With the operational deployment of the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, the U.S. Army desperately needed a unit to handle the training of personnel to man the legendary chopper. Thus was born the 21st Cavalry Brigade, stationed at Fort Hood for 30 years until its inactivation in March, 2015 (Fort Hood has since been renamed Fort Cavazos).
Consisting of a small headquarters and working with a couple hundred civilian personnel, the brigade started out conducting aviation training missions with Apaches. The brigade — a small headquarters with about 80 soldiers and 200 civilian personnel — served an aviation training mission at Fort Hood, beginning with Apaches but eventually adding other fixed-wing assets such as Black Hawk and Lakota helicopters as well as unmanned aerial platforms.
Additionally, the brigade trained international aviation personnel from Kuwait, Egypt, Singapore, and the Netherland. Indeed, the Dutch 302nd Squadron remained stationed at Fort Cavazos. Over the three decades of its existence, the 21st Cavalry trained over 80 battalion-sized units—ensuring that aerial forces deployed around the world would live up to the brigade’s motto of
Impetum Persequi—Latin for “Continue The Attack.”
The highlight of the 21st Cavalry Brigade’s Combat Service Identification Badge—colloquially known as a CSIB—is an eagle in flight, a celebration of the unit’s history as a training brigade and, more spefically, an Apache Training Brigade. The crest is divided into halves by a diagonal line running from lower-left to upper-right, a motif employed in reverse (lower-right to upper-left) on the brigade’s unit crest (see link below) through the use of a superimposed cavalry sword.
Related Items
21st Cavalry Brigade Patch (SSI)
21st Cavalry Brigade Unit Crest (DUI)