The 1st Armored Division, nicknamed "Old Ironsides," is a

combined arms Combined arms is an approach to warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme vio ...

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. The division is part of

III Armored Corps III Corps or III Armored Corps is a corps of the United States Army headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas. It is a major formation of the United States Army Forces Command. Activated in World War I in France, III Corps oversaw US Army divisions a ...

and operates out of

Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of William Wallace Smith Bliss, LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President ...

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. It was the first armored division of the United States' Army to see battle in

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 World War II, the division has been involved in the Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Persian Gulf War,

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, Afghanistan, and several other operations. The division has also received numerous awards and recognition.

Insignia

The division was nicknamed "Old Ironsides" by its first commander, Major General

Bruce Magruder Bruce Magruder (December 3, 1882 – July 23, 1953) was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the Moro Rebellion, Pancho Villa Expedition, World War I, and World War II, he attained the rank of major general. Magruder was most ...

, after he saw a picture of the frigate USS ''Constitution'', also nicknamed "Old Ironsides". The large "1" at the top represents the numerical designation of the division and the insignia is used as a basis for most of the other sub-unit insignias. In January 1918, the Tank Corps of the United States Army was established under Colonel

Samuel Rockenbach Samuel Dickerson Rockenbach (27 January 1869 – 16 May 1952) was an American Brigadier General and father of the United States Tank Corps. Biography Rockenbach was born in Lynchburg, Virginia on January 27, 1869, the son of Frank J. Rockenbac ...

. At his direction, First Lieutenant J. P. Wharton designed the original coat of arms: a triangle on a shield surrounded by a wreath and a silver dragon. The triangle itself is an old heraldic element of armorial design known as a pile, representing the head of a spear. There was no shoulder patch in 1918. The 7th Cavalry Brigade (mechanized) contributed the other part of the present-day Armor shoulder patch. The brigade formed out of the 1st Cavalry Regiment in Marfa Texas, on 16 January 1933 under General

Daniel Van Voorhis Daniel Van Voorhis (October 24, 1878 – January 9, 1956) was a United States Army lieutenant general and was noteworthy for his assignments as commander of V Corps and the Caribbean Defense Command, as well as his efforts in creating the Army's ...

, then Colonel of the Cavalry. The 7th Cavalry Brigade included the 13th Cavalry and had been organized specifically to develop the new armored force concept while training in the emerging modern war-fighting tactics. Colonel George F. Linthwaite (then a newly enlisted Private) joined the 13th Cavalry regiment in 1933. Major General

Robert W. Grow Major General Robert Walker Grow (February 14, 1895 – November 3, 1985) was a senior United States Army officer who commanded the 6th Armored Division during World War II. He was notable for his court-martial in 1951 for failing to safeguard c ...

(then a Major and brigade adjutant) was instructed to develop a shoulder patch for the new armored force. Grow announced to the brigade that a contest would be held to design the new Armored force patch. A three-day weekend pass was awarded to the designer of the winning entry. Linthwaite won the contest: he designed a circular patch, four inches in diameters, with a solid yellow-gold background to symbolize the Cavalry heritage. On the face of the patch, he drew a stylized black tank track with a drive and idler sprockets to symbolize mobility. In the center of the track at a slight diagonal, he placed a single cannon barrel, also in black, to symbolize firepower. Finally, to symbolize the striking power of the new armored force, he added a diagonal lightning bolt in red, extending across the total design and full diameter of the patch. In 1940, Major General Adna R. Chaffee Jr. was promoted to lead the newly created Armor Forces which had evolved from the old 7th Cavalry Brigade and were preparing for the looming war in Europe. Chaffee wanted a patch for this new Armored Force. He chose to combine the 7th Brigade patch with the triangle from the World War I crest. The tri-colors, with blue for infantry, red for artillery, and yellow for cavalry – represented the three basic components of the mechanized armed force. In 1940 the War Department officially designated the now-familiar patch worn by soldiers of all United States Army Armored Divisions.

History

World War II

On 15 July 1940, the 1st Armored Division, largely an expanded and reorganized version of the 7th Cavalry Brigade, was activated at

Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository, which is used to house a large portion of the United States' official gold res ...

under the command of Major General Bruce Magruder. The 1st Cavalry Regiment was re-designated as the 1st Armored Regiment and the 13th Cavalry Regiment was re-designated as the 13th Armored Regiment under the 1st Armored Brigade, 1st Armored Division. For more than two years after its activation, the 1st Armored Division trained at

and the division pioneered and developed tank gunnery and strategic armored offensives while increasing from 66 medium-sized tanks to over 600 medium and light armored vehicles.

Training

On 15 July 1940 the division was trained at Fort Knox, Kentucky. The U.S. Army had never carried out this before and the troops necessary for this kind of force were drawn from a variety of army posts. When the organization was completed, the division had tanks, artillery, and infantry. In direct support were

tank destroyer A tank destroyer, tank hunter, tank killer, or self-propelled anti-tank gun is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct fire artillery gun or missile launcher, designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often wi ...

, maintenance, medical, supply and engineer battalions, but bringing the division up to its full quota of equipment and vehicles was difficult. Although new equipment was received almost daily, the division had only nine outdated

medium tank A medium tank is a classification of tanks, particularly prevalent during World War II which represented a compromise between the mobility oriented light tanks and the armour and armament oriented heavy tanks. A medium tank's classification is ...

s primarily armed with guns until March 1941. Most of the division attended the Armored Force School at Knox to train in using their newly acquired tanks, half-tracks, and guns. The division left in September 1941 for three months to participate in maneuvers in Louisiana. The division returned to Fort Knox the day before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Training took on a new intensity. The division was reorganized, and all tanks, both medium and light were put into two armored regiments, the 1st and 13th. A third armored field artillery battalion, the 91st, was formed, and the 701st Tank Destroyer Battalion was organized and attached to the division. At Fort Knox, the division participated in the Technicolor

short movie A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

'' The Tanks Are Coming'' (as the "First Armored Force"). It deployed to participate in the VII Corps Maneuvers on 18 August 1941. Once the maneuvers concluded, the 1st Armored Division then moved on 28 August 1941 and arrived at Camp Polk for the Second Army

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Maneuvers on 1 September 1941. They then moved to Fort Jackson on 30 October 1941 to participate in the First Army

Carolina Maneuvers The Carolina Maneuvers were a series of United States Army exercises held around Southern North Carolina and Northern South Carolina in 1941. The exercises, which involved some 350,000 troops, was designed to evaluate United States training, logis ...

. The division returned to Fort Knox on 7 December 1941 but started to prepare for deployment overseas instead of returning to garrison. The 1st Armored Division was ordered to

Fort Dix Fort Dix, the common name for the Army Support Activity (ASA) located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Army post. It is located south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Fort Dix is under the jurisdiction of the Air Force A ...

on 11 April 1942 to await their deployment overseas. The division's port call required them to board the

RMS Queen Mary RMS ''Queen Mary'' is a retired British ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard-White Star Line and was built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. ''Queen Mary'', along with , ...

at the

New York Port of Embarkation The New York Port of Embarkation (NYPOE) was a United States Army command responsible for the movement of troops and supplies from the United States to overseas commands. The command had facilities in New York and New Jersey, roughly covering the ...

at the

Brooklyn Army Terminal The Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT) is a large warehouse complex in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, New York City. The site occupies more than between 58th and 63rd Streets west of Second Avenue, on Brooklyn's western shore. The complex was originally u ...

on 11 May 1942. They arrived in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

on 16 May 1942 and trained on the moors until they moved on to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 29 October 1942. The division was now commanded by Major General

Orlando Ward Major General Orlando Ward (November 4, 1891 – February 4, 1972) was a career United States Army officer who fought in both World War I and World War II. During the latter, as a major general, he commanded the 1st Armored Division during Opera ...

