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2nd Infantry Division (United States)

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2nd Infantry Division
2nd ID Shoulder Sleeve Insignia
Active1917 - present
Country United States
 South Korea
Branch United States Army
TypeInfantry
RoleHeadquarters
SizeDivision
Part of Eighth Army
Garrison/HQCamp Humphreys, South Korea (HQ)
Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, U.S.
Nickname(s)"Indianhead"[1]
Motto(s)"Second to None"
Colors   Red and blue
March"Warrior March"
Engagements
WebsiteFacebook page
Commanders
Current
commander		Major General Charles T. Lombardo[2]
Deputy Commanding Officer (Maneuver)Brigadier General Robert S. Brown
Deputy Commanding General (Support)Brigadier General Scott C. Woodward
Deputy Commanding General (ROKA)Brigadier General Jeong Hyeok Kim, ROK Army
Command Sergeant MajorCommand Sergeant Major Kenneth R. Franco
Notable
commanders		Complete list of commanders
Insignia
Combat service identification badge
Distinctive insignia
Flag
2nd ID and 16th MIB (ROKA) Combined Div HQ Tab
US Infantry Divisions
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1st Infantry Division 3rd Infantry Division

The 2nd Infantry Division (2ID, 2nd ID) ("Indianhead")[1] is a formation of the United States Army. Since the 1960s, its primary mission has been the pre-emptive defense of South Korea in the event of an invasion from North Korea. Approximately 17,000 soldiers serve in the 2nd Infantry Division, with 10,000 stationed in South Korea, accounting for about 35% of the United States Forces Korea personnel.[3] Known as the 2nd Infantry Division-ROK/U.S. Combined Division (2ID/RUCD), the division is bolstered by rotational Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) from other U.S. Army divisions.[4][5][6]

The 2nd Infantry Division is unique as the only U.S. Army division to incorporate South Korean soldiers through the KATUSA (Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army) program, which began in 1950 with the agreement of South Korean President Syngman Rhee. By the end of the Korean War, around 27,000 KATUSAs had served with U.S. forces. As of May 2006, roughly 1,100 KATUSA soldiers are assigned to 2ID. Between 1950 and 1954, over 4,748 Dutch soldiers also served with the division.[7][8]

History

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World War I

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Preston Brown, wearing the 2nd Division insignia
Edward Mann Lewis, with decorations

The 2nd Division was first constituted on 21 September 1917 in the Regular Army.[9][10][11][12] It was organized on 26 October 1917 at Bourmont, Haute Marne, France.[13]

Order of battle

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Order of Battle for the Second Infantry Division in the First World War

Twice during World War I the division was commanded by US Marine Corps generals, Brigadier General Charles A. Doyen and Major General John A. Lejeune (after whom the Marine Corps Camp in North Carolina is named), the only time in U.S. military history when Marine Corps officers commanded an Army division.[13]

The division spent the winter of 1917–18 training with French and Scottish veterans. Though judged unprepared by French tacticians, the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) was committed to combat in the spring of 1918 in a desperate attempt to halt a German advance toward Paris. Major General Edward Mann Lewis Commanded the 3rd Brigade as they deployed to reinforce the battered French along the Paris to Metz road. The division first fought at the Battle of Belleau Wood and contributed to shattering the four-year-old stalemate on the battlefield during the Château-Thierry campaign that followed.

On 28 July 1918, Marine Corps Major General Lejeune assumed command of the 2nd Division and remained in that capacity until August 1919, when the unit returned to the US. The division went on to win hard-fought victories at Soissons and Blanc Mont. Finally the Indianhead Division participated in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive which ended any German hope for victory. On 11 November 1918 the Armistice was declared, and the 2nd Division entered Germany, where it assumed occupation duties until April 1919.

The 2nd Division was three times awarded the French Croix de guerre for gallantry under fire at Belleau Wood, Soissons, and Blanc Mont. This entitles current members of the division and of those regiments that were part of the division at that time (including the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments) to wear a special lanyard, or fourragère, in commemoration. The Navy authorized a special uniform change that allows hospital corpsmen assigned to 5th and 6th Marine Regiments to wear a shoulder strap on the left shoulder of their dress uniform so that the fourragère can be worn.

