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The 9th Infantry Division (nicknamed "Old Reliables") is an inactive infantry division of the United States Army. It was formed as the 9th Division during World War I, but never deployed overseas. In later years it was an important unit of the U.S. Army during World War II and the Vietnam War. It was also activated as a peacetime readiness unit from 1947 to 1962 at Fort Dix, New Jersey as a Training Division, West Germany, and Fort Carson, Colorado as a Full Combat Status Division, and from 1972 to 1991 as an active-duty infantry division at Fort Lewis, Washington. The division was inactivated in December 1991.
| 9th Infantry Division | |
|---|---|
9th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia | |
| Active | 1918 – 1919 1940 – 1947 1947 – 1962 1966 – 1969 1972 – 1991 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Nickname(s) | Old Reliables Varsity[1] |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Manton Eddy Jacob L. Devers Donald Prentice Booth Julian Ewell John Shalikashvili |
| Insignia | |
| Distinctive Unit Insignia |  |
The shoulder sleeve insignia is an octofoil resembling a heraldic design given to the ninth son of a family. This represents the son as a circle in the middle with eight brothers around him.[2] The blue represents the infantry, the red the artillery, with the white completing the colors of the flag of the United States of America.
The 9th Infantry Division was created on 18 July 1918 at Camp Sheridan, Alabama but did not serve overseas.[3]
Its units included Division Headquarters; the 17th Infantry Brigade (Headquarters and Headquarters Company; 45th Infantry Regiment; 67th Infantry Regiment; 26th Machine Gun Battalion); the 18th Infantry Brigade (Headquarters and Headquarters Company; 46th Infantry Regiment; 68th Infantry Regiment; 27th Machine Gun Battalion), the 9th Field Artillery Brigade ( 25th Field Artillery (75 mm Gun); 26th Field Artillery (75 mm Gun); 27th Field Artillery (155 mm Howitzer); Ninth Trench Mortar Battery); 25th Machine Gun Battalion; 209th Engineer Regiment; 209th Field Signal Battalion; Division Trains (HQ Train and Military Police Company; 9th Sanitary Train; 9th Motor Supply Train, and Ninth Ammunition Train).
The division was commanded by Colonel Charles C. Clark (July 1918 - September 1918), Maj. Gen. Willard A. Holbrook (September 1918 - October 1918), Brig. Gen. James A. Ryan (October 1918 - November 1918) acting, Maj. Gen. Willard A. Holbrook (November 1918 - February 1919)
The 9th Division was demobilized at Camp Sheridan on 15 February 1919. The division was reconstituted 24 March 1923, allotted to the First Corps Area for mobilization responsibility, and assigned to the I Corps. Camp Devens, Massachusetts, was designated as the mobilization and training station for the division upon reactivation. The 18th Infantry Brigade and additional active and inactive elements were assigned to the division on 24 March 1923. The division’s inactive units were assigned to active associate units for mobilization purposes. During the period 1923–39, the 9th Division was represented in the active Army by the 18th Infantry Brigade and other assorted divisional elements that formed the base force from which the remainder of the division would be reactivated in the event of war. The division headquarters was organized on 28 July 1926 as an Regular Army Inactive (RAI) unit with Organized Reserve personnel at the Army Base, Boston, Massachusetts. The active associate concept was abandoned and many of the inactive elements were organized as RAI units by mid-1927 in the First and Second Corps Areas. The active elements of the division maintained habitual training relationships with divisional RAI units, as well as those of the I Corps, XI Corps, and the 76th, 94th, and 97th Divisions. The RAI and Reserve units often trained with the active elements of the division during summer training camps usually conducted at Camp Devens and Fort McKinley, Maine.
The 18th Infantry Brigade's 5th and 13th Infantry Regiments additionally supported the Reserve units’ conduct of the Citizens Military Training Camps also held at Camp Devens and Fort McKinley. When funds were available, the 18th Infantry Brigade and the division’s other active elements, which included the 9th Tank Company, 9th Ordnance Company, 9th Quartermaster Regiment, and 25th Field Artillery Regiment, held maneuvers and command post exercises at Camp Devens, during which the division headquarters was occasionally formed in a provisional status. The division headquarters was also provisionally formed in 1939 for the First Army maneuvers in upstate New York. Under the new “triangular” tables of organization, the 9th Division was reactivated, less Reserve personnel, on 1 August 1940 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and assigned to the I Corps. The division participated in the Carolina Maneuvers from September–November 1941.[4]
One asterisk following the unit name indicates it was partially active and the headquarters location shown was the mobilization post. Two asterisks following the unit name indicates it was organized with Reserve personnel as an RAI unit. Three asterisks following the unit name indicates it was wholly inactive or not organized and the headquarters location shown was the mobilization post.
