U.S. 2nd Infantry Division
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The 2nd Infantry Division is a formation of the United States Army. Its current primary mission is the defense of South Korea in the initial stages of an invasion from North Korea until other American units can arrive.
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Strength
There are approximately 15,000 soldiers in the 2nd Infanty Division.
The 2nd Division, unlike any other division in the Army, is made up partially of Korean soldiers, called KATUSAs (Korean Augmentation to US Army). This program began in 1950 by agreement with South Korean President Syngman Rhee. Some 27,000 KATUSAs served with the US forces at the end of the Korean War. Approximately 1,400 served in 2002.
Nicknames
- "Indian Head" Division (so named after the unit patch)
- "Warrior Division" (official nickname)
- Motto: "Second to None"
Command and Staff
- Division Commander: Major General John R. Wood
- Deputy Division Commander (Maneuver)
- Division Command Sergeant Major: CSM James Lucerno
- Division KATUSA Sergeant Major: Park, Jung Gil
Locations
- Camp Red Cloud(Division Command) located in Uijeongbu City
- Camp Essayons
- Camp Casey: located in Dongducheon City, 45 miles north of Seoul; 17 miles south of DMZ
- Camp Castle
- Camp Hovey
- Camp Howze
- Camp Stanley
Subunits
- 1st Brigade
- 1st Battalion, 72nd Armor, at Camp Casey
- 2nd Battalion, 72nd Armor, at Camp Casey
- 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry, at Camp Casey
- 2nd Brigade
- 2nd Brigade Combat Team, at Camp Casey (tactical arrangement)
- 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry, at Camp Hovey
- 1st Battalion (Air Assault), 503rd Infantry, at Camp Hovey
- 1st Battalion (Air Assault), 506th Infantry, at Camp Casey
- Long Range Surveillance Detachment, at Camp Hovey
- Expert Infantry Badge Course, at Camp Casey
- 3rd Brigade *Stryker Brigade Combat Team 1*
- 3rd Brigade Combat Team, at Fort Lewis, WA (currently in IRAQ)
- 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment
- 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment
- 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment
- 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment
- 296th Field Support Battalion
- Division Artillery (DIVARTY)
- DIVARTY Headquarters
- 1st Battalion, 15th Artillery; ("Guns Battalion"), 155 mm guns
- 2nd Battalion, 17th Artillery; ("Steel Battalion") At Camp Hovey; supports 2nd Brigade Combat Team
- 3 Paladin batteries (Alfa, Bravo, Charlie)
- Headquarters Battery
- Service Battery
- 6th Battalion, 37th Artillery Regiment; Commander: Lt. Colonel David Thompson
- Headquarters Battery (HHB)
- 2 ATACMS (Bat II) Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) batteries
- Service Battery
- 6th Battalion, 37th Artillery Regiment; Commander: Lt. Colonel David Thompson
- 1st Battaltion, 38th Artillery; ("Steel Behind the Rock"); General support for division; counter-fire on North Korean batteries
- 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Regiment; Lieutenant Colonel Roberto L. Delgado, Commanding
- Aviation Brigade
- Aviation Brigade Headquarters
- 4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry
- 2nd Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment
- 1st Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment
Eighth Army Support:
- 2nd Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment
- Engineering Brigade
- 2nd Engineer Battalion, located at Camp Castle
- 122nd Signal Battalion
- Division Support Command (DISCOM)
- Division Medical Operations Center (DMOC)
- 121st General Hospital, at Yongsam Garrison
- 127th Field Surgical Team
- 2nd Forward Support Battalion, at Camp Hovey; Tactically supports 1st Brigade Combat Team
- 302nd Forward Support Battalion ("Iron Horse"), at Camp Casey: Tactically supports 1st Brigade Combat Team
- 4th Chemical Company
- 602nd Aviation Support Battalion ("Warhorse Battalion"; motto "To mend the Broken Wings"); at Camp Stanley; Provides support for 2nd Aviation Brigade
- 702nd Main Support Battalion; second-level maintenance
History
World War I
One of the few active units organized on foreign soil, the 2d Infantry Division was born on 26 October, 1917, at Beaumont, France. At the time of its activation, the Indianhead Division was composed of one brigade of U.S. Infantry, one brigade of U.S. Marines, an artillery brigade and various supporting units.
