There was a rumble in the neighborhood here north of Kyle on at least 2 occasions Sat pm. Impressive hardware.

Some current Army type explain to me the rationale of calling the AVN BDE of the 1CD the '1st Air Cavalry Brigade'? Who comes up with this sh_t?

So the Engineer Brigade, DIVARTY, and DISCOM naming conventions went by the wayside, too? Kinda like this modern addition to a combat arms battalion name - 1st Bn, 27th Infantry Regiment instead of the old style 1-27 IN. Just making things more complicated to me. The busting up of Divisions into Brigade 'pieces' for the deployment mentality had unintended consequences.

I think largely the Engineer Brigade and DIVARTY are also named/numbered similar to the CABs. I have never heard of DISCOM before but I will guess Division Support Component(?). There are now Support Brigades with each Division that I think are generally also numbered in a similar fashion, but they are not organic. Yes the restructuring of the Army changed a lot of things, but the 1-27 IN type convention for a battalion is still in place. You just use - or / to designate whether you are organic or not to your next higher command still (I can't remember which is which and would have to pull out documents to check).

But I agree a lot of the reorg stuff was stupid, in part because you have brigade commanders now that aren't actually the regimental commanders but want to foist a regiment's history/culture/lineage/nickname on a subordinate battalion that actually belongs to a different regiment.

DISCOM used to be the O6 command for all the Divisional logistical units and a large DMMC staff to coordinate stuff. Much larger organization than a normal BDE HQ/HHC. I spent ~10 years in one and finished up as XO and often Acting Cdr for the 49AD TxARNG DISCOM. The 5 support battalions were supervised by the DISCOM Cdr albeit the 3 Bde FSBs worked closely with their supported maneuver BDE, and the ASB worked closely with the AVN BDE. The MSB was GS to everyone. I was an FSB CDR for 3 years, too. Working for 2 COLs could be challenging but having spent my first 20 years as a tanker I knew what they wanted and what was do-able.

Things change, I get it. The busting up of Divisions through out the total force destroyed a lot of institutional memory. Plug and play has it's problems. The concept that BDEs are just interchangeable seemed very simplistic to me and made me wonder about how all those staffs interacted without any continuity. My nephew is currently an ASB XO and when I talked to him about working with a DISCOM he gave me the shrugged shoulders, too. Made we wonder what happened to the DMMC staff, all the supply class managers, meds, etc. Someone is doing it. I wonder where it all went to.

Reading where the TxARNG is getting armor units back. Having ditched the 49AD and gone 'light' ~15 year ago or so for what I am guessing is financial constraints more than anything - tanks are expensive - I find it amusing that they are trying to rebuild a heavy unit structure back for the 36ID. Deciding to not base an RC heavy division proximate to the best heaving training center in CONUS (Fort Hood) was foolish and will cost $ to put it all back together again. The current DoD regime will pass by soon enough and I hope sanity returns. Because it has to. There are going to be some messes to clean up soon enough.

WBBQ74 said:

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Reading where the TxARNG is getting armor units back. Having ditched the 49AD and gone 'light' ~15 year ago or so for what I am guessing is financial constraints more than anything - tanks are expensive - I find it amusing that they are trying to rebuild a heavy unit structure back for the 36ID. Deciding to not base an RC heavy division proximate to the best heaving training center in CONUS (Fort Hood) was foolish and will cost $ to put it all back together again. The current DoD regime will pass by soon enough and I hope sanity returns. Because it has to. There are going to be some messes to clean up soon enough.

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Interesting. Probably deserves it's own thread.
Seems like the TXARNG should start with an Armor Brigade.
I'm pretty sure that's what the Tennessee NG had back in the 90s.

Of course I guess what makes sense all depends on who our next large scale enemy will be, how long it takes to activate the unit and deploy them. Hopefully we're not looking at many more 19 year long conflicts.

DIVARTY, DIVENG, and DISCOM all disappeared when when they turned the brigades (just maneuver Bns) into Brigade Combat Teams (maneuver Bns, plus RSTA, FA, Eng, and Log. Basically like the Armored Cav Regiments used to be, minus aviation.) This was done for reasons of deployment rotation in OEF and OIF.