Combat operations

A volunteer troop of three

M3 Grant The M3 Lee, officially Medium Tank, M3, was an American medium tank used during World War II. The turret was produced in two forms, one for US needs and one modified to British requirements to place the radio next to the commander. In British C ...

crews from the 1st Armored Division commanded by Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. fought in the

Battle of Gazala The Battle of Gazala (near the village of ) was fought during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, west of the port of Tobruk in Libya, from 26 May to 21 June 1942. Axis troops of the ( Erwin Rommel) consisting of German and I ...

under British command in June 1942, becoming the first Americans to engage the Germans on land in the war (* Major Lodge was not in one of the three tanks which actually fought). Alerted for the invasion were the 1st Battalion of the 1st Armored Regiment, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 13th Armored Regiment, nearly all the 6th Armored Infantry Regiment, the 27th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, "B" and "C" Companies of the 701st Tank Destroyer Battalion, and detachments of the 16th Armored Engineer Battalion, the Supply Battalion, the Maintenance Battalion, 47th Armored Medical Battalion, and the 141st Signal Company. The unit's proper first contact with an enemy was as part of the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

invasion of Northwest Africa,

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

, on 8 November 1942. Elements of the division became part of the Northern Task Force and became the first American

armored division A division is a large military unit or Formation (military), formation, usually consisting of between 6,000 and 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically mak ...

to see combat in World War II.

Combat Command A combat command was a combined-arms military organization of comparable size to a brigade or regiment employed by armored forces of the United States Army from 1942 until 1963. The structure of combat commands was task-organized and so the force ...

B (CCB) of the division landed east and west of

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

under the command of Brigadier General

Lunsford E. Oliver Major General Lunsford Errett Oliver (March 17, 1889 – October 13, 1978) was a senior United States Army officer, who commanded the 5th Armored Division during World War II. Early life and military career Lunsford Errett Oliver was born on ...

and entered the city on 10 November 1942. On 24 November 1942, CCB moved from

Tafraoui Tafraoui is a municipality in Oran Province, Algeria close to the city of Oran. There is an airport with the same name. Capturing Tafaraoui Airport was a part of Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – 16 November 1942) was ...

, Algeria to Bedja, Tunisia, and raided the Djedeida airfield the next day and conquered the city on 28 November 1942. CCB moved southwest of

Tebourba Tebourba ( aeb, طبربة ') is a town in Tunisia, located about 20 miles (30 km) from the capital Tunis, former ancient city (Thuburbo Minus) and bishopric, now a Latin Catholic titular see. Thuburbo Minus Historically Thuburbo Minus wa ...

on 1 December 1942, engaged with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

forces on El Guessa Heights on 3 December 1942, but its lines were pierced on 6 December 1942. CCB withdrew to Bedja with heavy equipment losses between 10 and 11 December 1942 and was placed in reserve. CCB next attacked in the Ousseltia Valley on 21 January 1943, and cleared that area until 29 January 1943 when sent to Bou Chebka, and arrived at

Maktar Maktar or Makthar ( ar, مكثر), also known by other names during antiquity, is a town and archaeological site in Siliana Governorate, Tunisia. Maktar was founded by the Berber Numidians as a defense post against Carthaginian expansion. At th ...

on 14 February 1943. Combat Command A (CCA) fought at Faïd Pass commencing on 30 January 1943, and advanced to Sidi Bou Zid, where it was pushed back with heavy tank losses on 14 February 1943, and had elements isolated on Djebel Lessouda, Djebel Kasaira, and Garet Hadid. Combat Command C (CCC), which was formed on 23 January 1943 to raid Sened Station on 24 January, advanced towards Sbeita and counterattacked to support CCA in the Sidi Bou Zid area on 15 February 1943, but was forced to retreat with heavy losses. The division withdrew from Sbeita on 16 February 1943, but by 21 February 1943 CCB contained the German attack toward

Tébessa Tébessa or Tebessa ( ar, تبسة ''Tibissa'', ''Tbessa'' or ''Tibesti''), the classical Theveste, is the capital city of Tébessa Province region of northeastern Algeria. It hosts several historical landmarks, the most important one being the w ...

. The German withdrawal allowed the division to recover Kasserine Pass on 26 February 1943 and assemble in reserve. The division moved northeast of

Gafsa Gafsa ( aeb, ڨفصة '; ar, قفصة qafṣah), originally called Capsa in Latin, is the capital of Gafsa Governorate of Tunisia. It lends its Latin name to the Mesolithic Capsian culture. With a population of 111,170, Gafsa is the ninth-la ...

on 13 March 1943 and attacked in heavy rains on 17 March 1943 as CCA took Zannouch, but became immobilized by rain the next day. The division drove on

Maknassy Meknassy ( ar, المكناسي '), sometimes spelt ''Maknassy'', is a town and commune in the Sidi Bou Zid Governorate, Tunisia. In 2004 it had a population of 13,742.Battle of Djebel Naemia on 22–25 March 1943, and then fought to break through positions barring the road to

Gabès Gabès (, ; ar, قابس, ), also spelled Cabès, Cabes, Kabes, Gabbs and Gaps, is the capital city of the Gabès Governorate in Tunisia. It is located on the coast of the Gulf of Gabès. With a population of 152,921, Gabès is the 6th largest ...

between 29 March and 1 April 1943. It followed up on the withdrawing German forces on 6 April 1943 and attacked towards

Mateur Mateur ( aeb, ماطر ') is a town in northern Tunisia. It is located at around , close to the Lac Ichkeul National Park. Overview Located in the southwest of the governorate of Bizerte, Mateur is the county seat of a delegation of 61,919 ...

with CCA on 27 April 1943, which fell after fighting on Hill 315 and Hill 299 on 3 May 1943. The division, now commanded by Major General Ernest N. Harmon, fought the Battle for Djebel Achtel between 5 and 11 May 1943 and entered Ferryville on 7 May 1943. With the British forces taking Tunis and Americans in Bizerte, the Axis forces in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

surrendered between 9 and 13 May 1943. The division was reorganized in

French Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco (french: Protectorat français au Maroc; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في المغرب), also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco between 1912 to 1956. The prote ...

and began arriving in

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 ...

, Italy on 28 October 1943. WWII North Africa

After the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...

, the 1st Armored Division, which was part of the

American Fifth Army The United States Army North (ARNORTH) is a formation of the United States Army. An Army Service Component Command (ASCC) subordinate to United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM), ARNORTH is the joint force land component of NORTHCOM.

, invaded mainland Italy. It participated in the attack on the

Winter Line The Winter Line was a series of German and Italian military fortifications in Italy, constructed during World War II by Organisation Todt and commanded by Albert Kesselring. The series of three lines was designed to defend a western section of ...

in November 1943, flanked the

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

armies in the landings at Anzio, and passed through the city of Rome and pursued the retreating enemy northward until mid-July 1944. At that point, Harmon was replaced by Major General

Vernon Prichard Major General Vernon Edwin "Prich" Prichard (January 25, 1892 − July 10, 1949) was an American football quarterback and United States Army officer. He played college football with Army and was selected as a first-team All-American in 1914. He b ...

, who led the 1st AD for the rest of the war. Three days after Prichard took command, the division was reorganized based on experiences in the North Africa Campaign. The change was drastic: it eliminated the armored and infantry regiments in favor of three separate tank and infantry battalions, disbanded the Supply Battalion, and cut the strength of the division from 14,000 to 10,000. The result of the reorganization was a more flexible and balanced division, with roughly equivalent infantry and tank battalions. These forces could be combined or custom-tailored by the command to meet any situation. The additional infantry strength would prove particularly useful in future campaigns in the largely mountainous combat of the Italian campaign. The division continued in combat to the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...

until the German forces in Italy surrendered on 2 May 1945. In June, the division moved to Germany as part of the occupation forces.

