155th Armored Brigade Combat Team

155th Armored Brigade Combat Team
155th ABCT shoulder sleeve insignia
Active1951–present
CountryUnited States
BranchUnited States Army National Guard
TypeArmored Brigade Combat Team
SizeBrigade
Motto(s)"Dixie Thunder!"
Commanders
Current
commander		Lieutenant Colonel (P) Michael Dykes
Command Sergeant MajorDwight Brown
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia
Air Assault School—slingload training (1:02)
The 155th ABCT conduct slingload training as part of phase 2 of Air Assault School at Camp Buehring, Kuwait

The 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team is a brigade combat team of the Mississippi Army National Guard.

The brigade was formed in 1973 as the separate 155th Armored Brigade from the 1st Brigade, 30th Armored Division during a National Guard reorganization. It became the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team following the 2006 United States Army reorganization into modular brigade combat teams.

History

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Origins

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While the units assigned to the 155th ABCT vary in seniority, the brigade itself traces its lineage to 16 March 1951 when it was constituted in the Mississippi Army National Guard as the Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) of the 108th Armored Cavalry Group, before being organized and federally recognized on 12 April 1951, based at Tupelo. On 1 November 1953 the group was redesignated as the 108th Armor Group. The group was combined with the 750th Tank Battalion and newly organized units to form the 108th Armored Cavalry on 1 November 1955; the HHC of the group became the Headquarters Company of the 108th Armored Cavalry. On 1 May 1959 the company was redesignated as a troop. In order to restore order during the Ole Miss riot of 1962, the company, alongside the Mississippi National Guard, were ordered into active federal service on 30 September of that year, being released from active federal service on 23 October and reverting to state control.[1]

On 15 February 1968, the company was reorganized and redesignated as the HHC of the 1st Brigade, 30th Armored Division.[1]

Formation and subsequent history

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The brigade became the 155th Armored Brigade on 1 November 1973 when the 30th Armored was split up into separate brigades.[1] 30th Armored assistant commander Brigadier General Guy J. Gravelee Jr. became the first 155th commander, and it took the number of the 155th Infantry Regiment, the oldest Mississippi National Guard unit, which traced its lineage back to 1798. It consisted of the 1st Battalion, 155th Infantry Regiment, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 198th Armor Regiment, the 2nd Battalion, 114th Field Artillery Regiment, Troop A, 98th Cavalry (the former Troop C, 1st Squadron, 230th Cavalry),[2] and the 106th Support Battalion.[3]

The 155th Armored Brigade was mobilized for the Gulf War on 7 December 1990, but remained stateside and was demobilized on 14 May 1991.[1] The 155th Armored Brigade became an Enhanced Separate Brigade in 1993 to provide a flexible reinforcement to active Army units during wartime. The Enhanced Separate Brigades receive specialized training and higher priority than other National Guard units for personnel, equipment and other resources during peacetime. Organized as a powerful independent striking force, the brigade consisted of two armor battalions, a mechanized infantry battalion, a field artillery battalion, an engineer battalion, and a support battalion along with an armored cavalry troop, an air defense battery, and a military intelligence company. Given these units, the Brigade was well postured to conduct offensive and defensive combat operations.

The brigade deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III from August 2004 to January 2006.[4] During this tour of duty, the 155th HBCT suffered 15 fatalities. The brigade served under the II Marine Expeditionary Force.[5][6] After its return from Iraq the brigade began its conversion into a modular heavy brigade combat team.

In 2009, the brigade was deployed again to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 9.2.[7][6] In March 2018, the 155th left for a three-month training period at Fort Bliss with the 177th Armored Brigade, prior to a nine-month deployment to support Operation Spartan Shield[8][9] from Camp Buehring in Kuwait. The 155th relieved the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division there on 15 July, the first National Guard armored brigade combat team to deploy for Operation Spartan Shield.[10] While the brigade remained headquartered at Camp Buehring, elements of the brigade were deployed to Syria as part of Operation Inherent Resolve by November, according to an article in The New Yorker.[11]

155th ABCT organization

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155th Armored Brigade Combat Team in Fort Irwin National Training Center.

Headquarters 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, Tupelo, Mississippi
Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 106th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB), Hattiesburg, Mississippi

HHC, 150th Engineer Battalion, Meridian, Mississippi

HHC, 2nd Battalion, 114th Field Artillery Regiment, Starkville, Mississippi

HHC, 1st Battalion, 155th Infantry Regiment, McComb, Mississippi

Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 98th Cavalry Regiment, Amory, Mississippi

HHC, 2nd Battalion (Combined Arms), 198th Armor Regiment,[12] Senatobia, Mississippi

HHC, 1st Battalion, 635th Armor Regiment, Kansas City, Kansas[13][14]

Unit coats of arms

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See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team.

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d Wilson 1999, pp. 689–690.
  2. ^ Mills, David (18 August 1978). "The Cavalry Hitching Post". Winston County Journal. Retrieved 15 March 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Smith, Charles (28 September 1973). "Brigade Formation Seen As Challenge, Opportunity". Jackson Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved 15 March 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "155th BCT hits the ground running".
  5. ^ "Multi-National Force - Iraq - 155th Brigade Combat Team Soldiers and Iraqi Police uncover weapons cache". Archived from the original on 5 September 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Elsewhere 1" (PDF). www.veteransforamerica.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  7. ^ Garamone, Jim. "Five Guard brigades alerted for 2009 deployments". Washington. Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  8. ^ "'First-of-its-kind' training: 2 brigades head from Camp Shelby to Fort Bliss". Hattiesburg American. 10 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  9. ^ Hill, Terry (23 October 2017). "155th Brigade to mobilize in support of Operation Spartan Shield". 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  10. ^ Parent, Adam (15 July 2018). "155th Armored Brigade Combat Team Assumes Operational Authority". DVIDS. U.S. Army Central. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  11. ^ Harp, Seth (26 November 2018). "Is the Trump Administration Pivoting the Fight in Syria Toward a War with Iran?". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018. The sergeant in charge, a tall white guy whose name tape was covered by his body armor, told me that they belonged to the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, and were doing a nine-month deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
  12. ^ "198 Armor Regiment Heraldry". United States Army Institute of Heraldry. Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  13. ^ "Kansas Adjutant General's Department Annual Report 2012" (PDF). Kansas Adjutant General's Department.
  14. ^ "'First Kansas' legacy lives on through redesignation > National Guard > Guard News - the National Guard".

Bibliography

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