to 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, also in Bamberg. In 1990, the sixth and seventh battalions were called on to participate in the regiment's tenth war, Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm. During that war in the Persian Gulf, the regiment earned Campaign Streamers - DEFENSE OF SAUDI ARABIA, LIBERATION AND DEFENSE OF KUWAIT, and CEASE-FIRE, as well as Valorous Unit Citations for Iraq and Iraq-Kuwait.
In 1993, the 5th Infantry Division was inactivated, and the 3rd and 4th Battalions were re-flagged under the 2nd Armored Division at Ft. Hood; the 1st Battalion moved from Illesheim to Vilseck, Germany, and came under the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division; and the 6th and 7th Battalions were inactivated.
On 5 January 1994, Company B, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry was assigned to the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as part of Operation Able Sentry.
In 1996, divisions in Europe were again reorganized, and the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry was re-flagged in Vilseck under the 1st Infantry Division. In Baumholder, the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry and 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry were re-flagged as the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, and 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division.
In Baumholder, Germany, they are mechanized warfighters, maneuvering Bradley fighting vehicles and firing heavy weapons. In the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, were UN peacekeepers. They patroled international borders on foot and man remote mountaintop observation posts. On August 18, 1997, TF 1-6 Infantry was again assigned to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia with the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) to assume the mission of Able Sentry. Once the mission concluded in March of 1998, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment returned home to Baumholder, Germany. The U.N. Security Council reduced the size of the overall U.N. force in Macedonia to 750 from 1,050 people. So the American component, which has been about half of the force, was also be reduced accordingly. These soldiers were primarily from the 1st Battalion of the 6th Infantry Regiment in Baumholder, Germany. There are also, however, some National Guard troops assigned to that mission in Macedonia.
In May of 1998, 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry and Company B, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, were deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovia as part of Operation Joint Endeavor / Operation Joint Forge (OJE / OJF). They were relieved in October, 1998, and returned home to Baumholder.
Capt. Robert C. Scheetz Jr., 31, of Dothan, Ala., died 30 May 2004 in Musayyib, Iraq, when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. Scheetz was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, Baumholder, Germany.
