The 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion is a battalion stationed at

Fort Hood Fort Cavazos is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. The post is currently named after Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, a native Texan and the US Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. The post is located halfway between Austi ...

Insignia

A gold color metal and enamel device in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Per pale

Sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaz ...

and

Gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). Gules is portrayed in heraldic hatch ...

with stylized folds

Sanguine Sanguine () or red chalk is chalk of a reddish-brown color, so called because it resembles the color of dried blood. It has been popular for centuries for drawing. The word comes via French from the Italian ''sanguigna'' and originally from the ...

; in the first three lightning flashes conjoined and radiating from base point Or; in the second a stylized demi-Spartan shield of the like garnished Tenné and Bronze; overall a sword in pale

Argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

(Silver Gray) with hilt and handguard

Azure Azure may refer to: Color * Azure (color), a hue of blue ** Azure (heraldry) ** Shades of azure, shades and variations Arts and media * ''Azure'' (Art Farmer and Fritz Pauer album), 1987 * Azure (Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell album), 2013 * ...

(Teal); a

bordure In heraldry, a bordure is a band of contrasting tincture forming a border around the edge of a shield, traditionally one-sixth as wide as the shield itself. It is sometimes reckoned as an ordinary and sometimes as a subordinary. A bordure encl ...

of the fourth two bars enhanced of the first. Attached around the sides and bottom of the shield is a Black tripartite scroll inscribed with "PERSTATUM FORTITUDO BELLATORIS" in Gold. Symbolism: Gold (Yellow) recalls the

Cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

lineage of the unit. Gold is also emblematic of excellence and high achievement. The two horizontal black bars allude to

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

, inherent with

Armor Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, e ...

and the unit's numerical designation "2nd." The

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

n sword or

Xiphos The ''xiphos'' ( ; plural ''xiphe'', ) is a double-edged, one-handed Iron Age straight shortsword used by the ancient Greeks. It was a secondary battlefield weapon for the Greek armies after the dory or javelin. The classic blade was generall ...

represents the unit's courage, vigilance and preparedness to stand and fight at a moment's notice. The blue of the hilt is for loyalty. The Spartan shield signifies the unit's ability to receive and organize multiple attachments for combat and remain constantly ready to support global military operations. Red symbolizes valor, sacrifice and is the color of the Spartan warrior's cape. The

Spartan army The Spartan army was the principal ground force of Sparta. It stood at the center of the ancient Greek city-state, consisting of citizens trained in the disciplines and honor of a warrior society.Connolly (2006), p. 38 Subjected to military ...

was one of the toughest on record and served as the standard for valor. The lightning flashes highlight the organization's inherent ability to support tactical missions with Intelligence, Signal and Military Police capabilities. The contrast of black and gold underscores the night and day, around the clock mission of the

Special Troops Battalion A special troops battalion (STB) is an organic unit of a modular brigade, division (or equivalent), corps or higher echelon United States Army organization. It may comprise companies from different branches of the army, but typically has a Headq ...

. Background: The distinctive unit insignia was approved on 4 October 2005. Retrieved from the Institute of Heraldry on 28 July 2010.

Unit history

Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, "Spartans", commanded by LTC Kenneth Crawford and CSM Michael Cooke, was activated on 8 July 2005 in response to the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

's UA / UE concept of fielding its vision of "The Objective Force". The battalion is composed of a headquarters company (old HHC, 91 EN) (with an organic MP platoon, NBC recon platoon, and support platoon), a Military Intelligence company (old B Co, 312 MI), a Signal company (old B Co, 13SIG), and an Engineer company thereby making it the primary support node for Blackjack Brigade. The Spartan battalion is capable of receiving multiple combat, combat support, and combat service support modules in support of full spectrum and support operations worldwide. On 4 Sep., 2BSTB deployed to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, LA. in response to

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. The primary mission of this deployment was to render aide to displaced civilians, provide a patrolling force to deter

rioting A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

and criminal activity, and assist local law officials and government organizations to safeguard and protect the neighborhood of

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

within the greater New Orleans area.

Deployment

The unit has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in support of 2d ABCT, 1st Cavalry Division.

References

External links

{{Commons category
Official 2BSTB "Spartan" Homepage

The Institute of Heraldry: STB, 2 BCT, 1 CD
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