The history of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company is a microcosm of the actions of individual units of the division. The predisposed actions of the division as a whole were those of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company. The Headquarters and Headquarters Company, the analogy to a brain, has to fulfill its precise and exacting function under the most adverse conditions of war.

On 20 August 1921, the Headquarters Unit was constituted in the Regular Army as Headquarters, 1st Cavalry Division. With the initiation of the National Defense Act, the 1st Cavalry Division and its Headquarters Troop was formally activated on 13 September 1921, at Fort Bliss, Texas. Concurrently, the 1st, 7th, 8th and 10th Cavalry Regiments were assigned to the division. The 5th Cavalry Regiment was assigned on 18 December 1922. In addition to four of the five regiments of the cavalry, the original organization included the 82nd Field Artillery Battalion (Horse) the formation of "Special Troops", consisting of the 13th Signal Troops and 27th Ordnance Company under the command of Major General Robert L. Howze.

The division's early history is largely a saga of rough riding, patrolling the Mexican border, and constant training. Operating on horseback, the cavalry was the only force capable of piercing the desert's harsh terrain and halting the band of smugglers that operated along the desolate Mexican border.

As the depression of the 1930's forced thousands of workers out of employment, the division was asked to provide training for 62,500 people in the Civilian Conservation Corps. These workers constructed barracks for 20,000 anti-aircraft troops at Fort Bliss, Texas in preparation for the Air Age.

World War II, Pacific Theater

"Captured Japanese Pilot's View"
Although the 1st Cavalry Division was created as a result of a proven need for large horse-mounted formations, by 1940 many thought that the march of warfare technology progress had left the horse far behind. The era of the tank, automobile, aircraft, and parachute had dawned and eclipsed the age of the armored horseman. On 07 December 1941, without warning, the Japanese destroyed the American fleet at Pearl Harbor. Immediately troopers returned to the 1st Cavalry Division from all over the United States. They outfitted their horses and readied their weapons and vehicles in anticipation of the fight against the Axis.

In February 1943, the entire 1st Cavalry Division was alerted for an overseas assignment as a dismounted unit. An impatient 1st Cavalry Division was dismounted and they were processed for movement to the Southwest Pacific theater as foot solders. In mid June 1943, the last troops of the division departed Fort Bliss, Texas for Camp Stoneman, California and later on 03 July, boarded the "S.S. Monterey and the S.S. George Washington" for Australia and the Southwest Pacific.

On 26 July, three weeks later, the division arrived at Brisbane and began a fifteen mile trip to their new temporary home, Camp Strathpine, Queensland, Australia. The division received six months of intense combat jungle warfare training at Camp Strathpine in the wilds of scenic Queensland and amphibious training at nearby Moreton Bay. On 04 December 1943, the Headquarters was reorganized and redesignated 1943 as Headquarters, 1st Cavalry Division, (Special). In January 1944 the division was ordered to leave Australia and sail to Oro Bay, New Guinea. After a period of staging in New Guinea, it was time for the 1st Cavalry Division to receive their first baptism of fire.

"Island Combat"
On 27 February, Task Force "Brewer", consisting of 1,026 troopers, embarked from Cape Sudest, Oro Bay, New Guinea under the command of Brigadier General William C. Chase. Their destination was a remote, Japanese occupied island of the Admiralties, Los Negros, where they were to make a reconnaissance of force and if feasible, capture Momote Airdrome and secure a beachhead for the reinforcements that would follow.

On 29 February 1944, the men of the division sailed for the Admiralty Islands and stormed ashore in an amphibious landing at Los Negros Island. After a fierce campaign in which the enemy lost some 7,000 combat soldiers, the division could look with pride on its first combat test of World War II. The next action for the Cavalry troopers was on the Philippine Island of Leyte. The division fought tirelessly against the Japanese fortification. With the last of the strong-holds eliminated, the division moved on to Luzon, the main island of the Philippines.

