204th Support Battalion
Forward Support Battalion"Rough Riders"
As of January, 2006, the 204th Support Battalion of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division was deployed to Forward Operating Base Duke, located in Najaf, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This was the second deployment of the 204th Support Battalion fulfilling the mission of maintaining war fighting readiness while providing combat service support to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized).
The 204th Forward Support Battalion was originally constituted as the 5th Sanitary Trains in November, 1917 at Camp Logan, Texas. During World War I, the unit fought in numerous battles and campaigns to include St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, Alsace 1918, and Lorraine 1918.
The unit was later reorganized and redesignated on 29 January, 1912, as the 5th Medical Regiment. The 5th Medical Regiment was inactivated in August 1921 at Camp Jackson, South Carolina. On March 29, 1940, the 5th Medical Regiment was redesignated as the 5th Medical Battalion. The 5th Medical Battalion was assigned 1 July, 1940, to the 4th Infantry "Ivy" Division (later redesignated the 4th Infantry Division) and activated at Fort Benning, Georgia as the 4th Medical Battalion.
The unit was reorganized and redesignated on 7 July, 1942, as the 4th Medical Battalion, Motorized, and then again on 4 August,, 1943, as the 4th Medical Battalion. During World War II, the battalion fought on the beaches of Normandy and Northern France, through the Rhineland, into Ardenne-Alsace and Central Europe. The 4th Medical Battalion was inactivated 21 February, 1946, at Camp Butner, North Carolina. The unit was again reactivated on 6 July, 1948, at Fort Ord, California.
On 1 May, 1987, the unit was converted and redesignated as the 204th Forward Support Battalion and activated at Fort Carson, Colorado, as an element of the 4th Infantry Division. The unit finally inactivated on 15 December, 1989, at Fort Carson, Colorado. The 204th Forward Support Battalion was reborn on 15 December, 1995, at Fort Hood, Texas. On December 16th, 2004, as part of the Army's modular transformation, the 204th Forward Support Battalion was redesignated the 204th Support Battalion and assigned exclusively to 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division.
