22nd Infantry Regiment (United States)

• Constituted 3 May 1861 in the Regular Army as the 2nd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment.[3] Organized 15 May 1865 at Camp Dennison, Ohio. Reorganized and redesignated 21 September 1866 as the 22d Infantry Regiment. Consolidated 1–31 May 1869 with the 31st Infantry Regiment (see ANNEX), and consolidated unit designated as the 22d Infantry Regiment.
• Assigned 24 March 1923 to the 4th Division (later redesignated as the 4th Infantry Division). 1st Battalion inactivated 30 June 1927 at Fort McPherson, Georgia and reactivated 1 June 1940 at Fort McClellan, Alabama).
• Inactivated 1 March 1946 at Camp Butner, North Carolina.
• Activated 15 July 1947 at Fort Ord, California for assignment to Germany in the German occupation. Sent to Fort Benning, and subsequently shipped to Bremerhaven, Germany in 1951. 2d Battalion went to Schweinfurt, Germany.
• Relieved 1 April 1957 from assignment to the 4th Infantry Division and reorganized as a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System.

ANNEX

• Constituted 3 May 1861 in the Regular Army as the 3d Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment. Organized in December 1865 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. Reorganized and redesignated 21 September 1866 as the 31st Infantry Regiment. Consolidated 1–31 May 1869 with the 22d Infantry and consolidated unit designated as the 22d Infantry Regiment.

After the American Civil War and garrison duty in the East, the regiment was transferred to the Northern Plains and served in frontier forts. The regiment's efforts included keeping civilians out of the Black Hills of Dakota Territory that had been ceded to the Lakota Sioux in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. In 1869, the 22d Infantry was involved in actions at the Oglala Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in South Dakota.

After 1870, the United States Army allowed Black Seminoles from Mexico to serve as army scouts for the United States. These scouts were formally attached to the 22nd, but often served independently. The Seminole Negro Indian Scouts fought in the Texas Indian Wars of the 1870s. The scouts were well known for their tracking abilities and feats of endurance. Four of the 22nd Infantry's Seminole Scouts were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. After the Texas Indian Wars, the scouts remained stationed at Fort Clark in Brackettville, Texas.[4]

On 8 January 1877, Companies E, and F of the 22d Infantry fought at the Battle of Wolf Mountain on the Tongue River in Montana Territory, and on 7 May 1877, Companies E, F, and G were present at the Battle of Little Muddy Creek. In 1888 the 22d Infantry's regiment headquarters was moved to Fort Keogh, Montana, and would remain there until 1896. In December 1890, and January 1891, the regiment participated in repressing the Ghost Dance on the Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, and in 1891, and 1892 patrolled throughout Montana.[5][6]

The 22d Infantry Regiment fought at Santiago 3 to 17 July 1898. One of the regimental officers, Captain Edward O. Ord, (son of Major General Edward Otho Cresap Ord and for whom Fort Ord was named) remained in Cuba for nine months as interpreter on the staff of General Alexander R. Lawton while the rest of the regiment prepared for service in the Philippines.[7]

By 1900 the 22d Regiment was en route piecemeal to the Philippines when the Philippine–American War broke out. They participated in battles in Manila, Luzon, Malolos, San Isidro then other battles during the Moro Rebellion on Mindanao and Jolo. On March 18, 1899, two companies of the regiment were ambushed by Filipino insurgents. After receiving exaggerated reports of the ambush which claimed that the regiments had been wiped out, the 2nd Oregon Volunteer Infantry Regiment was ordered to kill all Filipinos in a 12-mile (19 km) district between the mouth of San Mateo River and the lake.[8] By 1905, the regiment had returned to garrison duty in the San Francisco region.[7]

A few soldiers from the 22d Infantry Regt. looting shoes on Market Street (between 7th and 8th) in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Famous painting Thank God For the Soldiers. Period piece depicting US Army soldiers bringing in critical supplies for the survivors.

On 18 April 1906, just after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, recently retired Captain Edward Ord of the 22d Infantry Regiment was appointed a Special Police Officer by San Francisco Mayor Eugene Schmitz and liaisoned with Major General Adolphus Greely for relief work with the 22d Infantry Regiment and other military units involved in the emergency. Ord later wrote a long letter[7] to his mother on 20 April regarding Schmitz' "shoot-to-kill" order and some "despicable" behavior of certain soldiers of his former 22d Infantry Regiment from the Presidio who were looting. At the same time, Ord also made it clear that the majority of soldiers served the community well.[9][10]

From June 1908 to August 1910 the 22d Infantry was posted to Alaska to maintain the Alaskan telegraph line between Fairbanks and Nome. This posting would be one of the last large scale presence of Army troops since the 1898 gold rush and before the telegraph was replaced with a series of wireless stations. The regiment deployed about two companies each to Fort Seward in Haines, Fort Liscomb in Valdez, Fort St. Michael in St. Michael, Fort Davis in Nome, Fort Gibbon in Tanana, and Fort Egbert in Eagle.