One of the First Team's most noted feats was accomplished during the fighting for Luzon. On 31 January 1945, General Douglas MacArthur issued the order, "Go to Manila, free the prisoners at Santo Tomas, take Malacanan Palace and the legislative building." The next day, the "flying column," as the element came to be known, jumped off to slice through 100 miles of Japanese territory. Hours later, the 1st Cavalry Division was in Manila and the prisoners were freed. As the war came to a sudden end, MacArthur selected the First Team for the honor of leading the Allied Occupational Army into Tokyo. During the occupation of Japan, on 25 March 1949, The Headquarters was reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters, 1st Cavalry Division (Infantry).

Korean War

"The Pusan Perimeter"
It happened before dawn on 25 June 1950. Less than 5 years after the terrible devastations of World War II, a new war broke out from a distant land whose name means "Morning Calm". On 18 July the 1st Cavalry Division was ordered to Korea. Initially scheduled to make an amphibious landing at Inchon, it was redirected to the southeastern coast of Korea at Pohang-dong a port 80 miles north of Pusan. The North Koreans were 25 miles away when elements of the 1st Cavalry Division swept ashore to successfully carry out the first amphibious landing of the Korean War. Its initial mission was to establish the Pusan Perimeter. By 22 July, all regiments were deployed in battle positions; in itself a remarkable logistical achievement in the face of Typhoon Helene that pounded the Korean coastline.

The landing at Pohang-dong helped halt the North Korean war machine at the Pusan perimeter. The division broke out of the perimeter in mid-September and started north. Crossing the 38th Parallel on 09 October 1950, the troopers of the 1st Cavalry Division crashed into Pyongyang, capturing the capital city of North Korea on 19 October. The sudden intervention of Communist Chinese forces dashed hopes of a quick end to the war. First Team troopers fought courageously in the see-saw campaigns that followed, and successfully defended the city of Seoul. By January 1952, the division, after 18 months of continuous fighting, rotated back to Hokkaido, Japan.

In 1957, the 1st Cavalry Division returned to Korea where they were given the mission of patrolled the Demilitarized Zone. On 01 July 1960, Headquarters Company was reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Cavalry Division. In June 1965, the Headquarters and Headquarters Company accompanied the 1st Cavalry Division in the rotation back to the United States along with other units of the 1st Cavalry Division.

Vietnam War

"Air Cavalry Unit"
The 1st Cavalry Division went home, but only long enough to be reorganized and be prepared for a new mission. On 03 July 1965, in Doughboy Stadium at Fort Benning, Georgia the colors of the 11th Air Assault Division (Test) were cased and retired. As the band played the rousing strains of GarryOwen, the colors of the 1st Cavalry Division were moved onto the field. As part of the reorganization, the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 11th Air Assault Division (Test) was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).

Within 90 days of becoming the Army's first airmobile division, the First Team was back in combat as the first fully committed division of the Vietnam War. Their first real combat test came during the Pleiku campaign; 35 days of continuous airmobile operations beginning 29 October 1965. The troopers destroyed two of the three regiments of a North Vietnamese Division, earning the first Presidential Unit Citation given to a division in Vietnam.

The division began 1968 by terminating Operation Pershing, the longest action of the 1st Cavalry in Vietnam. For nearly a year the division scoured the Bong Son plain, An Lo valley and the hills of coastal II Corps, seeking out enemy units and their sanctuaries. When the operation ended on 21 January, the enemy had lost 5,401 soldiers and 2,400 enemy soldiers had been detained. Some 1,300 individual and 137 crew served weapons had been captured or destroyed.

Moving to I Corps, Vietnam's northern most tactical zone, the division set up Camp Evans for their new base camp. In late January, the enemy launched the Tet Offensive, a major effort to overrun South Vietnam. Some 7,000 enemy, primarily well equipped, crack NVA regulars blasted their way into the imperial city of Hue and Quang Tri, the capital of Vietnam's northern most province. The Cavalry went on the move and by 01 February, Quang Tri was liberated followed by Hue. After shattering the enemy's dreams of a Tet victory, the 1st Cavalry Division "Sky-troopers" moved to relieve the besieged Marine Base at Khe Sann. In May 1970, the First Team was "First in Cambodia," hitting what was previously a Communist sanctuary. Troopers deprived the enemy of much needed supplies and ammunition, scattering the enemy forces.