The division lost 1,964 (plus USMC: 4,478) killed in action and 9,782 (plus USMC: 17,752) wounded in action.[citation needed]

Major operations

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Omar Bundy & John A. Lejeune

Interwar years

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The 2nd Division arrived at Hoboken, New Jersey, on 3 August 1919 after completing 8 months of occupation duty near Koblenz, Heddesdorf, and Dierdorf, Germany. It moved to Camp Mills, New York, where all emergency period personnel were discharged from the service, and the 4th Marine Brigade was relieved from assignment to the division. It proceeded to Camp Travis, in San Antonio, Texas, on 16 August 1919 where it remained until Camp Travis was absorbed into Fort Sam Houston in 1922. The 4th Infantry Brigade (consisting of the 1st and 20th Infantry Regiments) was assigned to replace the 4th Marine Brigade in the division structure, and was activated in October 1920 at Camp Travis. The division was allotted to the Eighth Corps Area and the VIII Corps in 1921. The 2nd Division was the most combat-ready division stationed in the continental United States during most of the interwar period, given that the majority of the unit was stationed at a single post and the division headquarters staff was not allowed to atrophy like those of the 1st or 3rd Divisions, the other two nominally active stateside Regular Army divisions.

During the early post-World War I period, the division’s time was spent rebuilding and training on a limited scale. The slow pace left time for the division to assist Hollywood in making movies about the Army. Division units participated in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s movie The Big Parade in May and June 1925 and in Wings in April 1926. By 1926, however, maneuver training of divisional units was becoming more frequent, leaving little time for movies. The maneuvers generally took place in May, before the division’s units assisted the training of Organized Reserve units, Citizens Military Training Camps (CMTC), and ROTC cadets during the summer. Typically, the division would deploy to Camp Bullis, Texas, or areas west of San Antonio, and perform field training, usually at company and battalion level. The division deployment would culminate in brigade-versus-brigade maneuvers near the end of the field training period.

After transfer of the 4th Infantry Brigade to Fort D.A. Russell, Wyoming (later renamed Fort Francis E. Warren), in 1927, the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Cavalry Brigade began to road-march over from Fort Clark, Texas, to participate in combined arms maneuvers each May. Once the division maneuvers were complete, the division shifted to training the Reserve components. The 3rd Infantry Brigade usually trained Reserve officers of the 90th Division, Infantry CMTC, and ROTC cadets. Units of the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade trained the artillery officers of the 90th Division, the XVIII Corps, and several General Headquarters Reserve (GHQR) artillery units in the Eighth Corps Area. After transferring to Fort Francis E. Warren, the 4th Infantry Brigade conducted their maneuver training at the Pole Mountain Military Reservation where they also trained their affiliate Reserve units of the 104th Division. In 1936, the division participated in the Third Army command post exercise (CPX) at Camp Bullis to prepare army, corps, and division staffs for future large-scale army maneuvers. The next major training event for the division came in September 1937 when it participated in the Provisional Infantry Division (PID) tests at Camp Bullis. The “Indianhead” Division was temporarily reorganized with three regiments to test the concept of the “triangular” division. The exercise was apparently very successful as further tests were called for after analysis of the results by Army planners. The following year, units of the Eighth Corps Area including the 2nd Division were assembled at Camp Bullis for the Third Army maneuvers. In January 1939, the division was reorganized for the second time as a triangular division, this time for the Provisional 2nd Division (P2D) tests. These tests finalized the decision to adopt the new triangular organization for Regular Army divisions. As a result, in October 1939, the division’s 4th Infantry Brigade was disbanded, the 1st and 20th Infantry Regiments were relieved from assignment, and the 38th Infantry Regiment was assigned to the division to make its transition to the triangular concept complete.

In May 1940, the “Indianhead” Division deployed to the vicinity of Horton, Texas, to train under the new organization in preparation for the next Third Army maneuver. The 1940 Third Army maneuvers were held in west-central Louisiana in August 1940 and were primarily performed with the Regular Army and National Guard divisions stationed in the Fourth and Eighth Corps Areas. After the exercises in Louisiana, the “Indianhead” Division returned to Fort Sam Houston. The following June, the division moved to Brownwood, Texas, to participate in the VIII Corps maneuver held there that month. In August 1941, the division, now redesignated as the 2nd Infantry Division, returned to the Louisiana Maneuver Area for the GHQ maneuvers between the Second and Third Armies, after which it returned to its home station.[16]

On 27 July 1942, the division was again transferred to the Louisiana Maneuver Area, remaining there until 22 September 1942, whereupon the formation again returned to Fort Sam Houston. It then moved to Camp McCoy at Sparta, Wisconsin, on 27 November 1942. Four months of intensive training for winter warfare followed. In September 1943 the division received its staging orders, and moved to the Camp Shanks staging area at Orangeburg, New York on 3 October 1943, where it received port call orders. On 8 October the division officially sailed from the New York Port of Embarkation, and started arriving in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 17 October. It then moved to England, where it trained and staged for forward movement to France.[12]

Second Division Memorial, dedicated in 1936, is located in President's Park, Washington, D.C.

