U.S. 1st Armored Division

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1st Armored Division
US 1st AD Shoulder Sleeve Insignia
Active	February, 1932–
Country	USA
Branch	Regular Army
Type	Armored
Part of	V Corps
Garrison/HQ	1st AD Garrisons
Nickname	Old Ironsides
Colors	red, yellow, and blue
Battles/wars	Operation Torch, Italian campaign, Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Fred D. Robinson, Jr.

The 1st Armored Division —nicknamed “Old Ironsides”— is an armored division of the United States Army with base of operations in Wiesbaden, Germany. It was the first armored division of the U.S. Army to see battle in World War II.

Contents 1 Command and Staff 2 Order of Battle 3 Insignia 4 Unit History 4.1 Origins 4.2 Formation of 4th Armored Division 4.3 World War Two 4.3.1 Training 4.3.2 Service 4.3.3 Casualties 4.3.4 Deactivation 4.4 Post World War II 5 Honors 5.1 Campaign Participation Credit 5.1.1 World War II: 5.1.2 Southwest Asia: 5.2 Decorations 6 References 7 External links 8 Video

[edit] Command and Staff

This division is part of the U.S. V Corps (technically), or is directly subordinate to the 7th US Army, USAREUR (in certain cases). As of July 2006 its command personnel includes:

Commander: Major General Fred D. Robinson, Jr.
Assistant Division Commander (Maneuver): Colonel Michael Ryan
Assistant Division Commander (Support): Colonel David Hogg
Chief of Staff: Colonel Bryan Watson
Command Sergeant Major: Command Sergeant Major Roger P. Blackwood^[1]

[edit] Order of Battle

1st Brigade (Ready First Brigade) (to return to the United States in 2007-8)

1st Battalion, 37th Armor (U.S. 37th Armor Regiment)

2d Battalion, 37th Armor

1st Battalion, 36th Infantry

Troop F, 1st Cavalry

16th Engineer Battalion

501st Forward Support Battalion

2d Brigade (Iron Brigade)

1st Battalion, 6th Infantry

2d Battalion, 6th Infantry

1st Battalion, 35th Armor

Troop G, 1st Cavalry

40th Engineer Battalion

47th Forward Support Battalion

Company B, 501st Military Intelligence Battalion

Company B, 141st Signal Battalion

3d Brigade (Bulldogs)

1st Battalion, 13th Armor

2d Battalion, 70th Armor

1st Battalion, 41st Infantry

Troop H, 1st Cavalry

70th Engineer Battalion

125th Forward Support Battalion

596th Signal Company

Aviation Brigade (Iron Eagle)

1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry

1st Battalion, 501st Aviation

2d Battalion, 501st Aviation

127th Aviation Support Battalion

69th Chemical Company

Divisional Artillery (Iron Steel)

4th Battalion, 1st Field Artillery (supports 3d Brigade)

2d Battalion, 3d Field Artillery (supports 1st Brigade)

4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery (supports 2n Brigade)

1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery (general support, equipped with MLRS)

Divisional Separate Units

1st Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery

501st Military Intelligence Battalion

141st Signal Battalion

123d Main Support Battalion

501st Military Police Company

1st Armored Division Band

When the division relocates in 2007 to Fort Bliss, Texas, it will reorganize under the new modular tables of organization. A fourth brigade combat team will activated.

[edit] Insignia

The division was nicknamed, "Old Ironsides", by its first commander, Major General Bruce R. Magruder, after he saw a picture of the USS Constitution, which is also nicknamed "Old Ironsides". The large "1" at the top represents the numerical designation of the division, and the insignia is used as a basis for most other sub-unit insignias. The three colors, red, yellow, and blue represent the Artillery, Cavalry, and Infantry Branches respectively, which are the colors of the three original combat arms which forged into one created the field of armor. The cannon and tracked vehicle symbols are represent the mechanized role of the Division

[edit] Unit History

[edit] Origins

COL Daniel Van Voorhis took a cadre of 175 Officers and Enlisted Men from Fort Eustis to Fort Knox in February, 1932, and established a Provisional Armored Car Platoon. This was based on an earlier effort, but was predicated on a new Cavalry Regiment TO&E which was published that year. Also published, but never implemented, was a Cavalry Division TO&E which reflected the natural assimilation of machines into the Horse Cavalry.