The 9th Infantry Division was among the first U.S. combat units to engage in offensive ground operations during World War II. (The others were the 32nd and the 41st in the Pacific on New Guinea, Carlson's Raiders on Makin Island, the 1st Marine, and the Americal on Guadalcanal, and, alongside the 9th in North Africa, were the 1st Infantry, 3rd Infantry, 34th Infantry and the 2nd Armored Divisions.) The 9th saw its first combat on 8 November 1942, when its elements landed at Algiers, Safi, and Port Lyautey, with the taking of Safi by the 3rd Battalion of the 47th Infantry Regiment standing as the first liberation of a city from Axis control in World War II.
With the collapse of French resistance on 11 November 1942, the division patrolled the Spanish Moroccan border. The 9th returned to Tunisia in February and engaged in small defensive actions and patrol activity. On 28 March 1943 it launched an attack in southern Tunisia and fought its way north into Bizerte, 7 May. In August, the 9th landed at Palermo, Sicily, and took part in the capture of Randazzo and Messina.
Sent to England for further training, the division landed on Utah Beach on 10 June 1944 (D-day plus 4), cut off the Cotentin Peninsula, drove on to Cherbourg Harbour and penetrated the port's heavy defenses.
Following a brief rest in July, the division took part in the St. Lo break-through and in August helped close the Falaise Gap. Turning east, the 9th crossed the Marne, 28 August, swept through Saarlautern,[5] and in November and December held defensive positions from Monschau to Losheim.
Moving north to Bergrath, Germany, it launched an attack toward the Roer river, 10 December, taking Echtz and Schlich. From mid-December through January 1945, the division held defensive positions from Kalterherberg to Elsenborn. On 30 January the division jumped off from Monschau in a drive across the Roer and to the Rhine, crossing at Remagen, 7 March.
After breaking out of the Remagen bridgehead, the 9th assisted in the sealing and clearing of the Ruhr Pocket, then moved 150 miles (240 km) east to Nordhausen, where it assisted in the liberation of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp, and attacked in the Harz Mountains, 14–20 April. On 21 April the Division relieved the 3d Armored Division along the Mulde River, near Dessau, and held that line until VE-day.
After the war, the Division moved south to Ingolstadt. The Division assumed control of the Dachau Concentration Camp in early July.
Presidential Unit Citations:[8]
Division Artillery Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, for 21–23 February 1943 (WD GO 115, 1946) Military Police Platoon, for 9–15 March 1943 (WD GO 84, 1945) Company B, 9th Medical Battalion, for 8–19 March 1945 (WD GO 65, 1946) 15th Engineer Combat Battalion, for 14 September-23 October 1944 (WD GO 67, 1946) Company B, 15th Engineer Combat Battalion, for 8–19 March 1945 (WD GO 65, 1946) 34th Field Artillery Battalion, for 21–23 February 1943 (WD GO 51, 1946) 1st Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment, for 18 June 1944 (WD GO 10, 1945) 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment, for 11–12 July 1944 (WD GO 24, 1945) 1st Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment, for 6–9 August 1944 (WD GO 10, 1945) 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, for 21–26 June 1944 (WD GO 86, 1944) 1st Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment 47th Infantry Regiment, for 8–19 March 1945 (WD GO 65, 1946) 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, for 2–5 April 1945 (WD GO 98, 1945) 3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, for 14–22 September 1944 (WD GO 139, 1946) 3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, for 24–28 November 1944 (DA GO 25, 1948) 60th Field Artillery Battalion, for 21–23 February 1943 (WD GO 84, 1947) 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, for 23–24 April 1943 (WD GO 1, 1944) 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, for 16 June 1944 (WD GO 90, 1944) Cannon Company, 60th Infantry Regiment, for 21–23 February 1943 (WD GO 84, 1947) Medical Detachment, 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, for 6 September 1944 (WD GO 12, 1945) Company B, 60th Infantry Regiment, for 12 December 1944 (WD GO 55, 1945) 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, for 9–10 February 1945 (WD GO 68, 1945) 60th Field Artillery Battalion, for 21–23 February 1943 (WD GO 84, 1947) 84th Field Artillery Battalion (WD GO 51, 1946) 84th Field Artillery Battalion (WD GO 65, 1946)The 9th Infantry Division was reactivated on 15 July 1947 at Fort Dix, New Jersey and assumed a peacetime readiness and training role. In the 1950s, the division was stationed in West Germany. It later relocated to Fort Carson, Colorado where it was inactivated on 31 January 1962.
