75th Cavalry Regiment (United States)

The 75th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment. Currently, only 1st Squadron (1/75 CAV), assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, is active.

1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry (Widowmakers) is a Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition Squadron (RSTA) which was formed under the U.S. Army's new transformation in September 2004. The squadron was formed under 2BCT, 101st Airborne Division (AASLT) in place of 3-502nd Infantry. The first dommander of the squadron was LTC Alfonso J. Ahuja with CSM Scott C. Schroeder. The lineage of the Squadron dates back to World War II, as the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion which was attached to the 502nd Infantry Regiment. The motto of 1-75 CAV (Widowmakers) is "STRIKE CAV"!

The 1/75 Cavalry deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in the fall of 2005. The squadron remained with 2BCT, 101st Airborne Division based out of Camp Striker. The squadron, along with the rest of 2BCT, patrolled Southwest Baghdad in an area known as the "triangle of death". 1-75 CAV is noted for locating and destroying multiple weapons caches as well as detaining several ranking members of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. In January 2006 the Squadron was moved to protect a deadly Main Supply Route (MSR) leading into Baghdad. While controlling this MSR the squadron successfully decreased IED and small arms attacks by over 80%, thus enabling safe transport of supplies and materials into central and northern Iraq. During the time spent on MSR security, the squadron suffered two casualties. SSG Metodio Bandonill who was killed in action on April 24, 2006 and SGT Steven Sakoda who was killed in action on April 28, 2006.

The 1/75 Cavalry returned to Fort Campbell in October 2006 and began preparing for its next deployment.

1-75 Cavalry returned to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 07-09 in October 2007. This deployment would span 15 months, currently scheduled to end in January 2009. The Widowmaker Squadron had already had several note worthy accomplisments to date. They are currently the only Battalion sized element located in the sector living across four Joint Security Stations in Baghdads volatile Ghazaliha/Shulla area.

External links

* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/1-75cav.htm]
* [http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Cav/75CavalryRegiment.htm 75th Cavalry heraldry]