2nd Armored Division (United States)

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2nd Armored Division
Shoulder sleeve patch of the United States Army 2nd Armored Division, "Hell On Wheels"
Active	1940-1991
Country	United States
Branch	U.S. Army
Type	Armored Division
Motto	Hell On Wheels
Battles/wars	World War II Desert Storm
Commanders
Notable commanders	George S. Patton

The 2nd Armored Division of the United States Army —nicknamed Hell On Wheels— played an important role in the breakout of the Battle of Normandy in World War II. The division was deactivated in 1991; confusingly, the 5th Infantry Division was redesignated as "2nd Armored Division" in 1992, then became the 4th Infantry Division in December 1995.

1 History
2 2nd Armored Division (Forward)
3 External links
4 References

[edit] History

The 2nd Armored was formed at Fort Benning, Georgia on July 15, 1940, originally commanded by Major General Charles L. Scott, with Colonel George S. Patton in charge of training. Scott was promoted to command the I Armored Corps in November of that year, which put Patton, now a brigadier general, in command of the division. The Division served with the First, Seventh and Ninth Armies.

Through World War II, the 2nd Armored's core units included the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment, the 66th Armored Regiment, the 67th Armored Regiment, the 17th Armored Engineer Battalion, the 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, and the 142nd Armored Signal Company.

The 2nd Armored had three artillery battalions (the 14th, 78th, and 92nd). The Division also had support units, including the 2nd Ordnance Maintenance Battalion, a Supply Battalion, the 48th Armored Medical Battalion, and a Military Police Platoon.

Elements of the division participated in Operation Torch, landing at Casablanca on November 8, 1942, but the whole division first went into action in the Operation Husky landing at Gela in Sicily, July 10, 1943 and fighting through to Palermo.

The division then landed in Normandy on June 9, 1944, operated in the Cotentin Peninsula and later formed the right flank of the Operation Cobra assault. It blunted the German attack on Avranches, then raced across France with the rest of the Third Army, reaching the Albert Canal in Belgium on September 8. It crossed the German border north of Schimmert, 18 September to take up defensive positions near Geilenkirchen. On 3 October, the division launched an attack on the Siegfried Line from Marienberg, broke through, crossed the Wurm River and seized Puffendorf 16 November and Barmen 28 November. The Division was holding positions on the Roer when it was ordered to help contain the German Ardennes offensive. The Division fought in eastern Belgium, blunting the German Fifth Panzer Army's penetration of American lines. The Division helped reduce the Bulge in January, fighting in the Ardennes forest in deep snow, and cleared the area from Houffalize to the Ourthe River of the enemy. After a rest in February, the division drove on across the Rhine 27 March, and was the first American Division to reach the Elbe at Schonebeck on 11 April. It was halted on the Elbe, 20 April, on orders. In July the division entered Berlin-the first American unit to enter the German capital city.

The division returned to Camp Hood (later Fort Hood) in Texas in 1946. It served NATO in Germany from 1951 to 1957, and several of its battalions participated in the Vietnam war.

The 1st Tiger Brigade, commanded by Colonel John B. Sylvester, participated in Operation Desert Storm by providing heavy armor for USMC forces in their attack into Kuwait. The 2nd Brigade could not be deployed as it was in the middle of deactivating.

[edit] 2nd Armored Division (Forward)

In 1978 the division's third brigade was forward deployed to the Federal Republic of Germany and assigned to NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG). The brigade received additional aviation, engineer, military intelligence, medical, and logistics support units and was re-designated 2nd Armored Division (Forward). The unit's primary mission in case of conflict with the Warsaw Pact was to either secure airfields and staging areas for the deployment of III Corps from the United States or to deploy directly to the Inter-German Border (IGB) and establish a blocking position as part of a NATO combat force.

