4th Cavalry Regiment (United States) - - "K4B" and "Operation Iraqi Freedom"

- "K4B" and "Operation Iraqi Freedom"

The Schweinfurt-based "Quarterhorse" was tasked to be part of the 1st Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade task force due to rotate into Kosovo, in late 2002. The squadron was to lead the U.S. contingent's aviation task force of OH-58D Kiowa and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, as well as provide force protection personnel for the U.S. headquarters at Camp Bondsteel. In late-October 2002, soldiers with 1st Infantry Division's, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment were abruptly told they would not deploy to Kosovo for peacekeeping duties, after working for several months to ready equipment they had received for their peacekeeping mission. 1st Infantry Division officials in Kosovo said they could not comment on the change, while a spokesman for V Corps, the division's Corps headquarters, referred all questions to EUCOM, the overall combatant command for V Corps. A EUCOM spokesman said he could not comment on the change, referring all questions back to V Corps. The first trainloads of the squadron's equipment bound for the Balkans from Germany was called back after departing Schweinfurt, en route to the Balkans.

On November 6, 2002, the 1st Infantry Division published a WARNO (warning order) establishing ARFOR-T (Army Forces Turkey). This mission was enormous, encompassing the subordinate units of 2 heavy mechanized divisions, 4th ID and 1st ID. Normally these missions are assigned to Corps headquarters. The following months involved extensive planning, Command Post Exercises, and a joint warfighter with 1st ID key personnel traveling to Ft. Hood, TX, to conduct planning with the 4th ID staff. During this time the 1st Squadron's Commander, Lt. Col. James H. Chevallier, designated about 40 personnel to comprise an ADVON, and they deployed to Turkey in early February. Their mission was to conduct a detailed route reconnaissance from the seaport of debarkation (SPOD) at İskenderun, on the Mediterranean Sea coast, in south-central Turkey, to the border crossing near the Tactical Assembly Areas located near the towns of Silopi, Dicle, and Cizre, near the Turkish-Iraqi border. The route reconnaissance conducted by less than 30 Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers is believed to the longest route recon conducted in modern times; the men assigned the task catalogued every bridge, route constriction and obstruction, hill grade, and curve radius for nearly 500 miles (800 km). The goal of ARFOR-T was to open a second front, to crush Iraqi armed resistance from the North. The Quarterhorse, mounted on the hastily drawn, and refurbished, HMMWVs they had prepared initially for their Kosovo rotation, would conduct a screen along one of the 4th IDs flanks as it charged south out of Turkey. While the Quarterhorse was conducting the route reconnaissance, the Turkish government debated at length whether they should to allow Coalition forces to invade from their territory, finally signaling in early March 2003 that the invasion would not be permitted from their soil. By early April, all of the Quarterhorse Troopers returned to Schweinfurt, unsure what the future held, as the Iraqi Regime was toppled by forces assaulting north from Kuwait. The main body of the Squadron never deployed out of Germany, despite being on standby and prepared to move for nearly 2 weeks in early March.

It is worth noting, that despite the invasion from the north that never materialized, the Quarterhorse participated in an accidental, yet convincing and important, deception that caused Saddam Hussein to order 13 armored divisions to the north to meet the invasion force. Because of this, the enemy force strength, or Order of Battle, was significantly reduced in the South, enabling the rapid assault from Kuwait in the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

1-4 Cav deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom II (OIF II) from January 2004 to March 2005. The Squadron was deployed to two Base camps; Fob McKenzie near Ad-Duluiya and FOB Wilson just outside of Ad-Dawr south of Tikirt in Salah-ad-Din Province. The squadron relieved elements of two battalions from the 4th Infantry Division. In September 2004 the Squadron led the way for 1ID's retaking of the city of Samara from insurgent control and passed control of the city back to 2nd BDE, 1 ID. In January 2005 the Squadron oversaw the conduct of the first Iraqi parliamentary elections after the 2003 invasion within their sector and passed over control of their sector to elements of the 3rd Infantry division before redeploying back to Schweinfurt, Germany in February and March 2005.