5th Infantry Division (United States)

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5th Infantry Division
5th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia
Active1917–1921
1939–1946
1947–1992
Country United States
Branch United States Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Nickname(s)"Red Diamond",[1] "Red Devils"
Motto(s)We Will
EngagementsWorld War I

World War II

Vietnam War

  • Counteroffensive, Phase V
  • Counteroffensive, Phase VI
  • Tet 69 Counteroffensive
  • Summer–Fall 1969
  • Winter–Spring 1970
  • Sanctuary Counteroffensive
  • Counteroffensive, Phase VII

Operation Just Cause

  • Panama 1989–1990
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Stafford LeRoy Irwin
Bernard W. Rogers
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia
US Infantry Divisions
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4th Infantry Division 6th Infantry Division

The 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized)—nicknamed the "Red Diamond",

U.S. Army III Corps. It was deactivated on 24 November 1992 and reflagged as the 2nd Armored Division.[2]

World War I

Organization

On 17 November 1917, the War Department directed the organization of the 5th Division with headquarters at Camp Logan, Texas, around a cadre of Regular Army troops that had been stationed at Camp Logan, Camp Forrest, Georgia, Camp Greene, North Carolina, Camp Johnston, Florida, Camp Stanley, Texas, and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Major General Charles H. Muir assumed command on 11 December 1917.[3] The organization was a "square" division (i.e., there were four infantry regiments) with an authorized strength of 28,105 personnel.

Units associated with the division included:

November 1918: General Pershing at a review of the 5th Division in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.

The entire division arrived in France by 1 May 1918 and components of the units were deployed into the front line.

Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the largest battle fought by the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) (and the largest in the history of the U.S. Armed Forces) in World War I. The war ended soon after, on November 11, 1918
.

Doughboys of the 6th Infantry Regiment, 5th Division, stationed at Remoiville, rejoice as they receive news of the Armistice on the eleventh day of the eleventh hour of the eleventh month, 1918.

The division then served for the next few months in the Army of Occupation, being based in Belgium and Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg until it departed Europe. The division returned to the United States through the New York Port of Embarkation at Hoboken, New Jersey, on 21 July 1919.

Insignia

The 5th Division adopted a red diamond as its shoulder sleeve insignia.[5] The color red was selected in honor of World War I commander John E. McMahon, who was a member of the Army's Field Artillery branch.[6] The diamond shape was chosen in recognition of the Diamond Dyes company, a maker of fabric coloring products whose ad slogan "It Never Runs" conveyed a martial meaning during war.[6] The shape of the diamond in the 5th Division's insignia represents strength, because in bridge construction the trusses that provide the greatest durability are mutually supporting isosceles triangles.[6]

Interwar period

Upon arrival at

Corps Area for mobilization responsibility, and assigned to the V Corps. Camp Knox, Kentucky
, was designated as the mobilization and training station for the division upon reactivation. During the period 1921–39, the active elements of the 5th Division consisted of the 10th Infantry Brigade and other assorted divisional elements which 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 5 May 1926 as a "Regular Army Inactive" (RAI) unit with

Citizens Military Training Camps held at Camp Knox, Fort Benjamin Harrison, and Fort Thomas, Kentucky
.

The 10th Infantry Brigade, reinforced by the active elements of the 5th Tank Company, 19th Field Artillery Regiment, 5th Quartermaster Regiment, and the

Second Army maneuvers at Fort Knox. For that maneuver, the division (10th Infantry Brigade as the nucleus) was reinforced by the 1st Signal Company and the West Virginia National Guard’s 201st Infantry, in addition to the other active divisional elements.[7]

World War II

On 16 October 1939, the 5th Division was reactivated as part of the United States mobilization in response to the outbreak of World War II in Europe the previous month, being formed at Fort McClellan, Alabama, under the command of Brigadier General Campbell Hodges.[7]

The following spring, in 1940, the division was sent to

declared war on the United States in December 1941, thus bringing the United States into the conflict. As the winter passed, the division was brought up to strength and fully equipped for forward deployment into a war zone. During April 1942, the 5th Division received its overseas orders and departed the New York Port of Embarkation (NYPOE) at the end of the month for Iceland. The 5th Division debarked there in May 1942, where it replaced the British garrison on the island outpost along the Atlantic convoy routes and a year later was reorganized and re-designated as the 5th Infantry Division on 24 May 1943.[8]

Normandy

Men of the 5th Infantry Division advance toward Fontainebleau en route to Paris, supported by M10 tank destroyers of the 818th Tank Destroyer Battalion
Men of the 5th Infantry Division advance toward Metz
Men of the 5th Infantry Division advance toward Metz

The 5th Infantry Division, now commanded by Major General Stafford LeRoy Irwin, left Iceland in early August 1943 and was sent to England to prepare and train for the eventual invasion of Northwest Europe, then scheduled for the spring of 1944. Upon arrival in England the 5th Division was stationed at Tidworth Barracks in South West England, before moving to Northern Ireland.

