10th Mountain Division (United States)

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10th Mountain Division

Shoulder sleeve insignia of the 10th Mountain Division (1944-2015) .svg

Shoulder badge of the 10th US Mountain Division
Lineup 1943
Country Flag of the United States.svg United States
Armed forces United States Armed Forces
Armed forces United States Army
Type light infantry division
structure 3 combat brigades
Insinuation XVIII. U.S. Airborne Corps
Location Fort Drum , New York
Nickname Mountaineer
motto Climb to glory
Butcher World War II
Somali Civil
War War in Afghanistan
Iraq War
insignia
Identification symbol 10th Mountain Division DUI.png

The 10th Mountain Division ( German  10th US Mountain Division ) is a light infantry division of the United States Army . It has its headquarters now in Fort Drum , New York is under, and the XVIII. U.S. Airborne Corps .

history

Lineup

The successes of the Finnish ski troops against the Red Army in the winter war of 1939/40 clearly showed how successfully a well-trained mountain troop could fight even numerically far superior opponents. The President of the American National Ski Patrol, Charles Minot Dole, then urged the United States War Department for months to get the US Army to form its own mountain and ski association. In September 1940 Dole was finally allowed to present his concept to the Army Chief of Staff Marshall , who then officially set up the 87th Mountain Battalion on December 8, 1941, which later formed the core of the 10th Mountain Division. The battalion soldiers were trained by the Ski Patrol in the Alaskan wilderness . On July 13, 1943 , the 10th Light Infantry Division (Alpine) was then formed in Camp Hale, Colorado , which continued its training in the camp located at 2,800 meters. In June 1944, the division was then relocated to Texas to acclimatize for the summer maneuvers taking place in Louisiana . On November 10, the unit was renamed the 10th Mountain Division and prepared for relocation to Europe.

World War II and Cold War

Soldiers of the 10th Mountain secure a road in Italy

The division's first combat mission in World War II began on January 28, 1945, as part of the 5th US Army in Italy , when it captured the line between Monte Belvedere and Monte della Torraccia in the northern Apennines, which had previously been unsuccessfully attacked. Units of the division surprised the enemy by overcoming a 500 m high steep slope during the night and penetrating the German positions unnoticed. With the conquest of these positions in mid-February, the Division of the 5th US Army opened the way to the Po Valley , where the 10th Mountain, as the spearhead of the army, made its final breakthrough into the plain on April 20. The future US Senator Bob Dole suffered severe wounds from German machine-gun fire as a young lieutenant during the fighting in the Po Valley. On April 23, the first units of the 87th Mountain Battalion crossed the river in assault boats under enemy fire and began the advance on the north bank towards Lake Garda , whose south bank was reached on April 27. This cut off the Germans' retreat over the Brenner Pass . Since the shores of the lake were impassable due to blasted tunnels and other barriers, the division crossed the lake with amphibious DUKW vehicles and liberated Riva del Garda and Nago-Torbole on the north bank on April 30 . On May 2, 1945, the organized resistance of the German troops in Italy ended. Since the 10th Mountain entered the war as one of the last US units, it was also planned for the invasion of Japan (which was then made redundant by the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945). After a short time as an occupation unit in Italy, the division was relocated to Camp Carson and deactivated on November 30th. During the war, 992 members of the division were killed and 4,154 wounded.

Soldiers of the 10th Mountain on Lake Garda

In 1948, when the Cold War began , the 10th Mountain was reactivated as a training division. In Fort Riley , Kansas , by 1953 over 123,000 soldiers were trained by what is now the 10th Training Division. In January 1954, the Department of the Army decided to re-classify the 10th Infantry as a Combat Division. As a result, the training division was scaled back to zero strength, and 37th Infantry Division personnel were relocated to Fort Riley. As the new 10th US Infantry Division, the association was prepared from June 15, 1954 for its transfer to West Germany to the 7th US Army . As part of Operation Gyroscope, the unit was then relocated to Würzburg as a replacement for the 1st US Infantry Division , where it formed the main defense force in the rear area of ​​the southern inner-German border with 9 infantry battalions, 4 artillery battalions and a tank battalion . In 1958 she was relieved of the 3rd US Infantry Division and moved to Fort Benning , where it was deactivated on June 4th.

1985 until today

The division was officially reactivated on February 13, 1985 in Fort Drum as 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry). Under the command of Brigadier General William S. Carpenter, it was aligned with light equipment for greater strategic and tactical mobility as a global rapid reaction force.

During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, around 1,200 soldiers were relocated to the Gulf region, the largest contingent being the 548th Supply and Services Battalion. The division did not take part in the fighting in Iraq . After severe Hurricane Andrew in the summer of 1992, the division's soldiers provided humanitarian aid in southern Florida by building emergency shelters and helping to restore electricity and water supplies.

In December 1992, the division was transferred to Somalia , where it participated in the reconstruction of public order in Mogadishu as part of Operation Restore Hope . During Operation Continue Hope, which followed in May 1993, soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division came to the aid of rangers and soldiers of the Delta Force who were stuck in Mogadishu on the night of October 3rd . With the 2nd Battalion of the 22nd Infantry, the last unit of the division returned from Somalia on March 12, 1994.

