84th Division (United States)

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84th Division

Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the 84th Division
Active 5 August 1917 - January 1919
1942 - present
Country United States
Branch United States Army
United States Army Reserve
Type Division
Role light infantry; training
Nickname The Railsplitters
Motto "Strike Hard"
Battles/wars Rhineland Campaign
Battle of the Bulge
Central Europe Campaign
Operation Desert Storm

The 84th Division (Institutional Training) was a formation of the United States Army. During World War I and World War II, it was known as the 84th Infantry Division. From 1946 to 1952, the division was a part of the United States Army Reserve as the 84th Airborne Division. In 1959, the division was reorganized and redesignated once more to the current designation, 84th Division. The division is currently headquartered in Milwaukee and is in command of upwards of 4,100 soldiers divided into eight brigades—including an ROTC bridgade—spread throughout seven states.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] "Lincoln County" Division

Tradition has it that the division traces its lineage to the Illinois militia company in which a young Captain Abraham Lincoln served during the Black Hawk War of 1832. The division patch was selected to honor this legacy and the division's original in Illinois. For this reason, the alternative nickname of "Lincoln County" Division has been used to denote the 84th.

[edit] World War I

  • Activated: August 1917.
  • Overseas: October 1918.
  • Major Operations: Provided replacements for other units; saw no combat.
  • Commanders: Brig. Gen. Wilber E. Wilder (25 August 1917), Maj. Gen. Harry C. Hale (6 October 1917), Brig. Gen. Wilber E. Wilder (26 November 1917), Brig. Gen. Wilber E. Wilder (15 December 1917), Maj. Gen. Harry C. Hale (1 March 1918), Maj. Gen. Harry C. Hale (5 June 1918), Maj. Gen. Harry C. Hale (21 July 1918), Brig. Gen. Wilber E. Wilder (18 October 1918), Maj. Gen. Harry C. Hale (31 October 1918).
  • Inactivated: January 1919.

[edit] Combat Chronicle

For World War I, personnel were first enlisted from the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Kentucky and were formed into an infantry division in 1917, whereupon they chose the formation's distinctive patch and nickname. It was deployed to France in October 1918 to serve as a training formation for replacements which would be sent to the Western Front. At the war's end, the formation was recalled home and, without having seen combat actions, inactivated in January of 1919.

[edit] World War II

  • Activated: 15 October 1942.
  • Overseas: 20 September 1944.
  • Campaigns: Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe.
  • Days of combat: 170.
  • Distinguished Unit Citations: 7.
  • Awards: DSC-12 ; DSM-1 ; SS-555; LM-4; SM-27 ; BSM-2,962 ; AM-59.
  • Commanders: Maj. Gen. John H. Hildring (October 1942-February 1943), Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson (February-October 1943), Maj. Gen. Robert B. McClure (October 1943-March 1944), Maj. Gen. Roscoe B. Woodruff (March-June 1944), Maj. Gen. Alexander R. Bolling (June 1944 to 1946).
  • Returned to U. S.: 19 January 1946.
  • Inactivated: 21 January 1946 (redesignated a reserve formation)

[edit] Combat Chronicle

The 84th Infantry Division arrived in England, 1 October 1944, and trained. It landed on Omaha Beach, 1-4 November 1944, and moved to the vicinity of Gulpen, the Netherlands, 5-12 November. The Division entered combat, 18 November, with an attack on Geilenkirchen, Germany, as part of the larger offensive in the Roer Valley, north of Aachen. Taking Geilenkirchen, 19 November, the Division pushed forward to take Beeck and Lindern in the face of heavy enemy resistance, 29 November. After a short rest, the Division returned to the fight, taking Wurm and Mullendorf, 18 December, before moving to Belgium to help stem the German winter offensive.

