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The 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain) ("The Vermont Brigade"[1]) is an Army National Guard light infantry brigade headquartered in Vermont[2] and subordinate to the 42nd Infantry Division. It was reorganized from an armored brigade into a light infantry brigade as part of the United States Army's transformation for the 21st century. The 86th IBCT utilizes the Army's Mountain Warfare school, co-located at Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho, Vermont, to train in individual military mountaineering skills. This is a capability the army had lost after the 10th Mountain Division inactivated after World War II, except for 3rd Battalion 172nd Infantry Regiment, which has its subordinate units split between Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
History The United States Army reorganized in the 1920s, following World War I. This reorganization included maintaining honors and legacy by reusing unit names for units deactivated after the war as designations for smaller formations. The 86th Infantry Brigade thus carried the name of the 86th Infantry Division, and the 172nd Infantry Regiment, allocated to Vermont, carried the designation of the 172nd Infantry Brigade, one of the 86th Division's subordinate brigades during the war.[3] The 86th Infantry Brigade, made up of the 172nd (Vermont) and the 103rd (Maine and New Hampshire) Infantry Regiments, was organized as part of the 43rd Infantry Division, which included units from several New England states.[4] 1920s to 1940s From 1921 until the start of World War II the 86th Brigade continued as a subordinate command of the 43rd Division.[5] World War II The 43rd Infantry Division, including the 86th Brigade, was activated for World War II on 24 February 1941. The 86th Brigade underwent pre-deployment training at Camp Blanding, Florida and Camp Shelby, Mississippi. On 19 February 1942 the 86th Brigade Headquarters was disbanded, as were other infantry brigade headquarters, with regiments now reporting directly to division commanders. The 43rd Division served in the Pacific throughout World War II, with former 86th Brigade commander Leonard F. Wing commanding the division throughout the war.[6] Post World War II The 43rd Division continued in service after World War II, organized mainly in Connecticut, until being deactivated in 1967. The 172nd Infantry Regiment continued in service as a Vermont organization.[7] In 1963 the 86th Brigade Headquarters was reactivated, and in 1964 it was reorganized as a separate Armored brigade. Army combat arms battalions kept regimental designations to maintain lineage and honors, but were no longer organized as regiments. 1st Battalion 172nd Armor, a unit of the 86th Armored Brigade, was headquartered in St. Albans, and 2-172 Armor was headquartered in Rutland.[8] In 1968 the 86th Brigade was assigned to the 50th Armored Division. In 1988, the brigade was reassigned to the 26th Infantry Division.[9] As an Armor unit the 86th Brigade excelled at gunnery, becoming the only National Guard unit to consistently accomplish Tank Table XII, which requires a platoon of four tanks to advance and fire simultaneously on a live fire range.[10] When the 26th Division inactivated in 1993, the 86th Brigade joined the 42nd Infantry Division. The brigade was deployed with various elements and attachments, to Iraq in 2004 2005 as Task Force Redleg, on a security mission to Kuwait in 2004 as Task Force Green Mountain, redeploying in 2005.[11] In 2006, the brigade was re-designated as the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain) and began a transformation from a "heavy" brigade to a specialized light infantry formation, using 3rd Battalion 172nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain), previously a separate battalion, as the nucleus. Turning armor formations into infantry and cavalry units while adding 1st Battalion 102nd Infantry from Connecticut, the brigade slowly formed from 2006 to 2008. The 86th IBCT welcomed the addition of the 1st Battalion, 101st Field Artillery Regiment from the Massachusetts Army National Guard on 14 September 2008.[12] The 86th IBCT mobilized in December 2009 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana and completed a JRTC rotation at Fort Polk prior to deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The 86th IBCT returned home in December 2010 after being replaced by 2nd IBCT, 34th Infantry Division.[13][14] Order of battle Order of Battle of the 42nd Infantry Division (Note the improper designation of the unit this is not in accordance with the STANAG 2019 NATO started in 1986) 25px 42nd Infantry Division[15] See also References de:86. US-Infanteriebrigade
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