U.S. 12th Infantry Regiment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

12th Infantry
Image:12 Infantry Regiment COA.png
12 Infantry Coat Of Arms
Active October 20, 1861 - Present
Country USA
Branch Regular Army
Type Division
Garrison/HQ Fort Carson
Motto DUCTI AMORE PATRIAE (Having Been Led By Love of Country)
Colors Blue and White
Commanders
Current
commander		 LTC Stephen L. A. Michael

The 12th Infantry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army. The Regiment has fought in six wars from the Civil War to Vietnam and has been awarded three Presidential Unit Citations, three Valorous Unit Awards and the Belgian Fourragere. During the Vietnam War, the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry served with the 25th Infantry Division from August 1967 to April 1971. The 2nd Battalion participated in 11 Vietnam campaigns and received a Presidential Unit Citation.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Civil War

Less than a month after the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, the 12th Infantry Regiment was reconstituted May 3, 1861 in the Regular Army as the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry. It was organized 20 October 1861 at Fort Hamilton in New York. The Battalion saw extensive combat during the Civil War, participating in twelve campaigns with the Army of the Potomac.

During the Peninsula Campaign, the 12th Infantry distinguished itself in its first combat action at the Battle of Gaines Mill in June 1862, while sustaining fifty percent casualties. The regiment also participated in such historic battles as Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and six additional campaigns culminating with the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, from late summer 1864 through April 1865 and the war's end.

[edit] Indian Wars

The Battalion was reorganized and redesignated as the 12th Infantry Regiment on 7 December 1866. In the 1870s, the Regiment took part in two campaigns of the Indian Wars; against the Modoc tribe in California during 1872-1873 and against the Bannocks in the northwest in 1878. The 12th also took part in the campaign against the Sioux at Pine Ridge, South Dakota from 1890-91.

[edit] Spanish-Amiercan War and the Philipine-American War

During the Spanish-American War, the 12th Infantry was sent to Cuba, in June 1898, and participated in the storming of the Spanish fortress of El Caney where the 12th had the distinction of capturing the Spanish colors.

At the conclusion of the War with Spain, the Regiment was immediately dispatched in February 1899 to the Philippine Islands to reinforce US Army units fighting elements of the Filipino army that resented the takeover of their islands by the United States after the Americans had defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Manila. There, the Regiment participated in three campaigns of what was to be known as the Philippine-American War and then served as garrison troops, not returning to the United States until 1912.

[edit] Garrison Duty

On December 17, 1917 the 12th Infantry was assigned to the 8th Division, but was not sent overseas in World War I. The Regiment remained assigned to the 8th Division until August 15, 1927 when it was reassigned to the 4th Division. During May-July, 1932, 12th IR and 3rd Cavalry Regiment participated in the ejection of the Bonus Army Marchers from Washington, District of Columbia. The 12th was once again reassigned to the 8th Division on October 1, 1933 and stationed at Fort Howard Maryland. On October 10, 1941 the Regiment was transferred to Fort Benning GA and assigned to the 4th Motorized Division.

[edit] World War II

The 12th Infantry Regiment was reorganized as a motorized infantry regiment on September 29 1942. Less than a year later, on August 1 1943, the 12th was reorganized as a standard infantry regiment when the 4th Division was converted from motorized to dismounted infantry. The Regiment along with the rest of the 4th Infantry Division arrived in England on January 29 1944. On D Day, 6 June 1944, the 12th Infantry saw its first action of the war when, as part of the 4th Infantry Division, it made an amphibious assault landing on Utah Beach. The Regiment fought in five European campaigns through France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. The 12th Infantry was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its valor in the defense of Luxembourg during the Battle of the Bulge. The Regiment was also awarded the Belgian Fourragere. After Germany's surrender, the 12th Infantry, along with the 4th Infantry Division, returned to the United States on 12 July 1945 and was inactivated February 27, 1946 at Camp Butner, NC.