Battling in snow, sleet, and rain, the Division threw off German attacks, recaptured Verdenne, 24-28 December, took Beffe and Devantave, 4-6 January 1945, and seized Laroche, 11 January. By 16 January, the Bulge had been reduced. After a 5-day respite, the 84th resumed the offensive, taking Gouvy and Beho. On 7 February, the Division assumed responsibility for the Roer River zone, between Linnich and Himmerich, and trained for the river crossing. On 23 February 1945, the Division cut across the Roer, took Boisheim and Dülken, 1 March, crossed the Niers Canal on the 2d, took Krefeld, 3 March, and reached the Rhine by 5 March. The Division trained along the west bank of the river in March.

After crossing the Rhine, 1 April, the Division drove from Lembeck toward Bielefeld in conjunction with the 5th Armored Division, crossing the Weser River to capture Hanover, 10 April. By 13 April, the Division had reached the Elbe, and halted its advance, patrolling along the river. The Russians were contacted at Balow, 2 May 1945. The Division remained on occupation duty in Germany after VE-day, returning to the United States in January 1946 for demobilization.

[edit] Assignments in the European Theater of Operations

[edit] Cold War to the present

Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the 84th Airborne Division (1946-1952)
Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the 84th Airborne Division (1946-1952)

Following the conclusion of World War II, the 84th Division was taken off the active-duty roster and made part of the Army Reserve. In January 1946, following its inactivation from active status, it was reorganized and redesignated the 84th Airborne Division, and was headquartered out of Wisconsin. In 1947, it would go one to be designated as the Army's Airborne Reserve Command. Five years later, in 1952, the division was once more reorganized, this time as a training division comprised of three regiments—the 274th, 334th, and 339th. Throughout the 1950s, the division would continue its conversion to a training formation, changing its subordinate unit makeup from regiments to brigades and support groups.

On 24 January 1991, elements of the 84th Division (Training) were activated and mobilized for support roles in Operation Desert Storm. Less than three months later, on 22 March 1991, the elements were deactivated and returned home. In 1993, reorganization within the Army Reserve brought about the a mergance between the 84th and her sister formation, the 85th Division (Training). The move expanded the 84th's area of command to include the rest of Wisconsin and Illinois, as well as all of Missouri and Iowa. Soon after, in June 1994, units from the 84th participated in peacekeeping operations as part of the mulinational in the Sinai, Egypt, and remained there until July 1995.

In April of 1995, the formation was once more redesignated, this time to its current designation as an Institutional Training division. This change brought with it command of units and training in the state of Nebraska. In August of 1995, Army reorganization further expanded the 84th's range of authority to command the fourteen U.S. Army Reserve Forces Schools in Region E—Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. In addition to training reserve and active units, the 84th is an integral part of the training programs for cadets from the United States Military Academy at West Point and the various college and university Reserve Officer Training Corps programs in its states of authority and influence.

[edit] General

  • Nickname: Railsplitters.
  • Shoulder patch: A white axe splitting a rail on a red disk.

[edit] Subordinate Units

  • Headquarters, 84th Division (Milwaukee, Wisconsin]])
  • 84th Division Band
  • 1st Brigade (Infantry Training)
  • 2nd Brigade (Basic Combat Training)
  • 3rd Brigade (Combat Support) "Timberwolf Brigade"
    • Headquarters, 3rd Brigade (Fort Snelling, Minnesota)
    • 1st Battalion (Engineers)
    • 2nd Battalion (Military Intelligence)
    • 3rd Battalion (Military Police)
    • 4th Battalion (Signal)
    • 5th Battalion (Chemical)
    • 6th Battalion (Civil Affairs)
  • 4th Brigade (Combat Service Support)
  • 5th Brigade (Health Services)
    • Headquarters, 5th Brigade (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
  • 6th Brigade (Professional Development)
  • 7th Brigade (Training Support)
    • Headquarters, 7th Brigade (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
  • 8th Brigade (Senior ROTC)
    • Headquarters, 8th Brigade (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
  • Task Force 84 (Fort Benning, Georgia)
    • HHC, 2-329th Infantry Regiment
    • Alpha Company, 2-329th Infantry Regiment
    • Alpha Company, 3-274th Infantry Regiment
    • Rec. Detachment, 3-274th Infantry Regiment

[edit] References

  • The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 reproduced here.

[edit] External links

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