U.S. 66th Armor Regiment

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66th Armored Regiment
Active
Country	USA
Branch	Regular Army
Type	Armor Regiment
Colors	Yellow. Red and Blue
Commanders
Notable commanders	George S. Patton

The 66th Armored Regiment is the oldest Armored unit in the United States Army, tracing its lineage to the beginning of the Tank Service in February 1918 under the command of Col. George S. Patton.

The Regiment participated in the battles of St. Mihiel, France, where it received its baptism of fire in the Meuse-Argonne and the Somme Offensives. The casualties of the officer and men were heavy during the short period the regiment participated in World War I and their valor was recognized by General John J. Pershing in the following words: "The percentage of casualties among the officers and men tells the tale of splendid morale and gallantry in action and their unselfish devotion to duty". The numerical designation of the regiment was changed several times during the period of 1918 to 1928.

On 15 July 1940, the unit was redesignated from the 66th Infantry (Light Tanks) to the 66th Armored Regiment as part of the newly formed 2nd Armored Division, stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia.

In December 1942, the Regiment participated in the amphibious invasion of French Morocco in North Africa and led the Division's triumphant entry into Casablanca. The regiment participated in the invasion of Sicily and through fierce fighting earned the Regiment six battle streamers during the War.

In 1944, the Regiment went into action on the European Continent, landing on Normandy's beaches on D+3. A week later the Regiment decisively defeated the German 6th Parachute Regiment and the 37th SS Panzer Regiment near Carnetan, France. The 66th Armored Regiment rolled across France to the German border. It was diverted north to counter the German advance during the battle of the Bulge, assisting in the destruction of the 2nd Panzer Division and capturing Hoffalize, Belgium.

As a result of its exemplary conduct in the liberation of Belgium, the Regiment was twice cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgium Army. Elements of the 66th, with other units of the Second Armored Division were selected to occupy Berlin and serve as the first American troops to enter the fallen German Capital.

During the Korean War, an offspring of the 66th fought under the designation "6th Tank Battalion". During the war, the sixth won seven battle streamers and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation. These honors were awarded to the 66th Armored Regiment when the sixth Tank Battalion was deactivated after the conflict.

In 1991, elements of the 66th Armored Regiment deployed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia--in support of operation Desert Shield and fought in Desert Storm. During Desert Storm the regiment again proved its worth by assisting in the liberation of Kuwait and the push towards Iraq. In the Spring of 1995, the 1st of the 66th was once more called to duty. The mission consisted of assisting over 5,000 Cuban and Haitian refugees interned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Contents 1 Lineage 1.1 World War I 1.2 World War II 2 Honors 2.1 Campaign Participation Credit 2.2 Decorations 3 Bibliography 4 External links

[edit] Lineage

[edit] World War I

• Organized in August 1918 in the American Expeditionary Forces in France as Headquarters and Headquarters Companies, 1st and 2d Provisional Brigades, Tank Corps.
• Redesignated 6 November 1918 as Headquarters and Headquarters Companies, 304th and 305th Brigades, Tank Corps, respectively
• Consolidated and redesignated 22 June 1921 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Tank Group
• Reorganized and redesignated 1 September 1929 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Tank Regiment; remainder of the 1st Tank Regiment organized from existing units as follows:

16th Tank Battalion reorganized and redesignated as the 1st Battalion, 1st Tank Regiment (16th Tank Battalion organized in 1918 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 327th Battalion, Tank Corps, and Company C, 1st Separate Battalion, Heavy Tank Service, 65th Engineers)

15th Tank Battalion reorganized and redesignated as the 2d Battalion, 1st Tank Regiment (15th Tank Battalion organized in 1918 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, and Companies A and C, 1st Battalion, 1st Tank Center, and Company A, 1st Separate Battalion, Heavy Tank Service, 65th Engineers)

18th Tank Battalion redesignated as the 3d Battalion, 1st Tank Regiment (18th Tank Battalion organized in 1918 as the 329th Battalion, Tank Corps, and Headquarters and Headquarters Company, ::328th Battalion, Tank Corps; inactivated 29 July 1922)

21st Tank Maintenance Company redesignated as the Service Company (21st Tank Maintenance Company organized in 1918 as the 316th Repair and Salvage Company, Tank Corps)

• (3d Battalion activated 16 September 1931 at Camp Devens, Massachusetts)
• 1st Tank Regiment converted and redesignated 25 October 1932 as the 66th Infantry (Light Tanks)
• (Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 66th Infantry [Light Tanks] inactivated 1 September 1938 at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland; Headquarters Company activated 16 October 1939 at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland; Headquarters activated 10 January 1940)

[edit] World War II

• Converted and redesignated 15 July 1940 as the 66th Armored Regiment and assigned to the 2d Armored Division
• Regiment broken up 25 March 1946 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as elements of the 2d Armored Division as follows:

Regimental Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, and Company D as the 66th Tank Battalion

2nd Battalion (less Company D) and Headquarters Company, 3d Battalion, as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Companies A and B, and Service Company, 6th Tank Battalion (remainder of 6th Tank Battalion organized from elements of the 67th Armored Regiment)

Reconnaissance Company as Troop D, 82d Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized

Service Company as the Service Company, 12th Armored Infantry Battalion

(Band as the 2d Armored Division Band hereafter - separate lineage)

3d Battalion (less Headquarters Company) and Maintenance Company disbanded

• After 25 March 1946 the above units underwent changes as follows:

66th Tank Battalion redesignated 5 January 1949 as the 66th Medium Tank Battalion Redesignated 1 April 1953 as the 66th Tank Battalion Inactivated (less Company A) 1 July 1957 in Germany and relieved from assignment to the 2d Armored Division

6th Tank Battalion redesignated 31 January 1949 as the 6th Medium Tank Battalion Relieved 14 July 1950 from assignment to the 2d Armored Division Assigned 29 October 1950 to the 24th Infantry Division Redesignated 10 November 1951 as the 6th Tank Battalion Inactivated 5 June 1958 in Korea and relieved from assignment to the 24th Infantry Division

Troop D, 82d Mechanized Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, redesignated 17 January 1948 as Company D, 82d Reconnaissance Battalion Inactivated 1 July 1957 in Germany and relieved from assignment to the 2d Armored Division

Service Company, 12th Armored Infantry Battalion, redesignated 11 October 1948 as Company D, 12th Armored Infantry Battalion Inactivated 1 July 1957 in Germany and relieved from assignment to the 2d Armored Division

Maintenance Company and Companies G, H, and I, 66th Armored Regiment, reconstituted 1 July 1957 in the Regular Army

• 6th Tank Battalion (less Companies C and D); 66th Tank Battalion; Company D, 82d Reconnaissance Battalion; Company D, 12th Armored Infantry Battalion; and the Maintenance Company and Companies G, H, I, 66th Armored Regiment, consolidated, reorganized and redesignated 1 July 1957 as the 66th Armor, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System (Companies C and D, 6th Tank Battalion reorganized and redesignated as elements of the 67th Armor -- hereafter separate lineages)
• Withdrawn 1 October 1983 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System

[edit] Honors

[edit] Campaign Participation Credit

• World War I:

1. Somme Offensive;
2. St. Mihiel;
3. Meuse-Argonne

• World War II:

1. Algeria-French Morocco (with arrowhead);
2. Sicily (with arrowhead);
3. Normandy;
4. Northern France;
5. Rhineland;
6. Ardennes-Alsace;
7. Central Europe

• Korean War:

1. UN Defensive;
2. UN Offensive;
3. CCF Intervention;
4. First UN Counteroffensive;
5. CCF Spring Offensive;
6. UN Summer-Fall Offensive;
7. Second Korean Winter;
8. Korea, Summer 1953

• Southwest Asia:

1. Defense of Saudi Arabia;
2. Liberation and Defense of Kuwait;
3. Cease-Fire

[edit] Decorations

1. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for NORMANDY
2. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for VIRE RIVER
3. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for ROER RIVER
4. Valorous Unit Award for IRAQ-KUWAIT
5. Belgian Fourragere 1940
6. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in BELGIUM 1944
7. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in the ARDENNES

[edit] Bibliography

• American Forces in Action Series; Historical Division; US Army Center of Military History

1. OMAHA BEACHHEAD (6 June-13 June 1944); CMH Pub 100-11.
2. UTAH BEACH TO CHERBOURG (6 June-27 June 1944); CMH Pub 100-12
3. ST-LO (7 July - 19 July 1944); CMH Pub 100-13
4. UNITED STATES ARMY IN THE KOREAN WAR; POLICY AND DIRECTION: THE FIRST YEAR; CMH Pub 20-1-1
5. __________; SOUTH TO THE NAKTONG,NORTH TO THE YALU (June-November 1950) CMH Pub 20-2-1
6. __________; TRUCE TENT AND FIGHTING FRONT; CMH Pub 20-3-1
7. __________; EBB AND FLOW NOVEMBER 1950-JULY 1951; CMH pub

• Other Publications

1. Barth, George B. Tropic Lightning and Taro leaf in Korea. N.p.: 1953.
2. Blumenson, Martin. Breakout and Pursuit. 1961
3. Cole, Hugh M. The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge. 1965
4. Harrison, Gordon A. Cross-Channel Attack. 1951.
5. Garland, Albert N., and Howard McGaw Smith. Sicily and the Surrender of Italy. 1965.
6. Howe, George F. Northwest Africa: Seizing the initiative in the West. 1957.
7. MacDonald, Charles B. The Siegfried Line Campaign. 1963.
8. Stadtmauer, Saul A.., editor. A Pictorial History of the Victory Division in Korea. Tokyo, Japan: 1953.

Unit Members. A History of the Second Armored Division, 1940—1946. Atlanta, Georgia]]: 1946.

1. ____________. Brief History of the 6th Tank Battalion (Medium), 1918—1953, Organization Day March 25. Japan: 1952.
2. ____________ Hell on Wheels, War Against the Axis, 1942—1945.
3. ____________ 24th infantry Division, A Brief History. The Story of the 24th Division’s Actions in the Korean Conflict. Tokyo, Japan: 1954.

[edit] External links

• 1-66th AR Website (4th ID)

Source: US Army Center of Military History.