Then at some point, I think about 10 years ago, they brought back DIVARTY to be the "Force Fires HQ." Not really sure what that means, maybe a redleg can help out.

DIVENG and DISCOM had not been brought back by the time I retired in 2016.

I haven't seen 1st Air Cavalry Brigade used before. Not sure where that comes from, it's the 1st Cav Combat Aviation Brigade just like all the other divisions.

CoMH has it listed as "Aviation Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division".

https://history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lh.html

Army PAOs have a long history of messing up unit designations, equipment nomenclature, and so on.

In 1975 the 6th Cavalry Brigade (Air Combat) was formed at Ft Hood, and it evolved into what COL Harper commands today. Aviation assets have been *******ized ever since Vietnam took off. Divisions in Vietnam had their own aviation (101st, 1st Cav, Americal, 1st Inf etc) but the largest aviation assets were in the 1st Aviation Brigade which had separate companies all over the country, the Brigade Commander was a BG but we never saw him (Allen Burdette is the best known). In the early '70's if you wanted a combat aviation job you needed to join the ACR's otherwise you got relegated to ash and trash duty. The best thing the Army did was make Aviation a branch and if you couldn't see the unit designation changes coming after that you were blind. As an aside COL Harper spent most of his career in the 160th which is one of the most bad-ass units in the Army. Two previous unit XO's, one of whom is an Ag, declined promotion to O-5 and reverted to CW2 in order to remain in the unit. That's dedication.

Flyover

This reminded me of Apaches and Blackhawks trying to hang with 47's during day light missions in the Kunar.....

I was a Fort Hood in the mid '70s when the ACCB was spun up. I understood it to be a transition from the post Vietnam 1CD Tricap configuration. I was in the 1-9 Cav and my Sqdn CO went to be the XO of the ACCB when he left command of the Sqdn. Not a bad guy, trying to remember his name but it escapes me now. He was an 11ACR guy and later my 24ID 2-70 AR tank company 1SG remembered pulling him out of a burning LOH in Vietnam when he was just a CPT. He wound up making BG eventually. Saw his name on some wall when I was at Fort Rucker for my nephew's graduation from flight school in 2011.

True on the Aviation Branch spin up saving lots of careers in that era - but it was about 10 years in coming. I remember so many CPTs getting RIFFed because of the drawdown in my AD era (74-78). Lots of guys who got commissioned to Armor in Vietnam from WO status and had problems with finding the cyclic/collective inside the tank turret. Combo that with the lack of a degree and they got rid of them in droves. Sad story but Uncle doesn't always 'manage' things for everyone's best interests.

I was there from May '73-Dec '76, 2/67 Armor. I was a CT but my fish year was in 1966-67 followed by 3 years as a WO pilot (I didn't study my fish year), got back in Corps '71, graduated in '73, H-2 Day Ducks. Got to Hood as the RIF was working, I was one of the few pilots on post without a RIF letter. Retired in 1990.

OldArmyCT said:

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I was there from May '73-Dec '76, 2/67 Armor. I was a CT but my fish year was in 1966-67 followed by 3 years as a WO pilot (I didn't study my fish year), got back in Corps '71, graduated in '73, H-2 Day Ducks. Got to Hood as the RIF was working, I was one of the few pilots on post without a RIF letter. Retired in 1990.

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I was in 2/67 Armor from '75 to '77.

Martin Cash said:

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OldArmyCT said:

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I was there from May '73-Dec '76, 2/67 Armor. I was a CT but my fish year was in 1966-67 followed by 3 years as a WO pilot (I didn't study my fish year), got back in Corps '71, graduated in '73, H-2 Day Ducks. Got to Hood as the RIF was working, I was one of the few pilots on post without a RIF letter. Retired in 1990.

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I was in 2/67 Armor from '75 to '77.

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In '75 I was the mortar PL, then CSC XO then LTC Ryburn fired the C Company Commander, moved my CO to replace that guy and gave me the CSC command. I left in Dec 1976 for AOAC.

CT'97 said:

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I haven't seen 1st Air Cavalry Brigade used before. Not sure where that comes from, it's the 1st Cav Combat Aviation Brigade just like all the other divisions.

