2nd Battalion, 69th Armor History
The 2nd Medium Tank Battalion, 69th Armor was constituted as of 15 July 1940 as an element of the 1st Armored Division. It was activated on 31 July 1940 at Fort Knox, Kentucky and deactivated on 10 January 1942.
Reactivated on 15 February 1942, the Battalion was assigned to the 6th Armored Division. The Battalion was reorganized and redesignated in September 1943 as Company B, 69th Tank Battalion. On 10 July 1945, the unit was reorganized as Company B, Amphibious Track Battalion and was relieved of assignment to the 6th Armored Division.
During World War II, the battalion participated in campaigns in Normandy, Northern France, Central Europe, and the Ardennes / Alsace. The Battalion also saw action in the Eastern Mandates, Western Pacific, and Rynkye Islands. On 21 August 1950, the unit was redesignated as Company B, 69th Medium Tank Battalion.
In the Korean War, elements of the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor were redesignated as the 89th Tank Battalion and assigned to the 25th Infantry Division The unit saw action during the UN Defensive, the UN Offensive, the Chinese Communist Intervention, the UN Counter‑Offensive, the Chinese Communist Spring Intervention, and the UN Summer / Fall Offensive. After Korea, the unit was assigned to the 10th Infantry Division in Germany until July 1958. The unit was then reassigned to the 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, until it was deactivated in March 1963.
On 21 March 1973, the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor was reactivated at Ft. Benning and assigned to the 197th Separate Infantry Brigade. On 11 August 1990, the 2nd Battalion 69th Armor was alerted for participation in Operation Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia. On 24 February 1991, Task Force 2-69 attacked across the Iraqi border as part of the 24th Infantry Division in Operation Desert Storm. During the one hundred hours of combat operations, Task Force 2-69 drove towards the Euphrates River Valley with B Company 2-18 Infantry leading the attack. Once the Battalion established defensive positions along Highway 8, A Company and D Company 2-69 Armor (along with A/1-1-18 Infantry) conducted a raid on Tali Air Force Base. During the raid, the Task Force destroyed enemy armored vehicles and aircraft without sustaining a single casualty. On 30 March 1991, 2nd Battalion 69th Armor returned to Fort Benning.
On 9 October 1994, the Battalion was again alerted for deployment to Southwest Asia to stop Iraqi Republican Guards units threatening Kuwait's border. Ultimately situated in the Kuwaiti desert in Tactical Assembly Area Liberty as part of the lst Brigade Combat Team, the Battalion was poised to defend Kuwait in the event of another Iraqi attack.
The battalion's most recent "call to arms" took place in February 1998 as A & B
2-69 AR alerted and deployed to Kuwait. Along with C & D 2-69 AR, already deployed as part of Intrinsic Action, the "Speed and Power" tank companies again became part of the 1st BCT, as it was poised in the desert to defend Kuwait against Iraqi aggression. B & C Company also deployed in participation of Bright Star ‘00
2nd Battalion, 69th Armor has been awarded three Naval Presidential Unit Citations, the Army Superior Unit Award, and 21 Battle Streamers.