The 17th Cavalry Regiment is a historical organization within the United States Army that began as a regiment of cavalry after the Pancho Villa Expedition. The unit was constituted on 1 July 1916 in the Regular Army as the 17th Cavalry at Fort Bliss, Texas and originally inactivated 26 September 1921 at the Presidio of Monterey, California. Formerly a part of the 1950s Combat Arms Regimental System, it was reorganized as a part of the U.S. Army Regimental System, an ongoing effort to maintain the lineage and history of the U.S. Army through its units. Today, the 17th Cavalry Regiment is found across the army within the combat aviation brigades, where the squadrons, now constituted as attack/recon helicopter squadrons, carry on the legacy of the 17th Cavalry Regiment.
History
Formation
The 17th Cavalry Regiment was organized under the provisions of the National Defense Act of 1916 at Fort Bliss, Texas on 30 June 1916 and constituted on 1 July 1916. Brigadier General John J. Pershing had taken his columns into Mexico only a short time before and the need of cavalry troops was pressing. Thirty-two officers and seven hundred and ninety-one veterans from the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 8th and 14th Cavalry Regiments were transferred as the nucleus of the new regiment. Many of these were recalled from the Mexican Punitive Expedition and since all were experienced troopers, little time was spent in whipping the organization into shape. The regimental commander, Colonel Willard A. Holbrook, assumed command on 9 July 1916, on which date the men from the 8th joined the 17th Cavalry Regiment. Colonel Holbrook held command until he was promoted to the rank of major general.
In honor of the cavalry regiments that contributed officers, men and experience to the formation of the 17th Cavalry Regiment, the regimental shield shares much from the coats of arm of those units. Orange is from the 1st Cavalry and was the official color that has historically represented dragoons. The color green was taken from the 3d Cavalry. Their uniforms contained green facings in honor of the 3d Cavalry's first engagement at Vera Cruz, and its contribution throughout the campaign of 1847 to the capture of Mexico City. The regiment chose the unicorn from the 6th Cavalry Regiment, which represents the knightly virtues and, in the rampant position, a symbol of fighting aggressiveness, combined with speed and alacrity. The demi-horse, in honor of cavalry mounts, was taken from the shield of the 8th Cavalry Regiment. The diagonal line, being the traditional military symbol of cavalry, came from the 14th Cavalry.
The first mounted formation of the regiment was held on 4 August 1916 and consisted of all fifteen troops and the wagons of the supply troop.
Arizona
On 14 May 1917, over five weeks after the American entry into World War I, the regiment received orders for a change of station due to disturbances along the border of Arizona. By 17 May, the regiment loaded up on trains and traveled from El Paso to arrive at Douglas, Arizona, on the mid-afternoon of 18 May. The regiment established itself at Camp Harry J. Jones, Douglas, Arizona, with outposts near Naco, Arizona (30 miles west along the border), west of town near the C & A Copper Smelter, Forrest, Arizona, and Slaughter's Ranch (13 miles east).
Trouble began in the copper mining districts of Arizona as the Union (IWW) became unmanageable. On 5 July 1917 a provisional squadron, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel White, marched north to Globe, Arizona, for strike duty. Later that month, forest fires in Mormon Canyon (Turkey Creek) grew beyond the control of the forest rangers, prompting another call for assistance by the civil leaders; a detail of fifty men under Second Lieutenant Arthur S. Harrington was deployed to assist them. The regiment would remain in the Southwest until the end of World War I. After the Armistice with Germany was signed in November 1918, the regiment was under orders to move to Hawaii. Among the junior officers who served with the 17th Cavalry was First Lieutenant Lucian Truscott, later to become a four-star general officer.