4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division (United States)

4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) 25th Infantry Division
4th BCT(A), 25th ID shoulder sleeve insignia
Active	2005 – present
Country	United States of America
Branch	U.S. Army
Type	Airborne
Part of	United States Army Alaska
Garrison/HQ	Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska
Nickname(s)	Spartans
Motto(s)	"Sparta Lives"
Engagements	Operation Iraqi Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Joint Guardian
Commanders
Current commander	COL Paul Larson
Insignia
Brigade flash
Brigade background trimming

The 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division is an airborne infantry brigade combat team of the United States Army. The unit is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska and is the only airborne brigade combat team in the Pacific Theater. It is also the newest airborne brigade combat team and one of only five in the United States Army; the others are the three brigade combat teams of the 82nd Airborne Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.

United States Army Alaska is the brigade's next higher command, not the 25th Infantry Division which is headquartered in Hawaii. The brigade, along with 1st Brigade Combat Team (Stryker), 25th Infantry Division, which is also stationed in Alaska, share in the history of the 25th Infantry Division, but are not subordinate to the division; the chain of command goes direct from United States Army Alaska to United States Army Pacific.

The 4th Brigade was first organized in December 1969, to replace the 29th Infantry Brigade, a Hawaii Army National Guard unit that was being released from active duty. After barely a year, the brigade was inactivated and reflagged as the 1st Brigade when that unit returned from Vietnam.

In 2004, the United States Army announced the Army Modernization Plan, intended to restructure the U.S. Army by creating new modular brigade combat teams. A new airborne brigade combat team at Fort Richardson, Alaska was included as part of the restructuring. The new brigade was established as the fourth brigade under the lineage of the 25th Infantry Division and the first new U.S. airborne unit created since the end of World War II. The 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment (Airborne) then operating as a battalion task force and located at Fort Richardson was consolidated with the new brigade. The battalion served as a flagship unit, providing senior personnel and a training cadre for the other units of the brigade. On 14 July 2005 the brigade was officially constituted at the athletic fields of Buckner Field House, with COL Michael X. Garrett becoming the first brigade commander. At the ceremony, he officially christened the "Spartan Brigade" with the new motto "Sparta Lives."