After two years of training the 5th ID landed in Normandy on

Fort Driant played a role in repulsing this crossing. A second crossing by the 10th Infantry Regiment at Arnaville was successful.[11] The division continued operations against Metz, 16 September to 16 October 1944, withdrew, then returned to the assault on 9 November. Metz finally fell 22 November. The division crossed the German border, 4 December, captured Lauterbach (a suburb of Völklingen) on the 5th, and elements reached the west bank of the river Saar
, 6 December, before the division moved to assembly areas.

On 16 December, the Germans launched their winter offensive in the Ardennes forest, the Battle of the Bulge, and on the 18th the 5th ID was thrown in against the southern flank of the Bulge, helping to reduce it by the end of January 1945. In February and March, the division drove across and northeast of the Sauer, where it smashed through the Siegfried Line and later took part in the Allied invasion of Germany.

Across the Rhine

The 5th ID crossed the river

Ruhr Pocket and then drove across the Czechoslovak border, 1 May, reaching Volary and Vimperk as the war in Europe ended.[12]

11 May 1945: German civilians are forced to walk past the bodies of 30 Jewish women starved to death by German SS troops in a 500-kilometre (300 mi) march across Czechoslovakia from Helmbrechts concentration camp. Buried in shallow graves in Volary, Czechoslovakia, the bodies were exhumed by German civilians working under the direction of Medics of the 5th Infantry Division, U.S. Third Army. The bodies were later placed in coffins and reburied in the cemetery in Volary.

Casualties

  • Total battle casualties: 12,818[13]
  • Killed in action: 2,298[13]
  • Wounded in action: 9,549[13]
  • Missing in action: 288[13]
  • Prisoner of war: 683[13]

Order of battle

Under the new "triangular" organization, units assigned included:[14]

  • Headquarters, 5th Infantry Division
  • 2nd Infantry Regiment
  • 10th Infantry Regiment
  • 11th Infantry Regiment
  • Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Infantry Division Artillery
    • 19th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
    • 46th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
    • 50th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
    • 21st Field Artillery Battalion
      (155 mm)
  • 7th Engineer Combat Battalion
  • 5th Medical Battalion
  • 5th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized)
  • Headquarters, Special Troops, 5th Infantry Division
    • Headquarters Company, 5th Infantry Division
    • 705th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
    • 5th Quartermaster Company
    • 5th Signal Company
    • Military Police Platoon
    • Band
  • 5th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment[15]

Post–World War II

Following World War II, the 5th Infantry Division was inactivated on 20 September 1946 at Camp Campbell (now Fort) Kentucky. However, the division was reactivated on 15 July 1947 under Brigadier General John H. Church.[citation needed] From 1951 to 1953, the division was stationed at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, and trained 30,000 replacements for the Korean War. The later part of the 1950s saw the division stationed in West Germany as part of the U.S. contribution to NATO, though the division later returned to the United States.

Vietnam War

Vietnam, 1969. A member of the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized), takes down barbed tape.
Vietnam, 1971. A member of the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Looks out over a fog-shrouded valley at Lang Vei during Operation Lam Son 719.

When the 1st Infantry Division deployed to South Vietnam in 1965, additional maneuver battalions were required; thus two infantry battalions from the 2nd Brigade, 5th Infantry Division, at Fort Devens in Massachusetts were relieved and assigned to "The Big Red One."[16] In September 1965, the 2nd Brigade, 5th Infantry Division was moved, minus personnel, to Fort Carson in Colorado and refilled there. The remaining personnel at Fort Devens formed the basis of the 196th Infantry Brigade.

By 1968 the division was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, as a mechanized formation.

III Corps, with the mission of reinforcing Europe if a general war was to break out there.[18] In September 1969 the 4th Brigade, 5th Infantry Division was activated at Fort Carson, although, on the later return of 4th Infantry Division
home from Vietnam in December 1970, the 4th Division replaced the 5th Division at Fort Carson, whereupon the 5th Division was inactivated.

Post-Vietnam

On 21 October 1974 the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division was reactivated at

256th Infantry Brigade
was assigned as the 'round-out' third brigade of the division.

In 1989, units of the 5th Division, based at Fort Polk deployed in support of Operation Nimrod Dancer to protect American interests in Panama. First Battalion, 61st Infantry (Mechanized), "Roadrunners" (1st Brigade, 5th ID) was one of the first reinforcing units and remained there until September when there was a hand over to 4th Battalion, Sixth Infantry (Mechanized), "Regulars" (2nd Brigade, 5th ID).[2] 4–6 Infantry was in country and assisted during Operation Just Cause helping to overthrow Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, and also assisted in an emergency extraction of Delta Force operators engaged in Operation Acid Gambit when their helicopter went down. Two Soldiers were killed in action from the 5th Infantry Division during Just Cause: CPL Ivan M. Perez and PVT Kenneth D. Scott.[19]

In August 1990, the 5th Division was alerted to prepare for deployment in support of

Operation Desert Storm effectively kept the Division from ultimately deploying to Southwest Asia in any capacity.[22][23]
All units returned to Fort Polk by March 1991, with the 256th Brigade demobilization occurring later in May of that same year.

