56th Mobile Brigade Combat Team
Commander: Col. Christopher McLaud
Senior Enlisted Advisor: Command Sgt. Maj. James Short
The 56th Mobile Brigade Combat Team, the “Independence Brigade,” is one of four brigades in the 28th Infantry Division. It is headquartered at Biddle Air National Guard Base in Horsham, Pa., and has units throughout Pennsylvania.
The brigade traces its roots to the 56th Infantry Brigade, which was formed in September 1917 as part of the 28th Division, while the brigade’s 111th Infantry Regiment traces its roots to the Associators established by Benjamin Franklin in 1747 in Philadelphia.
From 2006 to 2026, the 56th was a Stryker brigade -- one of nine in the Army -- and was centered around the 8-wheeled Stryker vehicle. It was the first Stryker Brigade in the reserve component when it was converted in 2006. It had been a mechanized brigade since 1975.
The 56th was converted to a mobile brigade combat team in 2026 as part of an Army plan to transform its force structure to adapt to the changing character of modern conflict. As an MBCT, the 56th will be centered around the Infantry Squad Vehicle, or ISV, a lightweight, unarmored troop carrier designed to rapidly transport a nine-Soldier squad across varied terrain.
Today, the brigade comprises about 4,400 Soldiers. Its main units are:
- 1-111th Infantry
- 1-112th Infantry
- 2-112th Infantry
- 1-108 Field Artillery
- 328th Brigade Support Battalion