Casualties

*Total battle casualties:7,096Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953) *Killed in action: 1,194 *Wounded in action: 5,168 *Missing in action: 216 *Prisoner of war: 518 During the war, the Old Ironsides division captured 41 towns and cities and 108,740 prisoners. 722 division soldiers were awarded the Silver Star and another 908 received the Bronze Star. The division received 5,478 Purple Hearts. Two division soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II: Private Nicholas Minue and Second Lieutenant Thomas Weldon Fowler. The 1st Armored Division flag returned to the New York Port of Embarkation on 24 April 1946 and was deactivated at

Camp Kilmer Located in Central New Jersey, Camp Kilmer is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

on 25 April 1946. The component headquarters and units which remained in Germany were retasked and renamed as a component of the

United States Constabulary The United States Constabulary was a United States Army military gendarmerie force. From 1946 to 1952, in the aftermath of World War II, it acted as an occupation and security force in the U.S. Occupation Zone of West Germany and Austria. Reaso ...

After World War II

As part of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

buildup of American forces, the 1st Armored Division was reactivated at

Fort Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarters ...

, Texas on 7 March 1951. The division became one of the first divisions in the Army to integrate black soldiers throughout the ranks, and was also the only combat-ready armored division in the continental United States and the first to receive the

M48 Patton The M48 Patton is an American List of main battle tanks by generation#First generation, first-generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in February 1952, being designated as the 90mm Gun Tank: M48. It was designed as a replacement for the M2 ...

tank. Training for nuclear war became a major theme in the mid-1950s. The 1st Armored Division participated in tests of the "Atomic Field Army" at Fort Hood and in Operation Sagebrush, the largest joint maneuver conducted since World War II. The 1st Armored Division moved to its new base of operations at Fork Polk, Louisiana after completing the exercise in February 1956.

Cuba

At the end of the 1950s, the Army's focus on a nuclear battlefield waned and it experienced years of reduced budgets. The 1st Armored Division reverted into a training cadre for new inductees after being reduced in size and moved back to Fort Hood. In 1962, the 1st Armored Division was brought back to full strength and reorganized. Brigades replaced combat commands and the division's aviation assets doubled. Intense training followed the reorganization. In October 1962 the 1st Armored Division was declared combat-ready just before the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

. The division deployed from Fort Hood, Texas to Fort Stewart in response to the Soviet stationing of missiles in Cuba. The entire operation took 18 days. In the following six weeks, the 1st Armored Division conducted live-fire training and amphibious exercises on the Georgia and Florida coasts. One highlight was a visit from President John F. Kennedy on 26 November 1962. Shortly thereafter, tensions eased and the division returned to Ft. Hood.

Vietnam

Although the 1st Armored Division did not participate as a division in the Vietnam War, there were two units, Company A, 501st Aviation and 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry, that served in Vietnam. Both earned Presidential Unit Citations, and 1-1 Cavalry received two Valorous Unit Awards and three Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry. Neither unit was officially detached from the 1st Armored Division thus veterans of both units may wear the division's patch as a

combat patch A shoulder sleeve insignia (often abbreviated SSI) is an embroidered patch worn on some uniforms of the United States Army. It is used by major formations of the U.S. Army; each formation has a unique formation patch. The U.S. Army is unique amo ...

. In 1967 the 198th Infantry Brigade was formed from three of the division's infantry battalions and deployed from Fort Hood to Vietnam. After the war, two of the three battalions, 1-6 Infantry and 1-52 Infantry, returned to the 1st Armored Division. In early April 1968, when rioting broke out in many American cities following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the 3rd Brigade was deployed on 6 April to assist in restoring order during rioting in Chicago.

West Germany

In the early 1970s, American forces withdrew from Vietnam and the Army was heavily restructured: the 1st Armored Division was rumored to be on the list of units to be deactivated. Veterans of the division organized a letter-writing campaign to "save" the 1st Armored Division. As part of the Army's post-Vietnam reorganization, the 1st Armored Division was moved to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in 1971 and replaced the 4th Armored Division in the Bavarian city of

Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, a ...

. The Division headquarters remained in Ansbach, with brigade units in the neighboring towns of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

, Illesheim,

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian: ; yi, פיורדא, Fiurda) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the t ...

(Nuremberg), Schwabach, Katterbach,

Crailsheim Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Incorporated in 1338, it lies east of Schwäbisch Hall and southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall district. The city's main attractions include two Evangelical churches, a ...

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative d ...

and

Zirndorf Zirndorf () is a town, which is part of the district of Fürth. It is located in northern Bavaria, Germany in the Regierungsbezirk of Middle Franconia. Neighbouring municipalities The following towns and municipalities share borders with Zirn ...

for the next twenty years, as part of

VII Corps 7th Corps, Seventh Corps, or VII Corps may refer to: * VII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * VII ...

, itself part of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Central Army Group Headquarters Allied Force Command Heidelberg (HQ FC Heidelberg) was a formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) responsible for providing deployable joint staff elements (DJSE) in support of NATO operations worldwide. It was hea ...

. 1st Battalion, 51st Infantry (Mech), at Crailsheim, part of the 1st Brigade, was deactivated on 16 June 1984 as a result of the division's conversion to the Division 86 force structure. Under the Division 86 structure, each heavy division decreased by one infantry battalion, while remaining infantry battalions gained one additional rifle company. On 16 April 1986, the Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored Division, was activated in Germany. In April 1987, 6th Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery (Patriot) moved to a newly built Urlas Kaserne (located near Bismarck & Katterbach Kaserne) assigned to the 1st Armored Division. On 16 November 1987, the 501st Combat Aviation Battalion was deactivated and re-flagged as 2nd Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment at Katterbach Kaserne, Federal Republic of Germany, under the 1st Armored Division.

Persian Gulf War

In August 1990,

invaded Kuwait. On 8 November 1990, the 1st Armored Division was alerted for deployment to the Middle East to provide an offensive option should Saddam refuse to withdraw from Kuwait. This alert changed the division's focus, from "building down" in Europe to "building up" in Southwest Asia. Division leaders and soldiers began focusing on planning, training and unit deployment. Planning focused on the challenge of logistics, as the division had to be shipped to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

in a logical order to support the buildup for combat operations. Commanders and their staff rapidly integrated new equipment into their units to be deployed to the Persian Gulf region. The division also prepared to receive new units: 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division replaced 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division. Round-out units such as the 312th Support Center (RAOC) composed of reservists from throughout Germany, also joined the division. Other units, such as the 54th and 19th Engineer battalions, the 218th Military Police Company, and the 7th Support Group, joined the 1st Armored Division in Kuwait. Units concentrated on preparing vehicles for overseas movement while undergoing individual and unit training, including gunnery, in the few weeks available before deployment. The division qualified 355 tanks and 300 Bradley crews on Tables VII and VIII, conducted division artillery howitzer section gunnery, fired modified Vulcan Table VIII and qualified Stinger and Chaparral crews. Battle drill rehearsals and wargaming seminars were also part of the rigorous training agenda. The division transported equipment by rail, wheeled convoy, and rotary-wing self-deployment. These movements unavoidably occurred on short notice or in bad weather, and posed challenges to coordination and logistics. The first trains departed for port the last week of November 1990 and continued to so until the second week of December 1990. Within two months 17,400 soldiers and 7,050 pieces of equipment were moved to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield/Storm.

