1st Brigade, 7th Infantry Division (United States)

The 1st Brigade, 7th Infantry Division was an infantry brigade of the United States Army, and a part of the 7th Infantry Division. The brigade was based at Fort Ord, California for most of its history. After the Korean War, it was activated as a brigade in 1963, and was returned to the United States where it saw action in Operation Just Cause and Operation Golden Pheasant before being finally deactivated in 1995.

World War I
The 1st Brigade, 7th Infantry Division was first constituted and activated in the Regular Army as the Headquarters Company, 7th Division on 6 December 1917 at Camp Wheeler, Georgia. One month later it organized and prepared for deployment to Europe to participate in World War I as a part of the American Expeditionary Force, along with the rest of the division. Two subordinate brigades were assigned to the headquarters, the 13th Infantry Brigade and the 14th Infantry Brigade. Most of the division sailed to Europe aboard the SS Leviathan.

During its time in France, the headquarters company did not participate as a whole in any engagements, though its infantry and reconnaissance elements did engage German forces. On 22 September 1921, the Headquarters Company, 7th Division was inactivated.

On 1 July 1940, the 7th Infantry Division was reactivated at Camp Ord, California Under the command of Major General Joseph W. Stilwell. The infantry brigade headquarters remained inactive during this period, until the division was reorganized under the Reorganization Objective Army Divisions plan.

Post Korean War history
In the wake of the Korean War, between 1953 to 1971, the 7th Infantry Division defended the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Its main garrison was Camp Casey, South Korea. During this period, the division was restructured in compliance with the Reorganization Objective Army Divisions tables of organization. In 1963, the division's former headquarters company grew into the 1st Brigade, 7th Infantry Division. On 2 April 1971, the division and its brigades returned to the United States and inactivated at Fort Lewis, Washington.

In October 1974 the 7th and two brigades reactivated at their former garrison, Fort Ord (a National Guard "roundout" brigade, the 41st, would periodically train with the division as its third brigade). The unit did not see any action in Vietnam or during the post war era, but was tasked to keep a close watch on South American developments. It trained at Fort Ord, Camp Roberts, and Fort Hunter Liggett. On 1 October 1985 the division redesignated as the 7th Infantry Division (Light), organized again as a light infantry division. The various battalions of the 17th, 31st, and 32nd Regiments moved from the division, replaced by battalions from other regiments, including battalions from the 21st Infantry Regiment, the 27th Infantry Regiment, and the 9th Infantry Regiment. The 27th Infantry and the 9th Infantry Regiment participated in Operation Golden Pheasant in Honduras. In 1989 the 1st Brigade (or 9th Infantry Regiment as it was more commonly known), 7th Infantry Division participated in Operation Just Cause in Panama.

In 1991 the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the closing of Fort Ord due to the escalating cost of living on the Central California coastline. By 1994, the garrison was to be closed and the Division was to relocate to Fort Lewis, Washington. Elements of the division (the 2nd Brigade, to include its Headquarters and Headquarters Company, the 3rd Brigade's 3rd Battalion 17th Infantry Regiment and other assigned military police companies) participated in one final mission in the United States before inactivation; quelling the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, called Operation Garden Plot. In 1993 the division was slated to move to Fort Lewis, WA and inactivate as part of the post-Cold War drawdown of the US Army, but the 2nd and 3rd Brigades of the 7th inactivated at Ft. Ord in 1993. The 1st Brigade relocated to Ft. Lewis and was later reflagged as the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division while the division headquarters formally inactivated on 16 June 1994 at Fort Lewis.