NAME:
With "X"Roman Numeral: Tenth Infantry Division / 10th Division
With "Mountain" Tab: Tenth Mountain Division / 10th Mountain
Without "Mountain" Tab: Tenth Infantry Division / 10th Infantry
NICKNAME:
“The Mountaineers”
BATTLE HONORS:
World War II [Mountain]
Gothic Line
Po Valley
ACTIVATED:
Aug 10, 1918 [Infantry]
July 15, 1943 [Mountain]
July 1, 1948 [Infantry]
Sept 11, 1984 [Infantry]
Feb 13, 1985 [Mountain]
DEACTIVATED:
Feb 19, 1919 [Infantry]
Nov 30, 1945 [Mountain]
June 14, 1958 [Infantry]
February 13, 1985 [Infantry]
HISTORY:
"World War I
Organized at Camp Funston, Kansas. Began regular training on August 10, 1918. The advanced school detachment left Camp Funston on October 27, 1918, and arrived in France just prior to the signing of the armistice.
The 210th Engineer Regiment and Train left for Camp Mills on November 1, 1918, and was ready for movement overseas. On January 18, 1919, demobilization was commenced and on February 18th all organizations fo the 10th Division were demobilized except those belonging to the Regular Army.
Major General Leonard Wood commanded this division from the time of its organization until it was demobilized.
The division was composed of the following organizations: 10th Headquarters Troop, 28th Divisional Machine Gun Battalion, 19th Infantry Brigade, 41st Infantry Regiment, 69th Infantry Regiment, 29th Machine Gun Battalion, 20th Infantry Brigade, 20th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Regimetn, 30th Machine Gun Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Brigade, 28th Field Artillery Regiment, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 30th Field Artillery Regiment, 10th Trench Mortar Battery, 210th Engineer Regiment, 210th Engineer Train, 10th Train Headquarters and Military Police, 10th Supply Train, 10th Sanitary Train, 237th Field Hospital, 238th Field Hospital, 239th Field Hospital, 240th Field Hospital, 237th Ambulance Company, 238th Ambulance Company, 239th Ambulance Company, 240th Ambulance Company.
World War II
The 10th Mountain Division was first activated on July 15, 1943. It was one of the last U.S. divisions to enter combat, not starting to fight as a unit until January 1945.
The development of a specialized unit began before the United States entered World War II. In 1940 the War Department began working with the American Alpine Club and the National Ski Patrol Committee of the National Ski Association to develop equipment and training for winter and mountain warfare. The 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment was activated at Fort Lewis, Washington on November 15, 1941, drawing its initial members from men already in the Army who had previous ski and mountaineering experience. Thereafter the National Ski Patrol recruited volunteers for the unit, under a contract with the War Department. In 1942 and 1943 additional regiments that became part of the division were activated. The 87th Regiment participated in the assault landing on Kiska, August 15–August 17, 1943. The attackers found the island completely deserted by the Japanese, but suffered some casualties from friendly fire and booby traps.
The division was activated on July 15, 1943 at Camp Hale, Colorado as the 10th Light Division (Alpine). It was renamed the 10th Mountain Division on November 6, 1944.
The unit saw its first actual combat in Italy. Elements of the division began arriving in Italy in late December of 1944, and after a brief training period entered combat, January 8, 1945, near Cutigliano and Orsigna. Preliminary defensive actions were followed on February 19, 1945, by a concerted attack on the Silla-Mount Belvedere sector, and the peak was cleared after several days of heavy fighting. In early March the division fought its way north of Canolle, taking several more peaks, and moving to within 15 miles of Bologna. Maintaining defensive positions for the next three weeks, the division jumped off again in April, captured Mongiorgio, April 20, and entered the Po Valley, seizing the strategic points Pradalbino and Bomporto. The 10th crossed the Po River on April 23, reaching Verona April 25, and ran into heavy opposition at Torbole and Nago. After an amphibious crossing of Lake Garda, it secured Gargnano and Porto di Tremosine, April 30, as German resistance in Italy ended. After the German surrender in Italy, May 2, 1945, the division went on security duty, receiving the surrender of various German units and screening the areas of occupation.
The division was deactivated on November 30, 1945.
However, it was reactivated on July 1, 1948, after being redesignated as the 10th Infantry Division. Ten years later, on June 14, 1958, it was deactivated.
The modern 10th Mountain
It was not until the Reagan buildup of the 1980s that the 10th Mountain Division made a reappearance in the order of battle of the U.S. Army. On September 11, 1984, the U.S. Army announced that Fort Drum, New York would be the new home of the reactivated 10th Light Infantry Division. The unit was officially activated on February 13, 1985 with the official designation changed to 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry). At that time the new division was to have 2 infantry brigades, with 1 each artillery, support, and aviation brigades. To bring it up to the normal configuration of other Army divisions it was also to have a "roundout" brigade from the national guard. During the 1990's this brigade was the 27th Infantry Brigade of the New York Army National Guard.
The modern 10th Mountain's first deployment came in 1990 when division units were deployed to support Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. During 1993, the 10th Mountain Division was deployed to Somalia as part of Operation Restore Hope. When Task Force Ranger and the SAR team were pinned down during a raid in what later became known as the Battle of Mogadishu, 10th Mountain units provided infantry for the UN quick reaction force sent to rescue them. The 10th had 2 soldiers KIA in the fighting.
After Hurricane Andrew devastated Florida August 1992, the division deployed to assist in the recovery effort. 10th Mountain troops set up relief camps, distributed food, clothing, medical necessities and building supplies as well as helping to rebuild homes and clear debris. The 10th Mountain Division later was deployed to Haiti and Bosnia in the 1990s. Because of number of deployments, 10th Mountain gained a reputation as the most deployed division in the army.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, the readiness of the 10th Mountain Division became a political issue when then candidate George W. Bush asserted that the division was "not ready for duty". The division's low readiness was attributed on the recent redeployment of division units which had not had the time to refit for future missions.
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, 10th Mountain units have deployed at an even greater frequency. Division units have played significant roles in Afghanistan and Iraq. Amongst these have been the famous rescue of downed Navy Seals during "Operation Anaconda" in Afghanistan in 2001, and the successful maintenance of security of Western Baghdad including the exceedingly violent Abu Ghraib neighborhood during the first democratic Iraqi elections of 2004. During this last operation the 2nd Brigade Combat team allowed no successful suicide bomber attacks at polling sites. They have also deployed on a smaller scale to numerous other countries including Sinai, Bosnia, Kuwait, and Kosovo.
As part of the Army's modular transformation, the divisional structure saw much change during 2004 and 2005. Division Support Command; 3rd Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment; 110th Military Intelligence Battalion; 10th Signal Battalion; 41st Engineer Battalion; 10th Forward Support Battalion and 710th Main Support Battalion were all deactivated September 2004. The remaining units were reorganized and two new brigade combat teams (BCTs) were added to the division. The 3rd BCT was activated at Ft. Drum in late 2004. The 4th BCT was activated at Fort Polk, LA on January 19 2005.
Divisional history from:
http://ranger95.com/divisions/order_battle_10th_div_ww1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_10th_Mountain_Division
