1ST ARMORED DIVISION 1ST BRIGADE GUIDONS

UNITED STATES ARMY

1st ARMORED BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM, 1st ARMORED DIVISION (UEx)
Unit Guidons

The US Army's armored brigade combat team (ABCT) is built around the new combined arms battalion (CAB), of which it originally had two and now has three. The CAB has a headquarters company, two mechanized infantry companies and two armored companies. The CABs are affiliated with either armor, cavalry or infantry regiments. The battalion's organization color and the guidon of its headquarters company reflect the regimental identity, while the other companies have branch-oriented guidons. Companies of cavalry-affiliated CABs all use Cavalry branch guidons. The headquarters company and companies A and B of the brigade engineer battalion (BEB) use an Engineer branch guidon; companies C and D use Signal and Military Intelligence branch guidons respectively. The headquarters company and forward support companies of the brigade support battalion (BSB) have buff guidons with scarlet letters and numerals but no branch insignia; the other three companies have branch-oriented guidons. The headquarters company of the brigade uses a guidon of the standard pattern for brigades of divisions.

The 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team ("Strike Hard") of the 1st Armored Division has two armor-affiliated CABs and one infantry-affiliated CAB, as shown by the HQ company guidons below. Note that the 2-3 FA has only four battery elements. Instead of the traditional organization (HQ battery, three firing batteries, service battery) FA battalions are now configured with an HQ battery and three firing batteries only. Each battery has six howitzers for a battalion total of eighteen guns. The functions of the service battery have been assumed by the forward support company of the BSB dedicated to the FA battalion (Company F). Cavalry units organized as CABs use the titles "battalion" and "company," while those organized as reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition (RSTA) units use the titles "squadron" and "troop."

In 2016 a further reorganization reduced the CABs to three maneuver companies each. Armor-affiliated CABs now have two armor companies and one mechanized infantry company; Infantry-affiliated CABs have two mechanized infantry companies and one armor company. The redundant armor company was reflagged to the armored cavalry squadron as as Troop D.