4th Brigade - 4th Infantry Division (Mech)
As of January 14th, 2006, 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, took control of Forward Operating Base Prosperity, located in Baghdad, from 4th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. Their mission included training Iraqi Security Forces and maintaining security within the central and southern regions of the Iraqi capital.
The Fourth Brigade Combat Team was established on 16 December, 2004, when the 4th Infantry Division became the Army's newest modular division. The division reconfigured its three maneuver brigades and stood up the 4th Brigade Combat Team.
The Fourth Brigade (Iron Eagles) Combat Team maintains balanced readiness; on order deploys; fights to shape division battle space and set the conditions for decisive victory; sustains the BCT to facilitate rapid transition into the next operation.
The Fourth Brigade Combat Team was organized on the basis of the 4th Aviation Brigade. Constituted 1 April 1957, in the Regular Army as the 4th Aviation Company, assigned to the 4th Infantry Division, and activated at FT Lewis, Washington. Reorganized and redesignated 1 October 1963 as Headquarters Company, 4th Aviation Battalion.
The 4th Aviation Battalion distinguished itself in support of military operations in the Republic of Vietnam during the period 1 December 1967 through 31 May 1968. During this period, the battalion supported combat operations from Ban Me Thout and the VC Valley to Dak Pek and staging areas of the Cambodian border. Further, with the installation of Xenon searchlights on numerous helicopters, they denied the enemy the opportunity to move during hours of darkness, significantly hampering the capability of the North Vietnam/Viet Cong forces, which had far-reaching effects throughout the theater. Realizing the importance of civic action to the ultimate success of the war effort, the soldiers of the battalion organized a vigorous civic action program and voluntarily conducted medical treatment clinics and renovated the Plei Do Lim school. The battalion was inactivated on 4 December 1970 at FT Lewis, Washington.
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Aviation Battalion, redesignated 21 November 1972 as the Aviation Company , 4th Infantry Division, and activated at FT Carson, Colorado. B Company and A Company, 4th Aviation Battalion were activated 17 March 1980 and 16 March 1982 respectively. The 4th Aviation Brigade was constituted 1 September 1986 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, FT Carson, Colorado. 16 August 1987, A Company reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation. At the same time B Company reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 2d Battalion, 4th Aviation, as an element of the 8th Infantry Division. It later inactivated on 15 November 1990 in Germany and was relieved from assignment to the 8th Infantry Division.
In 1995 the 2nd Armor Division reflagged as the 4th Infantry Division and the 4th Aviation Brigade relocated it's Headquarters to FT Hood, Texas. On 15 March 1996 the 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry consolidated with the 4th Reconnaissance Company, redesignated as the 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry, and activated at FT Hood, Texas. The 4th Brigade currently consists of the 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment (Attack), the 2d Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment (General Support) and the 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry.
In the modular design, combat support and combat service support functions, normally found at division level, have been pushed down to the four brigades to create independently deployable formations.
The combat power of the brigade comes primarily from Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and 155mm Paladin Howitzers. The subordinate units organized within the 4th Brigade Combat Team include: 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor; 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry; 8th Squadron, 10th Cavalry; and 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery. Additional battalions attached to support the new brigadecombat team are the 704th Support Battalion and the 4th Brigade Combat Team Special Troops Battalion.
The 4th Brigade Combat Team is the newest brigade in the Army, created as the service increases its active brigades from 33 to 43. As part of the new life-cycle management concept, soldiers assigned to 4th Brigade Combat Team - one of two life-cycled brigades in the division - have a minimum three-year commitment to the unit. This manning concept will create unit cohesion, enhance stability and provide predictable lifestyles for soldiers and their families.
The 4th Brigade Combat Team was receiving about 100 soldiers per week and was initially 1,700 soldiers strong; the unit expected to be fully manned with about 3,700 troops by March 2005.
As the 4th Brigade transformed into the Army's new modular brigade structure, the soldiers benefited from a three-year lifecycle management system, which helps stabilize the brigade. The lifecycle management system allows soldiers to be locked into a unit for the operational cycle of that organization. Soldiers at the 4th Brigade Combat Team will be placed at least until 2007.
The thing soldiers like about the three year lifecycle is predictability. The soldiers know that for three years they are going to be in this unit. They're not going to PCS, and they're not going anywhere else. They're going to be right here. And during that time, they are going to stand up their unit. They're going to have a training cycle where we're going to hone up on the skills of our trade and from there they'll deploy. The three-year lifecycle management system is part of the Army's plan to convert from a division-based force to a brigade-based force.
With training and the right leadership, Beech said, 4th Brigade Combat Team has the opportunity to greatly improve its ability to fight and win when called upon to do so. Imagine the power of an organization that's together, training, for three years. As the Army transforms into these BCTs, the potential to be more lethal, to deploy quicker and to be more agile as a total force is tremendous.
The new brigade combat teams accomplished this in part by featuring combined arms battalions within each unit. These brigades could rapidly deploy and can be employed by a variety of different formations. As such, they are very powerful organizations.
In its May 2005 BRAC Recommendations, DoD recommended to realign Fort Hood, TX, by relocating a Brigade Combat Team (BCT) and Unit of Employment (UEx) Headquarters to Fort Carson, CO. DoD's recommendation would relocate to Fort Carson, CO, a Heavy BCT that would be temporarily stationed at Fort Hood in FY06, and a Unit of Employment Headquarters. The Army was temporarily stationing this BCT to Fort Hood in FY06 due to operational necessity and to support current operational deployments in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). However, based on the BRAC analysis, Fort Hood did not have sufficient facilities and available maneuver training acreage and ranges to support six permanent heavy BCTs and numerous other operational units stationed there. Fort Carson had sufficient capacity to support these units. The Army previously obtained approval from the Secretary of Defense to temporarily station a third BCT at Fort Carson in FY05. Due to Fort Carson’s capacity, the BRAC analysis indicated that the Army should permanently station this third BCT at Fort Carson. This relocation would never pay back because it involves the relocation of a newly activated unit. No permanent facilities existed to support the unit. DoD's review of community infrastructure attributes revealed no significant issues regarding the ability of the community to support forces, missions, and personnel. When moving activities from Fort Hood to Fort Carson, one attribute would improve (Population Center) and one (Education) would not be as robust.