Van Voorhis’s Cadre and the Platoon became the kernel for the 7th Cavalry Brigade, which went Active on March 1, 1932 at Fort Knox. At first, it was nothing more than a headquarters and the Armored Car Platoon.

On January 3, 1933, U.S. 1st Cavalry Regiment was relieved from assignment to the 1st Cavalry Division, and was moved from Fort A.D. Russell to Fort Knox. The earlier Mechanized Platoon was incorporated into the new Regimental TO&E, and the result was the 1st Cavalry Regiment [Mech], which went active on January 16, 1933.

The new Regimental commander was Colonel Van Voorhis, late of the experimental Mechanized Force, while the executive officer was Adna Chaffee. The Post Commander of Fort Knox was Brigadier General Julian R. Lindsey, another Cavalryman. To round out the Cavalry nature of the unit, Major Robert W. Grow was on the Regimental Staff.

Van Voorhis added the 13th Cavalry Regiment, the 68th Field Artillery Battalion, the 7th Reconnaissance Squadron, the 7th Signal Troop, the 4th Medical Troop, the 47th Engineer Troop and the 17th Quartermaster Battalion. The 7th Cavalry Brigade was fully formed.

Van Voorhis remained in command until September, 1938, when he was promoted to command 5th United States Corps at Indianapolis, Indiana. Chaffee took over from Van Voorhis.

On May 7, 1940, the 7th Cavalry Brigade took part in maneuvers at Monroe, Louisianna that were instrumental in developing the armored division concept. The maneuvers concluded on May 27, 1940, and the brigade returned to Fort Knox on May 31, 1940, and preparations started to expand the brigade into the 1st Armored Division.

On July 15, 1940, 7th Cavalry Brigade was expanded, reorganized, and redesignated as 1st Armored Division. 1st Cavalry Regiment was redesignated as 1st Armored Regiment and 13th Cavalry Regiment was redesignated as 13th Armored Regiment.

The first Order of Battle for the 1st Armored Division was as follows:

1st Armored Brigade

1st Armored Regiment (Light)

13th Armored Regiment (Light)

69th Armored Regiment (Medium)

68th Armored Field Artillery Regiment

6th Armored Infantry Regiment

27th Field Artillery Battalion (Armored)

16th Engineer Battalion (Armored)

81st Armored Reconnaissance Squadron

13th Quartermaster Battalion (Armored)

19th Ordnance Battalion (Armored)

47th Medical Battalion (Armored)

141st Signal Company (Armored)

[edit] Formation of 4th Armored Division

On April 15, 1941 The 1st AD sent a cadre to form the U.S. 4th Armored Division at Pine Camp.

[edit] World War Two

[edit] Training

After completing its organization and equipping, 1st Armored Division trained at Fort Knox, and then deployed to participate in the VII Corps Maneuvers on August 18, 1941. Once the maneuvers concluded, 1st Armored Division then moved on August 28, 1941, and arrived at Camp Polk for the Second Army Louisiana Maneuvers on September 1, 1941. They then moved to Fort Jackson on October 30, 1941 to participate in the First Army Carolina Maneuvers. 1st AD then returned to Fort Knox on December 7, 1941, but started to prepare for deployment overseas instead of returning to Garrison.

[edit] Service

The 1st Armored Division was ordered to Fort Dix on April 11, 1942 to await their deployment overseas. The division's port call required them to board the Queen Mary at the New York Port of Embarkation at the Brooklyn Army Terminal on May 11, 1942. They arrived at Northern Ireland on May 16, 1942, and trained on the moors until they moved on to England on October 29, 1942.

