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Soldiers from Battery D, 1st Battalion, 278th Regimental Combat Team, provide cover while fellow soldiers clear an improvised explosive device from a bridge near Baba Kurz ad Din, Iraq.

278th Armored Cavalry Regiment

Soldiers: More than 3,000

Home fort: Tennessee

Deployed to: The Tennessee Guard's 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment will roll into Iraq beginning in November.

Units: In Iraq, the regiment includes the following units: • Headquarters Troop
• 1st Squadron
• 2nd Squadron
• 3rd Squadron
• 4th Squadron
• Support Squadron
• 386th Engineer Battalion
• 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment
• Headquarters, 128th Infantry Regiment

Duties: The regiment is part of Task Force Liberty, which also includes the Idaho Army National Guard's 116th Brigade Combat Team and the 1st and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams from the Fort Stewart, Georgia-based 3rd Infantry Division. The task force is commanded by the division headquarters of the New York National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division. The division headquarters will command Task Force Liberty. All together, the task force includes the basic makeup of the division task force of more than 18,000 Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers.

The 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment received its mobilization orders on May 11, 2004 and it will begin activating on June 7. The unit will begin heading to Iraq by November. For its deployment to Iraq, the regiment was renamed the 278th Regimental Combat Team. When it redeploys home, the unit will revert back to being the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment.

The three Cavalry troops of each squadron are each equipped with nine M1A1 Abrams tanks, 13 M3A2 Bradley fighting vehicles, and two 120mm mortar carriers. The howitzer battery, is equipped with six of the 155mm howitzers. The tank company is equipped with 14 M1A1 Abrams tanks. An armored cavalry regiment is organized for the specific purposes of reconnaissance, surveillance, and security.

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