177th Armored Brigade (United States)

177th Armored Brigade
177th Armored Brigade
	177th Armored Brigade shoulder sleeve insignia
Active	1917–1919; 1942–1945; 1986–1994; 1997–1999; 2006 – present
Country	United States
Branch	U.S. Army
Role	Training
Size	Brigade
Garrison/HQ	Camp Shelby
Decorations	Army Superior Unit Award
Battle honours	World War I: St.-Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, Lorraine
Insignia
Distinctive Unit Insignia
Designated but not authorized shoulder sleeve insignia

The 177th Armored Brigade is an AC/RC unit based at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. The unit is responsible for training selected United States Army Reserve and National Guard units. The unit was formerly designated as 3rd Brigade, 87th Division. The brigade is a subordinate unit of First Army.^[1]

The brigade has been re-designated and re-missioned several times:

During the World War I, the Brigade was infantry and fought as part of the 89th Infantry Division.
In 1986, the Brigade assumed the mission as the Opposing Force (OPFOR) at the National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California. The Brigade consisted of 2 battalions: 6th Battalion, 31st Infantry (6–31 IN) and 1st Battalion, 73rd Armor (1–73 AR). On the NTC battlefield, the 177th portrayed the fictitious, Guards 60th Motorized Rifle Division, which was based upon Soviet Army structure and doctrine.
In 1988 the Brigade re-designated several units and activated others. 6–31 IN became 1–52 IN, 1–73 AR became 1–63 AR. Activated were the 177th Support Battalion, 177th Military Intelligence Company, 164th Chemical Company and the 87th Engineer Company.
On 26 October 1994, as part of the post-Cold War draw down, the Brigade was inactivated and re-flagged as the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.
Reactivated 24 October 1997 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi as an Army Reserve training unit and inactivated on 16 October 1999 and reflagged as 3rd Brigade, 87th Division (Training)
On 1 December 2006 the 177th was reactivated at Camp Shelby, Mississippi under 1st Army-East.