As the core of the Multinational Force Haiti as part of Operation Uphold Democracy (in the press sometimes Operation Restore Democracy ), the Division undertook on 19 September 1994 by board an aircraft carrier of the US Navy with 54 helicopters and 2,000 troops, the largest sea-based air operation of the US Army since the Doolittle Raid 1942. The aim of Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti was to stabilize the political system in order to reinstate President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and to overthrow General Raoul Cédras' military government . The division held command of the multinational force until January 15, 1995, when it turned it over to the US 25th Infantry Division and returned to the United States.

In spring 1997 the first units of the division were relocated to Bosnia-Herzegovina , where pioneer units were involved in the repair of roads and buildings. In the spring of 1999, the division began preparing for the relocation of larger contingents to Bosnia as part of the Eagle Task Force, which began in late summer. By the summer of 2000, around 3,000 soldiers from the division had secured the peace process in the Balkans.

Quick-Reaction-Force-Training of the 10th Mountain in Bagram

As President Bush after the terrorist attacks of September 11, the Operation Enduring Freedom exclaimed, were involved in the important operations in Afghanistan soldiers of the 10th Mountain in December 2001 and also helped with the survey of more than 3,000 prisoners in Sheberghan prison. US soldiers destroyed over 2,000 tons of weapons and ammunition in Task Force Mountain operations. From May 2003 onwards, soldiers from the division took on duties in the task force and trained soldiers in the new Afghan army.

During Operation Iraqi Freedom , units of 10th Mountain took part in operations in northern Iraq , but units of the division also operated in the Baghdad region . In 2004, a large-scale restructuring of the division began towards the new modular structure that the US Army provides for all active divisions. Seven elements of the division were deactivated, but 13 new elements were activated and incorporated.

organization

10th Mountain Division Organization Chart ( Military Symbols )

The division currently consists of three combat brigades , an army aviation brigade , the divisional artillery and a support brigade as well as a staff battalion .

Troop registration10th Mountain Division Units: Combat Units

  • 1st Brigade, "Warrior Brigade" ( Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT)) , at Fort Drum
    • Headquarters and headquarters company
    • 1-87. Infantry battalion
    • 2-22. Infantry battalion
    • 1-31. Infantry battalion
    • 1-71. Cavalry battalion (reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting)
    • 3-6. Field Artillery Battalion
    • 7th Brigade Engineer Battalion
    • 10th Support Battalion
  • 2nd Brigade, Commandos (Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT)) , at Fort Drum
    • Headquarters and headquarters company
    • 2-14. Infantry battalion
    • 4-31. Infantry battalion
    • 2-87. Infantry battalion
    • 1-89. Cavalry Battalion
    • 2-15. Field Artillery Battalion
    • 41st Brigade Engineer Battalion
    • 210th Support Battalion
Soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division near Kirkuk , Iraq
Soldier of the 10th Mountain Division on patrol in Aranas, Afghanistan
  • 86th Brigade , (Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT)) , Vermont Army National Guard
    • Headquarters and headquarters company
    • 1-102. Infantry battalion
    • 1-157. Infantry battalion
    • 3-172. Infantry battalion
    • 1-172. Cavalry Battalion
    • 1-101. Field Artillery Battalion
    • 572nd Brigade Engineer Battalion
    • 186th Support Battalion

Support units

  • Divisional artillery , at Fort Drum
    • Headquarters and headquarters company
  • 10th Army Aviation Brigade "Falcons" , in Fort Drum
  • 10th Support Brigade , at Fort Drum
    • Headquarters and headquarters company
    • 548th Combat Support Battalion
    • 10th Support Battalion

Staff unit

  • Staff battalion at Fort Drum
    • Headquarters and headquarters company
    • MI Bn ( Army Intelligence )
    • HHC security company

badge

Shoulder badge

Shoulder badge
  • Description: On a barrel-shaped blue background 6.35 cm high and 5.55 cm wide, surrounded by a 3 mm wide white border, two red bayonets with white rims cross each other .
  • Symbolism: the bayonets and the blue background are the traditional symbols of the infantry, while the crossed bayonets also form the Roman numeral “X”, which reflects the numerical designation of the division.
  • History: Originally approved for the U.S. 10th Light Infantry Division on January 7, 1944, the badge was adopted for the Mountain Division in 1985.

Unity badge

Unity badge
  • Description: On a gold-colored enamelled badge, 2.85 cm high, there is a mountain with 5 stylized peaks in a halo, in front of it a blue wave and two red swords. The badge is framed by the words "Climb to glory" in blue letters.
  • Symbolism: The mountain and the blue wave symbolize the operations of the division in northern Italy during the Second World War, the crossed swords indicate the war effort and the numerical designation (Roman "X") of the division. The scarlet red of the swords symbolizes courage and danger, blue symbolizes steadfastness and loyalty, gold symbolizes outstanding achievements and white stands for the peaks of the mountains and thus high standards.
  • History: The badge was officially introduced on April 30, 1985.

Commanders

  • Major General Lloyd E. Jones (July 1943 - November 1944)
  • Major General George P. Hays (November 1944 - November 15, 1945)
  • Major General J. Lester Whitlock (9 Aug 1948 -)

Known members of the unit

literature

  • Randy W. Baumgardner (Ed.): 10th Mountain Division. Turner Publishing, 1998. ISBN 1-56311-430-5 .

Web links

Commons : 10th Mountain Division (United States)  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ globalsecurity.org
  2. ↑ Military symbols at mapsymbs.com and at army.ca ( Memento of April 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), viewed on May 17, 2008 (English)
  3. ^ Institute of Heraldry ( Memento June 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )