26th Forward Support Battalion
The mission of the 26th Forward Support Battalion is to deploy rapidly to a contingency area by air, land, and sea to request, receive, and issue supplies to the 2d Brigade Combat Team in the conduct of mobile, combined arms offensive and defensive operations worldwide. The 26th Forward Support Battalion was originally constituted in the regular army on 1 May 1936 as the 1st Battalion, 26th Quartermaster Regiment. On 1 April 1942, the unit was reorganized and redesignated to the 1st Battalion, 26th Quartermaster Truck Regiment.
During World War II, the Battalion participated in five campaigns; Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe, and Asiatic-Pacific. Following World War II, the Battalion was inactivated in Okinawa on 30 April, 1946. After several activations, redesignations, and inactivations, the battalion was converted and redesignated on 1 May 1987 as the 26th Support Battalion, assigned to the 3d Infantry Division (Mechanized) and activated in Germany.
In November of 1990, the 26th Support Battalion was called upon to deploy to the Persian Gulf in support of the 3d Brigade, 3d Infantry Division (Mechanized). The Marne Division’s 3d Brigade served as the 1st Armored Division’s tip of the spear when the VII Corps began its movement into Iraq. Moving over 250 kilometers in 87 hours, the 3d Brigade outflanked the Iraqi Talakaha and Medina Republican Guard Divisions. During the Persian Gulf War, the 26th Support Battalion received battle credits for the defense of Saudi Arabia, the liberation and defense of Kuwait, and the Cease-Fire.
The colors of the 26th Support Battalion were cased in the Republic of Germany in April 1996, and brought to the 3d Infantry Division’s new home at Fort Stewart on 30 April 1996, as part of the division reflagging.
The 26th Support Battalion also supported back-to-back Intrinsic Action rotations in Kuwait from 1998 to 1999 in support of the 2d Brigade Combat Team of the 3ID(M). During these rotations the unit also prepared to support Operation Desert Fox amid the Kuwaiti desert. Continuing its proud tradition of providing uninterrupted logistical support to the 3ID(M), the 26th Support Battalion formed a Logistics Task Force in support of the Division’s Multinational Division (North) peacekeeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina from September 2000 to March 2001.
The 26th Support Battalion deployed on a six month rotation to Kuwait in support of Operation Desert Spring in September 2002 until March 2003. On 21 March 2003 26th Forward Support Battalion was called upon to support the 2d Brigade Combat Team on the road march to Baghdad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The battalion once again proved itself to willing and ready for combat. Soldiers of the 26th Forward Support Battalion stand willing and able to deploy rapidly and support the Spartan Brigade of the Marne Division with every facet of combat service support.
