page_title: 70th Armor Regiment
section_title: Iraq
hierarchical_section_title: 70th Armor Regiment / Iraq
caption_attribution_description: English: The battalion colors of 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, are cased during a transition of authority ceremony in the western Baghdad district of Abu Ghraib on 9 June 2005. Full command and control of the base was handed over to the 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division.
context_page_description: The 70th Armor Regiment is an armored unit of the United States Army. It was constituted as the 70th Tank Battalion in July 1940, an independent tank battalion intended to provide close support to infantry units. In this role, it saw action in the Mediterranean and European Theater of Operations, making assault landings and fighting with the 9th Infantry Division in North Africa, and with the 1st Infantry Division in Sicily. The battalion supported the 4th Infantry Division on Utah Beach during the D-Day landings in France, and fought with the 4th Infantry Division through the remainder of World War II. The 70th Tank Battalion was one of the first three tank battalions to deploy to Korea in the Korean War, where it saw significant action, primarily with the 1st Cavalry Division.
  The 70th Armor Regiment was designated a parent organization as part of the Combat Arms Regimental System in 1963. When CARS was replaced by the U.S. Army Regimental System system in 1981, the 70th Armor Regiment continued to carry the colors and honors of the regiment. Although there is no regimental headquarters, battalions of the 70th Armor Regiment have since served in various theaters and campaigns.
context_section_description: In preparation for U.S. forces invasion of Iraq, 2–70 Armor, having just completed a training deployment to the National Training Center, was alerted for deployment to Kuwait in January 2003. About three weeks later, the battalion deployed from Fort Riley and drew prepositioned equipment from a site located in Kuwait. The battalion was attached to the 3rd Infantry Division and was able to train with them for about a month before combat operations began. On 20 20 March 2003, 2–70 Armor marched into Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, supporting the 3rd Infantry Division and the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
  During the invasion, 2–70 Armor was in the van of assaulting forces and cleared the route of march for follow on forces and on 21 March 2003, was the first American unit to seize a bridgehead across the Euphrates River. The battalion combined with 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment (1-41 Infantry) to attack Al Hillah, Iraq, effectively destroying an infantry battalion of the Nebuchadnezzar Republican Guards Division. After the first week, 2–70 Armor was cut to the 101st Air Assault Division west of Al Kifl, Iraq. With the 101st for the remainder of the maneuver phase of the war, 2–70th Armor continued to clear routes, secure areas and destroy enemy forces in the vicinity of Baghdad, and Karbala. During this phase of combat, the battalion once again learned the lessons of cooperating with dismounted infantry that had been learned in World War II and the Korean War. On 30 March 2003 2-70 Armor along with 1-41 Infantry were attached to 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division to clear the city of Samawah . At the conclusion of the maneuver phase, 2–70 Armor reverted to 1st Armored Division control and conducting stabilization operations until returning to Fort Riley in February 2004.
  2–70 Armor deployed again to Iraq just a year later, in February 2005, with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Armored Division. The brigade was attached to the 3rd Infantry Division and assigned to the sector in and around Taji, north of Baghdad.
caption: The battalion colors of 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, are cased during a transition of authority ceremony in the western Baghdad district of Abu Ghraib on 9 June 2005. Full command and control of the base was handed over to the 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division.
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