39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (The Arkansas Brigade) | |
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Active |
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Country | United States |
Allegiance | Arkansas |
Branch | Army |
Type | Infantry |
Role | Headquarters |
Size | Brigade combat team |
Part of | Arkansas Army National Guard |
Headquarters | Camp Robinson Maneuver Training Center, Arkansas |
Nickname(s) | "The Arkansas Brigade" |
Motto(s) | Courage |
Anniversaries | Organization Day (August 25) |
Campaigns | |
Decorations | Meritorious Unit Commendation |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Col. Matt Bially |
Insignia | |
Distinctive insignia |
The 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (39th IBCT), also officially known as The Arkansas Brigade,[1] is an infantry brigade combat team of the Army National Guard composed of personnel from the U.S. states of Arkansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. The unit is the largest Army National Guard command in Arkansas and is headquartered at the Camp Robinson Maneuver Training Center. It was ordered into federal service in 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. The 39th was attached to the 1st Cavalry Division and served in and around Baghdad for a year, returning to the United States in March 2005.
In late August 2005, after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States, elements of the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team were among the first military units to provide recovery and relief efforts to citizens of New Orleans, Louisiana. The brigade combat team led the effort to evacuate an estimated 16,000 people from the New Orleans Convention Center. The 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team completed its second deployment to Iraq in 2008, after spending a year on active federal duty. Unlike the first deployment, the brigade combat team did not have command and control of all its subordinate units.