The efforts of the 1st Cavalry Division were not limited to direct enemy engagements but also, using the experiences gained during the occupation of Japan and Korea, encompassed the essential rebuilding of the war torn country of South Vietnam. As a result of its' gallant performance, the regiment was awarded two presidential Unit Citations and the Valorous Unit Citation.

Although 26 March 1971 officially marked the end of duties in Vietnam for the 1st Cavalry Division, President Nixon's program of "Vietnamization" required the continued presence of a strong U.S. fighting force. The 2nd Battalion of the 5th Regiment, 1st Battalion of the 7th Regiment, 2nd Battalion of the 8th Regiment and 1st Battalion of the 12th Regiment along with specialized support units as "F" Troop, 9th Cavalry and Delta Company, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion helped establish the 3rd Brigade headquarters at Bien Hoa. Its primary mission was to interdict enemy infiltration and supply routes in War Zone D.

The Modern Cavalry

On 05 May 1971, the colors of the 1st Cavalry Division, minus those of the 3rd Brigade, were moved from Vietnam to Fort Hood, Texas. Using the assets of the 1st Armored Division, the 1st Cavalry Division was reorganized, reassigned to III Corps and received an experimental designation of the Triple-Capability (TRICAP) Division. Its mission, under the direction of Modern Army Selected Systems Test, Evaluation and Review (MASSTER) was to carry on a close identification with and test forward looking combined armor, air cavalry and airmobile concepts. The Division consisted of the 1st Armored Brigade, the 2nd Air Cavalry Combat Brigade (ACCB) the 4th Airmobile Infantry Brigade. Division Artillery provided the fire support and Support Command provided normal troop support and service elements.

The main body of the 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood, under the direction of MASSTER, a testing agency created in 1969 to oversee the development of surveillance, target acquisition an night observation equipment, continued to test future concepts of mobility and flexibility on the battlefield. The tests continued for three and a half years were very demanding. When all TRICAP testing was completed, the mission of airmobile anti-armor warfare was transferred to the 6th Cavalry Brigade (Air Combat) collocated at Fort Hood, Texas and on 21 February 1975, the 1st Cavalry Division was reorganized and redesignated to become the newest Armored Division in the Army.

Since fielding the M-1 Abrams main battle tank in 1980 Force Modernization has continued as a major division focus. The First Team became the "First" division to field the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), and the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).

The division's first National Training Center rotation in September 1982, kicked off a long on-going series of tough, realistic desert battles. The first units were the 1st Brigade's 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, and 3rd Battalion, 10th Cavalry. The Division now conducts three NTC rotations year. During exercise Return of Forces to Germany (REFORGER) in 1983, the First Team became the "First unit to train as a division-size element in Northern Europe." All the training, modernization, planning, and operations culminated in REFORGER 1983, when the First Team deployed nearly 9,000 soldiers to Holland, drew prepositioned equipment, moved to a staging area and conducted exercise "Certain Strike" on the plains of Northern Germany. The success of the exercise proved that the division was fully capable of performing its wartime mission.

Persian Gulf War, Southwest Asia

"USNS Capella, RollOn RollOff Vessel"
This effective training could have not come at a more opportune time in the history of the First Team. On 07 August 1990, a deployment order for the Southwest Asia operations was issued. Plans calling for the division to deploy by 15 September extended the work day to 14, 16 and in some cases 24 hours. On schedule, by mid September over 800 heavy loaded vehicles were loaded at the Fort Hood railhead to make the trip to the seaports of Houston and Beaumont. An additional 4,200 vehicles formed road conveys that left every two hours, around the clock.

