31st Cavalry Regiment (United States)

31st Cavalry Regiment
31st Cavalry coat of arms
Active	1821–60, 1860–65, 1874, 1898, 1916–17, 1921–42, 1942–60, 1973–2005
Country	United States
Branch	Army
Type	Cavalry
Nickname(s)	"Super Quick Cav" (old)
Motto(s)	"Celer et Non Visi" (Swift and Unseen)
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia

The 31st Cavalry is a historical organization within the United States Army and the Alabama Army National Guard that began as a Troop of Cavalry under "The Alabama Militia Law of 1820". The unit was constituted on 24 July 1821 in the Alabama Militia as the 1st Regiment Cavalry Troop at Jackson, Alabama

The last unit to fly a guidon with a 31st Cavalry designation was Troop E, 31st Cavalry, of the Alabama Army National Guard in Sylacauga, Alabama from 1973 to 2005. Troop E was formed in 1973 without an official history. It was created as a new unit to be the reconnaissance for the recently formed 31st Armored Brigade. When E-Troop of the 31st Cavalry was created, no one bothered to document the correct history of the unit. There was an unofficial and incorrect history done that attempted to trace the history of Troop E, 31st Cavalry, but that version would more correctly be titled a history of units that occupied the armory in Sylacauga, Alabama, - and not a history of the 31st Cavalry and its lineage. Because the 31st Armored Brigade traced its history and lineage from the former 31st Infantry Division, that history makes the 31st Cavalry a direct lineal descendent of the earlier 31st Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop of the 31st Infantry Division.

The 31st Infantry Division was originally created in 1917, and after service in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War, it was later deactivated in 1968 as a part of a Department of Defense budget restructuring in order to make funds available to modernize several other National Guard Divisions. From 1968 until 1974 the Alabama units that had formerly been assigned to the 31st Infantry Division were transferred to the 30th Armor Division. In 1974 the 31st Separate Armor Brigade was formed, and in consequence, they became the inheritors of the 31st Division lineage. Upon the creation of the new 31st Brigade, they drew their manpower from the Alabama units that had previously been a part of the 31st Infantry Division. "E" Troop is specifically named in the Order of Battle for the 31st Armor Brigade, dating from 2005, back to the Brigades inception in 1974. The "official" lineage of E Troop / 31st Cavalry states that it was constituted on 1 November 1973, however, its lineage traces much further back into history. Prior to the 1973-4 creation of the 31st Cavalry, and its parent organization the 31st Armored Brigade, the 31st Infantry Division "order of battle" doesn't list a specific "31st Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop" until prior to 1960. During the period, from 1960, until the disbandment of the division in 1968: the reconnaissance mission for the 31st Infantry Division was first assigned to the 2nd Reconnaissance Squadron, 198th Armor (MSARNG); and in 1965 to that unit's later incarnation as the 1st Squadron, 98th Cavalry (MSARNG) and in 1973 to the still later incarnation as A Troop / 98th Cavalry (MSARNG) now located in Louisville, Mississippi. While A Troop / 98th Cavalry, of the 155th Armor Brigade does claim the lineage of having once been the reconnaissance asset of the former 31st Infantry Division from 1960 to '68, ... their own unit history ends further historical lineage by tying their history to the 750th Tank Battalion (with Headquarters in Greenville) as created in 1959. Alabama‘s "E Troop" is in no way lineal descended from Mississippi's 98th Cavalry, but is more akin to a prodigal brother, who after an absence of about 14 years had resumed the 31st's reconnaissance mission after the 1968 demise of the 31st Infantry Division, and the 1974 creation of the 31st Brigade.