The division spent the winter of 1917–1918 training with French Army veterans. Though judged unprepared by French tacticians, the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) was committed to combat in the spring of 1918 in a desperate attempt to halt a German advance toward Paris. The 2d Division drew its first blood in the nightmare landscape of the Battle of Belleau Wood, and contributed to shattering the four year old stalemate on the battlefield during the Château-Thierry campaign that followed. On 28 July 1918, MajGen John A. Lejeune assumed command of the 2d Division and remained in that capacity until August 1919, when the unit was demobilized. He was the only Marine officer to command an Army division. The division won hard fought victories at Soissons and Mont Blanc, for which it was awarded the French Fourragère in the colors of the Croix de Guerre. Finally the Indianhead Division participated in the Meuse-Argonne offensive which spelled the end of any German hope for victory. On 11 November, 1918 the Armistice was declared, and the 2d Infantry Division marched into Germany where it performed occupation duties until April of 1919.
Interwar years
Upon returning to the United States, the division was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. It remained there for the next 23 years, serving as an experimental unit, testing new concepts and innovations for the Army. In 1940 the 2d Infantry Division was the first command reorganized under the new triangular concept, which provided for three separate regiments in each division. Indianhead soldiers pioneered concepts of airmobility and anti-tank warfare, which served the army for the next two decades on battlefields in every corner of the globe.
In November 1941 the division moved by rail to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. Four months of intensive training for winter warfare followed. In September 1943 the division moved to staging area at Camp Shanks, New York. On 7 October the division officially sailed from New York Harbor, and started arriving in Belfast, Ireland on the 17th.
World War II
After training in Ireland and Wales from October 1943 to June 1944, the 2d Infantry Division crossed the channel to land on Omaha Beach on D plus 1, 7 June 1944, near St. Laurent-sur-Mer. Attacking across the Aure River, the Division liberated Trevieres, 10 June, and proceeded to assault and secure Hill 192, the key enemy strongpoint on the road to St. Lô. With the hill taken 11 July 1944, the Division went on the defensive until 26 July. Exploiting the St. Lô break-through, the 2d Division advanced across the Vire to take Tinchebray 15 August 1944. The Division then moved west to join the battle for Brest, the heavily defended fortress surrendering 18 September 1944 after a 39-day contest.
The Division took a brief rest 19–26 September before moving to defensive positions at St. Vith, Belgium. From positions around St. Vith, the Second was ordered, on 11 December, 1944, to attack and seize the Roer River dams. The German Ardennes offensive in mid-December forced the Division to withdraw to defensive positions near Elsenborn, where the German drive was halted. In February 1945 the Division attacked, recapturing lost ground, and seized Gemund, 4 March. Reaching the Rhine 9 March, the 2d advanced south to take Breisig, 10–11 March, and to guard the Remagen bridge, 12–20 March.
The Division crossed the Rhine 21 March and advanced to Hadamar and Limburg an der Lahn, relieving elements of the 9th Armored Division, 28 March. Advancing rapidly in the wake of the 9th Armored, the 2d Division crossed the Weser at Veckerhagen, 6–7 April, captured Göttingen 8 April, established a bridgehead across the Saale, 14 April, seizing Merseburg on the 15th. On the 18th the Division took Leipzig, mopped up in the area, and outposted the Mulde River; elements which had crossed the river were withdrawn 24 April. Relieved on the Mulde, the 2d moved 200 miles, 1–3 May, to positions along the German-Czech border near Schonsee and Waldmunchen, and attacked in the general direction of Pilsen, reaching that city as the war in Europe ended.
Though slated to participate in the scheduled invasion of Japan, V-J Day found the 2nd Infantry Division back home once again. After a series of stateside moves, the Indianheads were stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington. From their Fort Lewis base, they conducted Arctic, air transportability, amphibious, and maneuver training.
Korean War
With the outbreak of hostilities in Korea during the summer of 1950, the 2nd Infantry Division was quickly alerted for movement to the Far East Command. The division arrived in Korea, via Pusan on 23 July, becoming the first unit to reach Korea directly from the United States. Initially employed piecemeal, the entire division was committed as a unit on 24 August, 1950, relieving the 24th Infantry Division at the Naktong River Line. The first big test came when the North Koreans struck in a desperate human wave attack on the night of 31 August. In the 16-day battle that followed, the division’s clerks, bandsmen, technical and supply personnel joined in the fight to defend the attackers.
