A Guided Tour of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment
If you drive west from Fort Worth, Texas, along Interstate 20, past Abilene, Odessa, and the junction with Interstate 10, you come upon some of the most godforsaken country in America—West Texas. But then, as you drive up the Valley of the Rio Grande River, signs of life begin to reappear. And before long you are in the city of El Paso.
Just as El Paso is a crossroads between Mexico and the United States, it is also a crossroads between the past and the future in American history. Across the Rio Grande is the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, where Pancho Villa once crossed to raid American settlements. To the north are the old towns of Las Cruces and Alamogordo, New Mexico, which service one of America’s spaceports at White Sands Missile Range. Nearby, Holloman Air Force Base is home for the F-117A Stealth Fighters of the 49th Fighter Wing. And nestled in between the past and future, on the north side of El Paso, is the old cavalry post of Fort Bliss.
Fort Bliss is the home of the 11th Air Defense Brigade, the soldiers who operated the Patriot air-defense system during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. But tucked over on the east side of the base is the home of America’s last heavy armored cavalry regiment, the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (3rd ACR). The 3rd ACR, assigned as the corps reconnaissance unit for the U.S. III Corps (based at Fort Hood, Texas), is one of the most powerful units for its size in the world. With lots of armored “teeth” and minimal administrative “tail,” the 3rd ACR is a uniquely flexible and balanced combat unit—the smallest independent armored unit in the U.S. Army that might be deployed overseas to fight on its own.
Rapid deployment is critical to the American military. It took something like twenty-six shiploads to move General Barry McCaffrey’s 24th Mechanized Infantry Division to Southwest Asia. With only eight of the high-speed (30+ knots/55 kph) SL-7 fast sealift ships in the Military Sealift Command’s inventory, the 3rd ACR is the only heavy armor unit in the U.S. Army that can be lifted overseas on a single sortie by the SL-7 fleet. Such power and flexibility demand that the regiment’s soldiers be among the best in the Army. When you meet them, that turns out to be the case. Let’s take a look inside the 3rd ACR—first at its splendid history, and then as it stands in the summer of 1994.
The insignia of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, the “Brave Rifles.”
JACK RYAN ENTREPRISES, LTD., BY LAURA ALPHER
The 3rd ACR - A Short History
The 3rd ACR is the second oldest continuously established unit in the U.S. Army. Only the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment-Light (ACR-L) has a longer lineage. Created by an act of Congress on May 19th, 1846, the unit was officially assigned to securing a line of forts from Missouri to Oregon and maintaining order in the Western territories that were just starting to be settled. But the probable deeper reason for creating the regiment—to fight the Mexicans- was apparent from its equipment and size. Unlike traditional cavalry regiments equipped with carbines, sabers, and pistols, it was to be a regiment of mounted riflemen, a highly mobile fighting force with the punch of an infantry regiment. In addition, it was big. Organized just prior to the Mexican War, with billets for around 800 troopers, it increased the size of the active Army by fully 15%. The unit was officially organized as the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen on October 12th, 1846, at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri.
But before they could take up their stations on the Oregon Trail, the Mounted Riflemen were called to action in Mexico. The regiment fought in six separate campaigns during the Mexican War, including Vera Cruz, Contreras, Churbusco, and Chapultepec. During that action, on September 14th, 1847, they led the final assault that captured the Mexican National Palace, and thus earned the nickname they carry to this day, the “Brave Rifles.” They returned to Missouri in 1848 to take up their duties on the frontier. Their first exercise was an epic six-month march to establish their presence in Oregon, arriving in November 1849. They returned to Missouri in 1851, and then moved on to Texas to suppress Indian uprisings and stop cross-border bandit raids from Mexico. At this time the regiment got its first look at its future home, Fort Bliss. Throughout the 1850s, the regiment was spread out in small bands from Texas to Arizona, and north to Colorado. It was tough, dangerous duty, dirtier and less romantic than portrayed by John Ford in a score of movies about the cavalry in the Old West.