The unit's first contact with an enemy was as part of the Allied invasion of Northwest Africa, Operation Torch, on November 8, 1942. Elements of the division were part of the Northern Task Force and became the first American armored division to see combat in World War II. Combat Command B (CCB) of the division landed east and west of Oran, and entered the city on November 10, 1942. On November 24, 1942, CCB moved from Tafaroui, Algeria to Bedja, Tunisia, and raided Djedeida airfield the next day. Djedeida was finally conquered on November 28, 1942. CCB moved southwest of Tebourba on December 1, 1942, engaged German forces on El Guessa Heights on December 3, 1942, but its lines were pierced on December 6, 1942. CCB withdrew to Bedja with heavy equipment loses between December 10 and December 11, 1942, and was placed in reserve. CCB next attacked in the Ousseltia Valley on January 21, 1943, and cleared that area until January 29, 1943 when sent to Bou Chebka, and arrived at Maktar on February 14, 1943. Combat Command A (CCA) fought at Faid Pass commencing on January 30, 1943, and advanced to Sidi Bou Zid, where it was pushed back with heavy tank loses on February 14, 1943, and had elements isolated on Djebel Lessouda, Djebel Kasaira, and Garet Hadid]. Combat Command C (CCC), which had been constituted on January 23, 1943 to raid Sened Station on January 24, advanced towards Sbeita, and counterattacked to support CCA in the Sidi Bou Zid area on February 15, 1943, but was repulsed with heavy loses. The division withdrew from Sbeita on February 16, 1943, but – by February 21, 1943 CCB contained the German attack toward Tebessa. The German withdrawal allowed the division to recover Kasserine Pass on February 26, 1943 and assemble in reserve. The division moved northeast of Gafsa on March 13, 1943 and attacked in heavy rains on March 17, 1943 as CCA took Zannouch, but became immobilized by rain the next day. The division drove on Maknassy on March 20, 1943, and fought the Battle of Djebel Naemia on March 22 – March 25, 1943, and then fought to break through positions baring the road to Gabes between March 29 and April 1, 1943. It began to follow up the withdrawing German forces on April 6, 1943, and attacked towards Mateur with CCA on April 27, 1943, which fell after hard fighting on Hill 315 and Hill 299 on May 3, 1943. The division fought the Battle for Djebel Achtel between May 5 and May 11, 1943, and entered Ferryville on May 7, 1943. The German forces in Tunisia surrendered between May 9 and May 13, 1943. The division was reorganized in French Morocco, and began arriving in Naples, Italy on October 28, 1943.

After the fall of Sicily, the unit, under the US Fifth Army, invaded mainland Italy. It took part in the attack on the infamous Winter Line in November 1943. It then flanked the Axis armies in the landings at Anzio, and participated in the liberation of Rome on June 4, 1944. The division continued in combat in the Po Valley until the German forces surrendered on May 2, 1945. In June, the Division moved to Germany as part of the occupation forces.

[edit] Casualties

• KIA: 1,194
• WIA: 5,168
• DOW: 234

[edit] Deactivation

1st Armored Division returned to the New York Port of Embarkation on April 24, 1946, and was inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on April 25, 1946.

[edit] Post World War II

The Korean War saw the US forces being built up again. As part of that buildup, the 1st Armored Division was reactivated on 7 March 1951 at Fort Hood. It was the first US Army unit to receive the new M48 Patton tank. After a number of years in Texas, the division was moved to Fort Polk, Louisiana, in 1956.

The division was deployed to Texas, Florida, and Georgia, in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis. During the six week deployment, it received a visit from President John F. Kennedy. A few units fought in the Vietnam War, and were returned to the division after the war. The 3d Brigade deployed to Chicago, Illinois to restore order after Martin Luther King Jr.'s marches. At that time, the division was based in Fort Hood, Texas.

As the Vietnam War wound down, there was a fundamental reorganisation of the Army. As part of this reorganisation, the 1st Armored Division was moved to Germany in 1971. It replaced the 4th Armored Division there. The Division remained in Wiesbaden Germany for the next twenty years, as part of the American forces committed to NATO.

In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. US Army units were dispatched to protect Saudi Arabia. Later in the fall, President Bush made the decision to deploy American heavy forces on a massive scale to eject the Iraqis from Kuwait. The lead unit for this deployment was the VII Corps from Germany. 1st Armored Division was one of four American heavy divisions assigned to VII Corps in theater. In the ground attack of the Gulf War, the Division led the VII Corps' flank attack on the Iraqis. It had the duty of destroying the elite Iraqi Republican Guard units. In eighty nine hours, the division moved 250 kilometers, destroyed 768 vehicles, and captured 1,064 prisoners of war, at the cost of four dead. It returned to Germany on May 8, 1991. It celebrated with a visit from the Vice President.

