8th Infantry Division (United States)

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The 8th Infantry Division ( German  8th US Infantry Division ) was a large unit of the US Army . It has been inactive since January 17, 1992.

Badge and nickname

The division has two different nicknames. The division accepted the first, PATHFINDER DIVISION , when it was set up in 1918 in honor of Major General John C. Frémont (1813–1890), who opened up large parts of the as yet unpopulated western United States. The second, GOLDEN ARROW DIVISION , was added after the unit had created its badge, a white figure eight on a blue background, pierced by a gold arrow.

  • The shoulder badge of the 8th Infantry Division

  • The unit badge of the 8th Infantry Division

  • The badge of the 8th Infantry Division's airborne

  • The badge of the 1st Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division

  • The badge of the NCBU of the 8th Infantry Division

  • The badge of the band of the 8th Infantry Division

history

Positioning and First World War

The division was set up as part of the Regular Army by order of the War Department on December 17, 1917 in Camp Fremont , California. In October 1918, the first units were shipped to Europe without taking part in combat operations. Parts of the division (8th Infantry Regiment) were stationed in the Koblenz bridgehead after the armistice . By August 1919, all units were returned to the USA, where the division was demobilized.

Second World War

The 8th Infantry Division was reactivated on July 1, 1940 and shipped to Europe in late 1943. After a training phase in Northern Ireland, she landed on July 4, 1944 at Utah Beach and intervened as part of the VIII Corps in the fighting over the Normandy beachhead. After taking part in the Battle of Brittany , she was relocated to the Western Front in autumn 1944, where she was used in the Battle of the Huertgen Forest . It reached the Rur in December 1944. At the end of February 1945 this river was crossed and Düren was taken, at the beginning of March the Rhine was reached near Rodenkirchen . In April 1945 the division took part in the closure of the Ruhr basin . Shortly before the end of the war, she was assigned to the XVIII (Airborne) Corps and reached Schwerin in the last days of the war , after taking part in the liberation of the Wöbbelin concentration camp . In July 1945 she returned to the United States, where she was deactivated in November.

The 1950s and 1960s

As early as 1955, the army command announced that the division was to take part in Operation Gyroscope , the regular exchange of entire divisions in West Germany . In October 1956 the first units moved to Europe for the 7th US Army . On December 14, 1957, the staff was established in Bad Kreuznach. Since 1958, two airborne (airborne) battalions have been added to the division, a specialty for a mechanized infantry division.

On the occasion of the construction of the wall in August 1961, the 18th Infantry Regiment was sent to West Berlin to support the units there . The rest of the decade was marked by numerous and large-scale exercises with landings in Denmark, Spain and Turkey. In 1963 the division, like all the others, was reclassified into brigades, regiments and battalions. The 1st Brigade was formed entirely from airborne units stationed in Mainz ( Lee Barracks ). In the same year a large-scale exercise took place as part of Operation BIG LIFT , to which around 16,000 soldiers from the 2nd Armored Division were flown in from the USA, who took over their large equipment from depots in the Palatinate and France and together with the "German" 3rd US -Panzerdivision , 8th US Infantry Division and the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment resulted in a maneuvering force of over 40,000 soldiers and 12,000 vehicles. After a “counterattack” by the enemy forces, the Main was crossed at Aschaffenburg and the exercise ended with a large “tank battle” with over 800 M48 Patton and M60 tanks in the Gießen area .

The 1970s

In 1970, the 3rd Brigade's reconnaissance battalion was the first in Europe to be equipped with the new M551 Sheridan reconnaissance tank . In the same year, the division was again the first to have its own anti-aircraft battalion with M163 Vulcan tanks . In 1973 the airborne units were withdrawn from the division and the 1st Brigade was now formed by mechanized infantry battalions.

