2nd Battalion - 7th Cavalry Regiment - Ghost Battalion / Ruff Riders
As part of the Army's transformation towards a modular force, the 2nd Battalion - 7th Cavalry Regiment was inactivated from the 3rd Brigade of the 1st US Cavalry Division on July 14th, 2005. The 2-7 CAV was shortly later reactivated with the 4th Brigade, 1st US Cavalry Division at Fort Hood on October 18th, 2005.
The battalion was constituted on 28 July 1866 as Company B, 7th Cavalry and was officially organized as an active army unit 10 September 1866 at Fort Riley, Kansas. The battalion fought with distinction during the 1870s and 1880s in numerous, hard fought campaigns against the American Indians. These campaigns included: Comanches, Little Big Horn, Nez Perces, and Pine Ridge, Montana 1873, and in Dakota 1874. The unit fought during the Mexican Expedition from 1916-1917 and in December 1917, it was reassigned to the 15th Cavalry Division and released from this assignment in May 1918. On 13 September 1921 the battalion was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division.
The unit fought with distinction during World War II, earning a Presidential Unit Citation, 2 French Croix de Guerres and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. Campaign participation credits include: New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Leyte, Luzon, Algeria-French Morocco, Tunisa, Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Anzio, Southern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe.
After World War II, the 2d Battalion was assigned as part of the Occupation Forces of Japan and stayed there until the start of the Korean War. The 2d Battalion was one of the first units to arrive in Korea and was immediately thrown into the fray. Heavy casualties were suffered in each battle but the battalion somehow stayed together and always had the strength to battle again. This unnatural ability to keep coming back earned the name "Ghost Battalion" for the 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry, by the North Koreans. Their Korean campaign record is enviable, with participation credits given for: UN Defensive, UN Offensive, CCF Intervention, First UN Counteroffensive.
From the period 1892-1917, the 7th Cavalry fought in Cuba, the Philippines, and in Mexico. In September of 1917, the 7th Cavalry participated in the last true "Cavalry Charge" during the battle of Guerrero.
From 1918-1943, the regiment was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, where it patrolled the Mexican border. During this period the unit also, participated in numerous exercises which helped prepare for World War II. In February 1943, the regiment turned in its horses and began retraining as foot soldiers for action in the Pacific Theater. Having moved to Australia in July 1943, the 7th conducted extensive amphibious and jungle training. Through June 1945, the troopers of the GarryOwen saw heavy fighting from the Admiralties to Luzon, earning its first Presidential Unit Citation. On the 2d of September 1945, the 7th landed on the Japanese Mainland with General MacArthur. A few years later, the 7th Cavalry fought in the Korean War's bloodiest battles. These include Hwanggan, Poksong-Dong, Kwanni, and Naktong River Defense. When the 1st Cavalry Division attacked north, the 7th Cavalry was in front, smashing 106 miles behind enemy lines in a historic 24 hours. Three more Presidential Unit Citations were added to the colors.
On 18 September 1965, the 7th Cavalry arrived in Qui Nhon Harbor, Republic of Vietnam. In the famous battles of the la Drang Valley in November 1965, the Garryowen Regiment virtually annihilated the 66th North Vietnamese Regiment and earned another Presidential Unit Citation.
The Vietnam remembrance "We Were Soldiers Once ...and Young" was coauthored by Lieutenant General Harold G. Moore, USA ( Ret.), and Joseph L. Galloway. It recounts four days of incredibly intense and desperate combat between the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and three regiments of North Vietnamese infantry in the Ia Drang Valley of Pleiku Province in November 1965. Then-Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore commanded the 1st Battalion of the 7th Cavalry, whose saga is recalled in the first part of the book, and the movie. Joe Galloway, a young UPI war correspondent, was on the ground with Moore's unit. A sister battalion, the 2/7 Cavalry, is the major focus of the balance of the book. Elements of several other cavalry regiments were also involved. All told, during a four-day period, 234 young Americans lost their lives in the action. The 2/7 alone had 155 killed in just six hours. But together, the two battalions killed perhaps ten times as many of the enemy.
In the Bong Son area, the regiment mauled three different enemy battalions into combat ineffectiveness. For its actions in Vietnam, the 7th Cavalry was awarded four Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry with Palm. In mid 1972, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry was deactivated. On 6 June 1974, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry was activated as an armor unit in 2d Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas.
On 16 October 1986, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry was reorganized as an armored cavalry squadron and redesignated the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry. As the divisional cavalry squadron for the 1st Cavalry Division, 1-7 Cavalry is the only unit in the division organized and trained for reconnaissance and security missions.
On 17 September 1990, the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry began deployment to Southwest Asia for participation in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Prior to deployment, the squadron was augmented with two ground troops from the 2d Armored Division, thus making 1-7 Cavalry the largest divisional cavalry squadron in the Army. The squadron was the first unit to screen along the Saudi Arabian - Iraqi border, the first to conduct reconnaissance missions into Iraq, and the first to engage the enemy with direct fire in the Wadi-Al-Batin area.
On 26 February, 1991, the GarryOwen Squadron, with its three ground and two air troops, led the division by charging into Iraq on a 250-Kilometer move in 24 hours. When the cease-fire came into effect on 28 February 1991, the squadron had overrun numerous dismounted defensive positions, captured equipment and over 500 prisoners, and destroyed a number of enemy vehicles.
Since returning from Southwest Asia in 1991, the squadron has reorganized again, receiving M1A1 "Abrams" tanks into the ground troops and making the third ground troop a permanent part of the squadron. The unit has participated in a Joint Task Force 6 drug interdiction mission along the Mexican border, numerous tactical training exercises, and live-fire gunneries. This training prepared the squadron for a highly successful rotation to the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California last March. As a permanent part of the Division's Ready Brigade, the squadron has been a key player in the division's transition to a rapid deployment contingency unit.
Throughout its history the 7th Cavalry Regiment has been awarded some 38 campaign streamers, 7 Presidential Unit Citations, 1 Valorous Unit Award, as well as having numerous Medal of Honor recipients.
The 2-7 Cavalry deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom 07 March 2004. The unit stationed at Camp Cooke, north of Baghdad on the Tigres River. Mission number one is to track down and detain/eliminate terrorists and other anti-coalition forces in our area of operations and the second - and the most painful - is to provide security for the Green Zone. The area of operation is probably about 30 miles from north to south and 5 miles from east to west. On the average day soldiers are getting shot at 2-3 times and have a mortar shot or grenade thrown about every other night. Somewhere around 750,000 Iraqi's live in the area so it makes it difficult figuring out the bad guys from the "good".
The other half of the mission is to show progress to the Iraqi people and try to improve the average mans live. The 2-7 Cavalry controled about 9 million dollars of reconstruction money and are using that to repair sewers, fix electricity issues, refurbish schools, and a whole host of other projects. Two biggest issues for them are security and seeing some progress. The The 2-7 Cavalry commander sits on two different District Councils (sort of like a city council) trying to teach them about democracy and how to address the issues of their districts. Commanders below him sit on neighborhood councils and those above him sit on the City Council. There are a total of 9 districts in Baghdad.
