10th Mountain Division (United States)

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10th Mountain Division
10th Mountain Division shoulder sleeve insignia
Active	1943-1945 1948-1958 1985-present
Country	United States of America
Branch	Regular Army
Type	Division
Role	Light Infantry
Part of	XVIII Airborne Corps
Garrison/HQ	Fort Drum, NY
Motto	Climb to Glory
Engagements	World War II *Kiska Korea Desert Storm Desert Shield Somalia Kuwait Afghanistan Iraq War
Commanders
Current commander	MG Micheal L. Oates

U.S. Infantry Divisions
Previous	Next
9th Infantry Division (Inactive)	11th Airborne Division (Inactive)

The 10th Mountain Division is a modular division of the United States Army currently serving under the XVIII Airborne Corps. The unit's specialty involves fighting effectively in harsh conditions. Like the rest of the corps, it is designed for rapid deployment anywhere in the world. The division is currently based at Fort Drum, New York.

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (May 2008)

1 History
- 1.1 The World War II 10th Mountain
- 1.2 The modern 10th Mountain
2 Notable veterans
3 General information
4 Organizational structure
- 4.1 World War II Division
- 4.2 Current Structure
5 Past commanders
6 Bibliography
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] History

[edit] The World War II 10th Mountain

The division advancing in Italy in April 1945.

Soldiers from the division provide cover for an assault squad.

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 together 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 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 Operation Encore in conjunction with troops of a Brazilian Expeditionary Force^[1]. The unit made concerteds attacks on the Monte Della Torraccia-Mount Belvedere sector and the peaks were cleared just after several days of heavy fighting. In early March the division fought its way north of Canolle and moving to within 15 miles (24 km) 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.

[edit] The modern 10th Mountain

It was not until the Reagan buildup of the 1980s that the 10th Mountain Division returned to 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 1990s this brigade was the 27th Infantry Brigade of the New York Army National Guard.

A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter carries Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division on a mission in Afghanistan.

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 in 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, elite 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 2002, 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 and regions including the 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. The Army hopes to move the 4th BCT to Fort Drum from Fort Polk between FY 2010 and 2011, if housing is available for the members of the brigade.

[edit] Notable veterans

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Former Senate Majority Leader and Presidential candidate Bob Dole
Former Colorado School of Mines trustee Hugh W. Evans
Former leader of the Sierra Club David R. Brower
Former American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike Bill Bowerman
Former Congressman Les AuCoin
Founder of VAIL Ski Resort Pete Seibert
Founder of Williams, Sweitzer, and Barnum Inc. Fred W. (Bill) Sweitzer
Founder of NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) Paul Petzoldt
Congressional Medal of Honor recipient John D. Magrath
Painter Gino Hollander
Toni Matt, US downhill ski champion
Chummy Broomhall, United States Ski Team member who was instrumental in the formation of Black Mountain of Maine ski resort
Werner von Trapp, a member of the famous von Trapp family of singers.
Page Smith, historian and author
Francis E. Low, theoretical physicist
Montgomery Atwater, founder of avalanche research/forecasting
Morley Nelson, falconer and educator
Franz Alt, mathematician
H. Adams Carter, former United States Ski Team member and mountaineer who as a civilian helped in the creation and training of the division during World War II
Fritz Wiessner, civilian technical adviser during World War II
Johannes Schneider, civilian ski instructor who helped train the division during World War II
Charles Minot Dole, founder of the National Ski Patrol, helped form the 10th Mountain Division.

[edit] General information

Commanding General: MG Michael L. Oates
Deputy Commanding General (Operations): COL Patrick G. Landry
Deputy Commanding General (Support): BG Michael T. Harrison Sr.
Divisional Command Sergeant Major: CSM James W. Redmore
Chief of Staff: COL Jefforey A. Smith

[edit] Organizational structure

[edit] World War II Division

Note: Regiments were typically organized by companies, not battalions. Dates following the name of the unit refer to the period it was part of the division; non-divisional units attached at various times during the life of the division (from a few days to several months) are omitted for simplicity.

Headquarters and headquarters company, 10th Mountain Division
85th Mountain Infantry Regiment (15 May 1943-26 November 1945)
86th Mountain Infantry Regiment (20 December 1942-23 November 1945)
87th Mountain Infantry Regiment (15 May 1943-20 October 1945)
90th Mountain Infantry Regiment (15 May 1943-22 February 1944)
10th Mountain Division Artillery
- 604th Field Artillery Battalion (Pack)
- 605th Field Artillery Battalion (Pack)
- 616th Field Artillery Battalion (Pack)
10th Mountain Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (mounted, later motorized)
10th Mountain Infantry Antitank Battalion
- 727th AAA MG Battalion
- 576th Antitank Battery
10th Mountain Medical battalion
- Light and 680th Medical Collection Companies
10th Mountain Quartermaster Battalion
- 255th, 256th, and 257 Quartermaster Pack
- 137th Truck
126th Mountain Engineer Battalion
- 226th and 299th Engineer Combat Pack Companies
710th Mountain Ordinance Company
110th Mountain Signal Company
10th Mountain Military Police Platoon
Headquarters Special Troops, 10th Mountain Division

Source: National Roster: 2007 (Bala Cynwyd: National Association of the 10th Mountain Division), p. 20.

[edit] Current Structure

OrBat of the 10th Mountain Division

10th Mountain Division:

Special Troops Battalion
1st Brigade Combat Team "Warrior"
- 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment
- 2d Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment
- 1st Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment (RSTA)
- 3rd Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment (Strike)
- 10th Brigade Support Battalion
- 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion
2nd Brigade Combat Team "Commandos"
- 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment
- 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment
- 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment(RSTA)
- 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment(Strike)
- 210th Brigade Support Battalion
- 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion
3rd Brigade Combat Team "Spartans"
- 1st Battalion, 32d Infantry Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment
- 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment(RSTA)
- 4th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment (Strike)
- 710th Brigade Support Battalion
- 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion
4th Brigade Combat Team "Patriots"
- 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment "Wild Boars"
- 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment (RSTA)
- 5th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment (Strike)
- 94th Brigade Support Battalion
- 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion
Combat Aviation Brigade "Falcons"
- 2nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment (Assault)
- 3nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment (General Support)
- 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment (Attack)
- 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment (Attack)
- 277th Aviation Support Battalion (AVIM)
Division Special Troops Battalion
- HHC 10th Mountain Division
- HHC DSTB
- B Company
- Network Support Company
- 10th Mountain Division Band

10th Sustainment Brigade (attached)
- Sustainment Brigade Special Troops Battalion
- 548th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion
- 10th Soldier Support Battalion
- 7th Engineer Battalion
- 91st Military Police Battalion

The 256th Infantry Brigade was attached to the 10th Mountain Division during combat operations in Iraq 2004-2005. Many members of the 256th Infantry wear the 10th Mountain patch on their right shoulder as a combat patch.

[edit] Past commanders

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Taken from 10th Mountain Division past commanders