6th Cavalry Brigade (Air Combat) (EABH)
Silent Thunder
The 8th U.S. Army’s Multi-Functional Aviation Brigade (MFAB) was officially formed as the 2nd Aviation Brigade -- 16 June 2005 marked the activation the 2nd Multi-Functional Aviation Brigade (MFAB). The newly consolidated aviation unit includes Apache Longbow attack helicopters, UH-60 Blackhawk utility helicopters, CH-47 Chinook medium lift helicopters and manages the Eighth Army C-12 Huron (fixed wing aircraft) detachment. The 8th U.S. Army aviation took a big step by transforming its brigades into multifunction aviation brigades when elements of the 17th Aviation Brigade consolidated with the 3-6 Attack Helicopter Battalion from the 6th Cavalry Brigade. The 6th Cavalry cased its colors, but the spirit lived on in each trooper who will carry it forward to the MFAB.
The 6th Cavalry Brigade was organized in 1861 and participated in 16 Civil War campaigns. After the Civil War, the 6th CAV moved west and spent thirty years policing the frontier. The regiment took part in the assault on San Juan Hill with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders in 1898 and was later deployed to China and the Philippines. Following return to the United States, the unit patrolled the Mexican border and was sent into Mexico as part of the Punitive Expedition to capture Pancho Villa.
The unit deployed to France during World War I where it served in the rear echelon. After the war, the unit returned to Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga. until 1942 when it turned in the last of its horses and was later reorganized as the 6th Cavalry Group, Mechanized and the 6th and 28th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadrons. Deploying to Europe in 1944, they took part in five campaigns and performed occupation duties in Germany becoming the 6th Armored Cavalry in 1948.
The 6th ARC returned to Fort Knox, Ky from 1957 until it was deactivated in 1963. Reactivated in 1967 the regiment was redesignated at the 6th Cavalry Brigade (Air Combat) in 1973. Sixth Cavalry Brigade Headquarters moved its flag to Korea in 1996 and gained the 1st Squadron, 6th Cavalry Brigade and the 1st Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery. The 1st Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery moved its flag under the 35th Air Defense Brigade in December 2004.
The mission of the 6th Cavalry Brigade was to conduct Attack Helicoper Operations as the reserve for the CINC CFC in support of his campaign plan. They provide the warfighting capabilities within Area III. 6th CAV is headquartered at Camp Humphreys. The 1st and 3rd Squadrons consist of AH-64 Attack Helicopters and are located at Cps Eagle and Humphreys. The 1st Bn, 43rd Air Defense Artillery (PATRIOT) is attached to the Brigade and defends the skies from battle positons across the penninsula. Camp Eagle is the most modern and newest installation within the Republic of Korea and supports the 1st Squadron, 6th Cavalry, 6th Cavalry Brigade. Other units at Camp Eagle include G-52, 194th Maintenance Company [which provides direct support of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division], 607th Weather Squadron OLB DET 2 USAF, 520th Maintenance Company (MST), and Lockheed Martin.
Operational fires are distinct from fire support. They are planned "top down" to accomplish operational objectives. The Army operational-level commander is the critical link for coordination of joint support for Army operations and Army support for joint operations. The manning, training and equipping of an in-place deep operations division within G3 delivers the required capability to prosecute the Army commander's role in counterfire with C2 and battlefield visualization techniques that mesh the doctrinal deep operations pieces together. This plan uses the 6th Cavalry Brigade's Apache helicopters, as well as the fire control elements at the Hardened Tactical Air Coordination Center at Osan Air Base, supporting US corps and divisions and the ROK First and Third armies. Additionally, there is a newly capable Deep Operations Coordination Center that is responsible for situational awareness, controlling and targeting.
In late 1995 the 6th Cavalry Brigade received orders to move its flag from Fort Hood to the Republic of Korea. This move was accomplished in July of 1996. The 6th Cavalry Brigade stood up its headquarters at Camp Humphreys, Korea on 24 July 1996. To augment the Brigade, the 5-501st Attack Helicopter Battalion was redesignated as 1st Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 6th Cavalry Brigade in July of 1996.
