3rd Brigade Combat Team , 1st Cavalry Division The 3rd Brigade Combat Team ( " Grey Wolf " ) is a combined arms armored Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division . Its major equipment includes M1A2SEP Tanks , M2A3 & M3A3 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles , M109A6 Paladin Howitzers , and M1114 Up - armored Humvees . Heraldry . The 3rd Brigade is a subordinate component of the 1st Cavalry Division and wears the same shoulder sleeve insignia . Initial Organization . The 3rd Brigade , 1st Cavalry Division was first constituted on 29 August 1917 . It was organized in December 1917 as Headquarters , 3rd Brigade , an element of the 15th Cavalry Division . The Brigade demobilized on 15 July 1919 . The Brigade was reconstituted on 10 August 1921 , joining the newly constituted 1st Cavalry Division . Never officially reorganized , the Brigade remained on inactive status until its activation on 15 October 1940 . World War II . The Brigade was converted and redesignated as HHC , 9th Armored Division Trains , and the unit deployed to the European Theater where it received campaign participation credit for the operations in Rhineland , Ardennes - Alsace , and Central Europe . The unit was awarded two Meritorious Unit Commendation s with streamers embroidered Europe 1944 and Europe 1945 . Following World War II , the unit returned to the United States and was inactivated . It remained inactive until 15 July 1963 , when it was relieved from assignment to the 9th Armored Division , converted and redesignated as HHC , 3rd Brigade , 1st Cavalry Division . Korean Service . The Brigade was activated on 1 September 1963 , with the Division on station in Korea at the Korean Demilitarized Zone . Vietnam . In July 1965 , the Division colors moved to Fort Benning and underwent reorganization as an Airmobile unit . No soldiers moved , and the soldiers remaining in Korea put on the patch of the 2nd Infantry Division . The Brigade was filled with soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division and the 11th Airborne Division . The Brigade sailed from Charleston , South Carolina to Quo Nhon , Republic of Vietnam on 17 September 1965 . The first major action undertaken by the Brigade began on 10 October 1965 , and was followed by participation in the Ia Drang Valley operation officially known as the Pleiku Campaign . For its exceptional performance in the campaign , the Brigade shares with the Division , the Presidential Unit Citation . The battle is the subject of the critically acclaimed book " We Were Soldiers Once . . . And Young " by Harold ( Hal ) Moore and Joseph L . Galloway , which serves as the principal source from which this article is composed . In 2002 , screenwriter Randall Wallace depicted the first part of the battle in the film " We Were Soldiers " starring Mel Gibson . The 3rd Brigade was formed into a separate unit and assumed operational control of the old 1st Cavalry Division area of operations until 10 April 1971 . Finally in 1972 , the Brigade left Vietnam for Fort Hood , Texas , to rejoin the 1st Cavalry Division . When its colors arrived at Fort Hood on 29 June 1972 , the unit officially became the " Greywolf " Brigade , named after General George Crook , considered the U . S . Army ' s greatest Indian Fighter . The Brigade underwent a change from an airmobile configuration to an Infantry Brigade ( heavy or mechanized infantry ) . The " Greywolf " Brigade remained with the Division until its inactivation in 1980 . The Brigade was composed of the following elements : Post Operation Desert Storm . It remained on the inactive roles until 21 May 1991 , when the 1st " Tiger " Brigade , 2nd Armored Division was redesignated as the 3rd " Greywolf " Brigade , 1st Cavalry Division . Since that time , the Brigade has participated in several National Training Center rotations , deployed Task Force sized elements to Kuwait , and in September 1996 , conducted the first post - Desert Storm , no - notice , brigade sized deployment to Kuwait in support of Operation Desert Strike . Operation Iraqi Freedom II . In early 2004 , 3d Brigade began deploying to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom . The brigade protected the Green Zone and surrounding neighborhoods in Baghdad . The last elements returned home in March 2005 . The 3rd BCT is currently deployed again to Iraq . The Brigade was organized as follows : The Brigade re - task organized in Kuwait before entering Iraq : Also attached were : The Brigade ' s service was recognized and the following unit citations were awarded : Modularization . Under the Modularization of the 1st Cavalry Division , two battalions were transferred to 4th Brigade and the 8th Engineers were inactivated . One battalion was transferred in from 1st Brigade , F Troop was expanded into a Squadron , and a Special Troops Battalion was organized . Operation Iraqi Freedom 2006 – 2007 . In September 2006 the 3rd " Greywolf " Brigade began deploying to Iraq for its second OIF combat tour . During this tour it was deployed to the Diyala Province and based out of Baqubah . While serving as the main regional force for Coalition efforts in the area it fell under the command of Multi National Division - North ( MND - N ) . During the 2006 – 2008 tour MND - N was commanded by the 25th Infantry Division and based out of COB Speicher in Tikrit . The Brigade was a part of the controversial theater " Extension " that increased all combat tours to 15 months . This pushed their re - deployment home from theater to December 2007 . Operation Iraqi Freedom 2008 – 2009 . In December 2008 the Greywolf Troopers deployed to Iraq for their third tour . On 19 January 2009 they assumed control of FOB Marez in Mosul from the " Brave Rifles " of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment . As during their last Iraq rotation the Greywolf Brigade will again be under the 25th Infantry Division and MND - N . Operation New Dawn 2010 - 2011 . On 17 December 2011 , Grey Wolf was the last combat unit to redeploy from the war torn nation , thus ending America ' s 9 year long war . Campaign participation credit . World War II : Rhineland ; Ardennes - Alsace ; Central Europe Vietnam : Defense ; Counteroffensive ; Counteroffensive , Phase II ; Counteroffensive , Phase III ; Tet Counteroffensive ; Counteroffensive , Phase IV ; Counteroffensive , Phase V ; Counteroffensive , Phase VI ; Tet 69 / Counteroffensive ; Summer - Fall 1969 ; Winter - Spring 1970 ; Sanctuary Counteroffensive ; Counteroffensive , Phase VII ; Consolidation I ; Consolidation II ; Cease - Fire War on Terrorism : Iraq