UNITED STATES ARMY
2nd ARMORED BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM, 1st CAVALRY DIVISION (UEx)
Unit Guidons
The US Army's armored brigade combat team (ABCT) is built around the combined arms battalion (CAB), of which it originally had two and now has three. A recent reorganization established two types of CAB: armor heavy with two armor companies and one mechanized infantry company, and infantry heavy with two mechanized infantry companies and one armor company. This reduced the maneuver companies in the CABs from a brigade total of twelve to nine. However, some of the surplus assets have been plugged into the cavalry RSTA squadron, which now includes an armor troop.
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 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team ("Black Jack") of the 1st Cavalry Division has three cavalry-affiliated CABs. Note that the 2-82 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). Note that 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.