The 9th Division was reactivated on 1 February 1966, and arrived in South Vietnam on 16 December 1966 from Fort Riley, Kansas. On deployment the division was assigned to the III Corps Tactical Zone of Vietnam where it commenced operations in Dinh Tuong and Long An Provinces (6 January-31 May 1967) in Operation Palm Beach. Its area of operations was in the rivers and canals of the Mekong Delta from 1967 to 1972. Operating deep within the Viet Cong (VC)–controlled Delta, the Division was charged with protecting the area and its population against VC insurgents and ensuring the success of the South Vietnamese government's pacification program. Faced with unrelenting physical hardships, a tenacious enemy and the region's rugged terrain, the Division established strategies and quantifiable goals for completing their mission.[9]
Division commanding generals were: Maj. Gen. George S. Eckhardt (February 1966 - June 1967), Maj. Gen. George G. O'Connor (June 1967 - February 1968), Maj. Gen. Julian Ewell (February 1968 - April 1969), Maj. Gen. Harris W. Hollis (April 1969 - August 1969)
The infantry units that served with the 9th Infantry Division were:
Other units included:
One of the experimental units serving with the division was the 39th Cavalry Platoon (Air Cushion Vehicle) which used three of the specially designed hovercraft to patrol marshy terrain like the Plain of Reeds along the south Vietnamese/Cambodian border.[10] Other experimental units were the 1st and 2nd Airboat Platoons, which operated Hurricane Aircat airboats.[11][12]
From 1967 on, the 2d Brigade of the division was the Army contingent of the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF). This brigade lived on the ships of Navy Task Force 117, and were transported on their infantry missions throughout the Mekong Delta on Tango boats (converted landing craft) supported by various other armored boats. The MRF was often anchored near the South Vietnamese city of Mỹ Tho, or near the Division's Đồng Tâm Base Camp and they conducted operations in coordination with the Navy SEAL teams, the South Vietnamese Marines, units of the ARVN 7th Division and River Assault Groups. Following the Tet offensive in 1968, General Westmoreland stated that the Division and the MRF saved the Delta region from falling to the People's Army of Vietnam forces. In 1969, the division also operated throughout IV Corps.[13][14]
Chuck Hagel, later Secretary of Defense, served in the 9th ID from 1967 to 1968 as a sergeant (E-5), serving as an infantry squad leader.[15] Hagel served in the same infantry squad as his younger brother Tom; they are believed to be the only American siblings to serve together during the Vietnam War.[16]
The Division's major units departed from South Vietnam on 27 August 1969 (HHC & 1st Brigade) to Hawaii; 27 August 1969 (2nd Brigade) to Fort Lewis, Washington; 12 October 1970 (3rd Brigade) to Fort Lewis.
Following the Vietnam War the division was stationed at Fort Lewis. The formal activation ceremony was held on 26 May 1972. Initially the division was organized under the army's Reorganization Objective Army Division system.
Parts of the division between 1972 - 1983 were organized as follows:
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From 1983 the division served as the High-Technology Test-Bed (HTTB) for the army. This led the division to develop the concept of "motorized infantry" from 1983. The motorized infantry division was to be equipped with enhanced technology to give it deployability and fire power and fill the gap between light and heavy divisions. The idea was to create a lighter version of the armored and mechanized divisions, which could be deployed easily by aircraft, while providing more firepower than a light infantry division.[29]
Initially the vision was to create three motorized brigades with three new types of infantry battalion:[30][31]
The light attack battalions utilized the Fast Attack Vehicles (FAV - later re-designated the Desert Patrol Vehicle), essentially a Volkswagen-engined dune buggy with either a 40 mm Mk 19 grenade launcher or 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun. The FAV was designed to provide highly mobile firepower that could attack the flanks of heavier mechanized units. Some variants also mounted TOW missiles. All of these weapons systems were attached to the FAV by a mount designed to break away if the vehicle rolled over, which they were prone to do. The FAVs were problematic at best and were eventually replaced by various versions of the Humvee/HMMWV light truck.[32][30][31]
The combined arms battalions were organized as a mix of assault gun companies and light motorized infantry companies, with the heavy battalions fielding two assault gun companies and one light motorized infantry company, while the ratio was reversed in the light battalions. The assault gun companies were to be equipped with the Armored Gun System (AGS), but because of delays in the AGS program they were initially equipped with M901 ITVs Improved Tow Vehicles, then M551 Sheridan light tanks and later with Humvees with TOW missiles or Mk 19 grenade launchers. Light motorized infantry companies were equipped with Humvees mounting a Mk 19 grenade launcher. Each combined arms battalion also fielded a combat support company equipped with mortars, scouts, and an anti-armor platoon slated to be equipped with Humvees mounting a ground version of the Hellfire missile. As this Hellfire version never entered service, the platoons were later also equipped with Humvees with TOW missiles.[29][30][31]
The division's first and third brigade were to field one of each of the three new battalions, while the second brigade would field three combined arms battalions heavy. The third brigade was to field one light and one heavy combined arms battalion and the 9th Cavalry Brigade two attack helicopter battalions, one combat support aviation battalion, and one cavalry reconnaissance squadron. The division artillery would consist of three battalions equipped with M198 155 mm towed howitzers, one light artillery rocket battalion with M102 105 mm towed howitzers and M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, and one target acquisition battery. The division support command would field three forward support, one cavalry support and one main support battalion. However, because of the delay of the Armored Gun System the division did only activate four of the envisioned five combined arms battalions heavy and retained the 2nd Battalion, 77th Armor instead.
