The 338th Infantry Regiment was a National Army

Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

Regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

first organized for service in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as part of the 85th Infantry Division in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. It later served in the Mediterranean Theater during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Since then it has served as a training Regiment, training

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

and

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG), in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States A ...

Soldiers for service in support of the

Global War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant I ...

Service history

World War I

The regiment was constituted 5 August 1917 in the National Army as the 338th Infantry and assigned to the 169th Infantry Brigade of the 85th Division. It was organized at

Camp Custer Fort Custer Training Center, often known simply as Fort Custer, is a federally owned and state-operated Michigan Army National Guard training facility, but is also used by other branches of the armed forces and armed forces from Illinois, Indiana ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, on 30 August 1917. In August 1917, the regiment was organized with 3,755 officers and enlisted men: * Headquarters & Headquarters Company- 303 ** Supply Company- 140 ** Machine Gun Company- 178 ** Medical & Chaplain Detachment- 56 * Infantry Battalion (x3)- 1,026 ** Headquarters- 2 ** Rifle Company (x4)- 256 The

Doughboy Doughboy was a popular nickname for the American infantryman during World War I. Though the origins of the term are not certain, the nickname was still in use as of the early 1940s. Examples include the 1942 song "Johnny Doughboy Found a Rose in ...

s of the regiment deployed to France as part of the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...

and were billeted in the cities of

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the principal city of the ...

and Cosne. The regiment didn't participate in any named campaigns during the war; its Infantrymen were used as individual replacements to the fighting Divisions. After completing its war service in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

it was demobilized at Camp Custer on 14 April 1919.

Between the World Wars

The 338th Infantry was reconstituted 24 June 1921 and assigned to the 85th Division (later redesignated as the 85th Infantry Division). The headquarters was at Lansing, Michigan.

World War II

The 338th Infantry was ordered into active military service 15 May 1942 and reorganized at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. In July 1943, the regiment was organized with 3,256 officers and enlisted men: * Headquarters & Headquarters Company- 111 ** Service Company- 114 ** Anti-Tank Company- 165 ** Cannon Company- 118 ** Medical Detachment- 135 * Infantry Battalion (x3)- 871 ** Headquarters & Headquarters Company- 126 ** Rifle Company (x3)- 193 ** Weapons Company- 156 The regiment departed

Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation was the Army command structure and distributed port infrastructure in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia supporting movement of personnel and cargo overseas. It had been activated as the Newport News Port of Em ...

in December 1943 aboard the USS General William A. Mann with its supporting 329th Field Artillery Battalion. Arriving in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on March 14, the 339th

Regimental Combat Team A regimental combat team (RCT) is a provisional major infantry unit which has seen use by branches of the United States Armed Forces. It is formed by augmenting a regular infantry regiment with smaller combat, combat support and combat service ...

was attached to the 88th Infantry Division and became the first regiment of the 85th to see combat during World War II on the

Minturno Minturno is a city and ''comune'' in the southern Lazio, Italy, situated on the north west bank of the Garigliano (known in antiquity as the Liris), with a suburb on the opposite bank about from its mouth, at the point where the Via Appia crosse ...

Castelforte Castelforte is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located at the feet of the Monti Aurunci massif. History Castelforte was founded most likely before the year 1000 AD. According to some sch ...

front north of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, on 28 March. After service in the Mediterranean Theater it was disbanded 25 August 1945 at

Camp Patrick Henry Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Post World War II

The 338th Infantry was reconstituted 6 November 1946 in the Organized Reserves and assigned to the 85th Infantry Division with headquarters at Peoria, Illinois. On 9 July 1952, the Organized Reserve was redesignated the Army Reserve. On 1 April 1952, the headquarters was relocated to Danville, Illinois. On 1 June 1959 the 338th Infantry was reorganized as a training unit and was redesignated as the 338th Regiment, an element of the 85th Division (Training), with headquarters at Chicago, Illinois.

Current assignment

As part of Operation Bold Shift, the 338th mission is to train

and

Soldiers for war service before dispatch to the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

, the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, or elsewhere. All three battalions are elements of the 85th Support Command under the operational control of First Army. , the 1st Battalion is stationed at Fort McCoy,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, with the 181st Infantry Brigade, while the 2nd and 3rd Battalions are stationed at

Camp Atterbury Camp Atterbury-Muscatatuck is a federally-owned military post, licensed to and operated by the Indiana National Guard, located in south-central Indiana, west of Edinburgh, Indiana and U.S. Route 31. The camp's mission is to provide full logis ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, with the 157th Infantry Brigade. Each battalion provides Observer/Controllers to the NTC and JRTC to train units conducting rotations as well as conducting exercises at their home stations. File:The Library of Congress - Camp Custer, Michigan, photographed from kites, camera elevated 500 feet (LOC).jpg, Camp Custer, Michigan File:Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation leased facilities.png, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation File:USS General W. A. Mann AP-112.jpg, USS General W. A. Mann File:Welcome Home, Camp Patrick Henry, VA.jpg, Welcome Home, Camp Patrick Henry File:SpringOffensiveItaly1945.jpg, Spring Offensive, Italy 1945 File:IVCorpsApr45.jpg, IV Corps operations, Italy April 1945 File:US Army 51746 1st, 338th provides training, support at Fort McCoy to deploying units.jpg, 1st Battalion training deploying soldiers from the 101st Engineer Battalion September, 2009

Campaign streamers

Decorations

{{cite web, url =http://www.first.army.mil/(S(khcx1x45z035js45pzhbo255))/documents%5Cpdf%5CFirstArmyASUA08-11PO332-07.pdf, archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20150402113522/http://www.first.army.mil/(S(khcx1x45z035js45pzhbo255))/documents%5Cpdf%5CFirstArmyASUA08-11PO332-07.pdf, url-status =dead, archive-date =2 April 2015, title =Permanent Order 332-07, date =27 November 2012, publisher =Department of the Army

References

338th Regiment Lineage and Honors
Infantry regiments of the United States Army United States Army Reserve Military units and formations in Wisconsin