4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
"Warrior"

The mission of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, "Warrior," is to maintains balanced readiness and, on order deploy, fights to shape division battle space, and set the conditions for decisive victory. It would then facilitate rapid transition into the next operation.

The 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division was established on 16 December 2004, when the 4th Infantry Division became the Army's newest modular division. The Division reconfigured its 3 maneuver brigades and stood up the 4th Brigade Combat Team. In the modular design, combat support and combat service support functions, normally found at division level, were pushed down to the 4 brigades to create independently deployable formations.

Initially, the 4th Brigade Combat Team was organized as a heavy brigade combat team. The combat power of the brigade came primarily from M1 Abrams tanks, M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, and 155mm M109A6 Paladin Howitzers. The subordinate units organized within the 4th Brigade Combat Team included: 3-67th Armor, 1-12th Infantry, 8-10th Cavalry, 2-77th Field Artillery, the 704th Brigade Support Battalion, and a Special Troops Battalion.

When it was activated, the 4th Brigade Combat Team was the newest modular brigade in the Army, created as the service increased 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 2 life-cycled brigades in the 4th Infantry Division, had a minimum 3-year commitment to the unit. This meant that soldiers at the 4th Brigade Combat Team would be placed at least until 2007.

This manning concept was intended to create unit cohesion, enhance stability and provide predictable lifestyles for soldiers and their families. Under the plan, with training and the right leadership, the 4th Brigade Combat Team had the opportunity to greatly improve its ability to fight and win when called upon to do so. As the Army transformed into the modular BCTs, the potential to be more lethal, to deploy quicker and to be more agile as a total force was tremendous.

When it was activated, 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. The thing soldiers liked about the 3-year lifecycle was the predictability. The soldiers knew that for at least 3 years they were going to be in one unit. They were not going to PCS and they were not going anywhere else. During that time, they were going to stand up their unit. They were going to have a training cycle where they would hone up on the skills of the trade and from there they would deploy. The 3-year lifecycle management system was part of the Army's plan to convert from a division-based force to a brigade-based force.

In its May 2005 BRAC Recommendations, the US Department of Defense (DoD) recommended to realign Fort Hood, Texas, by relocating a Brigade Combat Team and Unit of Employment Headquarters to Fort Carson, Colorado. DoD's recommendation would relocate to Fort Carson, Colorado, a Heavy BCT that would be temporarily stationed at Fort Hood in FY06, and a Unit of Employment Headquarters. The Army was temporarily stationing a 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 6 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 that third BCT at Fort Carson. This relocation would never pay back because it involved 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.

As of 14 January 2006, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 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.

On 8 April 2008, the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division reflagged as the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado. This was part of a major US Army realignment that saw the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division reflag as the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas. As part of the transfer, the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division transformed from a heavy brigade combat team to an infantry brigade combat team. Two of the units from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division remained active and were not reflagged as part of the reorganization. These battalions were the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment. This reorganization consolidated the 2 active battalions of the 12th Infantry Regiment for the first time since 1995. The 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor and 8th Squadron, 10th Cavalry were not reactivated. The remaining units previously assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, 1-12th Infantry, 2-77th Field Artillery, and 704th Brigade Support Battalion, remained assigned to the brigade, but were reorganized to reflect the change to the infantry brigade combat team.