41st Infantry Regiment (United States)

41st Infantry Regiment
Active	1866-69 1917-21 1940-
Country	United States
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry
Motto	Straight and Stalwart
Engagements	Indian Wars World War II Operation Desert Storm Operation Iraqi Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom
Commanders
Current commander	LTC Kendall J. Clarke
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia

U.S. Infantry Regiments
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40th Infantry Regiment	42nd Infantry Regiment

The U.S. 41st Infantry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army. Its 1st Battalion is currently assigned to the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. Its 3rd Battalion is assigned to the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division.

History

Civil War

The 41st United States (Colored) Infantry Regiment was one of six segregated regiments (2 cavalry and 4 infantry) created in 1867 following the American Civil War to provide for African American participation in the defense of the United States. It was consolidated in 1869 with the 38th (Colored) Infantry Regiment to form the 24th (Colored) Infantry Regiment.

Significant dates:

• Constituted 1866-07-28 in the Regular Army as the 41st Infantry
• Organized 1866-12-25 at Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Consolidated 1869-03-15 with the 38th Infantry Regiment; consolidated units redesignated as 24th US Infantry Regiment.

20th century

The 41st Infantry Regiment was re-formed on 20 June 1917 as Company A, 41st Infantry at Fort Snelling, Minnesota from soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment. On 9 July 1918, the Regiment was assigned to the 10th Division at Camp Funston, Kansas, which was commanded by Leonard Wood. Here the 41st prepared for deployment to Europe to fight in World War I. In October 1918, the regiment sent an advance party to France to prepare for the deployment, however, the war ended in November so the regiment did not deploy. As part of the general demobilization following the war, the regiment was deactivated on 22 September 1921 at Camp Meade, Maryland.^[1]

It was reactivated on 15 July 1940 when the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry was activated as Company A, 41st Infantry (Armored) at Fort Benning, Georgia. The 41st Infantry Regiment constituted the organic infantry of the newly formed 2nd Armored Division. The association between the 41st Infantry and the 2nd Armored Division lasted throughout World War II and continued through Operation Desert Storm The crest shows a blue shield with a round yellow circle and a castle representing its birthplace at Fort Snelling Minnesota. In the upper left corner a star representing a previous fort in Texas is depicted.

The regiment has received four Presidential Unit Citations from the Second World War, including one for leading the initial breakout in the Normandy Campaign and a later citation for actions in the invasion of Germany itself.

Reorganized and redesignated 1 July 1963 as the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry. On 22 March 1983, the Battalion was issued its first M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles. After a long summer of training, the Battalion conducted an ARTEP in December 1983. In November 1984, the Battalion received movement orders to rotate to the 2nd Armored Division (Forward) in early summer 1986 as the Army's first COHORT rotational battalion. Upon arriving at Garlstedt, Germany the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry proved its combat readiness by leading the way in numerous field exercises.

Operation Desert Storm

In late 1990 the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Armored Division, then based at Lucius D. Clay Kaserne, 24 km north of Bremen, in the Federal Republic of Germany, was warned to make itself ready for service in the Middle East. Significant U.S. Army forces were being sent to Saudi Arabia following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Amongst the brigade's units was the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James L. Hillman.^[2] After arrival in Saudi Arabia, 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry, was task organised (effectively merged in parts) with 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment.^[3] The 4-3 FA Battalion would provide fire support. This 'task organisation', routine before combat, was designed to ensure that infantry and armour were present in balanced organisations so that they could provide mutual support. The task force's higher headquarters, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Armored Division, was itself attached to the 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) to make up for a missing brigade of that division.^[4] The brigade became known as Task Force Iron.^[5] It would become the spearhead of VII Corps. The brigade was the first to breach the sand berms dividing Saudi and Iraqi territory,^[5] and the battalion itself was the first over the berm. It would be the first coalition unit to conduct ground combat operations in Iraq engaging in direct and indirect fire fights with the enemy on 17 February 1991.^[6] It would participate in the Battle of 73 Easting and the Battle of Norfolk.

A year later, the battalion was inactivated on 15 June 1992 in Germany.

From 1992

The battalion was reactivated on 16 December 1992 at Fort Polk, Louisiana, after the 5th Infantry Division there had been redesignated as the 2nd Armored Division. It was inactivated 15 December 1995 at Fort Hood, Texas, and relieved from assignment to the 2nd Armored Division; Assigned 16 February 1996 to the 1st Armored Division and activated at Fort Riley, Kansas; It was activated at Fort Riley, Kansas as the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry on 29 March 1996, along with Battery C, 1-4th Air Defense Artillery, for garrison operations only.

In January 1997, the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment "Dragoons" became the first CONUS-based battalion-sized unit and above to be alerted for deployment to Europe as part of the ongoing peacekeeping effort in the former Yugoslavia, which saw Europe-based U.S. forces arrive in December, 1995.^[7] By March, 1997, the Task Force 1-41 Infantry deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina. The task force was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Rush and consisted of Alpha Company, "Team Tank" (M1A1 tank company- A company "Ironhorse",1st Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment),^[8] C Company, D Company^[9] "Demon Dawgs" and Headquarters and Headquarters Company(HHC) "Headhunters", 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment. Bravo Company, which was organic to 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, and C/1-4 ADA did not deploy with TF 1-41 IN and remained at Fort Riley, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment (Task Force 1-13 AR until December 1997) for the duration of the deployment.

