113th Cavalry Regiment

The 113th Cavalry Regiment is a cavalry regiment of the Iowa National Guard, with history tracing back to the 19th century Indian Wars. It was heavily involved in fighting during World War II against German forces in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany from June 1944 to May 1945. A new unit bearing the name of the 113th Cavalry was reactivated in 1992. Since then, the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry, part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, has conducted peace keeping operations in Kosovo and combat deployments during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Iowa had organized the 1st Cavalry Squadron in 1915, a unit with four troops (companies) and which had seen service on the Mexican frontier during the pursuit of Pancho Villa. During World War I, the squadron was split up; Troop A became the division headquarters troop for the 34th Division, Troop B was reorganized as part of the 125th Machine Gun Battalion, 34th Division, Troop C was reorganized as part of the 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Division, Troop D was reorganized as part of the 109th Ammunition Train, 34th Division, and the band was reorganized as part of the 301st Cavalry Regiment. The 34th Division shipped to France in late 1918, but did not see any combat, and the 301st Cavalry Regiment was converted to field artillery units in the summer of 1918, but none of these units shipped overseas before the end of the war. The 113th Cavalry was constituted in the National Guard in 1921, assigned to the 24th Cavalry Division, and allotted to Iowa. The regimental headquarters was organized on 1 June 1921 at Iowa City, Iowa, by redesignation of the 1st Regiment, Iowa Cavalry (constituted in 1920; organized and federally recognized on 3 May
1921 at Iowa City). The 1st Squadron headquarters was organized on 27 September 1921 at Des Moines, Iowa, and the 2nd Squadron headquarters was organized on 5 May 1921 at Ottumwa, Iowa. On 11 April 1929, the regiment was reorganized as a three squadron regiment, with a new 3rd Squadron organized with headquarters at Iowa City. The entire regiment performed riot control duties during the "Iowa Cow War" in Cedar County, Iowa, from 21 September–25 November 1931, while the regimental headquarters, Machine Gun Troop, and Troops B, E, and F performed martial law at Newton, Iowa, in connection with labor troubles at the Maytag washing machine plant from 6–15 August 1938. The regiment conducted summer training at Camp Dodge, Iowa from 1921–27 and 1929–40, and at Fort Riley, Kamsas, in 1927–28. For at least 2 years, in 1939 and 1940, the regiment also trained 20 company grade officers of the 66th Cavalry Div. at Camp Dodge and Camp Ripley, Minnesota. In September 1940, the 113th Cavalry was reorganized and redesignated the 113th Cavalry Regiment (Horse and Mechanized) and concurrently relieved from the 24th Cavalry Division, being assigned to the VIII Corps on 30 December 1940. The regiment was inducted into federal service on 13 January 1941, and moved to Camp Bowie, Texas, on 25 January 1941. The 113th Cavalry Regiment (Horse Mechanized) sailed to England, arriving on 28 January 1944. In England, the regiment was converted to the 113th Cavalry Group (Mechanized), with the 1st Squadron becoming the 113th Cavalry Squadron (Mechanized) and the 2nd Squadron becoming the 125th Cavalry Squadron (Mechanized). Under the combat group concept, even though the two squadrons were only "attached" to the 113th Cavalry Group headquarters as opposed to permanently "assigned" and could be attached and detached at will as the tactical situation warranted, they served as essentially organic elements of the 113th Cavalry Group. Subsequently, the 113th Cavalry Group served as the XIX Corps' mechanized cavalry group, fighting in Normandy, the Netherlands and the conquest of Germany. The 113th Cavalry Group returned to the New York port of entry on 25 October 1945 and was inactivated at Camp Shanks, New York, on 26 October 1945.

On 4 May 1992, the 113th Cavalry was constituted and allotted to the Iowa National Guard. On 1 September, it was organized from the Iowa elements of the 194th Cavalry Regiment, namely Troop C at Le Mars and Troop D at Waterloo. The battle participation credits earned by National Guard units in Le Mars (Company K, 133rd Infantry Regiment) and Waterloo (Companies B and D, 133rd Infantry Regiment) during World War II entitled their descendants in the new 113th Cavalry to display battle honors for the Tunisia, Anzio, Naples Foggia, Rome Arno, North Apennines, and Po Valley campaigns. The 113th Cavalry was also entrusted to display the battle honors of the former 113th Armored Regiment "as a challenge and a trust." The 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry was reactivated on 11 September 1992, at ceremonies at Camp Dodge, Iowa. In 1996 the squadron was restructured for the next ten years with the Headquarters and Headquarters Troop (HHT) at Sioux City, Iowa, Troops A and B at Camp Dodge, Troop C at Le Mars, and Troops D, E and later Troop F at Waterloo. With the next reorganization, Troops D, E and F were detached when the 1 113th Cavalry reorganized into a RSTA (Cavalry) and became an organic asset to the 2d Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division. It remains an active duty unit of the Iowa National Guard. There are three troops that comprise the 1 113th Cavalry and one support unit along with a Headquarters Troop. Troops A and B drill at Camp Dodge, Iowa, and Troop C is headquartered in Le Mars, Iowa. The support unit, Company D, 334th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB), trains in Sioux City, along with the HHT, as well as a detachment from 2168th Transportation Company (TC). Troop C returned from Iraq in October 2006. Troop A deployed in June 2007, and the squadron as a whole, including Company D, 334th BSB, and the 2168th Transportation Company, deployed in November 2010 with the 2d Brigade Combat Team as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.