the squadron trains brigade and battalion task forces during ten rotations a year at the National Training Center. Current organization 1st Squadron First Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry, "Ironhorse", was activated as a horse squadron at Fort Myer, Virginia in 1901. It has served in the Philippines, Mexico, Europe, and Vietnam. It is now organized as a combined arms battalion, and comprises one of the two maneuver elements of the 11th ACR. It is organized around a Headquarters and Headquarters Troop (HHT), and four line troops (two infantry, two armor), with a total authorized strength of 720 soldiers. It is equipped with the OPFOR Surrogate Vehicle, an M901 ITV highly modified with an M2/M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle turret to represent the BMP-2 armored personnel carrier, and the OSTV (OPFOR Surrogate Tank Vehicle) a vehicle based on the OPFOR Surrogate Vehicle which can simulate a wide spectrum of threat tanks. Using this equipment and configuration, the squadron performs the first of its two primary missions, acting as a non-permissive opposing force (OPFOR) during ten FORSCOM combat training rotations each year. The squadron's second mission is to deploy and fight as a combined arms battalion for various contingency operations throughout the world. In order to support this mission, the squadron must also maintain, operate and remain proficient on the M1A1 Abrams Tank and M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Hennisse, the approximately 400 men of the squadron trained nine months before becoming the first squadron to leave for the regiment's inaugural deployment, to the Philippines. Arriving in January 1902, Troops A and D patrolled Samar, where they fought the regiment's first engagement. In 1905, the regiment relocated to Fort Des Moines, Iowa. In 1906, the 1st Squadron remained in Des Moines while the rest of the regiment deployed to Cuba as part of President Theodore Roosevelt's Army of Pacification. In 1909, the 1st Squadron rejoined the rest of the regiment in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. On 12 March 1916, the regiment received orders to join General John J. Pershing as part of the Mexican Punitive Expedition to pursue Pancho Villa. Nine days later, the 1st Squadron led the way, arriving in Mexico on 21 March. Later, the 1st Squadron rode 22 hours straight to the rescue of United States forces besieged in Parral. The 11th ACR was not deployed during World War I. During this period, 1st Squadron conducted port operations in