Battle damage assessment

* 25 Feb: 2 tanks, 25 APC, 9 artillery, 14 ADA, 48 trucks, 314 EPW * 26 Feb: 112 tanks, 82 APC, 2 artillery, 2 ADA, 94 trucks, 545 EPW * 27 Feb: 186 tanks, 127 APC, 66 artillery, 5 ADA, 118 trucks, 839 EPW * 28 Feb: 41 tanks, 60 APC, 15 artillery, 11 ADA, 244 trucks, 281 EPW * 1–12 Mar: 99 tanks, 191 APC, 98 artillery, 105 ADA, 879 trucks, 4,707 EPW * Total: 440 tanks, 485 APC, 190 artillery, 137 ADA, 1,383 trucks, 6,686 EPW Four division soldiers were killed in action and 52

wounded in action Wounded in Action (WIA) describes combatants who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during wartime, but have not been killed. Typically, it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing ...

during the Gulf War

The Balkans

On 18 December 1995, under the command of Major General William L. Nash, the division deployed to northeastern

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

as the command and major troop contributing element of

Task Force Eagle The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename ''Operation Joint Endeavour''. Background NATO ...

, a peace enforcement, multinational unit. The 1st Armored Division returned in late 1996 to Germany. In 1999, the unit deployed to

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

for

Operation Allied Force The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...

and

Operation Joint Guardian Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. The unit trained heavily afterwards in the Hohenfels and

Grafenwöhr Grafenwöhr (, Northern Bavarian: ''Groafawehr'') is a town in the district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab, in the region of the Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz) in eastern Bavaria, Germany. It is widely known for the United States Army militar ...

Training Areas in Germany, with realistic OPFOR (Opposition Forces) exercises. In 2000, the 1st Armored Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team trained at the

Grafenwoehr Training Area Grafenwoehr Training Area (GTA) is a United States Army training base located near Grafenwöhr, Bavaria, Germany. At 232 km2, it is the largest US training facility in Europe. The base is operated by 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Comm ...

(GTA). In February 2000, 1st Armored Division Headquarters announced the closure of military facilities in Bad Kreuznach and its subsequent move to

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

scheduled for June 2001. The 1st Armored Division trained at HTA and GTA in three separate exercises in March 2001. Ready First participated in Mountain Guardian III at Hohenfels as a mission rehearsal exercise for Kosovo. The 1st Armored Division's command and control elements conducted a warfighter exercise in the GTA between 21 March and 17 April 2001. The 1st Armored Division took command of Task Force Falcon in Kosovo as Brigadier General Randal Tieszen accepted the colors from 1st Infantry Division's Brigadier General

Ricardo Sanchez Ricardo Sanchez (born September 9, 1953) is a former lieutenant general in the United States Army. His career was most notable for his service as commander of Multi-National Force – Iraq and V Corps. Early life and education Sánchez was bor ...

. The 1st Armored Division celebrated its 60th birthday at home and abroad in Kosovo on 15 July 2001. Major General

George W. Casey, Jr. George William Casey Jr. (born July 22, 1948) is a retired four-star general who served as the 36th Chief of Staff of the United States Army from April 10, 2007, to April 10, 2011. He served as Commanding General, Multi-National Force – Iraq fr ...

traveled to Boston Harbor in August 2001 where he connected with Commander Bill Foster of the historic warship USS ''Constitution''.

Iraq

In the months building up to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, two

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

s of the 1st Armored Division's 3rd Brigade were deployed to support

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{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 ...

. The 2–70 Armor and 1–41 Infantry battalion task forces augmented the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

, the 3rd Infantry Division, and the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

throughout the campaign to oust Iraqi dictator

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

. These units spearheaded the U.S. assaults in As Samawah and Karbala and later occupied the southern area of Baghdad. The 1st Battalion, 13th Armor followed shortly behind towards the end of March 2003. In May 2003, the division deployed to Iraq and assumed responsibility for

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, under command of Major General

, relieving the 3d Infantry Division. The 1st Brigade, under Colonel Michael Tucker and after July 2003 under Colonel

Peter Mansoor Peter R. Mansoor (born February 28, 1960) is a retired United States Army officer, military historian, and commentator on national security affairs in the media. He is known primarily as the executive officer to General David Petraeus during the I ...

, assumed responsibility for the Rusafa and

Adhamiya Al-Adhamiyah ( ar, الأعظمية, ''al-aʿẓamiyyah''; BGN: ''Al A‘z̧amīyah''), also Azamiya, is a neighborhood and east-central district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It is one of nine administrative districts in Baghdad. Adhamiyah ne ...

districts of central Baghdad. The division was scheduled to return to Germany in April 2004 but was extended in country an additional 3 months in order to oppose an uprising of Shia militia led by Moqtada Al Sadr. During the extension Task Force 1–37 Armor ("Bandits") fought Sadr's forces in

Karbala Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorat ...

while Task Force 2–37 AR ("Dukes") along with elements of 2–3 FA ("Gunners") fought in

Diwaniya The dewaniya or diwaniya was the reception area where a Middle Eastern man received his business colleagues and male guests. Today the term refers both to a reception hall and the gathering held in it, and visiting or hosting a dewaniya is an impor ...

Sadr City Sadr City ( ar, مدينة الصدر, translit=Madīnat aṣ-Ṣadr), formerly known as Al-Thawra ( ar, الثورة, aṯ-Ṯawra) and Saddam City ( ar, مدينة صدام, Madīnat Ṣaddām), is a suburb district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. ...

, Al-Kut, and

Najaf Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...

. Task Force 1–36 IN ("Spartans") became the

Combined Joint Task Force 7 Combined Joint Task Force 7 was the interim military formation that directed the U.S. effort in Iraq between June 2003 and May 2004. It replaced the Coalition Forces Land Component Command on 14 June 2003. CFLCC was the land forces component of ...

Operational Reserve and conducted operations along Route Irish from Baghdad International Airport to the Green Zone in support of the 1st Cavalry Division. Forces from the 2d Brigade fought in

Kut Kūt ( ar, ٱلْكُوت, al-Kūt), officially Al-Kut, also spelled Kutulamare or Kut al-Imara, is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about south east of Baghdad. the estimated population is about 389,400 people. It ...

. During its 15-month deployment, the division lost 133 soldiers.

Ready First

The division's 1st Brigade deployed again to Iraq in January 2006 under the command of Colonel Sean B. MacFarland after months of intensive training in Grafenwöhr and Hohenfels, Germany. Many of the soldiers who fought with units like 1–36 Infantry ("Spartans"), 2–37 Armor ("Iron Dukes"), and 1–37 ("Bandits") during the invasion of Iraq returned for a second tour. Most of the 1st BCT was initially deployed to Northern Iraq in Nineveh province concentrating on the city of Tal' Afar. In May 2006, the main force of the 1st Brigade received orders to move south to the city of Ramadi in volatile Al Anbar Province. Tank in Ramadi

Since 2003, Al Anbar served as a base of operations for the Sunni insurgency and al Qaeda. Ramadi, its capital, had neither a government nor a police force when the brigade arrived. Most military strategists inside and outside of the Bush administration believed that the war in Anbar had already concluded unsuccessfully. Al Qaeda in Iraq publicly announced Ramadi as the capital of their new caliphate and the city alone averaged more than twenty attacks per day; the province was statistically the most dangerous location in the country, and the insurgency enjoyed free rein throughout much of the province.

Ramadi

When the 1st Brigade arrived in Ramadi in June 2006 with more than 70 M1 Abrams tanks and 84 Bradley fighting vehicles, many locals believed the brigade was preparing for a Fallujah-style block-by-block clearing assault on the city and many insurgents fled the city. Following Colonel H.R. McMaster's "Clear, Hold, Build" strategy, the brigade developed a plan to isolate the insurgents, deny them sanctuary, and build Iraqi security forces. The 1st Brigade moved into some of Ramadi's dangerous neighborhoods and built four of what would eventually become eighteen combat outposts starting in July 2006. The soldiers brought the territory under control and inflicted many casualties on the insurgents. On 24 July, the Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) launched a counterattack, initiating 24 assaults, each with about 100 fighters, on American positions. The insurgents failed in all of their attacks and lost about 30 men.

