172nd Infantry Brigade (United States)

172d Infantry Brigade
172d Infantry Brigade shoulder sleeve insignia
Active	5 August 1917 – 15 April 1986 17 April 1998 – 15 December 2006 17 March 2008 – 31 May 2013
Country	United States
Allegiance	Active duty
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry Brigade
Role	Mechanized Infantry
Size	Brigade
Part of	V Corps
Garrison/HQ	Grafenwöhr, Germany
Nickname(s)	"Blackhawk Brigade" formerly Snow Hawks (Special Designation)
Motto(s)	Caveat – "Let Him Beware"
Colors	Black and Bronze
Engagements	World War II Operation Iraqi Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom
Insignia
Combat Service Identification Badge

The 172nd Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the United States Army headquartered at Grafenwöhr, Germany. An active duty separate brigade, it was part of V Corps and was one of five active-duty, separate, combat brigades in the U.S. Army before its most recent inactivation on 31 May 2013.

First activated in 1917, the brigade was deployed to France during World War I and used to reinforce front-line units. The brigade's actions in France during that time are not completely clear. It would later be converted to a reconnaissance unit that was deployed during World War II and saw several months of combat in the European Theater. The brigade has multiple tours of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2005 until 2006 and from 2008 until 2010 and in Operation Enduring Freedom from 2011 until 2012. Its infamous 16-month deployment was one of the longest deployments for a unit serving in the OIF campaign. Most recently the brigade served a 12-month tour in Afghanistan from 2011 until 2012.

The unit has been activated and inactivated numerous times, and has also seen several redesignations. The 172nd was one of the first brigade combat teams before it was deactivated in 2006. Reactivated in 2008 from another reflagged unit, it immediately prepared for another tour of duty in Iraq. Following a series of budget cuts and force structure reductions, the unit formally inactivated on 31 May 2013 in Grafenwöhr, Germany.

The brigade was a separate unit and did not report to a higher division-level headquarters, but instead reported directly to the V Corps of United States Army Europe. It consisted of six battalions and four companies. These components included two infantry battalions, one armor battalion, one field artillery battalion, a combat engineer battalion and a support services battalion. It also contained a headquarters company, a Signal company, a military intelligence company, and an armored cavalry company for reconnaissance.