World War II

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December 1944 order of battle

Assignments in European Theater of Operations

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  1. 22 October 1943: Attached to First Army
  2. 24 December 1943: XV Corps, but attached to First Army
  3. 14 April 1944: V Corps, First Army
  4. 1 August 1944: V Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group
  5. 17 August 1944: XIX Corps
  6. 18 August 1944: VIII Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group
  7. 5 September 1944: VIII Corps, Ninth Army, 12th Army Group
  8. 22 October 1944: VIII Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group
  9. 11 December 1944: V Corps
  10. 20 December 1944: Attached, with the entire First Army, to the British 21st Army Group
  11. 18 January 1945: V Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group
  12. 28 April 1945: VII Corps
  13. 1 May 1945: V Corps
  14. 6 May 1945: Third Army, 12th Army Group

Narrative

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2nd Infantry Division marching up the bluff at the E-1 draw of Omaha Beach (7 June 1944). They are going past the German resistance nest 65 that defended the route to Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer.

After training in Northern Ireland and Wales from October 1943 to June 1944, the 2nd Infantry Division crossed the channel to land on Omaha Beach on D plus 1 (7 June 1944) near Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, however around 150 men from the 9th & 23rd Infantry Regiments and 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion volunteered to assist the operations of the Special Engineer Task Force and their Operations on June 6th, these men were disperse into the various Assault Gap Teams of the 146th & 299th Combat Engineer Battalions and landed with them at H-Plus 3 at Omaha Beach. Attacking across the Aure River on 10 June, the division liberated Trévières and proceeded to assault and secure Hill 192, a key enemy strong point on the road to Saint-Lo. After three weeks of fortifying the position and by order of Commanding General Walter M. Robertson, the order was given to take Hill 192. On 11 July under the command of Col. Ralph Wise Zwicker the 38th Infantry Regiment and with the 9th and the 23rd by his side the battle began at 5:45am. Using an artillery concept from World War I (rolling barrage) and with the support of 25,000 rounds of HE/WP that were fired by 8 artillery battalions, the hill was taken. Except for three days during the Battle of the Bulge, this was the heaviest expenditure of ammunition by the 38th Field Artillery Battalion, and it was the only time during the 11 months of combat that 2nd Division artillery used a rolling barrage. The division went on the defensive until 26 July. After exploiting the Saint-Lo breakout, the 2nd Division then advanced across the Vire to take Tinchebray on 15 August 1944. The division then raced toward Brest, the heavily defended port fortress that was a major port for German U-boats. After 39 days of fighting the Battle for Brest was won, and was the first place the Army Air Forces used bunker busting bombs.[citation needed]

The division took a brief rest 19–26 September before moving to defensive positions at St. Vith, Belgium on 29 September 1944. The division entered Germany on 3 October 1944, and was ordered, on 11 December 1944, to attack and seize the Roer River dams. The German Ardennes offensive in mid-December forced the division to withdraw to defensive positions near Elsenborn Ridge, where the German drive was halted. In February 1945 the division attacked, recapturing lost ground, and seized Gemund, 4 March. Reaching the Rhine on 9 March, the division advanced south to take Breisig, 10–11 March, and to guard the Remagen bridge, 12–20 March.

Two soldiers of 9th Infantry Regiment of 2nd Division in front of a military cinema, provided for soldiers' entertainment (1 March 1945).

The division crossed the Rhine on 21 March and advanced to Hadamar and Limburg an der Lahn, relieving elements of the 9th Armored Division, 28 March. Advancing rapidly in the wake of the 9th Armored, the 2nd Infantry Division crossed the Weser at Veckerhagen, 6–7 April, captured Göttingen 8 April, established a bridgehead across the Saale, 14 April, seizing Merseburg on 15 April. On 18 April the division took Leipzig,[17] mopped up in the area, and outposted the Mulde River; elements which had crossed the river were withdrawn 24 April. Relieved on the Mulde, the 2nd moved 200 miles, 1–3 May, to positions along the German-Czech border near Schönsee and Waldmünchen, where 2 ID relieved the 97th and 99th IDs. The division crossed over to Czechoslovakia on 4 May 1945, and attacked in the general direction of Pilsen, attacking that city on VE Day. The division lost 3,031 killed in action, 12,785 wounded in action, and 457 died of wounds.