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That's technically right - but that's the name I've known since I've ever paid attention. That was over 10 years ago. Aggies should appreciate doing something twice and sticking to it.

Fly Army 97 said:

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CT'97 said:

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I haven't seen 1st Air Cavalry Brigade used before. Not sure where that comes from, it's the 1st Cav Combat Aviation Brigade just like all the other divisions.

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That's technically right - but that's the name I've known since I've ever paid attention. That was over 10 years ago. Aggies should appreciate doing something twice and sticking to it.

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The Ft Hood Sentinel used that designation at the change of command.

The Soldiers and families of the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Air Cavalry Brigade bid farewell to their commander of the last two years Wednesday morning during a change of command ceremony conducted at Cooper Field.

The current commander is Reggie Harper '95.
http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/news/air-cav-says-farewell-to-outgoing-commander/article_f049c7ea-d1c8-11ea-a93b-9bcec7be65b0.html

It's the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade "Air Cav". Also referred to as "1ACB" in short hand and daily talk. Not sure when the naming convention changed from what everyone else on this thread is talking about but it's been 1ACB for a while now.

OldArmyCT said:

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Martin Cash said:

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OldArmyCT said:

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I was there from May '73-Dec '76, 2/67 Armor. I was a CT but my fish year was in 1966-67 followed by 3 years as a WO pilot (I didn't study my fish year), got back in Corps '71, graduated in '73, H-2 Day Ducks. Got to Hood as the RIF was working, I was one of the few pilots on post without a RIF letter. Retired in 1990.

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I was in 2/67 Armor from '75 to '77.

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In '75 I was the mortar PL, then CSC XO then LTC Ryburn fired the C Company Commander, moved my CO to replace that guy and gave me the CSC command. I left in Dec 1976 for AOAC.

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I was platoon leader, 3rd platoon, Alpha September 75 to Fall of 76 and then support platoon leader. Moved to SMO at division in Spring 77..

Did you take your wife to Graf on Brigade 75?

Martin Cash said:

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OldArmyCT said:

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Martin Cash said:

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OldArmyCT said:

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I was there from May '73-Dec '76, 2/67 Armor. I was a CT but my fish year was in 1966-67 followed by 3 years as a WO pilot (I didn't study my fish year), got back in Corps '71, graduated in '73, H-2 Day Ducks. Got to Hood as the RIF was working, I was one of the few pilots on post without a RIF letter. Retired in 1990.

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I was in 2/67 Armor from '75 to '77.

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In '75 I was the mortar PL, then CSC XO then LTC Ryburn fired the C Company Commander, moved my CO to replace that guy and gave me the CSC command. I left in Dec 1976 for AOAC.

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I was platoon leader, 3rd platoon, Alpha September 75 to Fall of 76 and then support platoon leader. Moved to SMO at division in Spring 77..

Did you take your wife to Graf on Brigade 75?

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Yeah, I did. So did the S-1, Mike Lynch. Mine got pregnant and we got a Top Gun award when we got back to Hood.

Does anyone have a link to pics of the flypast?

Rock1982 said:

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Does anyone have a link to pics of the flypast?

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Scroll to the 1:05 mark.

OldArmyCT said:

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Martin Cash said:

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OldArmyCT said:

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Martin Cash said:

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OldArmyCT said:

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I was there from May '73-Dec '76, 2/67 Armor. I was a CT but my fish year was in 1966-67 followed by 3 years as a WO pilot (I didn't study my fish year), got back in Corps '71, graduated in '73, H-2 Day Ducks. Got to Hood as the RIF was working, I was one of the few pilots on post without a RIF letter. Retired in 1990.

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I was in 2/67 Armor from '75 to '77.

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In '75 I was the mortar PL, then CSC XO then LTC Ryburn fired the C Company Commander, moved my CO to replace that guy and gave me the CSC command. I left in Dec 1976 for AOAC.

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I was platoon leader, 3rd platoon, Alpha September 75 to Fall of 76 and then support platoon leader. Moved to SMO at division in Spring 77..

Did you take your wife to Graf on Brigade 75?

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Yeah, I did. So did the S-1, Mike Lynch. Mine got pregnant and we got a Top Gun award when we got back to Hood.

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Remember you, can't call your name just now.