page_title: 303rd Cavalry Regiment (United States)
section_title: 303rd Cavalry and predecessor units
hierarchical_section_title: 303rd Cavalry Regiment (United States) / History / 303rd Cavalry and predecessor units
caption_attribution_description: English: A recruiting advertisement for Troop E, 303rd Cavalry, Washington Army National Guard in the local Centralia Daily Chronicle newspaper
context_page_description: The 303rd Cavalry Regiment is a United States cavalry regiment, currently represented in the Washington Army National Guard by the 1st Squadron, 303rd Cavalry, headquartered at Vancouver, Washington, part of the 96th Troop Command. It incorporates the lineage of the 303rd Cavalry, 303rd Armor, and 803rd Armor Regiments of the Washington Army National Guard.
context_section_description: Troop E, 303rd Cavalry was first organized at Tacoma in November 1889 as the Tacoma City Troop. It was reorganized on 27 June 1890 as Troop B, 1st Cavalry, Washington National Guard. On 28 June 1916, it was mustered into Federal service at Camp Murray to guard the Mexican border in place of Regular Army units deployed to support the Pancho Villa Expedition. Mustered out on 15 February 1917 at Vancouver Barracks, it was drafted into Federal service on 5 August at Tacoma after the United States entered World War I. On 19 September, it was redesignated Company B, 116th Train Headquarters and Military Police, 41st Division. It was redesignated as 217th Company, Military Police Corps on 1 November 1918, and became the 267th Military Police Company on 15 January 1919. The company was demobilized on 14 July 1919 at Fort Lewis.
  
  It was reorganized and Federally recognized on 18 August 1920 at Tacoma as Troop B, 2nd Cavalry, Washington National Guard. It became B Troop, 58th Machine Gun Squadron, Cavalry, on 16 May 1922,  conducting annual summer training at Camp Murray. It was redesignated as Headquarters Troop, 24th Cavalry Division on 1 November 1924. On 30 September 1940, it was redesignated as Headquarters Company, 103rd Antitank Battalion. Inducted into Federal service on 10 February 1941 at Tacoma, the battalion became the 103rd Infantry Battalion, Antitank, on 24 July 1941, and the 803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion on 15 December. The headquarters company was inactivated along with the battalion on 1 December 1945 at Camp Kilmer. On 5 July 1946, the battalion became the 803rd Tank Battalion. The company was reorganized and Federally recognized on 18 March 1947 at Centralia. On 1 February 1949, it became Headquarters, Headquarters, and Service Company, 803rd Heavy Tank Battalion. The battalion dropped the "Heavy" designation on 1 September 1950. On 15 April 1959, the company became Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 1st Battalion, 303rd Armor. The battalion became a medium tank battalion on 1 April 1960 and dropped the medium tank battalion designation on 1 March 1963.
  The other regiment in the modern 303rd's lineage, the 303rd Cavalry, was constituted on 1 January 1968 in the WA ARNG, a CARS parent regiment. It included Troop E, part of the 81st Infantry Brigade. On 1 June 1989, the regiment was withdrawn from CARS and reorganized under USARS. On 15 November 2003, the 303rd Cavalry was ordered into active Federal service at Puyallup. It was released from active service on 13 May 2005 and reverted to state control.
  On 1 September, the 303rd Armor was consolidated with the 303rd Cavalry, a USARS parent regiment, consisting of the 1st Squadron, part of the 81st Armored Brigade Combat Team. The new unit adopted the 303rd Cavalry's name. On 1 October, it was redesignated as the 303rd Cavalry Regiment. On 16 August 2008, the 303rd was ordered into active Federal service at home stations. It deployed to Iraq to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom with the rest of the 81st Brigade, and after returning home was released from active Federal service on 19 September 2009. During the 2014 Washington wildfires, the 1/303rd was called up for firefighting duty in the Chiwaukum Complex during July 2014, and was commended for its performance by the Washington State Legislature in February 2015. In August 2015, the 1st Squadron was called up for state service to fight record wildfires.
  On 21 February 2016, the 1st Squadron was inactivated as the 81st Brigade transformed into a Stryker Brigade Combat Team. The squadron was reactivated on 7 May 2016 at the Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center in Warrenton, Oregon, operationally controlled by the 96th Troop Command. In event of mobilization, it was to become part of the Oregon Army National Guard's 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. The 303rd's headquarters was moved to Vancouver from Kent. Lieutenant Colonel Chris Blanco took command of the new 1st Squadron. The 1/303rd was replaced at Kent on 28 August by the reactivation of the 3rd Battalion, 161st Infantry, forming part of the
caption: A 1977 newspaper recruiting advertisement for Troop E, 303rd Cavalry
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