- 84th Division (United States)
Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 84th Division
caption= 84th Division shoulder sleeve insignia
dates= 5 August 1917 - January 1919 1942 - present
country= United States of America
allegiance=
branch= Army Reserve
type= Infantry
role= Training
size= Division
command_structure=
current_commander=
garrison=
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
nickname= The Railsplitters
patron=
motto= "Strike Hard"
colors=
march=
mascot=
battles=Rhineland Campaign Battle of the Bulge Central Europe Campaign Operation Desert Storm
notable_commanders=
anniversaries=US Infantry
previous=83rd Infantry Division
next=85th Infantry DivisionThe 84th Division (Institutional Training) was a formation of the
United States Army . DuringWorld War I andWorld War II , it was known as the 84th Infantry Division. From 1946 to 1952, the division was a part of theUnited States Army Reserve as the 84th Airborne Division. In 1959, the division was reorganized and redesignated once more to the current designation, 84th Division. The division was headquartered inMilwaukee in command of upwards of 4,100 soldiers divided into eight brigades—including anROTC brigade—spread throughout seven states. Changes to the Reserve organizations in 2005-2007 took the divisional designation away from the 84th. It is now called the 84th Training Command, Leader Readiness. The flag now resides at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin (as of late 2007)=History=
"Lincoln County" Division
Tradition has it that the division traces its lineage to the
Illinois militia company in which a youngCaptain Abraham Lincoln served during theBlack Hawk War of 1832. The division patch was selected to honor this legacy and the division's original in Illinois. For this reason, the alternative nickname of "Lincoln County" Division has been used to denote the 84th.World War I
*Activated: August 1917.
*Overseas: October 1918.
*Major Operations: Provided replacements for other units; saw no combat.
*Commanders: Brig. Gen. Wilber E. Wilder (25 August 1917 ), Maj. Gen. Harry C. Hale (6 October 1917 ), Brig. Gen. Wilber E. Wilder (26 November 1917 ), Brig. Gen. Wilber E. Wilder (15 December 1917 ), Maj. Gen. Harry C. Hale (1 March 1918 ), Maj. Gen. Harry C. Hale (5 June 1918 ), Maj. Gen. Harry C. Hale (21 July 1918 ), Brig. Gen. Wilber E. Wilder (18 October 1918 ), Maj. Gen. Harry C. Hale (31 October 1918 ).
*Inactivated: January 1919.Combat Chronicle
For World War I, personnel were first enlisted from the states of Illinois,
Wisconsin , andKentucky and were formed into an infantry division in 1917, whereupon they chose the formation's distinctive patch and nickname. It was deployed toFrance in October 1918 to serve as a training formation for replacements which would be sent to theWestern Front . At the war's end, the formation was recalled home and, without having seen combat actions, inactivated in January 1919.World War II
*Activated:
15 October 1942 .
*Overseas:20 September 1944 .
*Campaigns: Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe.
*Days of combat: 170.
*Distinguished Unit Citations: 7.
*Awards:Distinguished Service Cross (United States) -12 ;Distinguished Service Medal (United States) -1 ;Silver Star -555; LM-4; SM-27 ; BSM-2,962 ; AM-59.
*Commanders: Maj. Gen. John H. Hilldring (October 1942-February 1943), Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson (February-October 1943), Maj. Gen. Robert B. McClure (October 1943-March 1944), Maj. Gen. Roscoe B. Woodruff (March-June 1944), Maj. Gen. Alexander R. Bolling (June 1944 to 1946).
*Returned to U. S.:19 January 1946 .
*Inactivated:21 January 1946 (redesignated a reserve formation)Combat Chronicle
The 84th Infantry Division arrived in
England ,1 October 1944 , and trained. It landed onOmaha Beach , 1-4 November 1944 , and moved to the vicinity of Gulpen, theNetherlands , 5-12 November . The Division entered combat,18 November , with an attack onGeilenkirchen ,Germany , as part of the larger offensive in the Roer Valley, north ofAachen . TakingGeilenkirchen , 19 November, the Division pushed forward to takeBeeck (Geilenkirchen) andLindern in the face of heavy enemy resistance,29 November . After a short rest, the Division returned to the fight, takingWurm andWürm (Geilenkirchen) ,Mullendorf ,18 December , before moving toBelgium to help stem the German winter offensive.Battling in snow, sleet, and rain, the Division threw off German attacks, recaptured Verdenne, 24-
28 December , tookBeffe andDevantave , 4-6 January 1945 , and seizedLaroche ,11 January . By16 January , the Bulge had been reduced. After a 5-day respite, the 84th resumed the offensive, takingGouvy and Beho. On7 February , the Division assumed responsibility for the Roer River zone, between Linnich and Himmerich, and trained for the river crossing. On23 February 1945 , the Division cut across the Roer, took Boisheim and Dülken,1 March , crossed the Niers Canal on the 2d, tookKrefeld ,3 March , and reached theRhine by5 March . The Division trained along the west bank of the river in March.After crossing the Rhine,
1 April , the Division drove from Lembeck toward Bielefeld in conjunction with the 5th Armored Division, crossing theWeser River to captureHanover ,10 April . By13 April , the Division had reached theElbe , and halted its advance, patrolling along the river. The Russians were contacted atBalow ,2 May 1945 . The Division remained on occupation duty inGermany after VE-day, returning to the United States in January 1946 for demobilization.Assignments in the European Theater of Operations
*
10 September 1944 : Ninth Army, ETOUSA.
*21 September 1944 : III Corps.