2nd Armored Division (Forward) was based at a new military facility near the village of Garlstedt just north of the city of Bremen. The facilities cost nearly $140 million dollars to construct, half of which was paid for by the Federal Republic of Germany. The brigade had approximately 3,500 soldiers and another approximately 2,500 family dependents and civilian employees. The German government constructed family housing in the nearby city of Osterholz-Scharmbech. In addition to troop barracks, motor pools, an indoor firing range, repair and logistics facilities, and a local training area, facilities at Garlstedt included a troop medical clinic, post exchange, library, movie theater, and a combined officer/non-commissioned officer/enlisted club.

The brigade was officially designated as 2nd Armored Division (FWD) during ceremonies at Grafenwoehr, FRG on 25 July 1978. The Garlstedt facilities were officially turned over to the United States by the German government in October. At that time the Garlstedt kaserne (camp) was named after General Lucius D. Clay, Jr., who was revered by the German people for role as the American military commander following World War II. His son, a retired U.S. Army major general, attended the ceremony.

The commander of 2nd Armored Division (Forward) had a unique command and was usually a brigadier general with an armor background. In addition to command of the heavy brigade, he also functioned as the Commander, III Corps (Forward), headquartered in Maastrict, The Netherlands, and as commander of all US Army forces in Northern Germany, including the military communities of Garlstedt and Bremerhaven. In the event of the deployment of III Corps and/or the 2nd Armored Division from the United States, the 2AD (FWD) commander would revert to his job as Assistant Division Commander for Operations of 2nd Armored Division. This contingency was practised during REFORGER 1987. As a result of this varied and demanding job command of the 2nd Armored Division (Forward) was considered a plum assignment, on par with perhaps only the Berlin Brigade for high visibility and potential for advancement to higher rank. Brigadier generals who held the position included George R. Stotser, Thomas H. Tait, James M. Streeter, and John C. Heldstab.

The brigade's subordinate combat units consisted initially of the 1st 3rd and 4th Battalions of the 41st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment (Iron Knights), 4th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, and C Troop, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment. Other brigade subordinate units included the 498th Support Battalion, D Company, 17th Engineer Battalion, and the 588th Military Intelligence Company. The brigade also had a military police platoon and an aviation detachment.

The brigade deployed to Germany with M60 and M113 armored vehicles. 4-3 Field Artillery had the M109A2 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzer. In 1985 the division's maneuver battalions transitioned to the new M1 Abrams main battle tank and the M2/M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Also in 1985 C/2-1 Cavalry was replaced by an air cavalry troop, D/2-1 Cavalry, armed with AH-1S Cobra attack helicopters. In 1988 4-41 Infantry returned to Ft. Hood, TX and was replaced by 3-66th Armor (Burt's Knights, named for Captain James Burt who won the Medal of Honor as a company commander in the 66th Armored Regiment in the Battle of Aachen during World War II). As an armor-heavy brigade, 2nd Armored Division (Forward) fielded 116 M-1A1 Abrams tanks and nearly 70 M2/3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

The brigade participated in numerous major NATO training exercises including Trutsige Sachsen (1985), Crossed Swords (1986) and the Return of Forces to Germany (REFORGER) (1987). Brigade subordinate units utilized the NATO training area at Bergen-Hohne for gunnery and maneuver training and each year deployed south to Grafenwohr and Hohenfels training areas for annual crew and unit qualification.

2nd Armored Division (Forward) had a formal partnership relationship with the Federal Republic of Germany Bundeswehr unit Brigade 32, an mechanized infantry unit headquartered in nearby Schwanewede. The brigade also had informal relationships with Dutch, Belgian, and British NATO forces in the NORTHAG area, often conducting joint training activities at Bergen-Hohne. Tank companies from 2-66 Armor competed in the bi-annual NATO tank gunnery competition, the Canadian Army Trophy. C Company contested for the trophy in 1985 and D Company in 1987.

2nd Armored Division (Forward) deployed to Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in the fall of 1990 and conducted combat operations as the third maneuver brigade of the 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, KS. The division returned to Garlstedt after Desert Storm in 1991. In February 1992 the division received notice that it would be inactivated and turned the kaserne back over to the German government later that year.