197th Infantry Brigade (United States)

The 197th Infantry Brigade ("Sledgehammer") was an Infantry brigade of the United States Army. Currently, the brigade is garrisoned at Fort Benning, GA as part of TRADOC. The brigade's mission is to "access and train Soldiers and Infantry leaders, demonstrate Infantry tactics, provide subject matter expertise, develop doctrine and support the USAIS in order to provide the army with soldiers and leaders prepared to fight and win."

Description
For the new Reorganization Objective Army Division (ROAD) brigade at Fort Benning, Georgia, the adjutant general on 1 August 1962 restored elements of the 99th Reconnaissance Troop, which thirty years earlier had been organized by consolidating infantry brigade headquarters and headquarters companies of the 99th Infantry Division, as Headquarters and Headquarters Companies, 197th and 198th Infantry Brigades. The following month the 197th Infantry Brigade was activated at Fort Benning. When the Third U.S. Army activated the brigade to support training at the Infantry Center, it consisted of a composite artillery battalion (105-mm. and 155-mm. howitzers and Honest Johns), an armor battalion, a mechanized infantry battalion, two infantry battalions, an engineer company, and a chemical platoon, but no support battalion. The strength of the brigade was approximately 3,500 men.

In late 1965 an infantry battalion of the 197th Infantry Brigade was inactivated at Fort Benning to provide personnel for expanding the Army in Vietnam. In early 1973, to provide personnel needed for the Infantry School, Continental Army Command directed that the school support troops be reorganized and the 197th be restructured as a unit in the Strategic Army Force. On 21 March 1973 the brigade officially joined the strategic force, fielding one battalion each of infantry, mechanized infantry, and armor.

In 1984-85 the brigade consisted of the 3-7 Infantry, the 4-7 Infantry, the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 5-82 FA, Troop A, 15th Cavalry Regiment, and the 72nd Engineer Company (Combat).

Located on Kelley Hill at Fort Benning, the unit mission was not only support to the Infantry School but also to specialize in desert, jungle and urban warfare. The 197th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) (Separate) was a stand alone heavy brigade, which during the Gulf War (Desert Storm) was attached to the 24th Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart, Georgia as their third brigade. Soldiers in the 197th who are veterans of the Gulf War wear as their combat patch the patch of the 197th, not the 24th. However, The Institute of Heraldry has not yet minted a combat service identification badge (CSIB) for the 197th.

Gulf War
During Operation Desert Storm, the brigade was composed of:
 * Headquarters and Headquarters Company
 * 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment
 * 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment
 * 2nd Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment
 * 4th Battalion, 41st Field Artillery Regiment
 * C Battery, 1st Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment
 * 3rd Squad, 4th Platoon, A Battery, 1st Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (attached)
 * 197th Support Battalion
 * 72nd Engineer Company

The 197th was inactivated within months of returning from the war, to be officially reactivated as the 3rd Brigade, 24th Infantry Division. The motto of the 197th is "Sledgehammer" and the unit is unofficially known as the "$1.97" (the "dollar ninety-seven"), the "Buck and Change", and the "Bite the Bullet" brigade.

Current
The current incarnation of the 197th was created by "reflagging" or redesignating the 29th Infantry Regiment. It is currently organized as follows:
 * 1st Battalion (Mechanized/Stryker), 29th Infantry Regiment
 * US Army Infantry Experimental Forces Company
 * Bradley Master Gunner Course
 * Mechanized Leader Course
 * Stryker Leader & Transition Courses
 * Stryker/Bradley Proponent Office
 * Mechanized New Equipment Training Company
 * 2nd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment
 * Small Arms Ranges, Experimentation and Support
 * Sniper School
 * Combatives School
 * CONUS Replacement Center (CRC)