The coming of the American Civil War in 1861 brought new challenges for the Brave Rifles. For starters, many of the officers and men joined the Confederacy. In spite of the leadership vacuum caused by the departure of the Southerners, the remaining officers concentrated the unit in New Mexico, where it was redesignated the 3rd U.S. Cavalry in August of 1861. The regiment remained in New Mexico until September 1862, when it returned to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. During this time, it fought in both of the major battles of the war in the West. Moving on to Memphis, Tennessee, in December 1862, the 3rd did patrol and support duties until the following year, when it joined General Sherman’s army during the drive on Atlanta. Following this, the Brave Rifles led the famous “March to the Sea” and the final drive into the Carolinas. Following the war, the regiment returned to the Western frontier, where it spent the next thirty years suppressing Indian uprisings and guarding the Mexican border. Of note was the Battle of Rosebud Creek (Montana) on June 17, 1876, the largest single engagement ever between the forces of the United States and Native Americans (1,400 troopers and friendly Indians against 4,000 to 6,000 Sioux and Northern Cheyenne), which was fought to a draw just a few weeks before the 7th Cavalry’s debacle at Little Big Horn.
With the outbreak of war with Spain in 1898, the Brave Rifles deployed to Cuba, where they took part in the attack on San Juan Hill. Less than a year later, they again embarked to help suppress the Philippine Insurrection of 1899. The regiment spent the next couple of years fighting the rebels on Luzon, and eventually returned to Texas to fight border bandits in 1905. In 1917, the United States entered World War I. Sent to France, the 3rd did not see combat, but operated remount depots for U.S., British, and French horse-drawn units, returning to the United States in 1919. The Brave Rifles spent the next nineteen years based along the East Coast (mainly at Fort Meade, Maryland, and Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont), performing ceremonial honor guard duties in the Washington, D.C., area. At the outbreak of World War II, the regiment was still a horse cavalry unit. But a few months later it was re-equipped with scout cars and light tanks and redesignated the 3rd Armored Regiment, and after that the 3rd Cavalry Group. Deployed to Europe in 1944, the 3rd led General George Patton’s drive across France, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and joined the final drive into Germany.
Returning to Fort Meade following the war, it took on its present name, the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, in 1948. It stayed in the U.S. until 1955, when it rotated to Europe, replacing the 2nd ACR until 1958, when it returned to Fort Meade. The Brave Rifles returned to Europe in 1961 during the Berlin Crisis, and stayed until 1968, when it again returned to the U.S., this time to Fort Lewis, Washington. Designated as a REFORGER unit, the 3rd ACR stayed at Fort Lewis until 1972, when it moved to its present home at Fort Bliss, Texas. The next eighteen years were spent in the routine but vital chores of a Cold War REFORGER unit.
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the death of Communism in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s might have meant the end of the line for the 3rd ACR. Like so many other proud Army formations, it was looking at having its colors cased and retired for good, until Saddam Hussein decided to invade Kuwait in August of 1990. On August 10th, 1990, the 3rd ACR was alerted to prepare for transport to Saudi Arabia to provide an armored reconnaissance element for XVIII Airborne Corps. By September of 1990, advance elements of the 3rd ACR began to arrive in Saudi Arabia to join Operation Desert Shield. Initially, their mission was to deter any further moves into Saudi Arabia by the Iraqis. But by early November, they knew that they were to be part of an army that would either force Iraq to vacate Kuwait, or evict it by force. As the first elements of the U.S. VII Corps began to arrive in Dec
ember, the XVIII Airborne Corps started their move to the west as the flank covering force for the “Hail Mary” movement around the left side of the Iraqi line. On February 22, 1991, 3rd ACR led the rest of XVIII Airborne Corps through the berms into Iraq on their drive to the Euphrates River. During the four-day drive to the north, working closely with the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division, they covered some 183 miles/300 kilometers before they turned east towards Basra and the Rumaylah Oilfields. Their Desert Storm mission completed, they returned to Fort Bliss by April 5, 1991, to continue their cycle of training and modernization. As they head towards their 150th consecutive year of active service, they are likely to stay at Fort Bliss.
