56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team ( United States ) The 56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is a unit of the Texas Army National Guard and subordinate to the 36th Infantry Division . Early history . At the start of World War I the War Department organized two National Guard Cavalry brigades as part of the Army ’ s wartime expansion , and assigned them to relieve regular Army Cavalry brigade s patrolling the Mexico - United States border after the Pancho Villa Expedition . The unit allocated to Texas was fielded as 1st Texas Cavalry Brigade , and commanded by Brigadier General Jacob F . Wolters ( namesake of Fort Wolters ) . The War Department planned to mobilize the brigade for overseas service , but the war ended before training was complete , and soldiers were demobilized in late 1918 and early 1919 . The brigade was reorganized as 1st Cavalry Brigade on August 23 , 1919 , and General Wolters remained in command . The task organization for the brigade also included the 111th Cavalry Regiment in New Mexico . Post - World War I . In 1921 the 1st Cavalry Brigade was renamed the 56th Cavalry Brigade and assigned to the 23rd Cavalry Division as part of the Army ’ s post - World War I reorganization of the National Guard . Soldiers of the 56th Cavalry were called out several times to quell civil disturbances , including : the Longview Race Riot of 1919 ; the Galveston Longshoreman ' s Strike of 1920 ; the Mexia and Borger Oil Field Booms of 1922 and 1929 ; the booms in the East Texas oil fields in 1931 and 1932 ; and the response following a hurricane in 1932 . Wolters commanded troops on state active duty so often that he published a manual on use of the National Guard in reestablishing law and order following riots and natural disasters . In 1929 the 111th Cavalry Regiment was made a separate organization , and the newly organized 124th Cavalry Regiment was added to the 56th Cavalry Brigade , making it a completely Texas National Guard organization . World War II . In 1940 the 56th Cavalry Brigade headquarters was federalized for World War II . The 56th was the last Cavalry brigade in the United States to have horses , and in 1944 the headquarters was reorganized as the 56th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop ( Mechanized ) . The new unit was demobilized in November , 1945 , following the end of World War II . The brigade headquarters and re - organized reconnaissance troop did not deploy overseas or see combat , but the 112th and 124th Cavalry , the regiments previously assigned to the 56th Cavalry Brigade , did serve overseas . Post - World War II . The post - World War II reorganization of the National Guard included the creation of several Armored divisions , among them the 49th Armored Division in Texas . The 56th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop was reorganized as Headquarters , and Headquarters Company , Combat Command A , 49th Armored Division and stationed in Fort Worth . In October , 1961 the unit was federalized for during the Berlin crisis and trained at Fort Polk and other locations before being demobilized . The headquarters of Combat Command A was reorganized in 1963 and the new unit was designated Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 2nd Brigade , 49th Armored Division . In 1968 the 2nd Brigade ’ s headquarters was re - designated as Headquarters , 49th Armored Group . , and relieved from assignment to the 49th Armored Division . In 1971 another reorganization resulted in the renaming of the 49th Armored Group ’ s headquarters as Headquarters , 49th Armored Brigade . A 1973 reorganization re - designated the unit Headquarters , 2nd Brigade , 49th Armored Division . Recent history . Following the terrorist attacks of September 11 , 2001 , 56th IBCT soldiers and units performed extended active duty for Operations Noble Eagle , Enduring Freedom , Iraqi Freedom and . The 49th Armored Division was inactivated in 2004 and the reorganized division was fielded as the 36th Infantry Division . 2nd Brigade , 49th Armored Division was reorganized and renamed 56th Infantry Brigade , 36th Infantry Division . The 56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team deployed to Iraq in 2005 and performed convoy command and control and convoy security duty as part of Multi - National Corps – Iraq . In 2008 and 2009 the 56th IBCT returned to Iraq and performed convoy and base security force duties . 3rd Battalion , 144th Infantry deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 . Task organization . The Army ’ s conversion to modular brigades from 2004 to 2006 included the 56th Brigade ’ s organization as an Infantry Brigade Combat Team . Its task organization includes :