The 5th Division remained at Fort Polk until it was inactivated and reflagged as the 2nd Armored Division November 1992.

Order of battle

15 DEC 1990

(9/1 FA (Prov) and its subordinate units retained their unit designations when the division reflagged as the 2nd Armored Division and moved to Fort Hood, TX)

[24]

Commanders

(Partial list)[25]

World War I

  1. COL William M. Morrow, 1 Dec 1917 – 11 Dec 1917
  2. MG Charles H. Muir, 12 Dec 1917 – 12 Dec 1917
  3. COL William M. Morrow, 13 Dec 1917 – 31 Dec 1917
  4. MG John E. McMahon, 1 Jan 1918 – 16 Oct 1918
  5. MG Hanson E. Ely, 17 Oct 1918 – 22 Jul 1919
  6. BG Wilds P. Richardson, 28 Oct 1919 – 15 Mar 1920
  7. MG David C. Shanks, 1 May 1920 - 1 Sep 1920
  8. MG John L. Hines, 27 Sep 1920 – 7 Jul 1921
  9. BG Ulysses G. McAlexander, 13 Jul 1921 – 4 Oct 1921

Inactivated October 1921; reactivated October 1939

  1. BG Campbell B. Hodges, 24 Oct 1939 – 3 Sep 1940
  2. MG Joseph M. Cummins, 4 Sep 1940 – 23 Jul 1941
  3. MG
    Charles H. Bonesteel
    , 24 Jul 1941 – 19 Aug 1941
  4. MG Cortlandt Parker, 20 Aug 1941 – 23 June 1943
  5. BG Allen D. Warnock, 24 Jun 1943 – 2 Jul 1943
  6. MG S. Leroy Irwin, 3 Jul 1943 – 20 Apr 1945
  7. MG Albert E. Brown, 21 Apr 1945 – 20 Jun 1946
  8. BG Harry B. Sherman, 20 Jun 1946 – 20 Jul 1946
  9. MG Jens A. Doe, 20 Jul 1946 – 20 Sep 1946

Reactivation under 1947 organization

  1. BG John H. Church, 15 Jul 1947 – 1 Oct 1947
  2. MG William B. Kean, 2 Oct 1947 – 30 Jun 1948
  3. MG George H. Decker, 1 Jul 1948 – 28 Feb 1950
  4. BG Frank C. McConnell, 1 Mar 1950 – 30 Apr 1950

Reactivation as Korean War training unit

  1. COL Thomas J. Wells, 4 Mar 1951 – 20 Mar 1951
  2. MG Laurence B. Keiser, 21 Mar 1951 – 30 Nov 1952
  3. MG George B. Barth, 1 Dec 1952 – 1 Sep 1953
  4. MG Richard C. Partridge, 25 May 1954 – 30 Jun 1955
  5. MG William T. Sexton, 1 Jul 1955 – 28 Feb 1956
  6. BG Hiram D. Ives, 1 Mar 1956 – 30 Apr 1956
  7. BG Cyrus A. Dolph, 1 May 1956 – 30 June 1956
  8. MG Gilman C. Mudgett, 1 Jul 1956 – 31 May 1957
  9. BG William M. Breckinridge, 1 Feb 1957 – 1 Jun 1957

Reactivation under ROAD as 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized)

  1. MG Ashton H. Manhart, 19 Feb 1962 – 10 Dec 1962
  2. BG Joseph R. Russ, 11 Dec 1962 – 28 Jan 1963
  3. MG John A. Heintges, 29 Jan 1963 – 15 Jul 1964
  4. BG Milburn N. Huston, 16 Jul 1964 – 30 Jul 1964
  5. MG Autrey J. Maroun, 1 Aug 1964 – 30 Nov 1966
  6. MG Charles A. Corcoran, 1 Dec 1966 – 30 Apr 1968
  7. MG Donald H. McGovern, 1 May 1968 – 2 Jun 1968
  8. MG Roland M. Gleszer, 3 Jun 1968 – 17 Sep 1969
  9. MG Bernard W. Rogers, 18 Sep 1969 – 9 Dec 1970