*4 November 1944 : XIX Corps, Ninth Army,12th Army Group .
*8 November 1944 : XIII Corps.
*11 November 1944 : Ninth Army, 12th Army Group, but attached for operations to the British XXX Corps,British Second Army ,British 21st Army Group .
*23 November 1944 : XIII Corps, Ninth Army, 12th Army Group.
*20 December 1944 : Ninth Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to the XVIII (Abn) Corps of First Army, itself attached to the British 21st Army Group.
*20 December 1944 : VII Corps.
*22 December 1944 : VII Corps, First Army (attached to British 21st Army Group), 12th Army Group.
*18 January 1945 : VII Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group.
*23 January 1945 : XVIII (Abn) Corps.
*3 February 1945 : XIII Corps, Ninth Army (attached to British 21st Army Group), 12th Army Group.
*4 April 1945 : XIII Corps, Ninth Army, 12th Army Group.Cold War to the present
Following the conclusion of World War II, the 84th Division was taken off the active-duty roster and made part of the Army Reserve. In January 1946, following its inactivation from active status, it was reorganized and redesignated the 84th Airborne Division, and was headquartered out of Wisconsin. In 1947, it would go one to be designated as the Army's
Airborne Reserve Command . Five years later, in 1952, the division was once more reorganized, this time as a training division comprising three regiments—the 274th, 334th, and 339th. Throughout the 1950s, the division would continue its conversion to a training formation, changing its subordinate unit makeup from regiments tobrigade s and support groups.On
24 January 1991 , elements of the 84th Division (Training) were activated and mobilized for support roles inOperation Desert Storm . Less than three months later, on22 March 1991 , the elements were deactivated and returned home. In 1993, reorganization within the Army Reserve brought about the a mergance between the 84th and her sister formation, the 85th Division (Training). The move expanded the 84th's area of command to include the rest of Wisconsin and Illinois, as well as all ofMissouri andIowa . Soon after, in June 1994, units from the 84th participated in peacekeeping operations as part of the mulinational in the Sinai,Egypt , and remained there until July 1995.In April 1995, the formation was once more redesignated, this time to its current designation as an Institutional Training division. This change brought with it command of units and training in the state of
Nebraska . In August 1995, Army reorganization further expanded the 84th's range of authority to command the fourteenU.S. Army Reserve Forces School s in Region E—Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. In addition to training reserve and active units, the 84th is an integral part of the training programs for cadets from theUnited States Military Academy atWest Point and the various college and universityReserve Officer Training Corps programs in its states of authority and influence.General
*Nickname: Railsplitters.
*Shoulder patch: A white axe splitting a rail on a red disk.ubordinate Units
*Headquarters, 84th Division (
Milwaukee, Wisconsin )
*84th Division BandThe rest of this data is dated.
*1st Brigade (Infantry Training)
**Headquarters, 1st Brigade (Livonia, Michigan )
**2nd Battalion
*2nd Brigade (Basic Combat Training)
**Headquarters, 2nd Brigade (Beaver Dam, Wisconsin )
**1-274 Regiment (Chicago, Illinois )
**2-274 Regiment (Fond du Lac, Wisconsin )
**3-274 Regiment (Oshkosh, Wisconsin )
**2-334 Regiment (Granite City, Illinois )
**3-334 Regiment (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
**2-339 Regiment (Madison, Wisconsin )
*3rd Brigade (Combat Support) "Timberwolf Brigade"
**Headquarters, 3rd Brigade (Fort Snelling ,Minnesota )
**1st Battalion (Engineers)
**2nd Battalion (Military Intelligence)
**3rd Battalion (Military Police)
**4th Battalion (Signal)
**5th Battalion (Chemical)
**6th Battalion (Civil Affairs)
*4th Brigade (Combat Service Support)
**Headquarters, 4th Brigade (Indianapolis ,Indiana )
*5th Brigade (Health Services)
**Headquarters, 5th Brigade (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
*6th Brigade (Professional Development)
**Headquarters, 6th Brigade (Waukegan, Illinois )
**12th Battalion (CGSC) (Columbus, Ohio )
**13th Battalion (CAS3) (Harvey, Illinois
**14th Battalion (NCOES) (Fort McCoy , Wisconsin)
**NCOA-McCoy (Fort McCoy, Wisconsin)
*7th Brigade (Training Support)
**Headquarters, 7th Brigade (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
*8th Brigade (Senior ROTC)
**Headquarters, 8th Brigade (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
*Task Force 84 (Fort Benning , Georgia)
**HHC, 2-329th Infantry Regiment
**Alpha Company, 2-329th Infantry Regiment
**Alpha Company, 3-274th Infantry Regiment
**Rec. Detachment, 3-274th Infantry RegimentReferences
*"The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States" U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 reproduced [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/cc/cc.htm here] .
External links
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/84d.htm GlobalSecurity: 84th Division]
* [http://www.lonesentry.com/gi_stories_booklets/84thinfantry/index.html Railsplitters: The Story of the 84th Infantry Division]
* [http://www.battleofthebulge.org/fact/fact_sheet_of_the_84th_infantry.html Fact Sheet of the 84th Infantry Division] from http://www.battleofthebulge.org
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