History of the 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division

"Long Knife"

The 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division is one of the Army’s newest brigade combat teams, activated during a ceremony held October 18, 2005, at Noel Field on Fort Bliss, Texas.

Colonel Stephen Twitty was chosen as the Long Knife Brigade’s first commander, with Command Sergeant Major Stephan Frennier as the BCT’s top enlisted Soldier, heralding a symbolic return of a 1st Cavalry Division presence to the site of its formal activation on September 13, 1921, at Fort Bliss, Texas.

One of the first missions of the 4th Brigade Combat Team was to build combat power and prepare for an upcoming deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This process began with few Soldiers and no equipment, and culminated when the brigade’s Soldiers honed their skills and validated their abilities in August 2006 during a rotation to the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California.

In October 2006, almost a year to the day after activation, the 4th BCT deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 06-08.

Performing counter-insurgency operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 4th BCT controlled all of the battlespace in Ninevah Province, located in northern Iraq and containing Mosul – the 2nd largest city in Iraq – as well as Tal’Afar and Qayyarah.  Their focus was training the Iraqi Security Forces, promoting responsible governance, and providing security to the Iraqi people.  They were responsible for transferring two Iraqi Army divi­sions away from Coalition dependence to full Iraqi Ground Forces Command control. They enabled the Provincial Government to fully exercise its ability to assist the Iraqi people in providing for their future.

On December 11, 2007, the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Brigade transferred authority of their Ninevah Province battlespace to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, closing the first chapter of its new history and marking an incredible journey as the fastest BCT to go from stand-up to deployment and return in the new era of the total Army transformation process.

The 4th BCT inactivated on 4 March 2008 and was reflagged as the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division.  The colors were transferred to Fort Hood, Texas and the 4th Brigade Combat Team was activated on 7 March 2008 bringing the entire 1st Cavalry Division back to Fort Hood.