Division inactivated

Division reactivated at Fort Polk, Louisiana, in 1974

  1. MG Charles E. Spragins, 1 Mar 1974 – 7 Jan 1975
  2. MG Robert Haldane, 7 Jan 1975 – 31 Oct 1976
  3. MG William B. Steele, 1 Nov 1976 – 19 Dec 1978
  4. MG
    Joseph T. Palastra
    , 20 Dec 1978 – 5 July 1981
  5. MG Edward C. Peter II, 6 Jul 1981 – 12 Jul 1983
  6. MG Dale A. Vesser, 13 Jul 1983 – 17 Jun 1985
  7. MG Kenneth C. Leuer, 26 Jun 1985 – 27 May 1987
  8. MG James R. Taylor, 28 May 1987 – 4 June 1989
  9. MG Thomas P. Carney, 5 Jun 1989 – 17 Jul 1990
  10. MG William W. Crouch, 18 Jul 1990 – 16 Jun 1992
  11. MG Jared L. Bates, 17 Jun 1992 – 24 Nov 1992

Division inactivated

Inactivation

The division was inactivated for the final time on 24 November 1992, and reflagged as the

Fort Hood in 1993, with the majority of the 5th Division's equipment.[2]

Though it was inactivated, the division was identified as the third highest priority inactive division in the

Fort Benning, Georgia, following its inactivation. Should the U.S. Army decide to activate more divisions in the future, the center will most likely suggest the first new division be the 9th Infantry Division, the second be the 24th Infantry Division, the third be the 5th Infantry Division, and the fourth be the 2nd Armored Division.[26]

In the

miniatures role-playing game
, a U.S. infantry unit was designated "Red Devil Captain."

In the Twilight: 2000 role-playing game, players start out as members of the 5th ID in July 2000, after the division is overrun by Soviet and Polish units near Kalisz, Poland during a hypothetical World War III.

In the 1981 movie Taps, the Red Diamond patch of the 5ID is worn by a Master Sergeant who is the father of one of the cadets at the school.

In the Bethesda Studios game Fallout 4, in the beginning section it is mentioned that the 5ID is stationed in Southeast Asia.

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Special Unit Designations". United States Army Center of Military History. 21 April 2010. Archived from the original on 9 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  2. ^ a b c "5th Infantry Division (Mechanized)". GlobalSecurity.org. 23 May 2005. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  3. ^ a b Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War, Center of Military History 1988
  4. ^ a b Barta, Edward J. "The Fifth Infantry Division: World War I". The Society of the Fifth Division, United States Army. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  5. ISBN 978-0-16-049992-0
    .
  6. ^ a b c Armies, Corps, Divisions, and Separate Brigades, p. 197.
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-0-9841901-4-0.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain
    .
  8. ^ Stanton, Shelby, World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939-1946 (Revised Edition, 2006), Stackpole Books, p. 83.
  9. ISBN 0-88365-775-9
  10. ^ Stanton, p. 84.
  11. ^ MacDonald, Charles B., Three Battles: Arnaville, Altuzzo, and Schmidt Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine (United States Army Center of Military History: Washington, D.C.) 1993 reprint of 1952 edition, p. 35, 95.
  12. ^ a b "World War II Divisional Combat Chronicles". army.mil. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  13. ^ a b c d e Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II, Final Report (Statistical and Accounting Branch Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)
  14. ^ "The Fifth Infantry Division: World War II". The Society of the Fifth Division, United States Army. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  15. ^ "5th Infantry Division". army.mil. Archived from the original on 21 July 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  16. ^ John B. Wilson, Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades Archived 4 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Chapter Flexible Response: The Buildup of the Army, Center of Military History, United States Army, WASHINGTON, D. C., 1998, accessed November 2011
  17. ISBN 978-0-8117-0071-9
    .
  18. ^ David C. Isby & Charles Kamps Jr., Armies of NATO's Central Front, Jane's Publishing Company, 1985.
  19. ^ "Operation Just Cause the Invasion of Panama". operationjustcause.us. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  20. ^ Pike, John. "256th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized)". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  21. ISSN 0458-3035
    . Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  22. ^ "Army will restructure troops to avoid sending reserve units into early combat". tribunedigital-baltimoresun. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  23. ^ Hooper, Travis (11 June 2018). "FUTURE ROLE AND STRUCTURE OF THE FORCE XXI NATIONAL GUARD". hsdl.org.
  24. ^ "Search Result - Arena4-UAT".
  25. ^ Yves J. Bellanger, Commanders of the 5th Infantry Division, 1917-1970, retrieved 24 March 2014
  26. ^ "Reflagging in the Army:Appendix D". army.mil.

Further reading

  • Society of the Fifth Division, United States Army, veterans of the World War, and Kenyon Stevenson. The Official History of the Fifth Division, U.S.A., During the Period of Its Organization and of Its Operations in the European World War, 1917–1919. The Red Diamond (Meuse) Division. Washington, D.C.: The Society of the Fifth division, 1919.
    OCLC 607820371
    .
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