3rd Infantry Division (United States)

History

The 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) (nicknamed Rock of the Marne) is a combined arms division of the United States Army based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. It is a subordinate unit of the XVIII Airborne Corps under U.S. Army Forces Command. Its current organization includes a division headquarters and headquarters battalion, two armored brigade combat teams, one aviation brigade, a division artillery, a sustainment brigade and a combat sustainment support battalion along with a maneuver enhancement brigade. The division has a distinguished history, having seen active service in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and in the Iraq War (US phase 2003–2011), and in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021). The Medal of Honor has been awarded to 61 members of the 3rd Infantry Division, making the division the most honored in the Army.

The division fought in France in World War I. In World War II, it landed with General Patton's task force in a contested amphibious landing on the coast of Morocco, North Africa, overwhelming Vichy French defenders in November 1942. In 1943, the division invaded Sicily in July, and invaded Italy at Salerno in September, before fighting in France and finally Germany. Medal of Honor recipient Audie Murphy, featured in the Hollywood movie To Hell and Back, was a member. The division also served in the Korean War. From 1957 until 1996, the division was a major part of the United States Army's presence in West Germany as part of the NATO alliance.

Text from Wikipedia: 3rd Infantry Division (United States), CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Wars and campaigns

From Wikidata (CC0).

Key dates

1. 1917
   Training began in late November 1917, and in December 1917 and January 1918, 10,000 draftees predominantly from the northeastern United States (sent from Camp Devens, Massachusetts, Camp Dix, New Jersey, Camp Lee, Virginia, Camp Meade, Maryland, and Camp Upton, New York) completed the division.
2. 1917
   Constituted 12 November 1917 in the Regular Army as Headquarters, 3rd Field Artillery Brigade, and assigned to the 3rd Division
3. 1939
   Beginning in December 1939, the division participated in numerous training exercises to better prepare it for impending war.
4. 1943
   Redesignated 1 December 1943 as the 3d Infantry Division Band and activated in North Africa
5. 1951
   Three more recipients were with the 15th Infantry Regiment: Emory L. Bennett (24 June 1951), Ola L. Mize (10 and 11 June 1953) and Charles F. Pendleton (16 and 17 July 1953).
6. 1996
   As part of the Army's reduction to a ten-division force, the 24th Infantry Division was inactivated on 15 February 1996, and reflagged to become the 3rd Infantry Division.
7. 2006
   On 17 November 2006, the Army announced that the Third Infantry Division is scheduled to return to Iraq in 2007 and thus become the first Army division to serve three tours in Iraq.
8. 2010
   The Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division deployed to Afghanistan for a 13-month tour in 2010.
9. 2015
   The 3rd Brigade Combat Team was inactivated on 15 December 2015.

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

Records that place someone with this unit

A unit history doesn't name everyone who served. These records do:

• Morning reports and unit rosters: access (National Personnel Records Center)
• Search Army morning reports, 1912–1946 (National Archives Catalog)
• Unit and organizational records held in St. Louis

More history

• U.S. Army Center of Military History
• Wikipedia: 3rd Infantry Division (United States)