Fort Riley issued a press release Monday afternoon regarding an upcoming inactivation ceremony:
The 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, will case its colors for the last time in an inactivation ceremony at 10 a.m. April 2 on Cavalry Parade Field. The inactivation was first announced in July 2013 and is part of the Army’s ongoing restructuring process.
The 4th IBCT was activated on Jan. 12, 2006, at Fort Riley. Since then, the brigade has deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan. The five battalions and one squadron that make up the brigade will case their individual colors in separate ceremonies in the next few weeks. The inactivation ceremony dates and times will be announced as those ceremonies approach.
The inactivation ceremony will include the Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard, which will perform a traditional cavalry charge, and the 1st Infantry Division Band. Brig. Gen. Eric J. Wesley, the division’s senior mission commander, and Col. Peter G. Minalga, the 4th IBCT’s commander, are scheduled to give remarks.
The most recent mission for the “Dragon” brigade, from Feb. 2013 to Feb. 2014, included the deployment of 1,200 Soldiers in support of Regionally Aligned Force missions across the continent of Africa. The brigade successfully completed 113 Theater Security Cooperation missions and two multinational exercises and provided the East Africa Response Force at Camp Lemmonier, Djibouti. These missions, which involved more than 14,000 partner nation service members, were instrumental in building long-lasting relationships that promote U.S. interests and develop local military forces’ military capabilities for self-defense and regional stability.
