256th Infantry Brigade (United States)
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| 256th Infantry Brigade | |
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 256th Infantry Brigade shoulder sleeve insignia |
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| Active | ??-present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | U.S. Army National Guard |
| Type | enhanced brigade |
| Garrison/HQ | Lafayette, Louisiana (Headquarters) |
| Battles/wars | Iraq War |
The 256th Infantry Brigade, also known as the Tiger Brigade, is an enhanced brigade of the Louisiana Army National Guard. It is headquartered at Lafayette, Louisiana.
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[edit] History
Three elements of the 256th Infantry Brigade: the 156th Infantry Regiment; the 108th Cavalry Regiment; and the 141st Artillery Battalion, The Washington Artillery of New Orleans, trace their history all the way back to the American Civil War where they fought mainly in the eastern theater under Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. In September, 1838, the Washington Artillery of New Orleans was founded - it's emblem was an irate tiger over crossed cannons, with the motto "Try Us" created by James B. Walton in 1846. During the Civil War, most units were refered to as Lee's Tigers or Louisiana Tigers which became the mascot for the Louisiana State University (Louisiana State University), also known as the "Old War Skule".
[edit] The 256th's patch
The 256th Infantry Brigade patch is a "fleur-de-lis," reflecting on Louisiana's legacy as a French colony until the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The saltire or blue 'X' behind the fleur-de-lis can be interpreted as symbolizing the symbol used on military maps to represent a brigade or the south's penchant for confederated rather than centralized government.
[edit] Operation Iraqi Freedom
During train up for operations, spring, summer and fall of 2004, the 256th Infantry Brigade was stationed in Fort Hood, Texas and the did an NTC rotation at Fort Irwin, California. Fort Hood and Fort Irwin are both some of the largest army bases within the continental U.S. the latter located in the Mojave Desert is larger than the state of Rhode Island. From there the unit flew from England Air Park in Alexandria, Louisiana to Bangor, Maine then to Ramstein Air Base in Germany and finally to Kuwait City, Kuwait. The brigade spent another month training in the Desert of Camp Buehring, Kuwait prior to moving into Iraq.
In 2004-5 the 256th Brigade was sent to Iraq as part of OIF III (Operation Iraqi Freedom III, the third U.S. military rotation of forces into the area of operations). It served under the 1st Cavalry Division for its first five months and its last several months under the 3rd Infantry Division. During the first half of its combat tour in Iraq some of the brigades subordinate units also served under the 10th Mountain Division. The brigade served in and around Baghdad, Iraq in a FOB (forward operating base) known originally as FOB Victory until 15 June 2004. At this date FOB Victory name was changed to FOB Liberty because on this date the Iraqi government officially "stood up". Upon the 256th's arrival at North Liberty it became Camp Tigerland. During operations in theater the brigade operated under the configuration of one-third heavy and two-thirds light.
Each battalion in the brigade had one company of heavy forces with M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank, M2A2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, or a mixture of the two. The other two thirds operated primaraly from HMMMV Gun Trucks that mounted either machine guns or automatic grenade launchers. The Artillery Battalion was canobilized to bring the Infantry Battalions up to full strength. The remainder of the Washington Artillery was attached to the 1st Cavalry Division Base Defense Operations Center (BDOC) under the command of the 103rd Field Artillery Brigade and the XVIII Airborne Corps. Additionally, Task Force Bengal was "stood up" as a liaison/training team to equip, train and assist the 40th Iraqi National Guard (ING) Brigade. TF Bengal consisted of soldiers and officers of the Infantry, Artillery, and Engineer units from the Brigade as well as the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment (United States)aka(The Fighting 69th)from New York City which had been attached for the deployment. On February 21, 2005, the 40th ING assumed authority for approximately 16 square kilometers in and around Al Akadhimian and began patroling with approximately 2800 soldiers.
[edit] Distribution of the brigade
The 1st battalion, 156th Armor, headquarters Shreveport, Louisiana in Caddo Parish. has been decommissioned and replaced by the 2nd squadron, 108th Cavalry as of September, 2006. Three out of four of the cavalry squadron's troops are located in Shreveport with the remaining troop (nicknamed the "Wildbunch") in Coushatta, Louisiana which is in Red River Parish. The mission of the 2-108th CAV is to provide the 256th brigade with reconnissiance and early warning during combat operations.
