4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division "Spartan"
The mission of the 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division is to build, transform, train, deploy, and employ an Airborne Brigade Combat Team that is capable of conducting forcible entry and full spectrum operations anywhere in the world. The brigade consists of the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry, 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry, 2nd Battalion, 377th Field Artillery, Special Troops Battalion 4th Brigade, 167th Support Battalion and Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 4th Brigade. All units are on Airborne (parachute) status.
The 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), United States Army Alaska at Fort Richardson, is the newest airborne formation in the Army. The 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division (Light) was stood up in an activaiton ceremony 14 July 2005.
As part of its largest restructuring since World War II, the Army announced its plan for stationing its active component modular Brigade Combat Teams 27 July 2005. The plan includes new organizations being formed and other units being returned from overseas locations. The return of the overseas units adds up to 50,000 Soldiers and 150,000 family members being brought back to bases in the United States. In the end state, the number of active modular BCTs will increase from 33 to 43, enhancing the active Army’s combat power by 30 percent.
Fort Richardson’s fast growth has led to a shortage of barracks space for single Soldiers assigned to Alaska, a situation the Army is addressing with temporary modular structures while new buildings are being constructed. Although Fort Richardson saw the departure of the approximately 700 Soldiers who make up the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment in 2005, the post had a net gain of 2,000 Soldiers by the fall of 2005.
The 4th Bn. 23rd Inf. joined the rest of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright when they returned from their deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom. The new personnel will be part of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division. The entire airborne brigade is stationed at Fort Richardson.
The 1st Battalion, 501st (Airborne), already at Fort Richardson, is the nucleus for the 4-25th, which by 2006 will encompass more than 3,500 Soldiers. To accommodate this influx of new personnel, Fort Richardson will have the first of 129 temporary modular barracks and offices in place by this fall. Seventy-six of the buildings, which are expected to be in use up to seven years, will be for six-Soldier barracks.
