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The 2nd Cavalry Regiment started a new chapter in their proud history yesterday when they officially joined forces with Townsville’s 3rd Brigade. Their arrival was marked by a welcome parade at Lavarack Barracks, on 27 November 2014.
More than 300 soldiers and 100 vehicles paraded before dignitaries, colleagues, family and friends to take up residence in Townsville.
The 2nd Cavalry Regiment recently moved from Darwin’s 1st Brigade under Army’s modernisation plan. The unit will form the new Armoured Cavalry Regiment within Army’s 3rd Brigade.
Commander of the 3rd Brigade, Brigadier Roger Noble, DSC, CSC, said that the 2nd Cavalry Regiment would be a welcome addition to the brigade and offer an armoured capability and mobility that had not been available to the soldiers of Townsville in the past.
“What we’ve gained now is a full armoured capability with tanks, light armoured fighting vehicles and armoured personnel carriers. We now have all the armoured capability we need to enable the combined arms teams to fight, resident here in Townsville on a permanent basis,” Brigadier Noble said.
Commanding Officer of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel James Davis said it was an honour to be the first Commanding Officer to bring an armoured regiment to Townsville.
“The 2nd Cavalry Regiment will form an important part of 3rd Brigade as we will increase firepower and mobility to what was once known as the light brigade,” Lieutenant Colonel Davis said.
“The next 12 months will be exciting as more than 160 armoured vehicles, including the remainder of the tank squadron, will form what is known as an armoured cavalry regiment.”
“The regiment’s members welcome the move to Townsville, we have done extensive work with the local government and familiarisation tours for the members’ families to make the move as easy as possible.”
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The 2nd Cavalry Regiment has supported most of Australia’s significant deployments in the past 15 years.
The unit served with distinction in East Timor in support of INTERFET in 1999 and UNTAET from 2000 to 2002.
The 2nd Cavalry Regiment led Al Muthanna Task Group One in Iraq in 2005 and supported the second Task Group rotation from 2005 to 2006.
The regiment also led Overwatch Battle Group Two and supported the third Battle Group in Iraq from 2006 to 2007.
In Baghdad, the unit supported the Security Detachment with the Australian Embassy from 2003 to 2005, 2007 to 2009 and 2011.
The 2nd Cavalry Regiment also deployed to Afghanistan supporting Reconstruction Task Force One from 2006 to 2007, Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force rotations one and two from 2008 to 2010 and Mentoring Task Force Two from 2010 to 2011.
The regiment completed Australia’s mission in Uruzgan province Afghanistan as the 2nd Cavalry Regiment Task Force in 2013.