From the Presidio, the regiment was called to Mexican border in Arizona during the Mexican Punitive Expedition in early 1916. While not joining in the pursuit of Pancho Villa, they guarded the border region around Douglas, Arizona, and maintained the peace in that area during their time there.

While still in Douglas, Arizona, the 22nd Regiment was set for a return deployment to the Philippines but orders directed it to the East Coast at Fort Jay on Governors Island in New York, New York, quietly arriving there by train and ferry on 2 April 1917.

Just days later, in the early morning of 6 April 1917, just moments after the declaration of war against Germany, the regiment boarded Coast Guard cutters and seized German owned freighters, passenger ships and shipping terminals along the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey and in New York Harbor. Theirs was the first American military action to be taken in World War I. The docks and piers seized in Hoboken were the basis of the New York Port of Embarkation from where tens of thousands of troops would depart to France, with the German cruise ships serving as troop transports.

The regiment was the largest organized combat-ready Army presence in New York City during the war where it was engaged in homeland protection duties: guarding tunnels, bridges, rail lines and other important transportation infrastructure that moved troops and material for the war to the city and port. One battalion was also posted to Washington, D.C. as the primary Army presence in that city, where they also protected vital transportation and military infrastructure.

On 14 June 1922, the entire regiment was transferred to Fort McPherson, Georgia, and assigned to the 4th Division. Along with the 8th Infantry Regiment, it was a component of the 8th Infantry Brigade, which was one of the sole active components of the nominally-inactivated 4th Division. On 30 June 1927, the 1st Battalion was inactivated. In 1933, the regiment controlled two Civilian Conservation Corps districts. On 28 May 1935, the 3rd Battalion was transferred to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. On 1 June 1940, the 4th Division was reactivated, and in July 1940, the 22nd Regiment moved to Fort McClellan, Alabama to train with the division, and moved to Fort Benning on 21 February 1941.[11]

The 22nd then moved to Camp Gordon, Georgia on 27 December 1941, where it was reorganized under a "motorized" table of organization and equipment (TO&E) on 9 September 1942.

The regiment moved to Fort Dix, New Jersey on 16 April 1943, where it was reorganized under a regular infantry TO&E on 1 August 1943. The regiment continued to train for combat, moving on to Camp Gordon Johnston, Florida on 28 September 1943, and to Fort Jackson, South Carolina on 1 December 1943. 22nd IR subsequently got its Port Call orders, and staged at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on 8 January 1944 until it shipped out from the New York Port of Embarkation on 18 January 1944.

Hemingway and Col. Lanham in Schnee Eifel, Germany, 18 September 1944

The regiment arrived in England on 29 January 1944, settled in near Plymouth, England, and started preparations to assault Utah Beach.

The regiment assaulted Utah Beach on 6 June 1944, as part of VII Corps in the D-Day Invasion, and arrived in the vicinity of Ravenoville, Normandy, by the end of D-day. It then participated in the Cherbourg Peninsula operation while attached to 2d Armored Division from 19 July through 2 August 1944.

The regiment then returned to 4th Infantry Division, and headed for Belgium as part of the Operation Cobra, moved into Belgium on 6 September 1944, and entered Germany on 11 September 1944. On 14 September its 3d Battalion broke through the Siegfried Line near Buchet, but neither the regiment nor other formations of 4th Division were able to exploit a success because of rough terrain lacking good roads, bad weather hampering air and artillery support and several other causes.[12][13] These developments were described by Ernest Hemingway in his article War in the Siegfried Line.

The regiment was attached to 83d Infantry Division between 3–7 December 1944, and then returned to 4th Infantry Division in Luxembourg on 12 December 1944. The 22d then moved to Belgium on 28 January 1945, and re-entered Germany on 7 February 1945, where it remained on mop-up and occupation until 12 July 1945, when it returned to the New York POE, and moved to its temporary home at Camp Butner, North Carolina while the regiment trained for movement to Japan; however, the war in the Pacific terminated, and the regiment remained at Camp Butner until it was inactivated on 5 March 1946.

In March 2003, the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry, deployed to Iraq with the 4th Infantry Division as a part of its 1st Brigade. Originally commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Mark Woempner from March through June 2003, the battalion secured Tikrit in northern Iraq. After changing command in the "Birthday Palace" in Tikrit 11 June 2003 was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Steven Russell and was instrumental in the hunt and eventual capture of Saddam Hussein during Operation Red Dawn, on 13 December 2003. It was decorated with a Valorous Unit Award for its service during this period. The battalion redeployed from Iraq to Fort Hood, Texas in April, 2004. Steven Russell wrote a book about the time in Iraq entitled We Got Him!: A Memoir of the Hunt and Capture of Saddam Hussein.

