History
The 296th Forward Support Battalion was constituted on 23 November 1944 in the Army of the United States as the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 296th Quartermaster Battalion, Mobile, and activated on 15 December 1944 at Camp Bowie, Texas. On 1 August 1946, following World War II, the battalion was converted and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 296th Transportation Corps Truck Battalion. The unit was once again reorganized and redesignated on 17 October 1949, this time as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 296th Truck Battalion.
On 25 October 1951, the unit was allocated to the Regular Army and on 8 April 1954, reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 296th Transportation Battalion. Inactivated 5 November 1955 in Korea, the unit was reactivated and redesignated 16 October 1989 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 296th Support Battalion, assigned to the 2d Infantry Division, in Korea. While stationed at Camp Edwards, Korea, in direct support of 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, the soldiers of the battalion provided support to units keeping watch on the Korean demilitarized zone. It was there that the battalion earned its nickname “Frontline Support.” Three years later, on 16 September 1992, the battalion was inactivated.
The 296th Forward Support Battalion was subsequently reactivated on 16 October 1995 at Fort Lewis, Washington, and on 15 September 2000 renamed the 296th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) as part of the Interim Brigade Combat Team. On 7 February 2004, 296th BSB completed a transfer of authority from 101st Airborne Division in Mosul, Iraq, in support of combat operations in Samarrah, Mosul, Tal Afar, Al Kut and Taji. There the battalion supported the first combat deployment of the Army’s first Stryker Brigade. The soldiers of the battalion provided support to the Arrowhead Brigade conducting operations from the Iraq-Syria Border to the southern Iraq town of Al Kut.
On 4 November 2005, the battalion returned to Fort Lewis to prepare for future operations. On 30 July 2006, the 296th BSB completed a transfer of authority from the 172nd BSB, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
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