On 16 September, an Air Force C5A Galaxy, carrying the advanced headquarters staff, left Fort Hood Robert Gray Army Airfield. In the final drama, soldiers assembled for manifest roll call. The moment came; busses pulled up, planes were loaded and the time for memories had begun. First Team soldiers flew from Robert Gray Army Airfield to Dhahran International Airport in Saudi Arabia. There, they settled into warehouses and tents to await the arrival of their equipment. As soon as their equipment arrived, they moved to an assembly area in the desert 160 miles west of the port.

During October, November and December 1990, the division drew new equipment, trained, and planned defensive operations. By the end of December, the 1st Cavalry Division was one of the most modern and powerfully equipped divisions in the Army. The division's tankers drew, trained on and fired the MlAl Abrams "Main Battle Tank" armed with a 120 millimeter smooth bore gun and one of the most sophisticated automotive and fire control systems in the world. First Team infantrymen received the newest version of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the up-armored M2A2 which like the new Abrams proved its worth in combat. Both vehicles were reliable, survivable and deadly during Desert Storm operations.

The first glimpse of that performance came in December 1990 on the division's Pegasus Range, a full gunnery training facility built up from the sands of the Saudi desert. Every tank and Bradley crew fired their new weapons on Pegasus range as part of new equipment transition training. Throughout this period, the division's leaders were planning and rehearsing the First Team's role as the theater counterattack force - the force that would defeat any Iraqi attack into Saudi Arabia.

Before hostilities, the First Team gained valuable experience in combined operations through coordination with French, Egyptian and Syrian forces. With the First Team's 2nd Brigade and the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) under its tactical control, the 1st Cavalry Division conducted a complex light force/heavy force defense of critical theater logistics bases.

In January 1991, the division was attached to VII (US) Corps and the focus of the First Team clearly began to shift toward offensive action. The division moved early 500 kilometers to another assembly area near King Khalid Military City (KKMC) in northern Saudi Arabia. This put the division in a key strategic location covering the historic Wadi al Batin approach into Saudi Arabia and threatening Iraq along the same avenue into western Kuwait.

The time spent near KKMC was short, and the division once again packed up its 17,000 soldiers now accustomed to "jumping." The division moved north toward the juncture of the Saudi, Iraq and Kuwait borders through a series of defensive positions designed to thwart any preemptive attack along the Wadi. First Team deterrence was successful - no attack came. Meanwhile, the air war began and other Allied ground forces began to reposition for the offense.

While other ground forces prepared for war, the First Team began a calculated war of deception along the Saudi border. The goal was to lure Saddam Hussein into believing the Allied attack would come from this direction, and trick him into placing additional forces there. While the division's 8th Engineer Battalion improved positions and conducted "Berm Buster" missions to destroy Iraqi obstacles, the 1-7 Cavalry, screened well forward, clashing with Iraqi forces. The First Team began its secret fight to deceive Iraq long before the world would come to know that "ground-war fighting" had already begun.

"Operation Red Storm"
Operation Red Storm, a VII Corps Artillery-Aviation raid up the Wadi Al - Batin, was designed to make the Iraqis believe that the Wadi was being prepped for the main offensive. It utilized the resources of the 11th Aviation Brigade, the 1st Cavalry Division Artillery, and elements of the VII Corps Artillery. Just prior to 0100 hours, 16 February 1991, the artillery units fired a 3 minute prep on selected targets, followed by Apache attack helicopters crossing the Berm to engage targets of opportunity. In conjunction with this action, USAF assets attacked targets deep in Iraqi.

The First Team's Multiple Launched Rocket Systems repeatedly lit the night sky, battering deep enemy targets, while its sister cannon batteries fired Copperhead rounds, rocket-assisted projectiles, and thousands of high explosive and improved conventional munitions into Iraq. The Aviation Brigade flew obstacle reduction and aerial reconnaissance missions and designated targets for destruction by the division's artillery. The enemy responded. Iraqi divisions focused forces toward the coalition threat in the Wadi, and the First Team froze them. Hussein's flanks were left thinned, allowing the other Allied Forces to attack virtually unopposed. The deception had worked. On 20 February, in Desert Storm's "First" major mounted ground engagement, the 2nd (Blackjack) Brigade attacked 10 miles into Iraq, confirming and destroying enemy positions. Success exacted its price. During this engagement, the Blackjack Brigade suffered the agony of the "First" three Army soldiers to be killed in action.