Parts of the division were organized at the end of the 1980s as follows:
In case of war with Warsaw Pact forces the division would have reinforced the Allied Forces Baltic Approaches Command defending Denmark. By 1984 the 9th Cavalry Brigade (Air Attack) was testing motorcycles for reconnaissance work in its reconnaissance squadron, the 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry Regiment.[33] And the 9th Infantry Division (MTZ) tested motorized infantry doctrine at the Yakima Firing Center in Eastern Washington, at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin California and in Korea during the annual Team Spirit exercise. While the motorized units performed well, they were vulnerable to heavier mechanized forces, particularly if forced to stand and fight. They were also extremely vulnerable to indirect artillery fire.[citation needed]
On 1 April 1984, Echo Company of the 15th Engineer Battalion reorganized to form the 73rd Engineer Company (Assault Ribbon Bridge), which was assigned to I Corps, which in turn attached it as separate company to the 15th Engineer Battalion. With the switch from Combat Arms Regimental System to the United States Army Regimental System the division saw a few of its units reflagged or inactivated:
During fiscal year 1987 the army decided to inactivate the division's 2nd brigade, which would be replaced by the 81st Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) of the Washington Army National Guard. The 2nd brigade was inactivated on 15 August 1988 along with the following units:
On the same date the 1st Battalion, 33rd Armor, which until then had been attached to the division, was assigned to the division.[citation needed] With the inactivation of the 2nd brigade the remaining units were reassigned among the remaining brigades: 1st brigade now consisted of 2nd Combined Arms Battalion Heavy, 2nd Infantry, 1st Battalion, 33rd Armor, and 4th Combined Arms Battalion Light, 23rd Infantry. 3rd brigade consisted of 2nd Light Attack Battalion, 1st Infantry, 3rd Combined Arms Battalion Light, 47th Infantry, and 2nd Combined Arms Battalion Heavy, 60th Infantry. The 2nd Combined Arms Battalion Heavy, 23rd Infantry was assigned to the 9th Cavalry Brigade.[29]
McGrath writes that the 9th Infantry Division was organized as follows in 1988:[41]
In fiscal year 1989 Chief of Staff of the United States Army General Carl E. Vuono approved the conversion of the division's two combined arms battalions light to standard mechanized infantry battalions.[46]
The division was the first to undergo full inactivation following the end of the Cold War. Army leadership at first decided that inactivating units would turn in all of their equipment at "10/20" standard, i.e. in ready and reusable condition. The division struggled to meet this standard, which required both extensive work by the division's soldiers and high costs for repair parts. While the remaining 9th ID soldiers were ultimately successful, later inactivating units were not required to attain this goal.[citation needed]
The inactivation of the division began on 28 September 1990 with the inactivation of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry,[47] and 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry.[48] The 1st Battalion, 84th Field Artillery inactivated on 15 January 1991. As inactivation proceeded, elements and individual soldiers from the division were detached and deployed for service in the Gulf War.[citation needed]
On 16 February 1991 the 3rd Brigade was reflagged as 199th Infantry Brigade (Motorized)[49] with the following units:
The remainder of the division's units inactivated on the following dates:
With the support and aviation units also inactivating. The divisional headquarters remained active until 15 December 1991.[54] The 3rd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery became a General Support battalion of I Corps Artillery.[55]
The division was identified as the second-highest priority inactive division in the United States Army Center of Military History's lineage scheme due to its numerous accolades and long history. All of the division's flags and heraldic items were moved to the National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, Georgia following its inactivation.[56] Should the U.S. Army decide to activate more divisions in the future, the center stated its activation recommendations would be the 9th Infantry Division, then the 24th Infantry Division, the 5th Infantry Division, and the 2nd Armored Division.[57] The 7th Infantry Division, previously inactivated, resumed service as an administrative headquarters at Joint Base Lewis–McChord in 2012.
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