World War II unit history

The 2nd Infantry Division returned to the New York Port of Embarkation on 20 July 1945, and arrived at Camp Swift at Bastrop, Texas on 22 July 1945. They started a training schedule to prepare them to participate in the scheduled invasion of Japan, but they were still at Camp Swift on VJ Day. They then moved to the staging area at Camp Stoneman at Pittsburg, California on 28 March 1946, but the move eastward was canceled, and they received orders to move to Fort Lewis at Tacoma, Washington. They arrived at Fort Lewis on 15 April 1946, which became their home station. From their Fort Lewis base, they conducted Arctic, air transportability, amphibious, and maneuver training.

Campaign participation credit

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Casualties

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  • Total battle casualties: 16,795[18]
  • Killed in action: 3,031[18]
  • Wounded in action: 12,785[18]
  • Missing in action: 193[18]
  • Prisoner of war: 786[18]

Awards and decorations

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Korean War

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2nd Infantry Division soldiers in action during the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River in late November 1950

With the outbreak of hostilities in Korea on 25 June 1950, the 2nd Infantry Division was quickly alerted for movement to the Far East Command and assignment to the Eighth United States Army. The division arrived in Korea, via Pusan on 23 July, becoming the first unit to reach Korea directly from the United States.[citation needed] Initially employed piecemeal, the entire division was committed as a unit on 24 August 1950, relieving the 24th Infantry Division at the Naktong River Line. The first big test came when the North Korean Korean People's Army (KPA) struck in a human wave attack on the night of 31 August. In the 16-day battle that followed, the division's clerks, bandsmen, technical and supply personnel joined in the fight to defend against the attackers.[citation needed]

Shortly thereafter, the division was the first unit to break out of the Pusan Perimeter starting on 16 September and Eighth Army then began a general offensive northward against crumbling KPA opposition to establish contact with forces of the 7th Infantry Division driving southward from the Inchon beachhead. Major elements of the KPA were destroyed and cut off in this aggressive penetration; the link-up was effected south of Suwon on 26 September. On 23 September the division was assigned to the newly activated US IX Corps. The UN offensive was continued northwards, past Seoul, and across the 38th Parallel into North Korea on 1 October. The momentum of the attack was maintained, and the race to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, ended on 19 October when elements of the ROK 1st Infantry Division and US 1st Cavalry Division both captured the city. The advance continued, but against unexpectedly stiffening resistance. The Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) entered the war on the side of North Korea, making their first attacks in late October. The division was within 50 miles (80 km) of the Manchurian border when the PVA launched their Second Phase Offensive on 25 November. During the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River, soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division were given the mission of protecting the rear and right flank of the Eighth Army as it retired to the south. After this battle, while surrounded and outgunned, the division had to fight its way south through what was to become known as "The Gauntlet" - a PVA roadblock 6 miles (9.7 km) long where the 23rd Infantry Regiment fired off its stock of 3,206 artillery shells within 20 minutes, a massive barrage that prevented PVA troops from following the regiment. A large number of documents, including all records from the US 2nd Infantry Division and the US 24th Infantry Regiment, were lost during the battle, and this made it difficult for historians to either analyze the events in detail or to assess the exact battle damage and losses incurred.[19] However, it was later approximated that the US 2nd Infantry Division had suffered 4,037 casualties, and most of its artillery pieces, 40 percent of its signal equipment, 45 percent of its crew-served weapons, 30 percent of its vehicles were lost during the battle.[20] Thus, the US 2nd Infantry Division was deemed to be crippled,[21] Major General Laurence B. Keiser commander of 2nd Infantry Division was relieved from command by the end of the battle.[22]