Independence Day

Simultaneous with combat operations, the brigade worked on the "hold" portion of clear, hold, build. Lieutenant Colonel Tony Deane, commander of Task Force 1-35 Armor, approached Sheik Abdul Sattar Bezia al-Rishawi of the Abu Risha tribe in an attempt to recruit his tribesmen to the police force. Pic of ramadi

In his book ''A Chance in Hell'' that focuses on the operation in Al Anbar, Jim Michaels wrote that the US had a flawed view on civil government which ignored the tribal history of Iraq. "The tribal system embraced elements of democracy. The sheik may not be elected," wrote Michaels," but nor is he born into his job. Sheiks are generally selected by a group of elders ..Throughout history, ignoring the tribes n Iraqhas never been a smart move. Sheiks have wielded power for thousands of years and survived countless efforts to blunt their influence in the name of modernity." To facilitate Sheik Sittar, Colonel MacFarland's deputy, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Lechner, and his police implementation officer, Marine Major Teddy Gates, changed the location for Iraqi Police recruiting. They wanted a more secure location close to Sattar's house, as this would enable them to build a police station north of the Euphrates River in an area where many potential recruits lived. Having already had his father and three brothers killed by AQI, Sattar appreciated the idea. The residents' response was overwhelming by standing in line to serve as IP's at the next recruiting drive. In August, the new Jazeera police station north of the river, manned mostly by Abu Ali Jassim tribe members, was attacked and the sheikh of the tribe was killed. AQI hid the sheikh's body so it was not found for several days, a violation of Islam's strict burial rules that call for interment within 24 hours. The attack on the station killed several Iraqi police and created many burn casualties. MacFarland offered to evacuate the police to Camp Blue Diamond, an American Army camp outside of Ramadi, while they repaired the station. But the Iraqis refused to abandon their post and instead put their flag back up and resumed patrolling that same day.

Awakening

With the locals outraged by AQI's disregard of Islamic funeral laws, the charismatic Sattar stepped forward to continue the push toward working with the Americans. On 9 September 2006, he organized a tribal council, attended by more than 50 sheiks as well as MacFarland, where he officially declared an "Anbar Awakening". It would convene an Awakening Council dedicated to driving the AQI out of Ramadi and establish rule of law and local governance. The Anbar Awakening was realized with Sittar as its leader. McFarland, speaking later about the meeting, said, "I told them that I now knew what it was like to be in Independence Hall on 4 July 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed." While attacks remained high through October 2006, the Awakening and Sittar's influence began to spread. The AQI, realized it was losing its influence over the citizens and launched a counterattack on the Sufia tribal area on 25 November. The attack was intended to terrorize and insult the Sufia tribe, though with the 1st BCT's M1A1 tanks reinforcing tribal defenders, the AQI was repelled and the relationship between the Sufia tribe and the 1st Armored Division improved. By early 2007, the combination of tribal engagement and combat outposts was defeating AQI's in Ramadi and throughout the province. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, in his 23 January 2007 State of the Union speech referred to Al Anbar as a place "where al Qaeda terrorists have gathered and local forces have begun showing a willingness to fight them."

"The Gettysburg of this war"

By February 2007, contact with insurgents dropped almost 70 percent in number since June 2006 as well as decreasing in complexity and effect. By the summer of 2007, fighting in Al Anbar was mostly over. Frederick Kagan, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, called Al Anbar "the Gettysburg of this war, to the extent that counterinsurgencies can have such turning points," writing "Progress in Anbar and throughout the Sunni community has depended heavily on a skillful balance between military force and political efforts at the local level." The tactics, techniques, and procedures used by 1st BCT were groundbreaking at the time but came to serve as the philosophical basis for the surge in Iraq. In nine months, 85 soldiers, sailors, and Marines were killed, and over 500 were wounded.

Division Headquarters redeploys

In September 2007, amid a national debate about troop levels in Iraq and, more broadly, about the US strategy in Iraq, the 1st Armored Division Headquarters was re-deployed to Iraq. General

David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to h ...

' surge strategy was in effect, with major counterinsurgency operations across the country. "This is a pivotal and historic time for the 1st AD, for the forces in Iraq and for the nation," said Brig. Gen. James C. Boozer, a deputy commanding general for 1st AD at the time of the division's deployment. The division began its deployment the same day Petraeus delivered his

Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq The Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq (sometimes referred to as the Petraeus Report) was a two-part report released on September 10, 2007 by General of the Multinational force in Iraq David H. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ry ...

, concluding that "the military objectives of the surge are, in large measure, being met." The division, commanded by then-Major General Mark Hertling, conducted a relief in place with the 25th Infantry Division and assumed command of Multi-National Division North, headquartered in Tikrit, Iraq, on 28 October 2007, just as MacFarland's Anbar Awakening was pushing AQI out of Anbar. At the time in northern Iraq, enemy attacks averaged 1,800 a month, the Iraqis had little trust in their central government, and the unemployment rate was high. Hertling assumed responsibility for all Coalition forces in Northern Iraq. Multi-National Division North was composed of five maneuver brigade combat teams, a combat aviation brigade, a fires brigade, and an engineer brigade. The division had responsibility includes the Iraqi provinces of Ninawa, Kirkuk (formerly at Tamin), Salah ad Din, and Diyala along with Dahuk, and As Sulaymaniyah. The area included the critical cities of Tal Afar, Mosul, Bayji, Tikrit, Kirkuk, Samarra, Balad, Baqubah, Dahuk, and Sulaymaniah. Arbil province remained aligned as a separate Multi-National Division, North-East. The division area of operations included ethnic fault lines between Arabs and Kurds, religious fault lines between Sunni and Shia Muslims, numerous tribal regions, and the complexities involving significant former regime elements. The 1st Armored Division immediately applied a mix of lethal and non-lethal counterinsurgency tactics, as maneuver battalions partnered with State Department officials and provincial reconstruction teams. Commanders applied a focused lethality, protecting the Iraqi population while killing insurgents in large volumes. The division transferred responsibility to Headquarters 25th Infantry Division on 8 December 2008 and returned to Wiesbaden Army Airfield (later renamed

Lucius D. Clay Kaserne Lucius D. Clay Kaserne (german: Flugplatz Wiesbaden-Erbenheim) , commonly known as Clay Kaserne, is an installation of the United States Army in Hesse, Germany. The ''kaserne'' is located within Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. Named for General Lucius D. C ...

) in Germany. On 17 April 2013, US Secretary of Defense

Chuck Hagel Charles Timothy Hagel ( born October 4, 1946)Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

in response to the crisis in Syria. The elements from the 1st Armored Division joined forces in Jordan and provided command and control in cooperation with Jordan forces, which was used to establish a joint task force headquarters that provided command and control for

chemical weapons A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized Ammunition, munition that uses chemicals chemical engineering, formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be an ...

response,

humanitarian assistance Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

efforts, and stability operations. The 1st Armored Division planners in Jordan are facilitating the exchange of information with the

Jordanian Armed Forces The Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) ( ar, الْقُوَّاتُ الْمُسَلَّحَةُ الأرْدُنِية, romanized: ''Al-Quwwat Al-Musallaha Al-Urduniyya''), also referred to as the Arab Army ( ar, الْجَيْشُ الْعَرَبي ...

Move to Fort Bliss

In 2005, the

Base Realignment and Closure Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States federal government commission to increase United States Department of Defense efficiency by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the end o ...