The 3rd ACR - Organization and Equipment
Since their return from Southwest Asia in 1991, the regiment has undergone a massive change in equipment and mission. Previously, the 3rd ACR was considered a reinforcing unit, with a minimal set of training equipment at home and their fighting equipment stockpiled at depots in Germany. Early in 1992, as part of the Army’s reorganization for greater mobility, the 3rd ACR was redesignated as part of Force Package-1. Force Package-1, which includes units of III Corps and XVIII Airborne Corps, has been trained to the highest level of preparedness, and has the highest priority in equipment modernization. Suddenly, the Brave Rifles had to assimilate many new systems simultaneously. Everything from OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout/attack helicopters to the new SINCGARS family of radios appeared on 3rd ACR’s Table of Organization and Equipment (TO&E)-all in about twenty-four months. This is a challenge that will test every member of the regiment to the limit. But when the current modernization cycle is completed around 1996, the 3rd ACR will be the most powerful ground unit for its size in the world. Let’s take a look at the people and their tools.
Before we get started, though, a quick note about unit designations. The cavalry has always been a community unto itself, and this tradition of doing things its own way continues even today. Thus, while the basic Army building block, the platoon, remains the same for the cavalry and armor communities, the next level up the chain is different. What an armor officer would call a company (usually between three and five platoons), the cavalry officer calls a troop. Similarly, what an armor officer calls a battalion (four to six companies), a cavalry officer would call a squadron. Thus, the terms “company” and “troop” are equivalent, as are “battalion” and “squadron.” With that detail clarified, let’s look at the 3rd ACR.
Headquarters Troop
The Regimental Headquarters and Headquarters Troop (RHHT) includes the regimental commander, a colonel, and his immediate staff and some command and support vehicles. These include:• A pair of M3A2 Bradley cavalry vehicles configured as “command tracks.” Usually equipped with two or more radios, these are otherwise standard Bradleys.
• Eleven to fifteen M577 Command APCs, organized into groups of four or five. These will be replaced by the new XM4 command vehicle when it comes on-line later in the 1990s.
• A number of HMMWVs and trucks to provide general transportation and support.
The command sergeant major (the senior NCO of the regiment) and the regimental chaplain, as well as some clerks and support troops, complete this compact headquarters.
In late 1993, the regimental commander was Colonel Robert Young. A 1969 graduate of Texas Christian University, he is a career cavalry officer, with numerous tours in the 2nd ACR while they were still based in Germany. In addition, he has an extensive background in Middle East relations, holding a masters degree in the subject. Thus, when he has not been leading cavalry troops, he has been supervising operations like the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon (as a UN observer), and acting as the U.S. representative to the UN relief effort for the Kurds in northern Iraq (Operation Provide Comfort). He must have done a good job there, for when he left Iraq at the end of 1992, Saddam Hussein had a bounty of $ 100,000 on his head. It is my understanding that the bounty still stood in late 1993. Colonel Young took command of the 3rd ACR in May of 1993, and will remain in this post until sometime in mid-1995. Working directly with Colonel Young is the regimental command sergeant major (RCSM), Dennis E. Webster. CSM Webster joined the Army in 1972 and is a career armor and cavalry NCO. He has been with the 3rd ACR since 1990, as command sergeant major (CSM) for the regiment’s Support Squadron, 3rd Squadron, and now as the 12th RCSM of the regiment. The RCSM is the senior enlisted soldier in the regiment, and provides a direct link from the enlisted personnel to the regimental commander. The regimental executive officer (RXO) is Lieutenant Colonel Luke Barnett, and he supervises the headquarters staff. There is a small regimental staff consisting most notably of the regimental operations officer (S-3) and staff, who are responsible for planning and directing the way the regiment operates and fights.