After drawing an equipment set (M1 Abrams and M2 Bradley series combat vehicles) in Europe and arriving in Bosnia-Herzegovina in early April 1997, TF 1-41 Infantry was assigned to Camps Dobol and Demi, both east and southeast of Tuzla, near the zone of separation (ZOS) as enforced by the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords. For about six months, the men and women of TF 1-41 Infantry (Straight and Stalwart) conducted peace enforcement operations in support of Operation Joint Guard as the first iteration of "SFOR" or the "Stabilization Force" after the designation changed from "IFOR" or the "Implementation Force" in early 1997. TF 1-41 IN conducted a variety of missions and patrols in accordance with the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP) and corresponding rules of engagement (ROE) while operating within its area of responsibility. TF 1-41 IN's operations essentially culminated with the first municipal elections held all over Bosnia on 13–14 September 1997, occurring without significant incident. TF 1-41 handed responsibility of their sector to the 2nd Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (Light) "Cougars" out of Fort Polk, Louisiana and redeployed home to Fort Riley, Kansas in October, 1997, at the successful completion of their mission. TF 1-41 received the Army's Superior Unit Award for its work in the former Yugoslavia. "Team Tank" which consisted of 2 M1A1 tank platoons and 1 M2 Bradley platoon (1 organic tank platoon was detached and assigned to A/1-41 IN at Camp Demi) returned to the 1st Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment in December, 1997 while B/1-41 IN and C/1-4 ADA was reassigned to their organic 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment at the same time.

In 2002 the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment deployed to Kuwait for a rotation in Operation Desert Spring with 3rd ID where it did six month in the hot Kuwaiti desert. 1-41 then deployed back home for 3 month not knowing they would be call back into action by 3rd ID to deploy with them for the Iraqi invasion in 2003. 1-41 followed behind 3rd ID until coming up on Tallil AFB where they were caught by the big sand storm of 2003. Later the next day they had received word that 82nd ABN was landing at the Air Base and needed Mech support. Once the two linked up they moved on to the town of As Samawah where major combat took place. 1-41 had also assigned one of it's company (Cco) to 101st to fight in Karbala. During these two major battle it lost two of it's best Soldier's, SGT Butler and SPC Brown. For the fact that 1-41 had earlier done it's Kuwait rotation they were sent home right after the ground war was declared over.

In August 2004, battalion personnel, having newly arrived from Fort Riley, Kansas and attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, conducted a right-seat ride with the troopers of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.^[10] A right-seat ride gave incoming units a chance to see what the current units were doing. The right-seat ride lasted two days, beginning 2 August, and was carried out around Camp Cuervo in northeastern Baghdad, where 2-8th Cavalry was located. During the right-seat ride, 1-41st Infantry personnel took the extra seats in the 2-8th Cavalry troopers' vehicles and tagged along for the ride, standing back to study how certain things were done at some points and getting their feet wet to help at others.

The battalion was redesignated 1 October 2005 as the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment; relieved 16 April 2007 from assignment to the 1st Armored Division and assigned to the 3d Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division; and then inactivated 15 March 2008 at Fort Riley, Kansas. In March 2008, the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment was inactivated along with the rest of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division. The 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division was reflagged as the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. 1-41st Infantry's mission was to deploy, with or without equipment, build combat power, conduct military operations in support of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team (not to be confused with the modular brigade combat team), or other headquarters, and redeploys.

The 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division was subsequently reorganized as the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and reactivated at Fort Bliss, Texas. The 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment was subsequently reactivated as part of the reorganized brigade in July 2009 (official Army lineage sources state 16 August 2009).

In 2014, 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry was serving with the International Security Assistance Force's Train Assist Advise Command North in northern Afghanistan. It relieved another U.S. battalion in January 2014.^[11]

Reorganized and Redesignated 1 April 2015 at Fort Carson, Colorado.

First Bn lineage 1917–1957

Constituted 15 May 1917 in the Regular Army as Company A, 41st Infantry

Organized 20 June 1917 at Fort Snelling, Minnesota

(41st Infantry assigned 9 July 1918 to the 10th Division; relieved 18 February 1919 from assignment to the 10th Division)

Inactivated 22 September 1921 at Camp Meade, Maryland

Activated 15 July 1940 at Fort Benning, Georgia, as Company A, 41st Infantry (Armored), an element of the 2d Armored Division

Redesignated 8 January 1942 as Company A, 41st Armored Infantry

Reorganized and redesignated 25 March 1946 as Company A, 41st Armored Infantry Battalion, an element of the 2d Armored Division

Reorganized and redesignated 1 July 1957 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Armored Rifle Battalion, 41st Infantry, and remained assigned to the 2d Armored Division (organic elements concurrently constituted and activated)

Campaign credits

World War II: Algeria-French Morocco (with arrowhead); Sicily (with arrowhead); Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe

Southwest Asia: Defense of Saudi Arabia; Liberation and Defense of Kuwait; Cease-Fire

Southwest Asia: Campaigns to be determined

Afghanistan: Operation Enduring Freedom

Decorations

• Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for NORMANDY
• Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for CHERBOURG
• Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for PUFFENDORF-ROER
• Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for ARDENNES
• Belgian Fourragere 1940
  • Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in Belgium
  • Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the Ardennes
• Valorous Unit Award for IRAQ-KUWAIT 1991, Afghanistan 2012
• Army Superior Unit Award for 1997
• Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for April 2003 for action in As Samawah
• Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for IRAQ 2004-2005, AFGHANISTAN 2011-2012

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army Center of Military History document "1 Bn 41st Infantry Lineage and Honors".