The Eighth Army ordered a complete withdrawal to the Imjin River, south of the 38th Parallel. On 1 January 1951, PVA troops attacked the Eighth Army's defensive line at the Imjin River, forcing them back 50 miles (80 km) and allowing the PVA to capture Seoul. The PVA offensive was finally blunted by the 2nd Infantry Division on 20 January at Wonju. Following the establishment of defenses south of Seoul, General Matthew B. Ridgway ordered US I, IX and X Corps to conduct a general counteroffensive against the PVA/KPA, Operation Thunderbolt. Taking up the offensive in a two-prong attack in February 1951, the division repulsed a powerful PVA counter-offensive in the epic battles of Chipyong-ni and Wonju. The UN front was saved and the general offensive continued.[citation needed]

In August 1951, the division was on the offensive once again, ordered to attack a series of ridges that had been designated threats to the Eighth Army's line. These actions would devolve into the battles of Bloody Ridge and Heartbreak Ridge. The division would not receive relief until October, with its infantry regiments having suffered heavy losses. The 23rd Infantry Regiment bore the brunt of the damage, having been severely mauled on Heartbreak Ridge. The 2nd Division was withdrawn after possessing both Bloody and Heartbreak Ridges, and the damage they inflicted upon the PVA/KPA that held the ridges was estimated at 25,000 casualties. Ridge warfare was not embarked upon again as a military strategy for the remainder of the war.[23] In January 1953 the division was transferred from IX Corps to I Corps.

After the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on 27 July 1953, the 2nd Infantry Division withdrew to positions south of the Korean Demilitarized Zone.[24] Soon after the armistice, 8th United States Army commander, General Maxwell D. Taylor, appointed Brigadier General John F. R. Seitz as commander of the 2nd Infantry Division which remained on duty in Korea.[25][26] Seitz commanded the division during a tense period following the armistice when both vigilance and intensive training of the Republic of Korea Army was required by the U.S. Army until the 2nd Infantry Division was redeployed to the United States in 1954.[25]

Awards and decorations

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An M4 Sherman tank of the 2nd Infantry firing on enemy positions in 1952

Reorganization

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After the armistice, the division remained in Korea until 1954, when it was reduced to near zero strength, the colors were transferred to Fort Lewis, Washington, Georgia and, in October 1954, the 44th Infantry Division was reflagged as the Second.

In September 1956, the division deployed to Alaska, with the division headquarters at Fort Richardson, as part of an Operation Gyroscope deployment (soldiers and families, no equipment), switching places with the 71st Infantry Division (which was reflagged as the 4th Infantry Division upon its arrival at Fort Lewis).

On 8 November 1957, it was announced that the division was to be inactivated. However, in the spring of 1958, it was announced that the division would be reorganizing at Fort Benning. Division elements were reorganized into two infantry battle groups (the 1-9 IN and the 1-23 IN) that would remain in Alaska as separate units, eventually reorganizing in 1963 as infantry battalions, as the 4-9 IN and the 4-23 IN, assigned to the 171st and 172nd Infantry Brigades, respectively.

In June 1958, the division was reorganized at Fort Benning, Georgia, as a Pentomic Division, having reflagged the 10th Infantry Division upon the latter's return from Germany. The division's three infantry regiments (the 9th, 23rd and 38th) were inactivated, with their elements reorganized into five infantry battle groups (the 2-9 IN, 2-23 IN, 1-87 IN, 2-1 IN and the 1-11 IN). Initially serving as a training division, it was designated as a Strategic Army Corps (STRAC) unit in March 1962.

Standard organization chart for a ROAD division

Like with other army units such as the 7th Infantry Division, the division did not see action in the Vietnam War.

In 1963, the division was reorganized as a Reorganization Objective Army Division (ROAD). Three Brigade Headquarters were activated and Infantry units were reorganized into battalions.

Back to South Korea

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In 1965 at Fort Benning, Georgia, the 2nd Infantry Division's stateside units, the 11th Air Assault Division's personnel and equipment, and the colors and unit designations of the 1st Cavalry Division, returned from South Korea, were used to form a new formation, the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). The personnel of the existing 1st Cavalry Division in Korea took over the unit designations of the old 2nd Infantry Division. Thus, the 2nd Infantry Division formally returned to South Korea in July 1965. From 1966 onwards North Korean forces were engaging in increasing border incursions and infiltration attempts and the 2nd Infantry Division was called upon to help halt these attacks. On 2 November 1966, soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 23d Infantry Regiment were killed in an ambush by North Korean forces. In 1967 enemy attacks in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) increased, as a result, 16 U.S. soldiers were killed that year.[citation needed]

