66th Armor Regiment

The 66th Armor Regiment is the oldest armored unit in the United States Army, tracing its lineage to the 301st Tank Battalion which served with distinction soon after it was formed in the First World War; the 301st trained at Camp Meade, Maryland, where then-Cpt. Dwight D. Eisenhower was an instructor. It has often been rumored that the 301st, the parent unit of the 66th, was first commanded by Col. George S. Patton, but this appears not to have been the case; while Patton was the first officer assigned to the Tank Corps, and while the 301st Tank Battalion was the first unit formed, Patton went nearly immediately to France to train Americans attached to Allied commands. The 301st was the only American heavy tank battalion to have seen action in the war. After the war, the 301st transitioned in the Regular Army to become the 66th Infantry Regiment (Light Tanks) by way of the 16th Tank Battalion.
Two battalions of the regiment are still in service in the Regular Army.
The 1st and 2nd Provisional Brigades of the United States Tank Corps would eventually go on to provide the original cadre for what would become the 66th Armored Regiment in World War II. In September 1918 both brigades – which were attached to the 1st Infantry Division in France – participated in the battle of St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, operating French-built Renault FT tanks. Five days before the Armistice with Germany, the brigades were renamed respectively the 304th and 305th Brigades, Tank Corps on 6 November 1918.
The casualties in the unit led General John J. Pershing to say: "The percentage of casualties among the officers and men tells the tale of splendid morale and gallantry in action and their unselfish devotion to duty". The regiment's "Organization Day" (this date did not necessarily correlate with the actual organization of the unit) was chosen as 12 September, to commemorate its baptism of fire at St. Mihiel.
The Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 304th Brigade, Tank Corps, arrived at the port of New York on 17 March 1919 on the USS Patricia, and was transferred to Camp George G. Meade, Maryland. It was consolidated with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 305th Brigade, Tank Corps, on 22 June 1921, and reorganized and redesignated Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Tank Group. It was reorganized and redesignated Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Tank Regiment, on 1 September 1929. The remainder of the regiment was organized as follows: 16th Tank Battalion (Light) redesignated 1st Battalion at Camp George G. Meade; 15th Tank Battalion (Special) redesignated 2nd Battalion at Camp Benning, Georgia; 18th Tank Battalion (Light), inactive, redesignated 3rd Battalion; 21st Tank Maintenance Company redesignated Service Company. The 3rd Battalion was activated on 16 September 1931 at Camp Devens, Massachusetts. The regiment was reorganized and redesignated the 66th Infantry Regiment (Light Tanks) on 25 October 1932. The headquarters and headquarters company was inactivated on 1 September 1938 at Fort George G. Meade, and reactivated 10 January 1940 at Fort Benning.
Assigned Reserve officers, less those with the 2nd Battalion, conducted summer training with active elements of the regiment at Fort George G. Meade; those assigned to the 2nd Battalion trained at Fort Benning. The primary ROTC "feeder" school for new Reserve lieutenants was Western Maryland College. In 1936 and 1937, Bruce Magruder commanded the 66th Infantry Regiment at Camp Meade, Maryland. When the regiment received its first two light tanks, unit members decided to name one for Magruder, and his wife took part in the christening ceremony. The regiment was redesignated the 66th Armored Regiment on 15 July 1940, and assigned to the newly formed 2nd Armored Division, stationed at Fort Benning.
In December 1942, the regiment was part of the amphibious invasion of Morocco in North Africa and led the division's entry into Casablanca. The regiment next participated in the invasion of Sicily.
On 10 June 1944 (D+4), the three battalions of the regiment landed on Gold Beach in Normandy. Four days later the regiment (as part of Combat Command A of the 2nd Armored Division) fought through elements of the German 6th Fallschirmjäger Regiment of the 2nd Fallschirmjäger Division and elements of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division southwest of Carentan, France at the Battle of Bloody Gulch. Later progress was also initially difficult in combat against elements of the newly arrived 116th Panzer Division and surviving elements of the Panzer Lehr Division. In a difficult battle in the streets of the village of Percy and on surrounding high ground on 30 July, against some of the eight Panthers Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein had found and rallied from workshops at neighboring Villebaudon on 28 July, the 3/66th was to lose 13 tanks and was forced to pull out of the city losing another five tanks outside Centry to heavy Nebelwerfer and other mortar fire. On 31 July 3/66th was down to only 24 operational tanks. The regiment fought across France to the German border with the rest of the division and the U.S. First Army.
