The 172nd Infantry Regiment is a Vermont Army National Guard infantry regiment which specializes in mountainous and cold weather operations. It falls under the command of the Vermont Army National Guard's 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain). Before the creation of the Infantry Brigade Combat Team in 2008, the regiment was recognized as the only conventional unit in the United States Army trained and equipped for mountain operations. The regiment draws heritage from the original 10th Mountain Division, which fought during World War II, both in the type of training they conduct and in the specialized equipment the unit maintains.
Mountain battalion history
The 172d Infantry (Regiment) (Mountain) was constituted 1 September 1982 in the Vermont Army National Guard as the 72d Infantry, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System, and organized to consist of Company A. Located in Vermont, Company A's mission was to conduct limited offensive and defensive operations and to provide support expertise to combat units engaged in mountain and winter operations. It was also tasked to provide special reconnaissance for combat units operating in these environments.
Redesignated 1 April 1983 as the 172d Infantry. Reorganized 1 December 1983 to consist of Company A and the 3d Battalion. Reorganized 1 October 1984 in the Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont Army National Guard to consist of the 3d Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain). Withdrawn 1 May 1989 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System with headquarters at Jericho, Vermont. Reorganized 1 September 1992 in the Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont National Guard.
The Mountain Battalion Headquarters, HHC, and Company A are located in the Green Mountains of Vermont. The Battalion is co-located with the Army's Mountain Warfare School. In addition to HHC and A.Co, B.Co and C.Co are located in Maine and New Hampshire respectively. D.Co and E.Co (FSC) are located in Vermont.
In 2000, the Mountain Battalion developed a training relationship with the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 508th Infantry of the US Army's Southern European Task Force in Vincenza, Italy. During this time, the 'Mountain Men" of the 172d deployed numerous times to Europe and trained side-by-side with the paratroopers of SETAF and the US Army's Combined Maneuver Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany.
Operations in response to the 9/11 attacks saw the Battalion's first combat deployments. The initial missions were company-size elements sent to Afghanistan (Battalion HQ), Kuwait (HHC), and Iraq (A, B, C Companies) during the early years of the War on Terrorism.
After returning from these separate missions, the Battalion was assigned in October 2006 to be the nucleus of the newly formed 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain). Several years of training at the battalion and brigade level followed, taking the Battalion to Montana, Virginia and other far-flung locations in preparation for an upcoming 86th IBCT (Mountain) deployment to Afghanistan as part of the Army's Force Generation System (ARFORGEN). This culminated in the entire brigade's mobilization and two trips to the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, LA in late 2009 and early 2010.
Titled Task Force Avalanche, the Battalion was then deployed to Paktia Province in Eastern Afghanistan in 2010. Detached to serve under the 3rd Brigade, 101st ABN (Air Assault), Mountain Soldiers conducted 10 months of counterinsurgency operations against the Taliban. The Battalion returned from Afghanistan in late 2010 having earned the Valorous Unit Award.
In 2021, the Mountain Battalion was called upon to deploy a second time as part of the 86th IBCT (Mountain). Once again mobilized as Task Force Avalanche, the Battalion would support numerous missions in several countries throughout CENTCOM's area of responsibility under Operation Enduring Freedom - Operation Spartan Shield. The Battalion's Soldiers were awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal for its involvement in Kabul, Afghanistan Refugee Airlift of over 122,000 people as the United States brought it's war in Afghanistan to a close. Task Force Avalanche was awarded the Meritorious Unit Award for its efforts during the deployment.