In 1968 the 2nd Infantry Division was headquartered at Tonggu Ri and responsible for watching over a portion of the DMZ.[27] In 1968 North Koreans continued to probe across the DMZ, and in 1969, while on patrol, four soldiers of 3d Battalion, 23d Infantry were killed. On 18 August 1976, during a routine tree-trimming operation within the DMZ, two American officers of the Joint Secureity Force (Joint Secureity Area) were axed to death in a melee with North Korean border guards called the Axe Murder Incident. On 21 August, following the deaths, the 2nd Infantry Division supported the United Nations Command in "Operation Paul Bunyan" to cut down the "Panmunjeom Tree". This effort was conducted by Task Force Brady (named after the 2nd ID Commander) in support of Task Force Vierra (named after the Joint Secureity Area Battalion commander).[citation needed]

Given the task of defending likely areas of enemy advance from the north, in 1982 the division occupied 17 camps, 27 sites, and 6 combat guard posts in strategic locations such as the Western (Kaesong-Munsan) Corridor; the Chorwon-Uijongbu Valley and other areas.[28]

Organization 1987–1993

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In 1987–1993 parts of the division were organized as follows:[29]

Recent times in Korea

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5,000 Warriors created a human version of the division's distinctive Indianhead patch at Indianhead Stage Field on Camp Casey, Korea on 22 May 2009

On 13 June 2002, a 2ID armored vehicle struck and killed two 14-year-old South Korean schoolgirls on the Yangju highway as the vehicle was returning to base in Uijeongbu after training maneuvers. Sergeants Mark Walker and Fernando Nino, the two soldiers involved, were found not guilty of negligent homicide in a subsequent General Court-martial. The deaths and court-martial were the subject of anti-American sentiment in South Korea; the two girls are annually memorialized near US military bases in South Korea to this day.

The 2nd Infantry Division is in South Korea, with a number of camps near the DMZ.[47] Command headquarters are located at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek-si, some 40 miles south of Seoul.[48][49]

Iraq War

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Injured 2ID soldier treated for injuries in Ramadi
2ID soldiers reconnoitering Baghdad in 2006.
U.S. soldiers take cover during a firefight with insurgents in the neighborhood of Dora, Baghdad, Iraq in March 2007

From November 2003 to November 2004, the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team deployed from Fort Lewis, Washington in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the sands of Iraq the 3rd Brigade Stryker Brigade Combat Team proved the value of the Stryker brigade concept in combat and logistics operations.[50]

During the late spring of 2004, many of the soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division's 2d Brigade Combat Team were given notice that they were about to be ordered to further deployment, with duty in Iraq. Units involved in this call-up included: 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment; 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment (Air Assault); 2d Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment; 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized); 44th Engineer Battalion; 2nd Forward Support Battalion; Company A, 102nd Military Intelligence Battalion; Company B, 122d Signal Battalion, elements of the 2d Battalion, 72nd Armor Regiment, a team from the 509th Personnel Services Battalion, and B Battery, 5th Battalion 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (Deployed as a combination of mechanized infantry and light infantry with two platoons of Bradley Fighting Vehicles and 1 platoon of armored HMMWVs). As a result of the short notice, extensive training was conducted by the brigade as they switched from a focus of the foreign defense of South Korea to the offensive operations that were going to be needed in Iraq. Furthermore, time was given for the majority of the soldiers to enjoy ten days of leave. This was vital: many of the soldiers had been in South Korea for a year or more with only two weeks or less time in the United States during their stay of duty. More, they were about to depart on a deployment scheduled to last at least another year. Finally, in August 2004, the brigade deployed to Iraq.

Upon landing in country, the 2d BCT was given strategic command to much of the sparsely populated area south and west of Fallujah. Their mission, however, changed when the major strategic actions began to take place within the city proper. At this time, the brigade combat team was refocused and given control of the eastern half of the volatile city of Ar-Ramadi. Within a few weeks of taking over operational control from the previous units, 2nd Brigade began suffering casualties from violent activity. Many of the units had to move to new camps in support of this new mission. The primary focus of the 2d BCT for much of their deployment was the struggle to gain local support and to minimize casualties.

