2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division
"Warriors"
In July 2001 the Army announced that the 172nd Infantry Brigade (Separate) Forts Wainwright and Richardson, Alaska and the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Light), Schofield Barracks, Hawaii are among the next locations for the stationing of Interim Brigade Combat Teams (IBCTs) as a part of Army Transformation. These latest brigade transformations are conditional upon the outcome of an Army Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) that was completed in the fall of 2001.
The Interim Force, which will include the Alaska and Hawaii IBCTs, will be fielded with the Interim Armored Vehicle (IAV), a General Motors Light Armored Vehicle. The IAV, which weighs 19 tons and has 8 wheels will be C-130 transportable and will normally be able to operate without any further logistical support for three days once on the ground.
The IBCTs will feature significantly different organizations from the Army's current brigade configuration. Each will consist primarily of three infantry battalions, an artillery battalion and a reconnaissance battalion. The reconnaissance battalion, known as the RiSTA squadron (Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Targeting and Acquisition), will significantly increase the intelligence gathering capability of the brigade.
The new brigades will also include organic engineer, military intelligence and signal companies. Another significant change is that the companies of the infantry battalions will be combined arms teams, consisting primarily of infantry, mobile gun systems and mortars. Previously, Army companies and battalions were organized as pure tank or infantry units, then task organized based on mission requirements.
The 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division was originally constituted on 5 August 1917 in the National Army as Headquarters, 168th Infantry Brigade, as an organic element of the 84th Division. It organized on 25 August 1917 at Camp Zachary Taylor, KY. It was demobilized there in February 1919.
The unit was reconstituted on 24 June 1921 in the Organized Reserves as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 168th Infantry Brigade, as an organic element of the 84th Division (Redesignated as the 84th Infantry Division in 1942; 84th Airborne Division in 1948; and 84th Division in 1952). It organized in November 1921 in Northern Indiana.
It was redesignated on 23 February 1942 as the 3d Platoon, 84th Reconnaissance Troop, 84th Division. Concurrently HHC, 167th Infantry Brigade was redesignated as the 84th Recon Troop, 84th Division (less 3rd Platoon). It was ordered into active military service on 15 October 1942 and reorganized at Camp Howze, TX, at which point it was concurrently redesignated as the 84th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop. The unit was reorganized and redesignated on 12 August 1943 as the 84th Recon Troop Mechanized. It inactivated on 24 January 1946 at Camp Kilmer, NJ.
Redesignated on 19 December 1946 as the 84th Mechanized Reconnaissance Platoon, it activated on 11 June 1947 at Madison, WI. It was reorganized and redesignated on 6 April 1948 as the Reconnaissance Platoon, 84th Airborne Division. (The Organized Reserves were redesignated in 1948 as Organized Reserve Corps; in 1952 as Army Reserves).
It was reorganized and redesignated on 29 March 1951 as the 84th Airborne Reconnaissance Company and on 1 march 1952 as the 84th Reconnaissance Company; it concurrently relocated to Appleton, WI. This location changed on 18 May 1953 to Wausau, WI. The unit disbanded on 18 May 1959.
It was reconstituted on 29 April 1963, withdrawn from Army Reserve, allotted to the Regular Army, and relieved from assignment to the 84th Infantry Division which converted with the 3d Platoon redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 168th Infantry Brigade. Concurrently, the 84th Reconnaissance Company (less 3d Platoon) was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 167th Infantry Brigade (separate lineage).
Redesignated on 21 June 1963 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2d Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, it activated on 26 August 1963 in Hawaii.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
By October 2003 about 4,000 Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Aviation Brigade and the 45th Corps Support Group (Forward) were in Kuwait preparing for their year-long Operation Iraqi Freedom II rotation.
Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division (Light) convoyed more than 500 miles in a four-day period before arriving at their command posts in Northern Iraq in February 2004. The convoys, dubbed Operation Koa -- the Hawaiian word for "Warrior," which is the 2nd Brigade motto -- included about 600 vehicles in the journey from Kuwait to Kirkuk. Task Force Gimlet -- comprised of units from 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Bn., 11th Field Artillery Rgt., 125th Signal Bn., 125th Military Intelligence Bn., 25th Military Police Company, 225th Forward Support Bn., 1st Bn., 62nd Air Defense Artillery, 556th Personnel Service Bn., 65th Engineer Bn., 25th FA Detachment and Headquarters and Headquarters Co., 2nd Bde. -- began their convoy to Kirkuk Air Base 03 February 2004.
Located just outside the city of Kirkuk, about 140 miles north of Baghdad, Kirkuk Air Base is situated in the center of 2nd Brigade Combat Team's area of operations. To many Soldiers from the 2nd BCT supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom II it is home. Task Force 1-21 Infantry and support elements from 2nd BCT, including the brigade's headquarters are stationed there, where they conduct operations here and inside Kirkuk. When their duty day is completed, they rest and sleep in four-person containers.
The Army approved a Stryker Brigade Combat Team for Hawaii in June 2004, putting to end three years of speculation, environmental studies and debate. When it returns from its current Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) will begin the transformation into a more lethal fighting force, capable of deploying anywhere in the world in 96 hours. Lt. Gen. James Campbell, commander of U.S. Army Pacific, made the official announcement Wednesday at Fort Shafter. He said he signed the final record of decision to transform the 2nd Brigade to become a SBCT after reviewing the final Environmental Impact Statement, reading 2,000 concerns from the citizens of Hawaii who voiced their opinion during the public comment period, ensuring that the proper mitigation measures are in place or are planned, and then weighing the added effectiveness, readiness and protection for Soldiers the SBCT will bring to the Army. "We owe [Soldiers] the best possible training, the best possible equipment and the best possible technology not only to do their jobs for their country, but to protect their lives, and the Stryker Brigade does exactly that," Campbell said. Hawaii's SBCT will be the fifth of six planned SBCTs. The first two are based at Fort Lewis, Wash., and there will also be one each in Louisiana, Alaska and Pennsylvania.