(BRAC) commission decided to move the 1st Armored Division to

Fort Bliss, Texas Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor, Ft. Bliss h ...

no later than 2012. As part of the current Army-wide transformation, several division units were deactivated or converted to other units. The 1st Armored Division officially uncased its colors at Fort Bliss on 13 May 2011. * 1st Brigade: The 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division cased its colors at Friedberg, Germany on 20 April 2007, ending 62 years of military presence in Germany. 1st Brigade reactivated and uncased its colors on 27 October 2008.It deployed as of 19 November 2010 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The brigade returned home in Nov 2010, and began reconfiguring as a Stryker brigade combat team (SBCT) after redeployment from Iraq in November 2010. Denoted 1-1AD "Ready First", the 1st BCT, 1st Armored Division deployed to Afghanistan in December 2012.MG Dana J. H. Pittard (28 November 2012 ) '' Fort Bliss Monitor'' The first

female engagement team Female Engagement Teams (FETs) are groups of female military personnel around the world which undertake specialized gender-suited tasks. FETs' tasks are as varied as American FETs interacting with local Afghan women in Afghanistan; Ghana Battali ...

to deploy from Fort Bliss was trained in 2012 before Secretary of Defense

Leon Panetta Leon Edward Panetta (born June 28, 1938) is an American Democratic Party politician who has served in several different public office positions, including Secretary of Defense, CIA Director, White House Chief of Staff, Director of the Office of ...

's order rescinding restrictions on women in combat roles. "Ready First" Brigade converted from a Stryker BCT to an ABCT 20 June 2019. * 2nd Brigade: 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division in Baumholder, Germany, remained assigned to USAREUR until 15 July 2009, when it was reflagged as the separate 170th Infantry Brigade. It relocated to the U.S. in 2012. As part of the Grow the Army Plan announced on 19 December 2007, the 170th is one of two infantry brigades to be activated and retained in Germany until 2012 and 2013. (The other brigade is the 172nd Infantry Brigade in

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban agg ...

, Germany, which reflagged from 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division on 16 March 2008.) In 2010, the U.S. Army attached the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division to the

Brigade Modernization Command The U.S. Army Joint Modernization Command, or JMC, based in Fort Bliss, Texas, gains insights from "Fight Tonight" units about future ways of fighting, future technology, and force structure during realistic live, constructive, and/or simulated ...

, assigning it the evaluation mission previously held by the 5th Brigade, 1st Armored Division, AETF. In 2016, 2nd Brigade moved to the Ready pool for deployment. * 3rd Brigade: On 28 March 2008, the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division (HBCT) deactivated at Fort Riley and reflagged as 2d (Dagger) Brigade, 1st Infantry Division (HBCT). The 3rd Brigade was reactivated as an infantry brigade combat team on 2 July 2009 at Fort Bliss. * 4th Brigade: On 4 March 2008, 4th Brigade, 1st Armored Division activated at Fort Bliss as a HBCT and reflagged from the 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. * 5th Brigade: In 2007, a new unit, 5th Brigade, 1st Armored Division, activated at Fort Bliss as an Army evaluation task force. 5th BCT tested the

Future Force Warrior Future Force Warrior was a United States military advanced technology demonstration project that was part of the Future Combat Systems project. The FFW project sought to create a lightweight, fully integrated infantryman combat system. It was one ...

system. It evaluated multiple types of spin out equipment and prepared them for fielding to the rest of the Army. 5th Brigade was deactivated in 2010. * Aviation Brigade: The Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored Division deactivated on 7 June 2006 at Fliegerhorst Kaserne, Hanau, Germany and moved to Fort Riley, Kansas to reflag as the modular Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. The Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th ID was reflagged to CAB, 1st Armored Division. 4–501st Aviation (4th Battalion "Pistoleros", 501st Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored Division) deployed to Kuwait in November 2012. * Engineer Brigade: The Engineer Brigade, 1st Armored Division, the last of its kind in the Army, cased its colors and inactivated at Giessen, Germany on 26 April 2007. * Division Artillery: Division Artillery, 1st Armored Division cased its colors and was deactivated at Baumholder, Germany on 1 May 2007. The 1st AD DIVARTY was the last standing division artillery unit in the Army. The DIVARTY reactivated in 2014 at Fort Bliss. The division's colors were officially moved from Germany to Fort Bliss on 13 May 2011. On 25 June 2013, Army force restructuring plans were announced. As part of the plan, the division deactivated its 3rd Brigade Combat Team following its 2014 deployment to Afghanistan. The 4th BCT was reflagged as the 3rd Brigade Combat team in April 2015. The 1st Armored Division's Sustainment Brigade deployed 200 of its soldiers to Afghanistan on 11 May 2015.

Operation Freedom's Sentinel

In late December 2016, ''ArmyTimes'' reported that about 1,500 soldiers from the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team and about 800 soldiers from the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade to Afghanistan as part of

Operation Freedom's Sentinel Operation Freedom's Sentinel (OFS) was the official name used by the U.S. government for the mission succeeding Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in continuation of the War in Afghanistan as part of the larger Global War on Terrorism. Operation F ...

. In March 2017, ''Stars and Stripes'' reported that, according to an Army statement, 200 soldiers from the 1st Sustainment Brigade will deploy throughout Afghanistan to lead logistical operations, particularly providing supply, to support the US counter terrorism mission and Afghan-led operations against the Taliban.

Operation Inherent Resolve

In March 2017, ''Stars and Stripes'' reported that 400 soldiers from the division's headquarters element will deploy to Iraq in summer 2017, where it led the

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

's ground efforts as part of

Operation Inherent Resolve Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is the U.S. military's operational name for the International military intervention against IS, including both a campaign in Iraq and a campaign in Syria, with a closely-related campaign in Libya. Throu ...

Structure

1st US Armored Division - Organization 2021

The division has been reorganized under the new modular design after moving to Fort Bliss, in which the deployable unit of maneuver is a brigade rather than a division. It consists of a division headquarters battalion, three

armored brigade combat team The brigade combat team (BCT) is the basic deployable unit of maneuver in the U.S. Army. A brigade combat team consists of one combat arms branch maneuver brigade, and its assigned support and fire units. A brigade is normally commanded by ...

s, a

combat aviation brigade A Combat aviation brigade (CAB) is a multi-functional brigade-sized unit in the United States Army that fields military helicopters, offering a combination of attack/reconnaissance helicopters (Boeing AH-64 Apache), medium-lift helicopters (Sikor ...

, a

sustainment brigade As part of the early 21st century transformation of the United States Army from a division-based structure to a brigade-based army; the division support commands, corps support groups, and area support groups were inactivated and transformed to su ...

, and a division artillery, field artillery battalions are assigned to their respective brigade combat teams. The division's 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team was deactivated after leaving Afghanistan in spring 2015, and its maneuver battalions were reassigned to the remaining three brigade combat teams; subsequently the division's 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team was re-flagged as 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team. SolOline-2005-04-27-095150 edit

1st Armored Division consists of the following elements: * 1st Armored Division DUI

Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion "Gladiator" ** Headquarters and Support Company ** Operations Company ** Intelligence and Sustainment Company ** Division Signal Company ** 1st Armored Division Band * 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) "Ready First" ** Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) ** 1CavRegtDUI

6th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment ** DUI_US_37th_AR_Regiment

2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment ** 70 Arm Rgt DUI

4th Battalion,

70th Armor Regiment The 70th Armor Regiment is an armored (tank) unit of the United States Army. It was constituted as the 70th Tank Battalion in July 1940, an independent tank battalion intended to provide close support to infantry units. In this role, it saw acti ...

