125th Brigade Support Battalion
125th Forward Support Battalion

In March 2008, the 125th Forward Support Battalion was inactivated along with the rest of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division. The 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division was reflagged as the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. The 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division was subsequently reorganized and redesignated as the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and reactivated at Fort Bliss, Texas. The 125th Forward Support Battalion was reorganized and redesignated as the 125th Brigade Support Battalion and subsequently reactivated as part of the reorganized brigade in July 2009.

Prior to the transformation under the US Army's modular force structure, the 125th Forward Support Battalion's mission had been to safely deploy, with or without equipment, protect the force, support the building of combat power, and provide combat service support to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team (not to be confused with the modular brigade combat team), and redeploys.

The 125th Forward Support Battalion was first constituted in 1936 at the 3rd Battalion, 49th Quartermaster Regiment and activated on 1 April 1942 at Berkeley, California, as the 3rd Battalion, 49th Quartermaster Truck Regiment. The 3rd Battalion was broken up and separated in 1943 and its element reorganized and redesignated. On 17 December 1943, the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 3rd Battalion, 49th Quartermaster Truck Regiment was redesignated as the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 125th Quartermaster Battalion, Mobile. In 1946, the Battalion was converted to the 125th Transportation Corps Truck Battalion and inactivated. Soldiers of the 125th Forward Support Battalion participated in the following campaigns during World War II: Naple-Foggia, Anzio, Rome-Arno, North Apennines and Po-Valley. The unit was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) during World War II for service in Italy.

The unit was reactivated in Germany in 1955 and redesignated in 1957 as the 125th Transportation Battalion. While in Germany, the unit was inactivated in 1959, activated in 1962 and deactivated in 1965. On 1 May 1987, the unit was reactivated as the reorganized and redesignated 125th Forward Support Battalion in Germany along with its organic A, B, and C companies. The 125th was assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division. The 125th Forward Support Battalion was temporarily moved to Fort Lewis, Washington and deactivated in 1995. The unit had served in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm during late 1990 and early 1991. There the unit had recieved a Valorous Unit Award for participation in Operation Desert Storm.

It was not until 16 February 1996 that the 125th Forward Support Battalion, along with the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division found a home at Fort Riley, Kansas. At that time, the 596th Signal Company was attached to the 125th, allowing the Battalion to provide logistics support, maintenance support, medical support and communication support for the entire Brigade.

In 2005, a law was passed outlining various transitions in military basing throughout the United States and abroad. This, coupled with the drawdown of US forces in Germany, saw the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division inactivated at Fort Riley in March 2008, along with the 125th Forward Support Battalion. The units of the brigade were reflagged as the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. As part of the modular transformation, support elements previously held at division level, but habitually assigned to maneuver brigades during operations, such as forward support battalions, were made organic to the brigades. The 125th Forward Support Battalion was reorganized and redesignated as the 125th Brigade Support Battalion before being reactivated in July 2009 at Fort Bliss, Texas, assigned to the reorganized and redesiganted 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division.