In December 2005, under the command of LTC Craig Osborne, the 1st Battalion, 22d Infantry once again deployed with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division to Iraq to serve for one year in the Baghdad area. During this time, the battalion secured their area of operations, engaged in assisting the local population, and fought against the extremist groups.

Soldiers who did not return home: CPL Nathaniel Aguirre (died 22 October 2006), SPC Matthew Creed (died 22 October 2006), SGT Luis Montes (died 7 September 2006), SGT Chase Haag (died 1 October 2006), PFC Sean Tharp (died 28 March 2006), SPC Ronald Gebur (died 30 May 2006), CPL Bobby West (died 30 May 2006), 2LT Johnny Craver (died 13 October 2006), PFC Kevin Ellenburg (died 1 November 2006), SPC William Hayes (died 5 February 2006), 2LT Christopher Loudon (died 17 October 2006), CPL Joseph Dumas, Jr. (died 17 October 2006), CPL David Unger (died 17 October 2006), SPC Russell Culbertson (died 17 October 2006), CPL Marcus Cain (died 14 September 2006), SGT Jennifer Hartman (died 14 September 2006), and SGT Brandon Asbury (died 4 October 2006).

The battalion redeployed from Iraq to Fort Hood, Texas in December 2006. Once established at Fort Hood, Texas, the battalion immediately began preparations for another Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment.

In March 2008, under the command of LTC Matt Elledge, the 1st Battalion, 22d Infantry deployed with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division to Iraq for a third time to conduct operations in the Baghdad area. In March 2009, the battalion returned to Fort Hood, Texas having restored civil order in southwestern Baghdad. Upon returning home from Iraq, the battalion was awarded the Valorous Unit Award for displaying "extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom" and "the unit demonstrated the ability to innovate and accomplish the mission beyond the call of duty."

Soldiers who did not return home: CPT Andrew "Drew" Pearson (HHC Commander) (died 30 April 2008), SPC Ronald Tucker (died 30 April 2008), and CPL Steven Thompson (died 14 February 2009). In the summer of 2009, the battalion moved with the 4th Infantry Division to Fort Carson, Colorado to prepare for future operations.

OEF - Afghanistan

From August 2010 to June 2011 the Battalion served in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, adding another combat theater to their long history of overseas deployments. The Battalion returned to Fort Carson, where they served and continued to train, maintaining a state of readiness should the nation require their service anywhere in the world.

From February to October 2013 1st Battalion deployed to Camp Buehring, Kuwait.

Inactivation

1st Battalion, 22d Infantry was inactivated at Fort Carson, Colorado, on 17 March 2014. The 2d Battalion remains with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum. The Regimental Colors have been transferred to Fort Drum.[2]

The 1st Battalion, 22d Infantry Regiment was one of the first Combat Arms Battalions to be aligned under the Combined Arms model, which includes two mechanized infantry companies, two tank companies, an engineer company, and a forward support company (FSC).

• HHC "Hammer"
• A Company "Gator"
• B Company "Bear"
• C Company "Cobra"
• D Company "Death Dealer"
• E Company "Killer"
• E / FSC "Eliminator"

• Scout Platoon "Comanche"
• Mortar Platoon "Thunder"
• Medic Platoon "Blood"

On 3 December 1992 The 10th Mountain Division (Light) deployed to Somalia in support Operation Restore Hope. The 2nd Battalion's mission along with some of its sister battalions was to secure major cities and roads to provide safe passage of relief supplies to the Somali population suffering from the effects of the Somali Civil War. The 2nd Battalion also provided infantry soldiers to the UN for a QRF sent in to rescue members of Task Force Ranger who were pinned down during a raid in what is known as today as the Battle of Mogadishu. The last soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry returned to the United States in March 1994.

2-22 IN deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 2005–2006 to West Baghdad under the command of LTC Kevin P. Brown. The Battalion deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom again in 2007–2008 to Kirkuk as part of the Surge ordered by President George W. Bush. They were commanded by LTC Dennis Sullivan. During combat operations in Kirkuk province, 2-22IN was supported by brigade elements comprising mainly former 2-22IN soldiers. The "Commanders Emergency Relief Program" (CERP) strategically used money as a means to turn the tide of battle.

