1st Infantry Divisions 4th Brigade Retiring Colors April 2

The 1st Infantry Division, 4th Brigade will be retiring it’s colors on April 2nd after four tours of duty over the past nine years.

COL Peter Minalga, 4th IBCT Commander explained that the deactivation will be “bittersweet.”

COL Minalga speaking at Thursdays Military Affairs Breakfast in Junction City.

“But the soldiers that we’re providing across our formation, to the other brigades here on Fort Riley, will help those formations become even better than they already are,” said Minalga. “For Fort Riley specifically it’s only a net loss of 800 soldiers, which is a great thing. So we have two very large combat brigades remaining here on Fort Riley.”

Not all of the units within 4th Brigade will be deactivating. The 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment will be casing it’s colors and re-flag at Fort Stewart, Georgia.

The deactivation of the 4th IBCT was announced last year as part of the Army’s troop size draw down from 450,000 to 420,000.