Coe, who later served as Chief of Coast Artillery, was the division's first chief of staff. Patton, who served as the first headquarters commandant for the American Expeditionary Forces, oversaw much of the arrangements for the movement of the 1st Division to France, and their organization in-country. The total authorized strength of this TO&E was 18,919 officers and enlisted men. The original table of organization and equipment (TO&E) included two organic infantry brigades of two infantry regiments each, one engineer battalion one signal battalion one trench mortar battery one field artillery brigade of three field artillery regiments one air squadron and a full division train. Sibert, from Army units then in service on the Mexico–United States border and at various Army posts throughout the United States. Subdued shoulder sleeve insignia, worn on ACUĪ few weeks after the American entry into World War I, the First Expeditionary Division, later designated the 1st Infantry Division, was constituted on, in the Regular Army, and was organized on 8 June 1917, at Fort Jay, on Governors Island in New York harbor under the command of Brigadier General William L. Duty First!Ĭommand Sergeant Major Christopher L. “I am proud and sad at the same time,” the man said."The Big Red One" (abbreviated "BRO" ) The father, a Vietnam veteran, wiped his eye. He views the mission as a chance to do good for the Afghani people.Īs the ceremony ended, a Lincoln couple watched their son. Jed Dodson, 25, of East Peoria joined the Army two yeas ago, and will head out on his first deployment. Michael Haerr of the 33rd BCT told the soldiers to remain strong and that such strength would deter enemy forces who were threatened by the rebuilding mission. Dennis Celletti, the assistant adjunct general for the Illinois Army National Guard, said Alpha Company was going to give the Afghanis the same freedoms that Americans enjoy “24/7.”Ĭol. They speak a different language but they are still our neighbors,” Fuhr said. Daniel Fuhr, the battalion’s commander, called the mission akin to helping “neighbors.” They had the choice to enlist and made it, not because they had to but because they wanted to. Speakers from a major general to colonel to the company’s captain praised the soldiers, noting their deployment was different than previous wars. Once in Afghanistan, the soldiers will be part of Task Force Phoenix, an ongoing effort in its sixth reincarnation, to train Afghan security forces. For months, the 33rd BCT has been involved in lengthy training exercises in Illinois and Arkansas to get ready. The deployment is among the largest since World War II, with some 2,700 soldiers taking part. All are part of the 33rd Brigade Combat Team, which was notified last year it would be headed to Afghanistan. The Bartonville-based soldiers will not go as their own unit, but rather fill in where needed in the regiment’s three other infantry companies. Their soldiers, either husbands, sons, brothers or boyfriends, chatted nearby on a football field as they got ready to march in. Rock music blared as family members milled about before the start of the ceremony. “It’s better than them going on patrol,” Amanda Dunn said. The 178th’s mission, rebuilding Afghanistan’s infrastructure and helping protect teachers, doctors and mentors, helped as well. It was his first time going overseas so they were naturally worried. Both women were proud and hopeful about their brother’s choice to enlist. Dunn’s other sister, Amanda Dunn of Peoria, was there as well. She’s been through this before as her husband, Staff Sgt. Those were some of the words tossed around Friday afternoon as some 300 people gathered at the Joint Reserve Training Facility in Bartonville to send off 90 or so soldiers with Company A, 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment, which heads to Fort Bragg, N.C., in a few days for their final training before shipping out to Afghanistan.īethany Pannell, of Colorado Springs, Colo., was there for her brother, Spc.
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