THE REBIRTH OF THE 4TH CAVALRY

In the short span of twelve years the 4th Cavalry Regiment had been redesignated five times and all that was left of one of the U.S. Army's finest regiments was its regimental numeral on an armor group headquarters company. With the decision to also do away with most tactical regiments the Army realized it must preserve the valuable honors, traditions and history of famous regiments. In 1957 the Army set up the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS). Under CARS the regiment would be a group of tactical units bearing the regimental name. Over one hundred and fifty historic regiments of cavalry, armor, infantry and artillery were preserved. The original line companies/batteries/troops of a regiment would be activated as the headquarters company/battery/troop of  newly  constituted battle group/battalion/squadron to preserve the lineal ties with the old regiment. Should a separate company size element be required the original company/battery/troop would be activated.

On 15 February 1957 five elements of the 4th Cavalry were activated. The 1st Squadron descending from Troop A was activated in the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas. The 2nd Battle Group (infantry) descending from Troop B was activated in the 1st Cavalry Division in Korea. The 3rd Squadron descending from Troop C joined the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. The 4th Squadron descending from Troop D was activated in the Army Reserve 102nd Infantry Division at Kansas City, Missouri and the 5th Squadron descending from Troop E was activated with the Army Reserve 103rd Infantry Division at Ottumwa, Iowa.

During the 1960s Army requirements led to changes in the active elements of the 4th Cavalry. On 1 August 1963, the 2nd Battle Group was reorganized and redesignated as the 2nd Squadron assigned to the 4th Armored Division. On 15 March 1963 the 5th Squadron was inactivated. Its predecessor, Troop E, was activated on 3 December 1963 and assigned to the Army Reserve 205th Infantry Brigade at Madison, Wisconsin. On 31 December 1965 the 4th Squadron was inactivated.