Divisions · from 1943

10th Mountain Division

Combat formation of the United States Army.

History

The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in the U.S. military to receive specialized training for fighting in mountainous conditions.

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 World War II. On 5 May 1945, the division reached Nauders, Austria, just beyond Reschen Pass, where it made contact with Germans being pushed south by the U.S. Seventh Army. A status quo was maintained until the enemy headquarters involved had completed their surrender to the Seventh. On 6 May, 10th Mountain troops met the 44th Infantry Division of Seventh Army.

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, in 1955, was sent to Germany before being deactivated again in 1958.

Reactivated again in 1985, the division was designated the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) to historically tie it to the World War II division and to also better describe its modern disposition. Since its reactivation, the division or elements of the division have deployed numerous times. The division has participated in Operation Desert Storm (Saudi Arabia), Hurricane Andrew disaster relief (Homestead, Florida), Operation Restore Hope and Operation Continue Hope (Somalia), Operation Uphold Democracy (Haiti), Operation Joint Forge (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Operation Joint Guardian (Kosovo), and several deployments as part of the Multinational Force and Observers (Sinai Peninsula).

Text from Wikipedia: 10th Mountain Division, CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Wars and campaigns

World War II

From Wikidata (CC0).

Key dates

1941
On 22 October 1941, General Marshall decided to form the first battalion of mountain warfare troops for a new mountain division.
1944
On 22 June 1944, the division was shipped to Camp Swift, Texas, to prepare for maneuvers in Louisiana, which were later canceled.
1945
On the same day, 30 April 1945, the division also suffered the loss of its Assistant Division Commander, Colonel William O. Darby, founder of the U.S. Army Rangers.
1945
In 1945 John D. Magrath became the first member of the division to receive this award (posthumously) during World War II. The second, Jared C. Monti, received it posthumously in 2009, for actions during a combat operation on 21 June 2006 in Afghanistan.
1990
In 1990, the division sent 1,200 soldiers to support Operation Desert Storm.
1995
After this was accomplished, the 10th Mountain Division handed over control of the MNF-Haiti to the 25th Infantry Division on 15 January 1995.
2002
The division also participated in fighting in the Shahi Khot Valley in 2002.
2009
The 10th Mountain Division headquarters transferred authority for MND-S to the 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota Army National Guard on 20 May 2009.
2019
On 5 December 2019, the Department of the Army announced that the 1st Brigade Combat Team would replace the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division as part of a unit rotation in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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