Nicknamed the “Silver Knights” and stationed at Fort Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood), the 1st Medical Brigade was originally organized in France in 1917 as the 1st Sanitary Train using troops that had been deployed along the Mexican border. Fittingly, it was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division—the unit which initiated American offensive operations in World War I. During the Great War, the 1st Sanitary Train evacuated and treated over 20,000 soldiers, including wounded Germans and the first American casualties of a German gas attack.
Renamed the 1st Medical Regiment (1919) before being re-designated as the 1st Medical Group in 1943, the unit next entered a combat zone in 1944 in support of the Ninth United States Army. The Group was activated again in 1968 at Fort Sam Houston, where it trained newly activated medical units prior to their deployment to the Republic ofs Vietnam. 1990 saw the Group deployed to Saudi Arabia to support troops taking part in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
The unit received its current designation in June 2000. Nearly three years later, it deployed to Kuwait and then Tikrit as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the first of several deployments to that area. February, 2012 marked the start of a nine-month deployment as Task Force 1st Medical - Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In addition to supporting operations in Afghanistan, the brigade also remains immediately available for stateside missions.
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A maroon cross superimposed by the staff of Aesculapius comprise the CSIB for the 1st Medical Brigade. Maroon and the background white are colors used by Army Medical Department units, and the gold borders stands for excellence. The brigade's Unit Crest features a silver knight’s helmet and the unit’s motto, “Fortitude and Compassion.”
Related Items
1st Medical Brigade Patch (SSI)
1st Medical Brigade Unit Crest (DUI)