Honorable Mention

SSG Tyler E. Pickett "Chaos co." C222IN Killed in action in Iraq Service Brother. We fought shoulder to shoulder. We will never forget you. "Chaos co." C222IN [C40]

2003-2004 deployment to Afghanistan: Operation mountain resolve. In January 2010, the battalion deployed to Afghanistan. There, they served across the country as advisers and trainers for the Afghan National Army in a wide variety of capacities. The battalion was awarded the Meritorious Unit Citation and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award in recognition for their efforts in improving ANA training and administration. In December 2010, the battalion returned home to Fort Drum, NY. The battalion returned to Afghanistan in late January 2013 taking elements of HHC, Co A, Co B, Co D, and Co E. The battalion served in RC East conducting combat operations throughout Ghazni Province, as well as manning OP Goekie. SSG Michael Ollis of Co B heroically lost his life during the defense of FOB Ghazni, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, as well as the Polish Gold Medal. The battalion returned to Fort Drum, NY from September through October 2013.

In September 2015, the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division returned to Iraq to relieve the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. The 2nd Battalion deployed Co A and Co C with elements from Co D, Co G, and HHC to Baghdad in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.[14] The unit returned home to Fort Drum, NY in June 2016 after handing control over to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

In January 2020, the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division deployed to Afghanistan to relieve 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. The 2nd Battalion, commanded by LTC Rex Howry deployed in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel. They conducted a relief in place of the 2nd Battalion, 505th Infantry Regiment and provided support and additional troops to augment SOJTF-A. A majority of the Battalion returned to Fort Drum, NY by December of 2020.

• HHC "Hostile"
• A Company "Anvil"
• B Company "Bushmaster"
• C Company "Chaos"
• D Company "Destroyer"
• G Company/FSC "Gamblers"

• Scout Platoon "Watchdog"
• Mortar Platoon "WolfPack"
• Medic Platoon "Bloodhound"

Indian Wars

1. Little Big Horn, 1876
2. Pine Ridge, North Dakota, 1869/69
3. Montana 1872

Spanish–American War

1. Santiago

Philippine–American War

1. Manila
2. Malolos
3. San Isidro
4. Mindanao
5. Jolo
6. Luzon 1900

World War II

1. Normandy (with arrowhead)
2. Northern France
3. Rhineland
4. Ardennes-Alsace
5. Central Europe

Vietnam

1. Counteroffensive, Phase II
2. Counteroffensive, Phase III
3. Tet Counteroffensive, 1968
4. Counteroffensive, Phase IV, 1968
5. Counteroffensive, Phase V, 1968
6. Counteroffensive, Phase VI, 1968–69
7. Tet 69/ Counteroffensive 1969
8. Summer-Fall 1969
9. Winter-Spring 1970
10. Sanctuary Counteroffensive 1970
11. Counteroffensive Phase VII, 1970–71
12. Consolidation I
13. Consolidation II

Somalia

1. Somalia 1993 (1st & 2nd Battalion)

Afghanistan

1. Streamer to be determined for service in 2003-04 (2nd Battalion)

Iraq

1. Streamer to be determined for service in 2003-04 (1st Battalion)
2. Streamer to be determined for service in 2005-06 Baghdad Iraq (1st & 2nd Battalion)
3. Streamer to be determined for service in 2007-08 Kirkuk Iraq (2nd Battalion)

1. Presidential Unit Citation (Army), Streamer embroidered HURTGEN FOREST (22d Infantry cited; WD GO 37, 1946)
2. Presidential Unit Citation (Army), Streamer embroidered ST. GILLIS MARIGNY (22d Infantry cited; WD GO 14, 1945)
3. Presidential Unit Citation (Army), Streamer embroidered CARENTAN (3d Battalion, 22d Infantry cited;. WD GO 85,1944)
4. Presidential Unit Citation (Army), Streamer embroidered SUOI-TRE, VIETNAM (2d Battalion and 3d Battalion (less Company C), 22d Infantry cited; DA GO 59,1968) * FSB – Gold, 21 March 1967
5. Valorous Unit Award, Streamer embroidered TAY NINH PROVINCE (3d Battalion, 22d Infantry cited; DA GO 42, 1969)
6. Valorous Unit Award, Streamer embroidered KONTUM (lst Battalion, 22d Infantry cited; DA GO 43,1970)
7. Valorous Unit Award, Streamer embroidered IRAQ (lst Battalion, 22d Infantry cited; DA GO 17 May 2005)
8. Valorous Unit Award, Streamer embroidered IRAQ (lst Battalion, 22d Infantry cited; DA GO 19 August 2009)
9. Belgian Fourragere 1940 (22nd Infantry cited; DA GO 43, 1950) Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in BELGIUM (22d Infantry cited; DA GO 43, 1950)
10. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the ARDENNES (22d Infantry cited; DA GO 43, 1950)