3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry)

3rd “Patriot” Brigade Combat Team, 36th Infantry Division (Light Infantry)
Combat service identification badge and distinctive unit insignia of the 36th Infantry Division
Active	February 2015 – present
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Brigade
Part of	36th Infantry Division
Garrison/HQ	Fort Polk, Louisiana
Nickname(s)	"Patriot Brigade"
Motto(s)	“Forged for War”
Mascot(s)	Patriot
Engagements	Operation Enduring Freedom Afghanistan

The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 36th Infantry Division ("Patriot Brigade") is an infantry brigade combat team of the United States Army based at Fort Polk, Louisiana. It has the lineage of the 10th Mountain Division, but now wears the patch of the 36th Infantry Division as the 36th's only Regular Army unit. Since its activation in 2004, the brigade has deployed four times to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2014, the brigade inactivated at Fort Drum, NY, and its infantry battalions were reassigned to other brigades while its special troops battalion, field artillery battalion, brigade support battalion and cavalry squadron were inactivated. The brigade reactivated at Fort Polk, LA in 2015 by reflagging the assets of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, which was inactivated. The infantry, cavalry and field artillery battalions of the 4th Brigade were reassigned to the 3rd Brigade.

The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI) was established in September 2004. The six subordinate battalions were first brought together in September 2004 with a specific mission, making them unique among other Army entities: to support Operation Enduring Freedom, which they would go on to do with four deployments to Afghanistan.

The 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment; 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment; 4th Battalion, 25th Artillery Regiment; 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment; 710th Brigade Support Battalion; and 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion were brought together to form the Spartans of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI). They served in both the Regional Command East and the Regional Command South areas of responsibility, a vast area of Afghanistan encompassing approximately 124,000 square miles of rugged and frequently hostile land.

They first deployed to Afghanistan in the winter of 2006 (Operation Enduring Freedom rotations VII and VIII), where they fought the Taliban in the mountainous terrain of the Afghan-Pakistani border. It was during this deployment that Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti, of 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, earned the Medal of Honor while protecting his soldiers from an overwhelming Taliban attack on his unit’s position. When the Spartan Brigade redeployed to Fort Drum after 16 months, the Afghan people nicknamed them “the Tribe of the Crossed Swords.”