[edit] Cold War

On 15 July 1947, the 12th Infantry Regiment was reactivated as a training regiment when 4th Infantry Division was given the mission of basic training at Fort Ord, CA. In July 1951, the 4th Division was returned to line status and rotated to Germany as part of Operation Gyroscope. In 1956, the Division returned to the United States and was stationed at Fort Lewis WA.

In 1957, the Army decided that in the era of battlefield atomic weapons, tactical infantry regiments were obsolete. To preserve the historic infantry regiments the Army set up the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) whereby the line companies of a regiment would form new elements of the regiment. The 12th Infantry was selected as one of the historic regiments to be preserved. On August 1, 1957, Company A was redesignated and activated as Headquarters Company, 1st Battle Group, 12th Infantry (with organic companies of the battle group constituted and activated) and assigned to the 4th Infantry Division. Company B formed the 2nd Battle Group, 12th Infantry assigned in Germany to the 8th Infantry Division until 1959 when it was reassigned to the 1st Infantry Division also in Germany. Company C was allocated to the Army Reserves and formed the 3rd Battle Group, 12th Infantry assigned to the 79th Infantry Division.

By the time the Berlin Wall went up in August 1961, the 2nd Battle Group, 12th Infantry along with the rest of the 1st Infantry Division had been transferred back to Fort Riley, Kansas. To reinforce NATO, the 1st Division was directed to begin Operation Long Trust whereby the individual battle groups were rotated on temporary duty to West Germany. In July 1962, the 2nd Battle Group, 12th Infantry was airlifted to West Germany where it undertook several months of tactical training and testing at Wildflecken, West Germany. It was then ordered to proceed to Berlin overland through East Germany using the Helmstedt-Berlin autobahn to test the Warsaw Pact's willingness to allow NATO forces to continue to use it. Arriving without incident in Berlin to reinforce the U.S. Army's Berlin Brigade, the 2nd Battle Group was quartered at Andrews and McNair Barracks. Because of the ongoing Cuban missile crisis, the battle group was almost on constant alert in October 1962. The 2nd Battle Group, 12th Infantry's tour of duty in Berlin contributed significantly to NATO's ability to resist the aggressive stance of the Warsaw Pact and in keeping the Cold War from becoming World War III.

In 1963, the Army concluded that the battle group was not the answer and reorganized the infantry and airborne divisions into a quasi-regimental structure of three brigades of three infantry battalions each. Consequently on 1 October 1963, the 2nd Battle Group, 12th Infantry was reorganized and redesignated as the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry and reassigned to the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado where it joined the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 12th Infantry.

[edit] Vietnam

The three 12th Infantry battalions deployed to Vietnam with the 4th Division from August through October 1966. The 3rd Brigade, 4th Division, to which the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry was assigned, set up base camp at Dau Tieng in III Corps while the rest of the 4th Division was assigned to the Vietnamese Highlands in II Corps alongside the 3rd Brigade of the 25th Division which had arrived in December, 1965. On August 1, 1967, the two divisions swapped 3rd Brigades. Subsequently, the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry served with the 25th through 10 of the Battalion's 11 Vietnam campaigns and received the Presidential Unit Citation for gallantry in action at Suoi Tre. As part of the U.S. drawdown, the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry was returned to Fort Lewis, WA, and inactivated on 17 April 1971.

The 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry was activated and assigned to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade in June 1966 and went with the Brigade to Vietnam where it was based at Long Binh near Saigon. In November 1967, the 5th Battalion, 12th Infantry was activated at Fort Lewis, WA and sent to Vietnam to join the 199th Brigade. This made the 12th Infantry unique in that the Regiment had more battalions deployed in Viet Nam than any other infantry regiment. In October 1970, the 4th and 5th Battalions returned to Fort Benning, Georgia and were inactivated. The 1st and 3rd Battalions returned in December 1970 with the 4th Division to Fort Carson, CO.

