1st Battalion, 81st Armor Regiment

 

 

The 81st Armor Regiment currently has two active battalions, the 1st and 3rd, both of which are assigned to the 194th Armor Brigade, US Army Armor Center, Fort Benning, GA. They are responsible for training enlisted armor crewmen (19K) for the US Army and US Marines on armored warfare vehicles such as the M1A1/M1A2 and Stryker platform

In Addition: responsible for training M1 Abrams Tank System Maintainer (91A) and M2 Bradley AFV Maintainer (91M). 

 

 

The 81st Armor Regiment was activated on 1 October 1941 at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

In early 1942, the 81st Armor was moved to California with orders to defend against possible Japanese attacks. While stationed there, it was redesignated as the 81st Tank Battalion in 1943.

Shortly after their service in California, the 81st Tank Battalion headed to Europe in July 1944 to participate in the battles for Normandy and Northern France. The 2nd Battalion was reformed as Company B, 81st Armor and was successful in liberating Luxembourg City on 10 September 1944. As December 1944 crept closer, the battalion entered the Huertgen Forest in the Alsace Region of France. The battalion then rested and refitted for the final push into Germany. The unit spearheaded the 5th Armored Division’s drive to the Rhine River and became the first unit to cross the Siegfried Line into the Rhineland, crossing the Rhine in March 1945. It then drove to the Elbe, 45 miles from Berlin, and was engaged in mopping up German resistance in the Ninth Army sector.

Upon returning from the battlefields of Europe, the battalion was deactivated in the fall of 1945. Except for seven months in 1950, it was active from 1948–1956 with the 5th Armored Division at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. In 1962, the 81st and the 94th Tank Battalions and the 505th Replacement Company were redesignated as the 81st Armor under the Combat Arms Regimental System. The 1st and 2nd Battalions were assigned to the 1st Armored Division in February of that year. The 2nd battalion was deactivated in 1971 and reactivated in 1972 in West Germany. It was then deactivated again in 1989. The 2nd Battalion was once again reactivated in January 1996 as a part of the 1st Armored Training Brigade at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Presently, the 81st Armor Regiment, is assigned to the 194th Armored Brigade , U.S. Army Armor School, Fort Benning , GA. (originally from Fort Knox, KY)Responsible for training Enlisted Armor Crewman (19K) for the US Army and US Marines on a 15 week One Station Unit Training (OSUT) on armoured warfare vehicles such as the M1A1/M1A2. and the 14 weeks Advanced Individual Training of the M1 Abrams Tank System Maintainer (91A) on how to diagnose and troubleshoot malfunctions and maintain different aspects of the Main Battle Tank.