| 158th Infantry Regiment | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1865 |
| Country | United States |
| Allegiance | Arizona |
| Branch | Arizona Army National Guard |
| Type | Infantry |
| Nickname | Bushmasters (Special Designation) [1] |
| Motto | Cuidado (Take Care) |
| U.S. Infantry Regiments | |
|---|---|
| Previous | Next |
| 157th Infantry Regiment | 159th Infantry Regiment |
The 158th Infantry Regiment ("Bushmasters"[1]) is a infantry unit of the Arizona National Guard. The regiment has served in World War I, World War II and Afghanistan.
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Formed on September 2, 1865 as the 1st Arizona Volunteer Infantry part of Arizona Army National Guard. It participated in a number of campaigns against the Apache during the Apache Wars and comprised companies of Maricopa and Pima American Indians. During the Spanish–American War the unit adopted as the motto "Cuidado" a Spanish word meaning "take care". In 1916, during the Pancho Villa Expedition, an expeditionary force led by General John Pershing into Mexico, the 1st Arizona Volunteer Infantry guarded and patrolled the border between Douglas and Naco, Arizona until World War I was declared on April 6, 1917.
The 1st Arizona Volunteer Infantry was drafted into federal service August 5, 1917, re-designated as the 158th Infantry Regiment (1st Arizona Infantry) as part of the 79th Brigade, of the 40th Division and was sent overseas to France in August 1918. The regiment saw no active service at the front, however its men furnished replacement personnel to other units and was honoured by acting as guard of honor to President Woodrow Wilson during his visit in France in 1918 with the 158th Infantry Band chosen as Wilson’s honor band. The regiment was inactivated as a federal unit on May 3, 1919.
In 1924,[2] F Company was formed as an all-native American unit made up of alumni of the Phoenix Indian School.[3]
After the national army reorganization after World War I, the regiment was assigned to the 45th Infantry Division. At the outbreak of World War II, the unit was activated into Federal service on September 16, 1940 and started training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The regiment then moved to Camp Barkeley, Texas in February 1941 and conducted maneuvers in Louisiana. After the United States declared war on December 7, the unit was detached from the 45th Division and was sent to Panama for jungle training and protection of the Panama Canal Zone arriving January 2, 1942. The regiment adopted the name Bushmasters after the venomous pitvipers found in South America, replacing the name "1st Arizona Infantry". Each combat soldier in the regiment received extensive training in jungle warfare, knife fighting, and unarmed hand-to-hand combat techniques.[4]
With the formation of the 6th Army, led by General Walter Krueger, and allocation of the 158th Regiment to the 6th Army, the Bushmasters were sent to Brisbane, Australia arriving on January 16, 1943. When the 6th Army's headquarters moved to Goodenough Island, New Guinea the 2nd Battalion, 158th Regiment provided security to the headquarters. The 158th Regiment less 2nd Battalion landed on the unoccupied island of Kiriwina, New Guinea as part of Operation Chronicle, on June 30, for the purposes of occupying the island for the construction of an advanced base and airfield. The regiment was spread out between Kiriwina, Woodlark and Goodenough Islands in New Guinea
Company G, 158th Regiment embarked for Arawe, New Britain on December 15, as part of Operation Director and was soon joined by the remainder of the 2nd Battalion and began combat duties in the Arawe area. After being relieved at Arawe, the 2nd Battalion sailed to Finschhafen, where they rejoined the and 1st and 3rd Battalion's who had been on garrison duty on Woodlark and Kiriwina islands. At Finshaffen, the 158th Regiment was redesignated the 158th Regimental Combat Team. A 1943 article in Popular Mechanics recorded the abilities of the individual Bushmaster jungle soldier[4]:
"One of America's most colorful and least known soldiers of World War II is the Bushmaster...His tactics are borrowed from native jungle fighters, the American Indian, British commandos, exponents of judo and the Shanghai underworld...(He uses) machetes, curved knives, tommy guns, high-powered rifles, and hand grenades...His average age is 22 and his favorite weapon is the long-bladed machete...With his fellow Bushmasters, he disappears from civilization for weeks at a time. The men know how to sustain themselves on wild fare supplemented by (jungle rations) carried in their packs. When they are not testing their camouflage against aerial observers, making camp in a swamp, or working out an intricate code of communications, they are practicing jujitsu or improve on the native's technique with the machete. The Bushmaster bows to no man in the art of hand-to-hand fighting and any unwary (enemy) who crosses his path would probably never know what hit him."[4]
Sent to Wakde, Netherlands New Guinea to relieve the 163rd Regimental Combat Team of the 41st Division arriving at Toem on May 21, 1944. The regimental combat team tasked with taking Sarmi, fought a major battle at Lone Tree Hill against the Imperial Japanese 36th Division between May 17 to June 12, before being relieved by the 6th Infantry Division.
On July 2, the regimental combat team went ashore as part of the battle of Noemfoor on Noemfoor Island, Netherlands New Guinea, to capture the airfields and to provide security for the engineers upgrading the airfields to operational use. As part of General Douglas MacArthur's return to the Philippines, the regimental combat team landed at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon as part of the invasion of Lingayen Gulf on January 11, 1945 and suffered heavy casualties from well dug in Japanese forces along the Damortis-Rosario road. Company G, was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation after destroying a Japanese 14-inch coastal gun which was directing heavy fire on the Allied ships.
The next objective tasked to the regimental combat team was Batangas, Luzon where they cleared the area around Balayan Bay and Batangas Bay, which took three weeks to subdue. Then on April 1, the regimental combat team invaded the Bicol Peninsula, landing at Legaspi. After being relieved in Philippines campaign, the regimental combat team was selected as part of the planned Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan, the regimental combat team was selected to attack the island of Tanegashima to capture the islands air warning stations two days prior to the Allied assault on Kyūshū. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused the surrender of the Japanese on August 14, 1945. On October 13, 1945, the regimental combat team landed in Yokohama, Japan to be part of the Occupation of Japan. The 158th Regimental Combat Team was deactivated at Utsunomiya, Japan, on January 17, 1946.
General MacArthur gave the Bushmasters the accolade, “No greater fighting combat team has ever deployed for battle”.
The regiment was reactivated on January 21, 1948 at Glendale, Arizona. Later reorganized and redesignated as the Heavy Mortar Company, 158th Infantry, and then Combat Support Company, 1st Battle Group, 158th Infantry. The unit was then reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 158th Infantry, 258th Infantry Brigade on March 1, 1963 and again on December 10, 1967 to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1583rd Military Police Battalion, 258th Military Police Brigade. It was again redesignated on September 1, 1969 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 157th Military Police Battalion. In 2006, the 1st Battalion, 180th Artillery was deactivated and redesignated the 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Brigade with five companies; Headquarters and Headquarters Company in Mesa, Company A in Tucson, Company B in Gilbert (since moved to Florence), Company C in Prescott and Company D in Yuma (since moved to Buckeye). In January 2007, The 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment was called to active duty service in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and served in Afghanistan from April of that year to March 2008. They are still called to active duty to this day helping with operations in the middle east.