[edit] Post Vietnam

The CARS system was replaced by the US Army Regimental System in 1985 when the army contemplated shifting to a unit replacement system. Under the new system four battalions of the 12th Infantry were activated. The 1st and 2nd Battalions were assigned to the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson and the 3rd and 4th Battalions were assigned to the 8th Infantry Division in Germany. The concept was for members of the regiment to spend the majority of their army careers rotating between assignments with regimental battalions at Fort Carson and in Germany.

By the early 1990s, the Army drawdown and its expanding worldwide peace- keeping commitments led to a decision to scrap the unit replacement concept before it was fully implemented. The 3rd and 4th Battalions were transferred to the 1st Armored Division and served in Bosnia before being inactivated in Germany in 1997. The 2nd Battalion was inactivated at Fort Carson in September 1995.

[edit] The 1st Battalion

Also known as the Warrior Battalion, it was formerly attached to the 3d Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson. As a result of transformation of the brigade, the elements of the battalion was changed to a cavalry squadron, the 2nd Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment in November, 2004. 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment has been re-activated at Fort Hood as part of the 4th ID's 4th Brigade Combat Team and deployed to Baghdad, Iraq in Fall of 2005 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. They are currently the "Guardians of the Green Zone," tasked to defend the high-profile International Zone in Baghdad.

[edit] Lineage

Lineage of the 12th Infantry Regiment

Constituted 3 May 1861 in the Regular Army as the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry

Organized 20 October 1861 at Fort Hamilton, New York

Reorganized and redesignated 7 December 1866 as the 12th Infantry

Assigned 17 December 1917 to the 8th Division

Relieved 15 August 1927 from assignment to the 8th Division and assigned to the 4th Division

Relieved 1 October 1933 from assignment to the 4th Division and assigned to the 8th Division

Relieved 10 October 1941 from assignment to the 8th Division and assigned to the 4th Division (later redesignated as the 4th Infantry Division)

Inactivated 27 February 1946 at Camp Butner, North Carolina

Activated 15 July 1947 at Fort Ord, California

Relieved 1 April 1957 from assignment to the 4th Infantry Division and reorganized as a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS)

Withdrawn 16 June 1989 from the CARS and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System

[edit] Honors

[edit] Campaign Participation Credit

  • Civil War:
  1. Peninsula Manassas;
  2. Antietam;
  3. Fredericksburg;
  4. Chancellorsville;
  5. Gettysburg;
  6. Wilderness;
  7. Spotsylvania;
  8. Cold Harbor;
  9. Petersburg;
  10. Virginia 1862;
  11. Virginia 1863
  • Indian Wars:
  1. Modocs;
  2. Bannocks;
  3. Pine Ridge
  • Spanish-American War:
  1. Santiago
  • Philippine-American War:
  1. Malolos;
  2. Tarlac;
  3. Luzon 1899
  • World War II:
  1. Normandy (with arrowhead);
  2. Northern France;
  3. Rhineland;
  4. Ardennes-Alsace;
  5. Central Europe
  • Vietnam:
  1. Counteroffensive, Phase II;
  2. Counteroffensive, Phase III;
  3. Tet Counteroffensive Counteroffensive,
  4. Phase IV;
  5. Counteroffensive, Phase V;
  6. Counteroffensive, Phase VI;
  7. Tet 69/Counteroffensive;
  8. Summer-Fall 1969;
  9. Winter-Spring 1970;
  10. Sanctuary Counteroffensive;
  11. Counteroffensive, Phase VII

[edit] Decorations

  1. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for LUXEMBOURG
  2. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for SUOI TRE, VIETNAM
  3. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for PLEIKU PROVINCE
  4. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for DAK TO DISTRICT
  5. Valorous Unit Award for PLEIKU PROVINCE
  6. Valorous Unit Award for CENTRAL HIGHLANDS
  7. Valorous Unit Award for SAIGON - LONG BINH
  8. Valorous Unit Award for FISH HOOK
  9. Belgian Fourragere 1940
  10. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in BELGIUM
  11. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the ARDENNES
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../u/2E/s/U.S._12th_Infantry_Regiment_cda6.html"