3rd Brigade - 10th Mountain Division
"Spartans"
The 3d Brigade Combat Team is trained and ready for rapid deployment anywhere in the world to destroy the enemies of America in close combat. The 3rd Brigade, one of the Army's new modular Brigade Combat Teams Unit of Action (BCT/UA), is designed to be a highly deployable unit that will enhance the Army's ability to project power from U.S. bases while simultaneously preparing forces for full spectrum operations. The new Infantry Brigade Combat Team is a highly deployable unit will enhance the Army's ability to project power from CONUS bases while simultaneously preparing forces for full spectrum operations. This is an important part of the current efforts to transform the Army to be relevant and ready to win the War on Terror.
The Department of the Army confirmed in late May 2004 that the 10th Mountain Division would have another brigade by the end of the year. The addition of the brigade, also known as a "unit of action," comes as the Army is realigning its basic internal structure to form a brigade-focused force. The existing 33 brigades in the Army will be restructured into 43 to 48 units of action. "This is exciting news for Fort Drum and the local area," said Rep. John M. McHugh (R-NY). "The addition of this brigade further underscores the Army's commitment to the 10th Mountain Division - the Army's most frequently deployed division - and the stellar training capabilities at Fort Drum."
For some time the 10th Mountain Division was peculiar, in that it had two brigades at Fort Drum, and nominally the Division's third Brigade was the 172nd Infantry Brigade stationed in Alaska. The relationship between the New York and Alaska units was rather tenuous, however. The relationship between the 10th Mountain and the 172nd Infantry was finally severed in 2004, when a December 2004 DOD news release indicated that the 3rd and 4th Brigades of 10th Mountain would deploy to eastern Afghanistan in 2005, while the 172nd would deploy to Iraq.