Shortly thereafter, the 2ID was the first unit to break out of the Pusan perimeter and they led the Eighth Army drive to the Manchurian Border. It was at this time that the 2ID received a crucial new support element. In August of 1950, with American forces dwindling, a Korean Augmentation to the United States Army was established. These valiant new 2nd Infantry Division troops, known since simply as KATUSA, helped turn the tide of the war for American forces.
Now within fifty miles of the Manchurian border when Chinese forces entered the fight, soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division were given the mission of protecting the rear and right flank of the Eighth Army as it retired to the South. Fighting around Kuna-ri cost the division nearly one third of its strength, but was ten times more costly to the enemy and the way was kept open. The Chinese winter offensive was finally blunted by the 2nd Infantry Division on 31 January at Wonju. Taking up the offensive in a two-prong attack in February, 1951, the Division repulsed a powerful Chinese counter-offensive in the epic battles of Chip-yong-ni and Wonju. The United Nations front was saved and the general offensive continued.
Again in April and May 1951, the 2nd Infantry Division was instrumental in smashing the communist's spring offensive. For its part in this action the 2nd Infantry Division was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. What followed were alternating periods of combat and rest, with the division participating in the battles of Heartbreak Ridge and Old Baldy. Finally, on 9 April 1953, the Division was moved to a rear area and on 20 August, 1954, four years after its last unit arrived in Korea, the 2ID was alerted for re-deployment to the United States.
Reorganization
In the summer of 1954 the 2d Division was transferred from Korea to Fort Lewis, Washington, where it remained for only two years, until being transferred to Alaska in August of 1956. On 8 November, 1957, it was announced that the division was to be deactivated. However, a few short months later, in the spring of 1958, the Department of the Army announced that the 2d Infantry Division would be reorganized at Fort Benning, Georgia, with personnel and equipment of the 10th Infantry Division returning from Germany. Fort Benning remained the home of the new 2d Infantry Division from 1958 to 1965, where they were initially assigned the mission of a training division. To improve combat readiness, in March of 1962 the 2ID was designated as a Strategic Army Corps (STRAC) unit. Following this the Division became engaged in intensified combat training, tactical training, and field training exercises, in addition to special training designed to improve operational readiness.
Back to Korea
As a result of increasing tensions on the Korean peninsula, the 2d Infantry Division returned to the Republic of Korea in July of 1965. North Korean forces were engaging increasing border incursions and infiltration attempts and the 2d Division was called upon to help halt these attacks. On 2 November 1966, soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry were killed in an ambush by North Korean forces. In 1967 enemy attacks in the demilitarized zone increased, as a result, 16 American soldiers were killed that year.
In 1968 North Koreans continued to probe across the DMZ, and in 1969, while on patrol, 4 soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 23rd Infantry were killed, but by 1970 the North had decided that their efforts against the 2d ID weren’t worth the cost and organized attacks stopped that year. By March of 1971 ROK forces had assumed the responsibility for the defense of all but 500 yards of the DMZ, allowing the 2d Infantry Division to maintain combat readiness in case of any eventuality.
On 18 August 1976, during a routine tree-trimming operation within the DMZ, two American officers were bludgeoned to death in a melee with North Korean border guards in the Joint Security Area. What resulted is known as Operation Paul Bunyan. The 2d Infantry Division was chosen to spearhead the United Nations Command response to this incident and on 21 August, Task Force Brady, a group of ROK soldiers American infantry and engineers, swept into the area and cut down the infamous "Panmunjom Tree". The 2d Infantry Division delivered an unmistakable message to the North Koreans, as well as to the world.
The 2d Infantry Division is still stationed in Korea, with a number of camps near the DMZ. Command headquarters are at Camp Red Cloud in Uijongbu.
External links
- 2nd ID official website (http://www-2id.korea.army.mil/about/history/)
- "From D+1 to 105: The Story of the 2nd Infantry Division" (WWII unit history booklet) (http://www.lonesentry.com/gi_stories_booklets/2ndinfantry/)ja:アメリカ合衆国陸軍第2歩兵師団