The 2nd battalion, 156th Infantry headquarters is located at Abbeville, Louisiana in Vermilion Parish.
The 3rd battalion, 156th Infantry headquarters is located at Lake Charles, Louisiana in Calcasieu Parish. Company A 3nd Battalion is located at DeQuincy, Louisiana and DeRidder, Louisiana, the latter in Beauregard Parish. Company B is located at Pineville, Louisiana and Oakdale, Louisiana, the latter in Allen Parish. Company C is located at Crowley, Louisiana, Jennings, Louisiana (Jefferson Davis Parish), and Eunice, Louisiana (Acadia Parish) 3rd battalion's subordinate companies are located throughout the SW Louisiana region.
The 199th Support Battalion which provides the 256th Brigade with most of its logistical, maintenance, and transport support, is headquartered at Alexandria, Louisiana in Rapides Parish.
The 1st Battalion 141st Field Artillery "Washingon Artillery", provides support by fire to the 256 Brigade and has its headquarters at New Orleans, Louisiana (Orleans Parish). The 141st consists of 2 gun batteries of (8)105mm towed cannons each and a TAB (target acquistion battery).
The 1088th Troops Battalion headquarters is located at Plaquemine, Louisiana in Iberville Parish. The 1088th provides the brigade with most of its combat engineer and military intelligence support.
[edit] Task organization
Until 2006, the 256th Brigade was a "Heavy" brigade that consisted of 2 mechanized infantry battalions (2nd & 3rd Battalions, 156th Infantry Regiment) each equipped with 44 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 1 armor battalion (1st Battalion, 156th Armored Regiment) equipped with 44 Abrams Main Battle Tanks, and a self-propelled artillery battalion (1st Battalion, 141st Artillery Regiment) that was equipped with (18) 155mm howitzers. This was known as a HBCT (Heavy Brigade Combat Team). As of 01 September, 2006, the 256th Brigade is transitioning to a light configuration of two infantry battalions and one light cavalry squadron plus a battalion of towed artillery. This new organization is known as an IBCT (Infantry Brigade Combat Team) which will have a little over 3 and a half thousand soldiers when at full strength. The HBCT and IBCT along with the SBCT (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) are to be the three organizations that will make up the future army's ground force manuever units that will project combat power on land.
The old task organization of the 256th brigade was 3 armor companies of 14 tanks each, 6 mechanized infantry companies of 14 IFV(s) each and 3 batteries of 155mm self propelled artillery cannons with 6 howitzers each. In addition the armor and both mechanized infantry battalions had two vehicles (tank or Bradley) set aside for the battalion commander and the battalion operations officer. The new task organization will be 6 light infantry companies, 2 anti-tank companies armed with TOW missiles, 2 mounted recon troops, 1 dismounted recon troop, and 2 batteries of towed artillery with 105mm cannons with 8 cannons each. The brigade will also have a support battalion and a special troops battalion for CS/CSS (Combat Support/Combat Service Support). These 2 battalions will possess support units such as signal, intelligence, military police, combat engineers, transportation, quartermaster (supply), maintenance, and medical.
The new organization of the 256th infantry will be easier to transport via fixed and rotary winged aircraft as there is no piece of equipment that approaches the 68 ton weight of an Abrams tank or the 26.5 ton weight of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle. This will also make the unit cheaper to equip and maintain as the Abrams at $6 million a piece is one of the most expensive land vehicles in the US Army.
[edit] Training sites
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[edit] Weapons of the 256th
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[edit] Vehicles used
[edit] References
- FM 3-90.6 The Brigade Combat Team (August, 2006)
- FM 71-3 Tank & Mechanized Infantry Brigade
- FM 71-2 Tank & Mechanized Infantry Battalion Task Force
- FM 71-1 Tank & Mechanized Infantry Company/ Combat Team
[edit] External links
- Global Security page on 256th Infantry Brigade
- Global Security page on Louisiana National Guard
- Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT)
- Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT)
- Heavy Brigade Combat Team (HBCT)
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