Some 10th Mountain variations

[Patchcollector]

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[patches]

The 10th Mountain was a wartime division...

 

Originally activated as the 10th Light Division (Alpine) in 1943, the division was redesignated the 10th Mountain Division in 1944 and fought in the mountains of Italy in some of the roughest terrain in the country. Following the war the division was deactivated, only to be reactivated and redesignated as the 10th Infantry Division in 1948. The division first acted as a training division and in 1954 was converted to a full combat division and sent to Germany before being deactivated again in 1958.

 

The unit was reactivated again as the 10th Mountain in 1985.

 

So I would say that most of the cut edge patches you find are WWII era (or WWII era surplus).

I say that they should of reactivated the 10th Infantry Division as a Mountain Division again in say late 1965 early 1966, trained it at Pohakuloa on the Big Island, and sent it to the Central Highlands once it's training was completed.

[Patchcollector]

I say that they should of reactivated the 10th Infantry Division as a Mountain Division again in say late 1965 early 1966, trained it at Pohakuloa on the Big Island, and sent it to the Central Highlands once it's training was completed.

 

I concur.They would have been useful,especially during the bitter fighting of the "Hill battles"

[chcole1]

Here's a few more variations from my collection. First up one on felt with a different style grip. Then a larger one that I think might be an early post war reunion patch but some have thought it might be theater made.

 

Chris

 

 

[Patchcollector]

Here's a few more variations from my collection. First up one on felt with a different style grip. Then a larger one that I think might be an early post war reunion patch but some have thought it might be theater made.

 

Chris

 

 

 

 

Two very nice variations!I just picked up a felt piece too,and will post photos of it here when it arrives.

[Patchcollector]

Well my wool 10th patch has arrived,so I'm posting it here with the rest of my 10th collection.According to the seller,it is difficult to find an "unmothed" wool 10th piece,so I was glad to get it.I have also been told that the wool variant is the earlier issue patch,does anyone know what years these were used?

There is some writing on the back,but I can't make it out;maybe a name?

[Patchcollector]

Back view

[Patchcollector]

Here is a new member of my 10th Mountain family,an Honor Guard piece,off the uniform.

[Patchcollector]

 

 

Back view

[firefighter]

The 10th Mountain was a wartime division...

 

Originally activated as the 10th Light Division (Alpine) in 1943, the division was redesignated the 10th Mountain Division in 1944 and fought in the mountains of Italy in some of the roughest terrain in the country. Following the war the division was deactivated, only to be reactivated and redesignated as the 10th Infantry Division in 1948. The division first acted as a training division and in 1954 was converted to a full combat division and sent to Germany before being deactivated again in 1958.

 

The unit was reactivated again as the 10th Mountain in 1985.

 

So I would say that most of the cut edge patches you find are WWII era (or WWII era surplus).

 

 

When the 10th Infantry was re-activated is was actually the 10th Mountain Div (LI).I was with the 2/108th INF ('87-'88) which was part of the 10th MTN.The 108th was a NYNG unit but we wore the 10th MTN patch.

[JimmCapp]

 

 

When the 10th Infantry was re-activated is was actually the 10th Mountain Div (LI).I was with the 2/108th INF ('87-'88) which was part of the 10th MTN.The 108th was a NYNG unit but we wore the 10th MTN patch.

 

I was one of the first of the new 10th Mountain, C Co. 2/14th Inf. from '85-'88.

We took some of your guys along in late '86 to JOTC at Ft. Sherman, Panama. I felt a little bad for the guys that went with, they were not used to the field training we typically did.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

[firefighter]

 

 

When the 10th Infantry was re-activated is was actually the 10th Mountain Div (LI).I was with the 2/108th INF ('87-'88) which was part of the 10th MTN.The 108th was a NYNG unit but we wore the 10th MTN patch.

 

I was one of the first of the new 10th Mountain, C Co. 2/14th Inf. from '85-'88.

We took some of your guys along in late '86 to JOTC at Ft. Sherman, Panama. I felt a little bad for the guys that went with, they were not used to the field training we typically did.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

 

 

I can only imagine. LOL.

[Patchcollector]

"We took some of your guys along in late '86 to JOTC at Ft. Sherman, Panama. I felt a little bad for the guys that went with, they were not used to the field training we typically did."

 

"I can only imagine. LOL."

 

 

 

 

I found this Ft.Sherman JOTC pic,maybe this is how the National Guard guys felt after a couple of days there

 

 

[Insigina Hunter]

Here's my fully embroidered 10th with the harder to find detailed grips... I'm still on the hunt for the greenback and attached tab variations.

 

[uberguido]

Well my wool 10th patch has arrived,so I'm posting it here with the rest of my 10th collection.According to the seller,it is difficult to find an "unmothed" wool 10th piece,so I was glad to get it.I have also been told that the wool variant is the earlier issue patch,does anyone know what years these were used?

There is some writing on the back,but I can't make it out;maybe a name?

