Australian 2nd Cavalry Regiment

2nd Cavalry Regiment
Cap badge of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment
Active	1965 – Present
Country	Australia
Branch	Army
Type	Armoured Cavalry Regiment
Size	One regiment
Part of	3rd Brigade
Garrison/HQ	Townsville, Queensland
Motto(s)	Courage
March	Quick – Garry Owen/The Girl I left Behind Me Slow – Song of Joy
Mascot(s)	Australian wedge tailed eagle
Anniversaries	31 October – Beersheba Day 20 November – Regimental Birthday
Commanders
Colonel-in-Chief	HRH The Prince of Wales (Colonel-in-Chief, RAAC)
Insignia
Unit Colour Patch

The 2nd Cavalry Regiment (2 CAV) is an armoured cavalry regiment of the Australian Army. The second most senior regiment in the Royal Australian Armoured Corps, the regiment was part of the 1st Brigade based in Darwin in the Northern Territory. In late 2014 the regiment was transferred to the 3rd Brigade, and is now based in Townsville in Queensland. The unit is equipped with M1A1 tanks, ASLAV light armoured vehicles, and M113 armoured personnel carriers.

The regiment was formed in 1965 as the "1st Cavalry Regiment" through the regimentation of two regular squadrons that had formed part of two Citizens Military Force regiments. A Squadron was formed from A Squadron, 4th/19th Prince of Wales's Light Horse, while B Squadron was formed from A Squadron, 2nd/14th Queensland Mounted Infantry.

These two squadrons initially had no Regimental Headquarters or HQ Squadron. However, with reorganisation of the RAAC came both an RHQ and a new name. RHQ and HQ Sqn formed at Gallipoli Lines, Holsworthy on 20 November 1970. In order to avoid confusion, it was decided that the armoured regiments of the regular army would be numbered sequentially; 1st Armoured Regiment was the most senior, so 1st Cavalry was renamed 2nd Cavalry Regiment. When first formed, the regiment consisted of a reconnaissance squadron and an armoured personnel carrier squadron. This continued until 1976, when the Royal Australian Regiment took on a mechanised role, leaving 2nd Cavalry Regiment to concentrate on the reconnaissance role. In 1992, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment moved from Holsworthy to Darwin in the Northern Territory, being the first unit of the 1st Brigade to do so.