"Climb to Glory"
(Updated 5-9-08)
The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a
non-mechanized, light infantry division that is currently part of the XVIII
Airborne Corps. Like the rest of the 18th Corps, the 10th Mountain is designed
to be rapidly deployed anywhere in the world. The 10th Mountain Division is
currently home based at Fort Drum, in upstate New York.
The specialty of the 10th Mountain Division (LI) is to
fight on harsh terrain. This comes from their origins as a unit designed for
winter warfare. In November of 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland. Finnish
soldiers on skis humiliated the Russians depending on armor in the harsh winter
conditions. Forward thinking Americans watched these developments. They assumed
that the United States would be soon drawn into the escalating World War.
Charles Minot (Minnie) Dole, the president of the National Ski Patrol, knew
that the U.S. Army would need mountain troops in the upcoming war. He lobbied
the War Department to train troops in mountain and winter warfare. In September
of 1940, Dole made a presentation to the Army Chief of Staff, General George C.
Marshall, and convinced him to act on Dole's proposals for ski units.
On
December 8, 1941 the 87th Mountain Infantry Battalion was activated at Fort
Lewis, Washington. The 87th was the Army's first mountain unit and would later
be expanded to a regiment. The Battalion was nicknamed "Minnie's Ski Troops" in
honor of Minnie Dole. The National Ski Patrol took on the role of recruiter for
the 87th Infantry Regiment and later the Division. The 87th trained on Mount
Rainier near Fort Lewis and participated in the Kiska Campaign in the Aleutian
Islands. After returning home the 87th formed the core of the new 10th Mountain
Division.
The Division was activated on July 15, 1943 at Camp Hale,
Colorado as the 10th Light Division (Alpine). The maneuver brigades of the
Division were contained in the 85th, 86th, and 87th Infantry Regiments. The
Division's year of training at the 9,200 foot high Camp Hale provided the
skills necessary to fight and survive in mountain terrain and winter
conditions.
On June 22, 1944 the Division moved to Camp Swift, Texas
to prepare for the Louisiana maneuvers of 1944. Although those maneuvers were
cancelled, a period of acclimation to low altitude and hot climate was
necessary to prepare for the maneuvers. On November 6, 1944 the Division was
re-designated as the 10th Mountain Division and that same month the blue and
white "Mountain" tab was added to the Divisions shoulder patch.
The 10th Mountain Division started to arrive in Italy in
late December of 1944. It was one of the last Divisions to enter combat during
World War II. However after a brief training period, the 10th Mountain entered
combat on January 8, 1945 near Cutigliano and Orsigna. The initial defensive
actions were followed by Operation Encore that kicked off on February 18, 1945.
The Division conducted attacks on the Monte Della Torraccia ridge and Monte
Belvedere which constituted an approximately five mile front. Other divisions
had attempted to assault this sector three previous times, but none had any
lasting success. The 10th Mountain Division cleared the sector in a few days of
heavy fighting. The Germans had made seven counterattacks to retake the ground,
but never succeeded.
In early March the Division fought to a line north of
Canolle and moved to within 15 miles of Bologna. The 10th Mountain Division
maintained defensive positions for the next three weeks before starting another
offensive. The Division captured Mongiorgio on April 20th, and then entered the
Po Valley. The 10th Mountain Division crossed the Po River on April 23rd and
reached Verona by April 25th. Here the Division met heavy resistance at Torbole
and Nago. After an amphibious crossing of Lake Garda, the 10th Mountain
Division secured Gargnano and Porto di Tremosine on April 30th as German
resistance in Italy ended. The Germans in Italy surrendered on May 2, 1945.
After serving some time on security duty and receiving the surrender of various
German units, the soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division returned to the United
States. The Division was deactivated on November 30, 1945.
Veterans of the 10th Mountain Division were in a large
part responsible for the development of skiing into a big name sport, national
pastime, and vacation industry in the years after World War II. Former soldiers
from the 10th laid out ski hills, built ski lodges, designed ski lifts and
improved ski equipment. They started ski magazines and opened ski schools.
Winter resort towns of Vail, Aspen, Sugarbush, Crystal Mountain, and Whiteface
Mountain are but a few of the ski areas built by 10th Mountain Division
Veterans.
The Division was reactivated as the 10th Infantry Division
to operate as a training division in 1948. It was deactivated again in 1958
with no service in the Korean War. It was not until the Reagan buildup of the
military in the 1980s that the 10th Mountain Division was brought back to the
active army. On September 11, 1984 the Army announced that Fort Drum, New York
would be the new home of the 10th Light Infantry Division. The unit was
officially activated on February 13, 1985 with the designation changed to 10th
Mountain Division (Light Infantry). The 10th was the first division of any kind
formed by the Army since 1975 and the first based in the Northeast United
States since WWII. The Division was designed to meet a wide range of worldwide
infantry-intensive contingency missions. Equipment design was oriented toward
reduced size and weight for reasons of both strategic and tactical
mobility.
The modern 10th Mountain Division's first deployment came
in 1990 when some Division units were deployed to support Operations Desert
Shield and Desert Storm. Although the Division didn't deploy to Southwest Asia
as a unit, about 1,200 10th Mountain Division soldiers did go. The largest unit
to deploy was the 548th Supply and Services Battalion with almost 1,000
soldiers. The 548th supported the 24th Infantry Division (Mech) as it drove
into Iraq.
After Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in August of 1992, an
estimated 250,000 people were left homeless and damages were in excess of 20
billion dollars. The 10th Mountain Division deployed to assist in the recovery
effort. Soldiers of the Division set up relief camps, distributed food,
clothing, medical necessities and building supplies as well as helping to
rebuild homes and clear debris.
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 Division units provided infantry for the UN quick
reaction force sent to rescue them. The Division had two soldiers KIA during
the fighting.
The 10th Mountain Division was also deployed to Haiti and
Bosnia in the 1990s. Due to the number of deployments, the 10th Mountain
Division 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, 10th Mountain units
have deployed at an even greater frequency. Division units have played
significant roles in Afghanistan and Iraq. Among these has been the rescue of
downed Navy SEALs during "Operation Anaconda" in Afghanistan in 2001, and the
successful maintenance of security of Western Baghdad during the first
democratic Iraqi elections of 2004. They returned from that duty in November of
2004. The 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team returned to Iraq in
2007.
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