late 2005 the 180th was notified of an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan in support of Task Force Phoenix V, as the security force for the Oregon Army National Guard's 41st Infantry Brigade. Companies C, D, and Headquarters Company deployed in March 2006. Members of other companies accompanied the battalion to provide needed critical skills. While in Afghanistan the 180th received eight Purple Hearts and several citations for valor. The 180th lost its first combat casualty in the conflict in Afghanistan. Sergeant Buddy J. Hughie of Poteau, OK was killed in action while performing duties as a combat medic on 19 February 2007. While these elements of the 180th were deployed to Afghanistan, the 180th's higher headquarters, the 45th Infantry Brigade, was alerted of an upcoming mission to Iraq. The remaining elements of the 180th Headquarters in Durant, the rifle company in McAlester and remnants of the battalion prepared to mobilize to go to Iraq, even as the 180th still had over 400 soldiers deployed to Afghanistan. The 180th provided over 200 soldiers to support the 45th Brigade deployment to Iraq. The soldiers of Alpha Company served as a detainee operations company, securing and safeguarding criminal and insurgent detainees in Iraq. The members of the 180th provided other services around the country, including convoy escort and management of critical services in the International Zone in downtown Baghdad. This deployment ended with the return of the 45th in October 2008 and the reorganization of 1st Battalion, 180th to become a cavalry squadron. In 2010 the 45th Infantry Brigade received a warning order for pending mobilization to Afghanistan in early summer of 2011. The newly re-designated 180th Cavalry Regiment mobilized at Camp Shelby, MS along with the rest of the Brigade. During the pre-mobilization the 180th and 160th Field Artillery Regiment were reassigned to Kuwait, as part of President Obama's planned troop draw down in Afghanistan. While deployed to Kuwait the 180th supported the RPAT (Redistribution Property Accountability Teams), running security escorts for the drawdown in Iraq, and conducting a security presence on the patriot missile sites in Bahrain. This deployment ended with their return to the United States in March 2012. In 2017, the 180th was once again deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel. While there, soldiers of the 180th participated in advisor force protection missions. All soldiers assigned to the 180th returned to the United States in September