The 1980s

In 1983 the division was the first in Germany to receive a directly subordinate rocket launcher battery. This was equipped with 9 vehicles M933 MLRS , Multiple Launch Rocket System , in German medium artillery rocket system MARS-Werfer. In the same year the new M1 Abrams main battle tank was introduced. In 1984 the division got a combat helicopter brigade as the 4th brigade. In the mid-1980s, the division received a self-propelled howitzer battalion with three batteries of the M109 Paladin vehicles for each of the combat brigades (3) . In 1990 the structure was as follows:

Inactivation

The 8th US Infantry Division was inactivated on January 17, 1992 at a solemn ceremony in Bad Kreuznach. Their location was immediately taken by the 1st US Armored Division , which was withdrawn from the Middle Franconian area.

Commanders

  • Colonel Elmore F. Taggart (January 5, 1918 - February 15, 1918)
  • Colonel GL Van Deusen (February 15-25, 1918)
  • Brigade General JD Leitch (February 25, 1918 - March 10, 1918)
  • Major General JF Morrison (March 10-18, 1918)
  • Major General JD Leitch (March 18, 1918 - July 18, 1918)
  • Major General WS Graves (July 18, 1918 - August 4, 1918)
  • Brigade General JD Leitch (August 4 - September 2, 1918)
  • Major General Eli A. Helmick (September 2 - November 20, 1918)
  • Brigade General JJ Bradley (November 20-26, 1918)
  • Major General Eli A. Helmick (November 26, 1918 - January 1919)
  • Major General Philip B. Peyton (June 1940 - December 1940)
  • Maj. Gen. James P. Marley (December 1940 - February 1941)
  • Major General William E. Shedd (February 1941)
  • Major General Henry Terrell (March 1941)
  • Maj. Gen. James P. Marley (April 1941 - July 1942)
  • Major General Paul E. Peabody (August 1942 - January 1943)
  • Major General William C. McMahon (February 1943 - July 1944)
  • Major General Donald A. Stroh (July 1944 - December 1944)
  • Major General William G. Weaver (December 1944 - February 1945)
  • Major General Bryant E. Moore (February 1945 - November 1945)
  • Major General William M. Miley (November 1945 - May 1945)
  • Brigade General John A. Dabney (January 1953 - January 1954)
  • Maj. Gen. Riley E. Ennis (January 1954 - June 1954)
  • Major General Harry J. Collins (June 1954 - August 1954)
  • Major General Thomas L. Harold (August 1954 - November 1954)
  • Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Sherburne (September 1954 - November 1954)
  • Major General John G. Vanhouten (November 1954 - January 1956)
  • Major General Thomas M Watlington (June 1956 - August 1957)
  • Major General Philip F. Lindman (August 1957 - March 1959)
  • Major General Loyd R. Moses (March 1959 - October 1960)
  • Major General Edgar C. Doleman (October 1960 - October 1961)
  • Major General Andrew Goodpaster (October 1961 - October 1962)
  • Maj. Gen. Stanley R. Larsen (November 1962 - April 1964)
  • Major General Joseph R. Russ (April 1964 - April 1966)
  • Major General Patrick F. Cassidy (April 1966 - June 1968)
  • Maj. Gen. George L. Mabry, Jr. (June 1968 - February 1969)
  • Major General Elmer H. Almquist (February 1969 - August 1970)
  • Major General Donald V. Rattan (August 1970 - May 1972)
  • Major General Frederic E. Davison (May 1972 - October 1973)
  • Maj. Gen. Joseph C. McDonough (October 1973 - July 1975)
  • Maj. Gen. John RD Cleland (July 1975 - June 1977)
  • Major General Paul F. Gorman (June 1977 - May 1979)
  • Major General William J. Livsey (May 1979 - June 1981)
  • Major General Carl E. Vuono (June 1981 - June 1983)
  • Major General Charles W. Dyke (June 1983 - June 1985)
  • Maj. Gen. Orren R. Whiddon (June 1985 - June 1987)
  • Major General Calvin AH Waller (June 1987 - June 1989)
  • Maj. Gen. David M. Maddox (July 1989 - November 1990)
  • Major General John P. Otjen (November 1990 - January 92)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War, Volume 2: American Expeditionary Forces: Divisions. Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington DC 1988, pp. 106-111 ( online ).
  2. ↑ World War II Divisional Combat Chronicles: 8th Infantry Division on history.army.mil .