9th Cavalry Regiment (United States)

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9th Cavalry Regiment(Colored)
9th Cavalry Regiment coat of arms
Active	July 28, 1866 - October 20, 1950 December 1, 1957 -
Country	United States
Branch	U.S. Army
Type	Cavalry
Size	Regiment
Nickname	Buffalo Soldiers
Motto	WE CAN, WE WILL
Battles/wars	Indian Wars/Battle of Beecher Island Spanish AMerican War/Battle of San Juan Hill Punitive Expedition World War II {not as unit} Iraq War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Colonel Edward Hatch Adna Chaffee

U.S. Cavalry Units
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9th Cavalry Regiment distinctive unit insignia

The 9th Cavalry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army, 1st Cavalry Division, which in turn is a component of the Third Corps. The regiment is currently stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas.

1 Formation
2 Regiment's service
3 Second World War
4 More recent service
5 21st century
6 External links
7 References

[edit] Formation

The regiment was constituted 28 July 1866 in the Regular Army as Company F, 9th Cavalry. On 3 August 1866 General Philip Sheridan was ordered to raise one African-American ("coloured") cavalry regiment, to be called the 9th Cavalry Regiment.

The regiment was organized on 21 September 1866 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was initially commanded by Colonel Edward Hatch. The new recruits were from Louisville, Kentucky. They were veterans of the Civil War. The men enlisted for five years and received $13 per month, plus room, board and clothing. Later they were dubbed "Buffalo Soldiers". The regiment's motto was, and remains, "We Can, We Will".

[edit] Regiment's service

The first task of the regiment was to maintain law and order in Texas.

At the Battle of Beecher Island in 1868, the regiment defeated a combined force of Arapaho, Northern Cheyenne, Brulé, and Oglala Sioux Indians.

The regiment went to New Mexico Military District, which covered parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Texas, and participated in the Apache Wars from 1875 to 1881.

The 9th Cavalry was transferred to Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1881.

During the Spanish-American War in 1898, the regiment served in the Battle of San Juan Hill alongside Roosevelt's Rough Riders.

Under General John J. Pershing, the regiment fought in the Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa in Mexico in 1916.

The regiment spent World War I in the Philippines.

On 1 March 1933 the 9th Cavalry was assigned to the 3d Cavalry Division.

[edit] Second World War

The 9th Cavalry was relieved 10 October 1940 from its assignment to the 3d Cavalry Division and transferred to the 2d Cavalry Division for deployment in the Second World War. However, the regiment did not serve in that war as a unit. It was transferred to the Mediterranean to supply soldiers for other units. It was therefore inactivated 7 March 1944 in North Africa.

[edit] More recent service

The regiment was disbanded 20 October 1950 but was reconstituted 1 December 1957 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 6th Reconnaissance Squadron, 9th Cavalry.

It was redesignated 30 June 1971 as Troop F, 9th Cavalry, and assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, and activated in Vietnam.

Again it was inactivated 26 February 1973 in Vietnam and relieved from assignment to the 1st Cavalry Division.

On 20 April 1999 it was assigned to the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division.

[edit] 21st century

The 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment (1-9 Cav), is stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, as the Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition unit, RSTA (the Army's version of the STA sniper (USMC)), of the 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. Originally part of the 3rd Brigade at Ft. Hood, the "1st of the 9th" moved to Ft. Bliss to fill the RSTA needs of the newly created 4th BCT in October 2005.^[1] The unit is nicknamed the "Headhunters"; it was estimated to have been responsible for 50% of the enemy kills of the entire 1st Cavalry Division during the Vietnam War. For their reputation, the unit was portrayed in the movie Apocalypse Now.

The 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment (1-9 Cav), began deployment to Iraq in September 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Headquarters company (HHC) and the Charlie company of 1-9 Cav were assigned a National Guard infantry unit, a combat engineer unit, a support unit and a civil support unit to comprise Task Force 1-9 (TF1-9). The other two infantry companies of 1-9 Cav, Alpha and Bravo companies, were assigned to other task forces in Iraq, notably Task Force All American (TF-AA). [1]

During their deployment, 124 Purple Heart medals were awarded to Task Force 1-9 soldiers, who operated in one of the most dangerous sections of the Iraqi capital, including Sadar City.

The Second Squadron (2-9 Cav) is stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, and is the Armored Reconnaissance Squadron for 3d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. The Squadron, nicknamed "Hunters," deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom IV, serving in two provinces: first in Salah ad-Din near ad-Dawr, as an attachment to the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, and then in Diyala with the rest of the 3/4 Brigade, after handing over the base in ad-Dawr to the Iraqi Army.

The 6th Squadron is assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, and is stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. Coincidentally, they replaced the 2nd Squadron in Diyala when they deployed in October 2006 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom V.

The 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, began their deployment again to Iraq in October 2006 out of Fort Bliss, Texas, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, along with the rest of 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, to work alongside the 25th Infantry Division to comprise Task Force Lightning.