179th Infantry Regiment (United States) explained

Unit Name:	179th Infantry Regiment
Dates:	1890-present
Country:	United States
Type:	Infantry
Role:	Light infantry
Size:	Battalion
Garrison:	Stillwater, Oklahoma
Nickname:	Tomahawks (special designation) ^[1]
Motto:	"In Omina Paratus" (In All Things Prepared)
Colors:	Blue and silver (white)
Notable Commanders:	William Orlando Darby Michael S. Davison (1st Battalion)
Identification Symbol Label:	Distinctive unit insignia.

The 179th Infantry Regiment ("Tomahawks"^[1]) is an infantry regiment of the United States Army's National Guard.

Currently, the 1st Battalion is the only active battalion in the regiment and is organized as a combined arms battalion under the brigade unit of action table of organization and equipment. The battalion is an organic element of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Oklahoma Army National Guard.

Lineage

• Constituted 2 May 1890 in the Oklahoma Volunteer Militia as the 1st Infantry Regiment
• Organized 21 December 1895 from new and existing militia companies as the 1st Infantry Regiment, with headquarters at Guthrie (Oklahoma Volunteer Militia concurrently redesignated as the Oklahoma National Guard)
• Volunteers and militiamen from Arizona and New Mexico territories consolidated to form the 1st Regiment Territorial Volunteer Infantry, United States Volunteers, and mustered into federal service 4–23 July 1898; mustered out of federal service 11–15 February 1899 at Albany, Georgia
• Former 1st Infantry Regiment, Oklahoma National Guard, reorganized in 1899 as the 1st Regiment of Infantry, with headquarters at Guthrie
• Mustered into federal service 27 out of federal service 1 March 1917 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma
• Called into federal service 31 March 1917; drafted into federal service 5 August 1917
• Consolidated 15 October 1917 with the 7th Infantry, Texas National Guard, and consolidated unit redesignated as the 142d Infantry, an element of the 36th Division
• Demobilized 17 June 1919 at Camp Bowie, Texas
• Central Oklahoma elements of former 142d Infantry merged during 1920–1921 with elements of the 2d Infantry (organized and federally recognized 31 August 1918 in Central Oklahoma, with headquarters at Chandler), to form the 2d Infantry, with headquarters at Oklahoma City (former elements of the 142d Infantry in the eastern part of the state merged with the 3d Infantry—hereafter, separate lineage)
• Redesignated 14 October 1921 as Division
• Inducted into federal service 16 September Oklahoma City
• (45th 1942 as the 45th Infantry Division)
• Inactivated 17–29 November 1945 at Camp Bowie, Texas
• Reorganized 10 September 1946 in the Oklahoma National Guard as the 179th Infantry, with headquarters federally recognized at Edmond
• Ordered into active federal service 1 September 1950 at Edmond
• (179th Infantry [NGUS] organized and federally recognized 15 September 1952 with headquarters at Edmond)
• Released from active federal service 20 April 1954 and reverted to state control; federal recognition concurrently withdrawn from the 179th Infantry (NGUS)
• Reorganized (less 2d Battalion) 1 May 1959 as the 179th Infantry, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System, to consist of the 1st and 2d Battle Groups, elements of the 45th Infantry Division (2d Battalion concurrently reorganized as the 2d Reconnaissance Squadron, 245th Armor—hereafter separate lineage)
• Reorganized 1 April 1963 to consist of the 1st and 2d Battalions, elements of the 45th Infantry Division
• Reorganized 1 February 1968 to consist of the 1st Battalion, and relieved from assignment to the 45th Infantry Division
• (Location of headquarters changed 1 April 1979 to Stillwater)
• Withdrawn 1 May 1989 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System
• Ordered into active federal service 30 November 2002 at home stations; released from active federal service 26 August 2003 and reverted to state control
• Redesignated 1 October 2005 as the 179th Infantry Regiment
• Ordered into active federal service 20 October 2007 at home stations; released from active federal service 22 November 2008 and reverted to state control
• Assigned 1 September 2008 to the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team
• Ordered into active federal service 27 March 2011 at home stations

Current units

1st Battalion is a subordinate unit of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, headquartered in Edmond, Oklahoma. The battalion commands six companies. These units are:

• Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment^[2] (Edmond, Oklahoma)
• Company A, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment (rifle company) (El Reno, Oklahoma)
• Company B, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment (rifle company) (Enid, Oklahoma)
• Company C, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment (rifle company) (Edmond, Oklahoma)
• Company D, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment (heavy weapons company) (Ponca City, Oklahoma)
• Company H, 700th Support Battalion^[3] (forward support company) (Stillwater, Oklahoma)

Campaign streamers

World War I

• Meuse-Argonne

World War II

• Sicily (with Arrowhead)
• Naples-Foggia (with Arrowhead)
• Anzio
• Rome-Arno
• Southern France (with Arrowhead)
• Rhineland
• Ardennes-Alsace
• Central Europe

Korean War

• Second Korean winter
• Korea, Summer-Fall 1952
• Third Korean winter
• Korea, Summer 1953

Global War On Terrorism

Operation Iraqi Freedom

• Iraq Surge 2008

Operation Enduring Freedom

• Consolidation III - (1 DECEMBER 2009 – 30 JUNE 2011)
• Transition I - (1 JULY 2011 - TO A DATE TO BE DETERMINED)

Battlefield or campaign honors and awards

Unit Decorations

• French Croix de Guerre with Palm awarded to 45th Infantry Division for action from 1–31 January 1944 at Acquafondata^[4]
• Army Meritorious Unit Commendation, Iraq 2008

Additionally, the following units are entitled to the Meritorious Unit Citation

• A Company, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment
• B Company, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment
• C Company, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment

Per DAGO 208-11 (Corrected Copy) (2011)^[5]

• *B Company, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment

Per DAGO 2009-23 (2009)^[6]

Streamers

• Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered IRAQ 2008

External links

• Warren P. Munsell: The Story of a Regiment, the history of the 179th Regimental Combat Team (1946)
• http://www.45thdivision.org/Photo_Gallery/gallery_179th.htm

Notes and References

1. Web site: Special Designation Listing . . 21 April 2010 . 14 July 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100609010028/http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/spdes-123-arng.html . 9 June 2010 . live . dmy .
2. Web site: TIOH - Heraldry - 179 Infantry Regiment . 1 August 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120918022309/http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Heraldry/ArmyDUISSICOA/ArmyHeraldryUnit.aspx?u=7964 . 18 September 2012 . dead .
3. Web site: TIOH - Heraldry - 700 Support Battalion . 8 September 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120920234019/http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Heraldry/ArmyDUISSICOA/ArmyHeraldryUnit.aspx?u=7835 . 20 September 2012 . dead .
4. 45th Infantry Division. French Croix de Guerre with Palm, Decision No. 843, 21 June 1945. Awarded for action from 1–31 January 1944, victory at Acquafondata (Italy).
5. Web site: United States Army, Center for Military History. War on Terrorism Unit Awards. Center for Military History. 14 February 2013. 5 December 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20091205175115/http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/wotawards.html#awao. dead.
6. Web site: DAGO 2009-23. Department of the Army. 14 February 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20120916051443/http://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/pdf/go0923.pdf. 16 September 2012. dead. dmy-all.