FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – A 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team unit was deactivated during a ceremony here March 21.
The 2nd Squadron, 104th Cavalry Regiment was deactivated as the 56th SBCT continues its conversion to a mobile brigade combat team.
“Second Squadron, 104th Cavalry Regiment had the difficult task of conducting an accelerated deactivation,” said Lt. Col. John Sauser, squadron commander. “Over the past seven months, the Soldiers performed admirably, ensuring equipment was inventoried and handled properly. The Soldiers are prepared for new unit assignments and will carry with them the Cav esprit de corps.”
The 2-104th Soldiers will be reassigned to units across the Pennsylvania National Guard. Sauser, meanwhile, will move to the 166th Regiment – Regional Training Institute where he will be a battalion commander.
The Army announced in 2025 that it would begin a major transformation of its force structure to adapt to the changing character of modern conflict. Among the changes is the conversion of several brigade combat teams to mobile brigade combat teams.
For the 56th SBCT, that means divesting the eight-wheeled, armored Stryker vehicles it has been using since being converted to a Stryker brigade in 2004.
As an MBCT, the 56th will instead 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.
The 104th Cavalry Regiment’s history dates to June 30, 1872, when it was constituted in the Pennsylvania National Guard as the 8th Infantry Regiment.
The unit was consolidated with the 16th Regiment on Oct. 11, 1917, and the consolidated unit was concurrently reorganized and redesignated as the 112th Infantry and assigned to the 28th Division.
On Oct. 16, 1919, the former 8th Infantry Regiment was reorganized in the Pennsylvania National Guard as the 8th Infantry with its headquarters at Harrisburg.
The unit was consolidated with elements of the 1st Cavalry on June 1, 1921, converted and redesignated as the 104th Cavalry and assigned to the 21st Cavalry Division.
It was reorganized, redesignated and consolidated several times over the next 80 years before being redesignated as the 104th Cavalry Regiment on Oct. 1, 2005.
The unit was reorganized on Sept. 1, 2007, to consist of the 1st Squadron, an element of the 55th Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, and the 2nd Squadron, an element of the 56th BCT, 28th ID.
Soldiers of the 104th Cavalry Regiment participated in several conflicts, including World Wars I and II and in Iraq. Second Squadron has units that also fought in the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the U.S. Civil War and the Spanish-American War.