After the conquest of Aachen, the U.S. Ninth Army was inserted into the Allied lines. 2nd Armored Division along with XIX Corps were reassigned and became the veteran formation of Ninth Army. During the Battle of the Bulge, the 66th Regiment along with the 2nd Armored Division moved 100 miles to the west to met the spearhead of the German attack, the 2nd Panzer Division, just four miles from the Meuse River. At dawn on Christmas Day, the 66th Regiment began the attack that would halt the German advance. Over the next few days the regiment assisted in the destruction of the 2nd Panzer Division and the capture of Houffalize, Belgium.
On 14 June 1944, just after arriving in France, the regiment was reorganized to align with newer armored division structure. While the regimental designation was retained, companies were formally aligned with battalions. For example, the 1st Battalion no longer had companies A, B, and C, instead now it had Company C (M5 Stuart) and Companies F and I (M4 Sherman). 2nd Battalion received Company A (M5) and kept Companies D and E (M4). 3rd Battalion gained Company B (M5) and maintained Companies G and H (M4). The regiment would fight with this organization for the remainder of the war.
The regiment was twice cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army. Captain James M. Burt, the commander of B Company, 66th Armored Regiment, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism during the Battle of Aachen in October 1944. Captain Burt later served as honorary colonel of the regiment.
The 66th Infantry Regiment, a Regular Army infantry regiment constituted on 10 July 1943 and activated on 15 July 1943 with the 71st Infantry Division, does not share a lineal connection with the interwar period unit designated the 66th Infantry Regiment.
Following the war, elements of the 66th and other units of the 2nd Armored Division were selected to occupy the American sector of Berlin and serve as the first American troops to enter the fallen German capital.
During the Korean War, an offspring of the 66th fought under the designation "6th Tank Battalion". During the war, the sixth won seven battle streamers and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation. These honors were awarded to the 66th Armored Regiment when the 6th Tank Battalion was inactivated after the conflict.
Throughout the Cold War, the four battalions of the regiment served in the 2nd Armored Division at Ft. Hood, Texas, and as part of the 2nd Armored Division (Forward) in the Federal Republic of Germany.
In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, the regiment assisted in the liberation of Kuwait and the defeat of the Iraqi army. The 2nd and 3rd battalions of the regiment, stationed in Germany as part of the 2nd Armored Division (Forward), deployed and fought under the operational control of the 1st Infantry Division as part of Task Force 1-41 Infantry. The 4th Battalion, along with the 3d (Phantom) Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, was attached to the 1st Armored Division. The 2nd and 3rd battalions served in the Battle of 73 Easting and the Battle of Norfolk. The Phantom Brigade became the 1st Armor's lead brigade for VII Corps' "left hook" to smash the Iraqi Republican Guard divisions. It served in the largest tank battle in American history at the Battle of Medina Ridge.
In the spring of 1995, the 1st Battalion of the 66th was assigned to assist over 5,000 Cuban and Haitian refugees interned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The 1st and 3rd Battalions deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
1-66 Armor deployed to Iraq in 2003-2004, 2005-2006, and in 2008-2009; the third deployment to Iraq was the last deployment of 1-66 while stationed at Fort Hood TX, before relocating to Fort Carson, Colorado, and joining the 4th Infantry Division. 1-66 Armor subsequently deployed to Afghanistan in 2010-2011, as part of the Surge in the volatile Arghandab River Valley west of Kandahar City in RC-South.
3-66 Armor deployed to Iraq in 2003-2004 and 2008-2010, and to Afghanistan in 2011-2012 to Paktika Province in RC-East. For its conduct during its second deployment to Iraq, 3-66 Armor was awarded the Army Meritorious Unit Commendation in 10 March 2010.
This article incorporates public domain material from Lineage and Honors 66th Armor (Iron Knights). United States Army Center of Military History.