In December 1996, the 1st Battalion 43rd Air Defense Artillery was assigned to the brigade. This last addition to the brigade creates a unique organization that provides the Commander in Chief, United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and United States Forces Korea with critical force protection assets, as well as, lethal deep strike capability.
As of early 2001 there were 48 Apaches in South Korea. The third Korea-based unit of 24 craft [1st Battalion / 2nd Aviation Rgt] returned in late 2001 from the United States with an upgraded version of the attack helicopter. In the Korean theater, the three Apache battalions are dedicated to missions critical to the OPLAN: support of 2d Infantry Division operations (1-2 Aviation), and anti-special operations forces (anti-SOF) and deep attack operations (1-6 and 3-6 Cavalry). Although the DPRK Scud Belt is within range of Combined Forces Command (CFC) attack helicopters, it is highly unlikely that an attack helicopter battalion will be dedicated solely to Theater Missile Defense [TMD] operations due to prioritization. Given the combat power of these attack helicopter units and the criticality of their assigned missions, the likelihood that one of these essential missions will be replaced by TMD is exceedingly slim.
Apache pilots of the 6th Cavalry Brigade at Camp Humphreys near Pyongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, fly several hundred hours a year -- twice as much as Apache pilots in the United States. During night training, Apache crews often fly at 225 kilometers an hour among islets off South Korea's east and west coasts, 40 meters above the water.
The 1st Cavalry Division 'Warfighter' exercise is a simulated scenario that tests the coordination and synchronization of moving units, which includes 1-6th from Camp Eagle and 3-6th Cavalry Brigade from Camp Humphreys, and the 1st Cavalry Division and III Corps out of Fort Hood, Texas, for a 'deep attack'. The operations are conducted from the 6th Cavalry Brigade Tactical Operations Center, in communication with Fort Hood. During all situations, 6th Cavalry Brigade acts as the subordinate unit for III Corps during the "war". The Deep Operations Coordination Cell controls the movement of the three 'attack' helicopter squadrons (Apaches), one air assault helicopter squadron (Blackhawks), and one medium-lift helicopter battalion (Chinooks) through the Corps Battle Simulation system.
Organized in 1861, the 3rd Cavalry (redesignated in August 1861 as the 6th Cavalry) took to the field in March 1862 as part of the Army of the Potomac. The Regiment served in sixteenth campaigns, among them Antietam, Gettysburg, the Wilderness Campaign, and Appomattox. After the war, the 6th Cavalry moved west, spending more than thirty years in frequent skirmishes with Indians. In 1898 the 6th Cavalry Regiment took part in the assault on San Juan Hill alongside the "Rough Riders" of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. In 1990, the 6th departed for China as part of the relief expedition, returning to the United States in 1903. In 1907, the Regiment posted its colors in the Philippines, and in 1910 the 6th Cavalry returned to the United States to patrol the Mexican border. The 6th Cavalry was sent into Mexico as part of the Punitive Expedition of 1916-1917, in order to help capture Pancho Villa. In the spring of 1918, the Regiment sailed for France, serving in the rear echelon during World War I. Upon its return from France in 1919, the 6th Cavalry went to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, where it was stationed for the next twenty-three years.
Partially mechanized in the late 1930s, the 6th Cavalry turned in the reminder of its horses in 1942. It became known as "Patton's Household Cavalry", and was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation (Army). When hostilities ceased, the Group and Squadrons performed occupational duties in Germany. On 20 December 1948, the former 6th Cavalry Regiment was reorganized and redesignated as the 6th Armored Cavalry. The Regiment returned to the United States from Germany in 1957 during Operation Gyroscope, and was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Inactivated in 1963, the Regiment reactivated four years latter at Fort Meade, Maryland, where it served through 1971 when it was again inactivated.
In the summer of 1974, the Army decided to implement one of the recommendations of the Howze Board, and created an air cavalry combat brigade. The 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, Commanded by Colonel Charles D. Canedy, was redesignated as the 6th Cavalry Brigade (Air Combat). The 6th Cavalry Group. While at Hood, the brigade was a test bed for new concepts involving the employment of attack helicopters on the modern battlefield. In the fall of 1990 two of the brigade's subordinate units were deployed on Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
In late 1995, the 1st and 4th Squadrons were again deactivated, leaving only the 3rd Squadron at Fort Hood.
