45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (United States)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 45th Infantry Brigade (Light) (Separate/Enhanced)


caption=45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team shoulder sleeve insignia
dates= 1968 - Present
country= USA
branch= Infantry
type= Brigade
role= Brigade Combat Team
command_structure=
garrison=Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
nickname= Thunderbird
battles= Sicily
Naples-Foggia
Anzio
Rome-Arno
Southern France
Ardennes-Alsace
|Rhineland
Central Europe
Afghanistan
Iraq
notable_commanders= Major General Troy H. Middleton, Brigadier General Jerry W. Grizzle, Brigadier General Thomas Mancino, Brigadier General Miles DeeringThe 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is a modular Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the United States Army National Guard in Oklahoma.

The 45th was previously assigned to the 7th Infantry Division, but is now an independent unit, with Training and Readiness Oversight under the 36th Infantry Division. During World War II it was Federalized as a unit of the regular United States Army, the 45th Infantry Division.

History

The history of the 45th Brigade Combat Team can be traced back to 1890 with the formation of the Militia of the Territory of Oklahoma. That militia was mobilized in 1898 during the Spanish American War but never deployed. In 1916 the First Oklahoma Infantry Regiment deployed for border security duty during the Mexican Border Conflict. In 1917, the First Oklahoma Infantry Regiment, reassigned as part of the 142nd Infantry Regiment of the 36th Division fought in the final month of World War I.

Lineage

Constituted 19 October 1920 in the National Guard as Headquarters, 45th Division (to be organized with troops from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma). Organized and federally recognized 3 August 1923 at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Headquarters Detachment organized and federally recognized 1 July 1924 at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 45th Division, inducted into federal service 16 September 1940 at Oklahoma City. Reorganized and redesignated 23 February 1942 as Headquarters, 45th Infantry Division. Inactivated 7 December 1945 at Camp Bowie, Texas. Reorganized and federally recognized 5 September 1946 in the Oklahoma National Guard at Oklahoma City. Ordered into active federal service 1 September 1950 at Oklahoma City. (Headquarters, 45th Infantry Division [NGUS] , organized and federally recognized 15 September 1952 at Oklahoma City.) Released 30 April 1954 from active federal service and reverted to state control; federal recognition concurrently withdrawn from Headquarters, 45th Infantry Division (NGUS).

Reorganized and redesignated 1 February 1968 as Headquarters, 45th Infantry Brigade, and location changed to Edmond (Headquarters Company, 45th Infantry Brigade, concurrently reorganized and redesignated from Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry [see ANNEX] ). Location changed 1 October 1996 to Oklahoma City.

Annex

Organized and federally recognized 31 August 1918 in the Oklahoma National Guard at Edmond as Headquarters Company, 2d Infantry. Redesignated 14 October 1921 as Headquarters Company, 179th Infantry, an element of the 45th Division (later redesignated as the 45th Infantry Division). Inducted into federal service 16 September 1940 at Edmond. Inactivated 21 September 1945 at Camp Bowie, Texas. Reorganized and federally recognized 10 September 1946 at Edmond. Ordered into active federal service 1 September 1950 at Edmond. (Headquarters Company, 179th Infantry [NGUS] , organized and federally recognized 15 September 1952 at Edmond.) Released 30 April 1954 from active federal service and reverted to state control; federal recognition concurrently withdrawn from Headquarters Company, 179th Infantry (NGUS). Reorganized and redesignated 1 May 1959 as Headquarters Company, 1st Battle Group, 179th Infantry. Reorganized and redesignated 1 April 1963 as Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry.

Home Station: Oklahoma City

Federal activations

16 September 1940, the 45th Division was acivated for and participated in campaigns in Germany and Italy during World War II, one of eighteen National Guard Divisions called to federal service during the war. The Division remained on active duty for over five years (511 days of combat) and engaged in eight campaigns and four amphibious assault landings. In 1950, they were again called to active duty during the Korean Conflict, and remained in combat for 429 days, fighting in four major campaigns.

In 1968, the division was disbanded and reorganized as a separate infantry brigade with two support groups. In 1997, the unit was selected as an Integrated Division enhanced brigade assigned to 1st Cavalry Division as a Capstone brigade. It later became a part of the first Active Component/Reserve Component division as one of the three brigades that comprised the 7th Infantry Division, until that division was deactivated in August 2006.

Since 2000, elements of the 45th Brigade Combat Team have seen deployments to Bosnia, Egypt, Kuwait, Iraq, twice to Afghanistan, and various homeland security missions.

In early 2007, the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team was alerted for deployment to Iraq. Mobilization training was done at Fort Bliss, Texas, with the 45th entering Iraq in February of 2008. The units of the 45th are currently serving in Iraq.

