2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division
| 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division | |
|---|---|
2nd Brigade logo
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| Active | 1917 – present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Nickname(s) | "Black Jack Brigade" |
The 2d Brigade Combat Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (the "Black Jack Brigade") is a cavalry unit of the United States Army based in Fort Hood, Texas.
The history of the 2nd “Black Jack” Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division can be traced to 29 August 1917, when it was first constituted in the Regular Army as Headquarters, 2nd Cavalry Brigade. It was organized on 27 December 1917 at Fort Bliss, Texas, as an element of the 15th Cavalry Division. The brigade’s early years consisted of rigorous training and patrolling of the Mexican border. Operating from horseback, the cavalry was ideal for fighting in the harsh desert terrain. It was relieved on 12 May 1918 from assignment and demobilized on 9 July 1919 at Fort Bliss, Texas. It was reconstituted on 20 August 1921 in the Regular Army as Headquarters, 2nd Cavalry Brigade and assigned as a member of the 1st Cavalry Division. The unit was organized on 14 September 1921 at Fort Bliss, Texas. At that time, subordinate units consisted of the 2nd Machine Gun Squadron, the 7th Cavalry Regiment, and 8th Cavalry Regiment.
In February 1943, the 2nd Brigade was alerted for an overseas assignment as a dismounted infantry unit assigned to the Pacific theater. The Black Jack Brigade’s first WWII combat duty occurred in the 1944 Admiralty Island campaign. In three months of hard fighting they seized the islands of Los Negros, Hauwei, Butjo Luo, and Manus, and alongside the 1st Brigade, destroyed a force of over Japanese. The newly secured islands provided a strategically vital offensive base for Allied air and naval power, from which they could disrupt enemy supply lanes in a 1,500-mile (2,400 km) radius and provide critical support for the Allied advance during the invasion of the Philippines.
The Black Jack Brigade was called upon again during the liberation of the Philippines, where the brigade fought in both the Leyte and Luzon campaigns. On 20 October 1944, 2nd Brigade soldiers were among the first to storm the beaches of Leyte in what was the largest amphibious operation to date in the Pacific theater. Their contributions led to a victory that would prove to be decisive in the battle for the Philippines.
On 9 January 1945, the 2nd Brigade then participated in the invasion of Luzon, the largest of the Philippines Islands. The brigade was the first into Manilla, liberating the Philippine Capital and freeing over 4000 civilians from enemy prison camps. The conquest of Leyte and Luzon were vital to operations in the Pacific, as they denied critical resources to the enemy and provided a staging area from which assaults in the Japanese home islands could be launched. The brigade left Luzon in August 1945 for occupation duty in Japan, becoming the first Allied unit to enter the city of Tokyo. The brigade was inactivated on 25 March 1949 and relieved from assignment to the 1st Cavalry Division.
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