The basic organization and equipment of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment’s 1st Cavalry Squadron (“Tiger” Squadron) commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Toby Martinez USA. The 2nd and 3rd Cavalry Squadrons have the same basic layout. The M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers are planned to replace the older M109A2s currently fielded by the Brave Rifles.
JACK RYAN ENTERPRISES, LTD., BY LAURA ALPHER
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Cavalry Squadrons
The cutting edge of the regiment is the three armored cavalry squadrons, numbered 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. On paper, an armored cavalry squadron resembles a reinforced tank battalion, with a strength of 53 officers, 339 NCOs, and 499 enlisted troopers, for a total of 891 billets. Each squadron is commanded by an armor lieutenant colonel, with a command sergeant major and a small staff to help run things. In late 1993 the leaders of the three squadrons were:• 1st Squadron-Lieutenant Colonel Toby W. Martinez (Murray State University, 1975) is the commander; and the senior NCO is CSM Roy Thomas.
• 2nd Squadron-Lieutenant Colonel Norman Greczyn (West Point, 1972) commands, with CSM Alton B. Eckert as the command sergeant major.
• 3rd Squadron-Lieutenant Colonel Karl J. Gunzelman (West Point, 1975) commands, with CSM Conrad C. Bilodeau as the ranking NCO.
Each squadron is a self-contained combined-arms team consisting of:• Headquarters and Headquarters Troop—Two M3A2 Bradley command tracks, six M577 command vehicles, some HMMWVs, and various recovery vehicles, trucks, trailers, and fuelers for all types of combat service support.
• Three Armored Cavalry Troops-These make up the cutting edge of the squadron. Each troop consists of an HQ section (one M1A1 Abrams tank, one M3A2 Bradley, and one M577 command post), two scout platoons (six M3A2 Bradley cavalry fighting vehicles per), two tank platoons (four M1A1 Abrams tanks per), a mortar section (two M106 4.2”-mortar carriers), and twelve supporting tracked and wheeled vehicles.
• Tank Company-Each squadron has a pure tank company (never referred to as a “troop”) to provide an armored reserve for the squadron commander. It consists of an HQ section (two M1A1 tanks) and three tank platoons (four M1A1 tanks each).
• Howitzer Battery-To give the squadron its own organic artillery support, it is assigned a battery of eight M109A2 self-propelled howitzers (SPHs), with eight FAASVs in support.
The equipment and organization of a cavalry troop. The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment has a total of nine such troops in its table of organization and equipment (TO&E).
JACK RYAN ENTERPRISES, LTD., BY LAURA ALPHER
The commander of an armored cavalry squadron leads forty-one M 1 Abrams tanks, forty-one M3 cavalry vehicles, eight M109 SPHs (with eight FAASVs), and six M106 4.2”-mortar carriers. This is a lot of firepower at one leader’s fingertips! Remember that just one armored cavalry squadron wrecked an Iraqi Republican Guards brigade (three to four times the size of the American force) at the Battle of 73 Easting during Desert Storm. And in the next few years, the squadrons will enhance their combat power with the new M1A2 Abrams, the M109A6 Paladin SPH, the IVIS version of the M3A2 cavalry vehicle, and the new 120mm-mortar carrier.
Within the regiment, each troop (which corresponds to a company-sized unit) is com
manded by a captain and designated by a letter of the alphabet. The First Squadron includes A, B, and C Troops, and D Company; the Second Squadron has E, F, and G Troops, and H Company, etc. By tradition, each troop adopts a name based on its identifying letter. For example, E Troop is “Eagle,” and I Troop is “Ironhawk.” Overall, the current cavalry squadron structure provides massive gun and missile firepower and built-in supporting arms. If it has a weakness, though, it is the lack of dismountable infantry (each M3A2 has only two dismount scouts per vehicle; these are not infantry soldiers), which limits its ability to hold and clear terrain. On the other hand, the cavalry can cover ground and dish out punishment like no other unit of equivalent size in the world. We’ll look at some typical armored cavalry operations in the next chapter.