 

ok brother, im a 10th collector too and this is what I found out in the 10th mtn museum at drum. I did a lot of digging to find the info on the detailed grips patches and what im getting from photos they have at the museum is that the detailed grips were from the early days and the tabs never match. the detailed grips were the patches they used, and a lot of civilian manufacturers provided for when the division first stood up with the original regiments, most of the pictures that I see with the detailed grips lack the mountain tab. its our understanding form the archive pictures is that the patch was the unit patch, and the mountain tab was attained AFTER the SM completed the mountain courses and cold weather and ski training. the tab wasn't authorized until much later, but they did it anyway, much like the crossed ski devices and such, it was an elite unit that wanted to stand out so they made sure they did. so they are earlier and more collectible for sure, but don't expect to find a mountain tab that matches the material used in the detailed grips cause that most likely wont happen as they weren't really intended together. I have a good dozen and a half of the detailed ones, and no two are the same, so im thinking the textiles folks near Hale or the training sites did a lot of these for the guys. ive requested scans of the pictures I wanted from the drum museum and haven't got any reply on them yet, im pretty sure ill get stonewalled there, but though the photos they have in archives are hard to get your hands on, they seem to support the detailed grips being the earliest design when the Army was still trying to develop and mass produce an SSI for the unit, and the tab was earned, not necessarily just given. hope this helps, climb to glory.

[uberguido]

_{oh and yes, you hit the nail on the head, the patches with the black trim are from the 10th MTN association, a reunion group that does a lot of charity stuff too, theres some really nice ones popping up on ebay lately if youre collecting those, some sellers think that theyre a variation or theater made, but theyre from the association.}

[Teamski]

Good info guys!

 

-Ski

[Patchcollector]

 

ok brother, im a 10th collector too and this is what I found out in the 10th mtn museum at drum. I did a lot of digging to find the info on the detailed grips patches and what im getting from photos they have at the museum is that the detailed grips were from the early days and the tabs never match. the detailed grips were the patches they used, and a lot of civilian manufacturers provided for when the division first stood up with the original regiments, most of the pictures that I see with the detailed grips lack the mountain tab. its our understanding form the archive pictures is that the patch was the unit patch, and the mountain tab was attained AFTER the SM completed the mountain courses and cold weather and ski training. the tab wasn't authorized until much later, but they did it anyway, much like the crossed ski devices and such, it was an elite unit that wanted to stand out so they made sure they did. so they are earlier and more collectible for sure, but don't expect to find a mountain tab that matches the material used in the detailed grips cause that most likely wont happen as they weren't really intended together. I have a good dozen and a half of the detailed ones, and no two are the same, so im thinking the textiles folks near Hale or the training sites did a lot of these for the guys. ive requested scans of the pictures I wanted from the drum museum and haven't got any reply on them yet, im pretty sure ill get stonewalled there, but though the photos they have in archives are hard to get your hands on, they seem to support the detailed grips being the earliest design when the Army was still trying to develop and mass produce an SSI for the unit, and the tab was earned, not necessarily just given. hope this helps, climb to glory.

 

 

Thanks for the info,any info on the wool ones;like when they were made and used?

[uberguido]

 

 

Thanks for the info,any info on the wool ones;like when they were made and used?

 

well from what I am gathering from all of it is that since the division (Alpine) stood up in 43, im thinking that the detailed grips were picked up from 42 to late 43-ish. now again since I cant find too much official stuff on the variations of patches, im generally going from pictures and some of those aren't dated. so since the division stood up in 43, but had a experimental year or so before that that's where I am basing my guess here. I wouldn't imagine that at that point the army was too concerned with getting an abundance of SSI out there until the division was formalized, and in some of the early pictures from 43 I think some guys in alpine training were still wearing different divisional SSI since about half of the troops were taken from the 30th, 31st and 33rd divisions. so not really having a cohesive unit design, im guessing a few major local groups made patches for them (Colorado springs is still pretty arts and craftsy so I can totally see this happening) as well as the crossed skis pins which were another unofficial DUI. I was seeing just a few pictures of detailed grips on guys with MTN tab and a ski device, but no CIB or overseas ribbons and things like that, so that's where I drew my conclusion that this was pre-Italy style, during the initial training and the ski devices and mountain tabs were added after the training was completed by the SM. most of the complete uniforms I got over the last couple of years either had the new style patch with tab, or new style patch with no tab, coupled with the overseas stuff on there, suggesting that the patch was introduced right before/during and after the Italian campaigns and was mandatory during the occupation days when they lost the tab all together.

 

so basically, im going to guess, and feel free to refute it, that the patches came in mainly from civilian suppliers in the 42 times period and were gradually phased out as the army gave them official DUI to work with.

[uberguido]

 

the crossed skis device im talking about, don't see these after the Italy campaign really. theres another thread on here with more detail on those, I cant find it at the moment but a very informative thread. again, civilian made stuff and totally unofficial.

[uberguido]

Here's my fully embroidered 10th with the harder to find detailed grips... I'm still on the hunt for the greenback and attached tab variations.

 

image.jpg image.jpg

 

as im looking at this more, I realized that out of the bunch of these I have I only have one that's embroidered, the rest are felt/wool. I wonder if theres a connection there as well, or maybe even if the wool was preferred due to the cold, wet and snowy conditions they lived in or vice versa. maybe the government even went with a embroidered detailed grip as a first issued style. theres still a lot of questions here for sure.

[Patchcollector]

Thanks for all the helpful info Uber!

[uberguido]

Ranger that, you find out more let me know as I think were on the same quest here.