Current Organization

1st Bn 179th Infantry Regiment
1st Bn 180th Infantry Regiment
1st Sq 279th Cavalry Regiment
1st Bn 160th Field Artillery Regiment
45th Brigade Special Troops Battalion
700th Brigade Support Battalion

Bibliography

**Bishop, Leo V, et al., eds. The Fighting Forty-Fifth: The Combat Record of an Infantry Division. Baton Rouge: Army and Navy Publishing Co., 1946. Reprint. Nashville: Battery Press, 1978.
**Blumenson, Martin. Salerno to Cassino. United States Army in World War II. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1969.
**Brown, Bernard F. Thunderbird: A History of the 45th Infantry Division. Oklahoma City, 1954.
**Clarke, Jeffrey J., and Smith, Robert Ross. Riviera to the Rhine. United States Army in World War II. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1993.
**Clyma, Carleton B., ed. Connecticut Men - 45th -Thunderbird-Division, August 1945. Hartford, 1945.
**Embry, John. The 45th Infantry Division at Anzio. Oklahoma City: 45th Infantry Division Museum, 1986.
**Farrier, Frank. Thunderbird: 45th Infantry Division. Tokyo: Toppan Printing Co., 1953.
**Fisher, Ernest E, Jr. Cassino to the Alps. United States Army in World War II. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1977.
**The 45th: The Story of the 45th Infantry Division. G.I. Stories ... Paris, 1945.
**45th Infantry Division, Summer Camp 1962. Baton Rouge: Army and Navy Publishing Co., 1962.
**Gabel, Christopher R. The US. Army GHQ Maneuvers of 1941. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1991.
**Garland, Albert N., and Smyth, Howard McGaw. Sicily and the Surrender of Italy. United States Army in World War II. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1965.
**Greiner, John. "45 Division Parades in Oklahoma." National Guard 44 (November 1990):15.
**Harr, William. Combat Boots, Tales of Fighting Men, Including the Anzio Derby. New York: Exposition Press, 1952.
**Harrison, Walter M. Log of the 45th. Oklahoma City, 1941.
**Hermes, Walter G. Truce Tent and Fighting Front. United States Army in the Korean War. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1966.
**Historical and Pictorial Review, 45th Infantry Division, Camp Barkeley, Texas, 1942. Baton Rouge: Army and Navy Publishing Co., 1942.
**Historical Annual, National Guard of the State of Oklahoma, 1938. Baton Rouge: Army and Navy Publishing Co., 193 8.
**Historical Section, Department of the Army. Anzio Beachhead (22 January-25 May 1944). American Forces in Action. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1948.
**______. From the Volturno to the Winter Line (6 October-15 November 1943). American Forces in Action. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1945.
**______. Salerno: American Operations From the Beaches to the Volturno (9 September-6 October 1943). American Forces in Action. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1944.
**Kahn, E. J., Jr., and McLemore, H. Fighting Divisions. Washington: Infantry Journal Press, 1945. Reprint. Washington: Zenger Publishing Co., 1980.
**MacDonald, Charles B. The Last Offensive. United States Army in World War II. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1973.
**Military Intelligence Division, War Department. Fifth Army at the Winter Line (15 November 1943-15 January 1944). American Forces in Action. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1945.
**"National Guard Mobilized Five Years After 'Big One,' 45th Infantry Division Goes to Korea." National Guard 44 (September 1990):64-68.
**Nelson, Guy. Thunderbird: A History of the 45th Infantry Division. Oklahoma City: 45th Division Association, 1970.
**O'Connell, William R., ed. The Thunderbird, A 45th Division History, The Story of the 45th Division ~ Actions in the Korean Conflict. Tokyo: Toppan Printing Co., 1953.
**Reforger 87, Defending the Border The Thunderbirds, 45th Infantry Brigade, Oklahoma Army National Guard. n.p., 1987.
**Robinson, Don. News of the 45th. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1944.
**"The 'Thunderbird' Division: A Condensed History of the 45th Infantry Division." The National Guardsman 3 (November 1949):24-25.
**Thunderbird Review. Atlanta: Albert Love Enterprises, 1952.
**"Thunderbirds Return to Germany: the 45th Infantry Displays Light Infantry Skills." National Guard 42 (March 1988):30-34.
**Whitlock, Flint. The Rock ofAnzio: The 45th Infantry Division in World War II. Westview, 1998.
**Williamson, Kenneth D. Tales of a Thunderbird in World War Hfrom Oklahoma to Munich and Back Again with Detour Through Paris. St. Albans, WVa.: Kendall Publication, 1994.

References

* [http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Inf/45th%20Infantry%20Brigade.htm The Institute of Heraldry: 45th Infantry Brigade]
* [http://www.ok.ngb.army.mil/45InfBde/index.htm 45th Infantry Brigade homepage]
* [http://www.history.army.mil/books/Lineage/ACDSB/45Bde.htm U.S. Army Center for Military History]
* [http://www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org/36division/archives/wwi/white/chap1.htm History of the 36th Division]