On the opening of the ground war, the Blackjack Brigade supported by the Aviation Brigade Apaches, moved into Iraq on a reconnaissance-in-force. The brigade broke contact after penetrating enemy obstacles, taking fire and causing the enemy to light fire trenches. They withdrew south to join the division for its final attack. On 26 February, the Commander of the Allied Forces, General Norman Schwarzkopf directed, "send in the First Team. Destroy the Republican Guard. Let's go home."

The division charged west pausing only to refuel before passing through breeches in the enemy obstacle belt. Racing north, then east, the division moved in a vast armada of armor, stretching from horizon to horizon, Within 24 hours, the first Team had gone 300 kilometers, slicing deep into the enemy's rear. As the division prepared to destroy a Republican Guard division, the cease fire halted it.

The units of the 1st Cavalry Division setup defensive positions where the cease fire had stopped their attack, then expanded north to "Highway 8," clearing bunkers and looking for enemy equipment and soldiers. The 1st (Ironhorse) Brigade stretched through the historic Euphrates River Valley. Within two weeks the 1st Cav moved south into Saudi Arabia and its new assembly area (AA) Killeen. There on the plain of the Wadi al Batin - the Cavalry began to prepare for redeployment home.

Today's Cavalry

Upon its return to the United States, the 1st Cavalry Division became the largest division in the Army, with the reactivation of its 3rd "Greywolf" Battle Team on 21 May 1991. Included in this battle team was the 3rd Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment; 1st and 3rd Battalions, 67th Armor, 1st Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment; and the 502nd (redesignated 215th) Forward Support Battalion.

October of 1992 saw the activation of the Engineer Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. Through the Army's "Engineer Restructuring Initiative," the nucleus of the brigade was formed around the division's historic 8th Engineer Battalion. The 20th Engineer Battalion was brought from Fort Campbell, Kentucky to join the brigade and the 91st Engineer Battalion was activated to complete it.

In November 1992, the unit designations for the battalions remaining from the former "Tiger" Brigade of the 2nd Armored Division were returned to them prior to their reactivation at Fort Hood on 02 December 1992. This action was done to realign the historical designations of units to their parent divisions. In November, the 1st Cavalry Division, in turn regained the titles of its historical units: 3-41st Infantry was redesignated 1-9th Cavalry, 1-67th Armor became 3-8th Cavalry, and 1-3rd Field Artillery was redesignated 2-82nd Field Artillery. On 16 December 1992, other 1st Cavalry Division units were redesignated to accomplish the realignments for historical purposes. These changes included: 1-32nd Armor redesignating as 2-12th Cavalry, 3-32nd Armor to 1-12th Cavalry, and Battery "A", 333rd Field Artillery to Battery "B", 26th Field Artillery.

In August of 1993, the reflagging actions were completed when the 2nd Armored Division's 4th Battalion, 6th Infantry was reflagged the 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, which was assigned to the First Team's 3rd Greywolf Brigade. Following its reorganization, the division became the Army's largest division and only armored contingency force, ready to deploy anywhere in the world on a moment's notice. Since then, elements of the First Team have returned to Kuwait no less than three times -- as part of a ten-year training agreement between the U.S. and Kuwait and also in a crisis situation when Iraq infringed on Kuwaiti border rules. Meanwhile, the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California remains a mainstay of training for the division which deploys brigades there three times a year. Here they have 1,000 square miles for maneuver training against the best trained forces in the world.

Training, maintaining readiness and staying on the leading edge of today's technology continue to be priorities, while the First Team takes great strides to preserve its pride filled heritage and to live the legend its forefathers created.