1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment ** 3_FA_Rgt_DUI

2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (FAR) ** 16_Eng_Bn_DUI

16th Brigade Engineer Battalion (BEB) ** 501st Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) * 2nd ABCT "Iron Brigade" ** HHC ** 1CavRegtDUI

1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment ** 1-35 Armor

1st Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment ** DUI_US_37th_AR_Regiment

1st Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment ** 6 Infantry Regiment DUI

1st Battalion,

6th Infantry Regiment The 6th Infantry Regiment ("Regulars") was formed 11 January 1812. Zachary Taylor, later the twelfth President of the United States, was a commander of the unit. The motto, "Regulars, By God!" derives from the Battle of Chippawa, in which Brit ...

4th Battalion, 27th FAR ** 40 Eng Bn DUI

40th Brigade Engineer Battalion ** 47th Brigade Support Battalion * 3rd ABCT "Bulldog Brigade" ** HHC ** 13CavalryRegtDUI

2nd Squadron, 13th Cavalry Regiment ** 67 Armor Rgt DUI

1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment ** 1-77 AR DUI (Transparent)

1st Battalion,

77th Armor Regiment The 77th Armor is an armored (tank) regiment of the United States Army. The 77th Armor Regiment is part of the U.S. Army Regimental System with only a single battalion, the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment, and is therefore classified as both ...

4th Battalion,

4th Battalion, 1st FAR ** 2 Eng Bn DUI

2nd Brigade Engineer Battalion ** 123rd BSB

123rd Brigade Support Battalion1st. Lt. Brett Harris (26 November 2018) 1st Armored Division KATUSA Patching Ceremony
/ref> * 1st Armored Division Artillery (DIVARTY) "Iron Steel" (formerly 212th Fires Brigade) ** Headquarters and Headquarters Battery ** 24th Theater Public Affairs Support Element (TPASE) Apache-on-the-flight-line

Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored Division Combat (French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

"Iron Eagle" ** 501st Avn Bn crest

HHC **

3rd Squadron (Heavy Attack-Reconnaissance),

6th Cavalry Regiment The 6th Cavalry ("Fighting Sixth'") is a regiment of the United States Army that began as a regiment of cavalry in the American Civil War. It currently is organized into aviation squadrons that are assigned to several different combat aviation ...

"Heavy Cavalry" ** 501st Avn Bn crest

1st Battalion (Attack),

501st Aviation Regiment The 501st Aviation Regiment is an aviation regiment of the United States Army, US Army. It draws its history from the original aviation battalion of the 1st Armored Division (United States), 1st Armored Division, the 501st Aviation Battalion. The ...

"Iron Dragons" ** 501st Avn Bn crest

2nd Battalion (General Support), 501st Aviation Regiment "Desert Knights" ** 501st Avn Bn crest

3rd Battalion (Assault), 501st Aviation Regiment "Apocalypse" ** 127th ASB

127th Aviation Support Battalion "Work Horse" * 1st Armored Division Sustainment Brigade "Muleskinner" ** 15SustainBdeDUI

HHC **

Special Troops Battalion "Iron Legion" ** 142nd_SandS_Bn_crest

142nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion "Atlas"

Commanders

: MG

(July 1940 – March 1942) :MG

(March 1942 – April 1943) :MG Ernest N. Harmon (April 1943 – July 1944) :MG

(July 1944 – September 1945) :MG

Roderick R. Allen Major General Roderick Random Allen (January 29, 1894 – February 1, 1970) was a senior United States Army officer, who commanded the 20th and 12th Armored Divisions during World War II. Under his command of the 12th AD, the division defended ...

(September 1945 – January 1946) :MG

Hobart R. Gay Lieutenant General Hobart Raymond Gay (May 16, 1894 – August 19, 1983), nicknamed "Hap", was a United States Army officer who served in numerous conflicts, including World War II, where he worked closely alongside General George S. Patton, and l ...

(February to April 1946) :Division inactivated 1946-1951 :MG

Bruce C. Clarke Bruce Cooper Clarke (April 29, 1901 – March 17, 1988) was a United States Army general. He was a career officer who served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He was the commander of Continental Army Command from 1958 to 1960, ...

(March 1951 – April 1953) :MG Leander L. Doan (April to July 1953) : BG Edward G. Farrand (acting) (July to October 1953) :MG William S. Biddle (October 1953 – July 1955) :MG Robert Lee Howze Jr. (July 1955 – February 1957) :MG Edward G. Farrand (March to December 1957) :BG Delk M. Oden (December 1957 – May 1959) :BG Franklin F. Wing (May 1959 – August 1960) :BG Roland H. Del Mar (August 1960 – May 1961) :BG Roy Lassetter Jr. (May 1961 – February 1962) :MG Ralph E. Haines Jr. (February 1962 – May 1963) :MG Harvey J. Jablonsky (May 1963 – May 1965) :MG George Ruhlen (June 1965 – July 1967) :MG

Richard G. Stilwell Richard Giles Stilwell (February 24, 1917 – December 25, 1991) was a United States Army General (United States), general who served as Commander United States Forces Korea from 1973 to 1976, and acting Commander of the U.S. Army Pacific from Sep ...

(August 1967 – April 1968) :MG John K. Boles (April 1968 – February 1970) :MG William R. Desobry (February 1970 – March 1971) :MG James C. Smith (March to May 1971) :MG James V. Galloway (May 1971 – August 1972) :MG Adrian St. John Jr. (August 1972 – March 1974) :MG Rolland V. Heiser (March 1974 – August 1975) :MG William L. Webb Jr. (August 1975 – January 1978) :MG

Glenn K. Otis General Glenn Kay Otis (March 15, 1929 – February 21, 2013) was a United States Army four-star general who served as Commanding General, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command from 1981 to 1983, and as Commander in Chief, United Stat ...

(January 1978 – August 1979) :MG John C. Faith (September 1979 – November 1981) :MG Thomas F. Healy (November 1981 – October 1983) :MG

Crosbie E. Saint Crosbie Edgerton Saint (September 29, 1936 – May 7, 2018) was a United States Army four-star general who served as Commander in Chief, United States Army Europe/Commander, Central Army Group from 1988 to 1992. Military career Saint was born a ...

(October 1983 – June 1985) :MG Dave R. Palmer (June 1985 – July 1986) :MG Edwin S. Leland Jr. (July 1986 – July 1988) :MG

Frederick M. Franks Jr. Frederick Melvin Franks Jr. (born 1 November 1936) is a retired general of the United States Army. He commanded the Gulf War coalition VII Corps in the highly successful "Left Hook" maneuver against fourteen Iraqi divisions, a number of which w ...

(July 1988 – August 1989) :MG Ronald H. Griffith (August 1989 – May 1991) :MG William M. Boice (May 1991 – July 1993) :MG William G. Carter II (July 1993 – January 1995) :MG William L. Nash (January 1995 – May 1997) :MG Larry R. Ellis (May 1997 – July 1999) :MG

George W. Casey Jr. George William Casey Jr. (born July 22, 1948) is a retired four-star general who served as the 36th Chief of Staff of the United States Army from April 10, 2007, to April 10, 2011. He served as Commanding General, Multi-National Force – Iraq fr ...

(July 1999 – July 2001) :MG Ricardo S. Sánchez (July 2001 – July 2003) :MG

Martin E. Dempsey Martin “Marty” Edward Dempsey (born March 14, 1952), is a retired United States Army general who served as the 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2011 until September 25, 2015. He previously served as the 37th chief o ...

(July 2003 – July 2005) :MG Fred D. Robinson Jr. (July 2005 – May 2007) :MG

Mark Hertling Mark Phillip Hertling (born September 29, 1953) is a former United States Army officer. From March 2011 to November 2012, he served as the Commanding General of United States Army Europe and the Seventh Army. Hertling served in Armor, Cavalry, p ...

(May 2007 – May 2009) :MG Terry A. Wolff (May 2009 – May 2011) :MG

Dana J.H. Pittard Dana James Hillian Pittard (born March 11, 1959) is a retired United States Army general officer. He served as Joint Force Land Component Commander-Iraq (JFLCC-I) from June 9, 2014, during the coalition response to the incursions by the Islamic St ...