On December 18, 1995, under the command of Major General William L. Nash, the division deployed to northeast Bosnia as the command element of Task Force Eagle, a powerful, multinational unit intended to keep the peace. (A Russian brigade, initially under the command of Colonel Aleksandr Ivanovich Lentsov, was part of that effort. An account of the interactions of the Americans and Russians in Bosnia in 1996 may be found in James Nelson’s Bosnia Journal.) The 1AD returned in late 1996 to Germany.

In 1999, the unit was once again deployed, this time to Kosovo, for Operation Allied Force, and Operation Joint Guardian.

Afterwards, the unit trained heavily in Hohenfels and Grafenwohr Training Areas inGermany, with realistic OPFOR (Opposition Forces) exercises. Some units were deployed into Iraq and other countries in the Middle East for the global War on Terrorism.

In the build-up in the months prior the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, two battalions of the 1st Armored Division's, 3d Brigade were deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 2-70 Armor and 1-41 Infantry battalion task forces augmented the 82nd Airborne Division, the 3d Infantry Division and the 101st Airborne Division throughout the campaign to oust Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. These units spearheaded the U.S assaults in As Samawah and Karbala and later occupied the southern area of Baghdad. In April 2003, the remainder of the 1st Armored Division deployed to Iraq and assumed responsibility for Baghdad and the surrounding areas, relieving the 3d Infantry Division. The division was scheduled to return to Germany in April 2004, but was extended in order to defeat a Shia militia led by Moqtada Al Sadr. During the three month extension Task Force 1-37 AR ("Bandits") fought Al Sadr's forces in Karbala while Task Force 2-37 AR ("Dukes") fought in Diwaniya,Sadr City,Al-Kut and Najaf. Task Force 1-36 IN ("Spartans") became the CJTF-7 Operational Reserve and conducted operations throughout the theater in support of the 1st Cavalry Division. Forces from the 2d Brigade fought in Kut. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, the division lost over 125 soldiers.

The division's 3d Brigade deployed to the Iraqi Theatre once again in January of 2005 for Operation Iraqi Freedom three from Fort Riley, Kansas, this after only eight months back in the States. There, they are attached to the 3d Infantry Division and are the major unit involved with Task Force Baghdad.

2nd Brigade Combat Team deployed to Kuwait November 2005 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom IV, spending six months as a theater reserve. Following the Samarra mosque bombing TF 2-6IN deployed to Iraq in late February 2006. In May 2006 the remaining two Task Forces (TF 1-6IN and TF 1-35AR) deployed to Ar Ramadi, Iraqi to help bring the volatile capital of the Anbar Province under control.

The division's "Ready First" 1st Brigade deployed again to Iraq in January 2006 after months of intensive training in Grafenwohr and Hohenfels, Germany. Many of the soldiers who fought with units like 2-37 Armor "Iron Dukes" and 1-37 "Bandits" returned to Iraq for a second time.

[edit] Honors

[edit] Campaign Participation Credit

[edit] World War II:

1. Tunisia;
2. Naples-Foggia;
3. Rome-Arno;
4. Anzio;
5. North Apennines;
6. Po Valley

[edit] Southwest Asia:

1. Defense of Saudi Arabia;
2. Liberation and Defense of Kuwait;
3. Cease-Fire

[edit] Decorations

1. Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for SOUTHWEST ASIA
2. Army Superior Unit Award for 1995-1996

[edit] References

1. ^ Command group

1. George F. Howe (1979). The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division. The Battery Press, Inc. ISBN 0-89839-025-7. covers its first (WWII era) incarnation.
2. Dan Thompson (2005). American, Interrupted: 14 Months in Iraq. First Armored Division Museum. Written by 1st Armored Division Corporal while stationed in Iraq from Spring 2003 until July 2004.

[edit] External links

• 1st Armored Division Website
• American, Interrupted: 14 Months in Iraq with the First Armored Division.

[edit] Video

• Video archive of 1 AD soldiers in Iraq during OIF II.