(May 2011 – May 2013) :MG

Sean MacFarland Lieutenant General Sean Barry MacFarland (born February 12, 1959) is a retired three-star general who served in the United States Army. In 2015 MacFarland, then commanding III Corps, was selected as commander of the coalition against ISIS in Sy ...

(May 2013 – August 2014) :MG Stephen Twitty (August 2014 – June 2016) :MG

Robert P. White Robert P. White (born August 24, 1963) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who last served as commander of Fort Hood, Texas and as the 61st Commanding General of III Armored Corps. Over 90,000 soldiers were under his command. From S ...

(June 2016 – July 2018) :MG Patrick E. Matlock (July 2018 – July 2020) :BG Matthew L. Eichburg (acting) (July to September 2020) :MG Sean C. Bernabe (September 2020 – July 2022) :MG James P. Isenhower III (July 2022 – present)

Current

Major General Sean C. Bernabe assumed command of the 1st Armored Division on 30 September 2020. Deputy commander

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Matthew L. Eichburg had been serving as the interim commanding officer since 28 July 2020. The division command group consists of: *Commanding General: Major General James P. Isenhower III *Deputy Commanding Officer (Operations): Brigadier General Michael J. Simmering *Deputy Commanding General (Maneuver):

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Richard "Dinger" Bell *Deputy Commanding Officer (Support):

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Alric L. Francis *Chief of Staff: Colonel Scott P. Knight Jr. *

Command Sergeant Major A command sergeant major (CSM) is a non-commissioned rank and position of office in the United States Army. The holder of this rank and position is the most senior enlisted member of a color-bearing Army unit (battalion or higher). The CSM is ap ...

: Command Sergeant Major Michael C. Williams

Order of battle

1940

The first order of battle for the 1st Armored Division was: HHC, 1st Armored Division * HHC, 1st Armored Brigade ** 1st Armored Regiment (Light) ** 13th Armored Regiment (Light) ** 69th Armored Regiment (Medium) *81st Armored Reconnaissance Squadron * 6th Armored Infantry Regiment *68th Armored Field Artillery Regiment * 27th Field Artillery Battalion (Armored) * 16th Engineer Battalion (Armored) *13th Quartermaster Battalion (Armored) *19th Ordnance Battalion (Armored) *47th Medical Battalion (Armored) *141st Signal Company (Armored) On 15 April 1941 the division sent a

cadre Cadre may refer to: *Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff *Cadre (politics), a politically controlled appointment to an institution in order to circumvent the state and bring control to th ...

to form the 4th Armored Division at

Pine Camp Fort Drum is a U.S. Army military reservation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, on the northern border of New York, United States. The population of the CDP portion of the base was 12,955 at the 2010 census. It is home t ...

, New York.

1944

In July 1944, the division was reorganized as a "light" armored division. All other armored divisions, with exception of 2nd Armored and 3rd Armored, had been reorganized on 15 September 1943; at that time, 1st Armored was actively engaged in fighting in the Italian Campaign. Its new composition was: * Headquarters Company * Combat Command A * Combat Command B * Reserve Command * 1st Tank Battalion * 4th Tank Battalion * 13th Tank Battalion * 6th Armored Infantry Battalion * 11th Armored Infantry Battalion * 14th Armored Infantry Battalion * 81st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized) * 16th Armored Engineer Battalion * 141st Armored Signal Company * 1st Armored Division Artillery ** 27th Armored Field Artillery Battalion ** 68th Armored Field Artillery Battalion ** 91st Armored Field Artillery Battalion * 1st Armored Division Trains ** 123rd Armored Ordnance Maintenance Battalion ** 47th Armored Medical Battalion ** Military Police Platoon ** Band

Honors

HHC, 1st Armored Division

;Campaign participation credit *

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

Global War on Terrorism 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 ...

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 ...

;Decorations #

Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...

(Army) for SOUTHWEST ASIA #

Army Superior Unit Award The Superior Unit Award is a decoration of the United States Army which is awarded in peacetime to any unit of the Army which displays outstanding meritorious performance of a difficult and challenging mission carried out under extraordinary circum ...

for TF Eagle from 10 April 1994 to 7 November 1996 #

Valorous Unit Award The Valorous Unit Award (VUA) is the second highest United States Army unit decoration which may be bestowed upon an Army unit after the Presidential Unit Citation (PUC). The VUA is awarded by the United States Army to units of the United State ...

For Operation Iraqi Freedom I # Presidential Unit Citation For Operation Iraqi Freedom I #

Joint Meritorious Unit Award The Joint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA) is a US military award that was established on June 4, 1981, by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and was implemented by Department of Defense Directive 1348.27 dated July 22, 1982. The Joint Meritori ...

For Operation Iraqi Freedom I #

(Army) for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM 07–09 #

(Army) for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM 10–11/ Operation NEW DAWN

HHC, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division

;Campaign participation credit *World War II: #Tunisia; #Naples-Foggia; #Anzio; #Rome-Arno; #North Apennines; #Po Valley ;Decorations #Army Superior Unit Award for TF Eagle from 10 April 1994 to 7 November 1996 #Presidential Unit Citation for Operation Iraqi Freedom #Joint Meritorious Unit Award for Operation Iraqi Freedom #Valorous Unit Citation for Operation Iraqi Freedom #Navy Unit Commendation for Operation Iraqi Freedom

HHC, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division

;Campaign participation credit *World War II: #Algeria-French Morocco (with arrowhead); #Tunisia; #Naples-Foggia; #Anzio; # Rome-Arno; #North Apennines; #Po Valley *Southwest Asia: #Defense of Saudi Arabia; # Liberation and Defense of Kuwait; # Cease-Fire ;Decorations #Presidential Unit Citation for OIF 1 (2003–2004) #Valorous Unit Award, IRAQ 1991 #Meritorious Unit Commendation, SOUTHWEST ASIA 2005–2006 #Meritorious Unit Commendation, IRAQ 2008–2009 #Army Superior Unit Award for 1995–1996

HHC, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division

;Campaign participation credit *World War II: #Rome-Arno; #North Apennines; #Po Valley *Southwest Asia: #Defense of Saudi Arabia; #Liberation and Defense of Kuwait; #Cease-Fire ;Decorations #Valorous Unit Award for IRAQ-KUWAIT #Valorous Unit Award for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF 1)

HHB, 1st Armored Division Artillery

;Campaign participation credit *World War II: #Tunisia; #Naples-Foggia; #Rome-Arno; #Anzio; #North Apennines; #Po Valley *Southwest Asia: #Defense of Saudi Arabia; #Liberation and Defense of Kuwait ;Decorations #Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for SOUTHWEST ASIA

HHC, 1st Armored Division Support Command

;Campaign participation credit *World War II: #Tunisia; #Naples-Foggia; #Rome-Arno; #North Apennines; #Po Valley *Southwest Asia: #Defense of Saudi Arabia; #Liberation and Defense of Kuwait; #Cease-Fire ;Decorations #Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for SOUTHWEST ASIA

HHC, Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored Division

;Campaign participation credit; *Southwest Asia: #Defense of Saudi Arabia; #Liberation and Defense of Kuwait; #Cease-Fire ;Decorations; #Valorous Unit Award for IRAQ-KUWAIT #Army Superior Unit Award for 1995–1996

Notes

References

Additional reading

* * Covers its first (World War II era) incarnation.

External links

1st Armored Division Official Twitter
*
Threads and Treads; 1st Armored Division Insignia turns 80
Army.mil, July 13, 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:1st Armored Division (United States) Armored divisions of the United States Army United States Army divisions during World War II Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations of the United States in the Gulf War Military units and formations of the Iraq War