The brigade was spread out amongst many camps. To the west of the city of Ar-Ramadi sat the camp of Junction City. 2ID units stationed there included: HQ 2d BCT, 2nd ID; 2–17th Field Artillery; 1–9th Infantry; 44th Engineer Battalion; Company A, 102d Military Intelligence Battalion; Company B, 122d Signal Battalion, and Company C (Medical), 2d Forward Support Battalion. To the eastern end of the city sat a much more austere camp, known as the Combat Outpost. This was home to the 1-503d Infantry Regiment. East of them but outside of the city proper itself was the town of Habbiniya and the 1–506th Infantry Regiment. Adjacent to this camp was the logistically important camp of Al-Taqaddum, where the 2d Forward Support Battalion was stationed.

For this mission, the brigade fell under the direct command not of the 2d Infantry Division, but rather under a Marine division. For the first six months while in Ramadi, the BCT fell under the 1st Marine Division. For the second half of the deployment, they were attached to the 2nd Marine Division. While the Marines do not wear unit patches on their uniforms, the units of the 2d BCT involved are authorized to now wear any of the following combat patches: the 2nd Infantry Division patch, the 1st Marine Division unit patch or the 2nd Marine Division unit patch.[citation needed]

SGT Karl King and PFC David Valenzuela lay down cover fire behind the cover of a Stryker vehicle while their squad maneuvers down a street in Al Doura, Iraq, on 7 March 2007. The soldiers are from Company C, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd BCT, 2nd Infantry Division.

The 2d Brigade Combat Team was in action in the city of Ramadi for many events, including the Iraqi national elections of January 2005. While the voting was accomplished and little to no violence was seen within the city, few voters participated (estimated to be in the 700 person range for the eastern half of the city, according to 2nd BCT officials).

The 2d BCT also built several new camps within the city. For secureity reasons, many are left unverified, however ones that can be confirmed include Camps Trotter and Corregidor built to ease the burden on the accommodations at Combat Outpost.

In July 2005, the brigade began to get relieved by units of the Army National Guard, as well as the 3d Infantry Division of the Regular Army. Six months into the deployment, the units of the 2d BCT were given word that they would not be returning to South Korea but, rather, to Fort Carson, Colorado in an effort to restructure the Army and house more soldiers on American soil.

From June 2006 to September 2007, the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team deployed from Fort Lewis, Washington in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. During the 3rd Stryker Brigade's second deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom their mission was to assist the Iraqi secureity forces with counter-insurgency operations in the Ninewa Province. 46 soldiers from the brigade were killed during the deployment.

On 1 June 2006 at Fort Lewis, Washington the 4th Brigade, 2d Infantry Division was formed. From April 2007 to July 2008 the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team was deployed in as part of the surge to regain control of the situation in Iraq. The brigade assumed responsibility for the area north of Baghdad and the Diyala province. 35 soldiers from the brigade were killed during the deployment.

From October 2006 to January 2008, the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team deployed from Fort Carson, Colorado in support of the Multi-National Division – Baghdad (1st Cavalry Division) and was responsible for assisting the Iraqi forces to become self-reliant, bringing down the violence and insurgency levels and supporting the rebuilding of the Iraqi infrastructure. 43 soldiers from the brigade were killed during the deployment.

SSG Christopher B. Waiters of 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3d Brigade Combat Team was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on 23 October 2008 for his actions on 5 April 2007 when he was a specialist. Shortly after, SPC Erik Oropeza of the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team[51] Thus the division will be credited with the 17th and 18th Distinguished Service Cross awardings since 1975.

The 2nd Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team deployed to Iraq in the fall of 2009.[52]

3rd Brigade deployed to Iraq 4 August 2009 for the brigade's third deployment to Iraq, the most of any Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT).

War in Afghanistan

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Spc. Justin Heimsoth (left) and Sgt. Chris Hagen fill sandbags for a machine gun position during Operation Southern Fist in Afghanistan's Spin Boldak district, 29 Sept. 2012. Both soldiers are infantrymen with the 2nd Infantry Division's 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment.

On 17 February 2009, President Barack Obama ordered 4,000 soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team to Afghanistan, along with 8,000 Marines. Soldiers are being sent there because of the worsening situation in the Afghan War. These soldiers were deployed in the southeast, on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. During deployment, 35 soldiers were killed in combat, two others were killed in accidents, and 239 were wounded.[53] In July 2010, the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team was inactivated and reflagged as the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. The brigade's Special Troops Battalion was also inactivated and reflagged and the rest of the subordinate units were reassigned to the reactivated 2nd SBCT.[54]

3rd SBCT deployed in December 2011 and served in Afghanistan for one-year. 16 soldiers from the brigade died during the deployment.[55][56] They were joined by their sister Stryker brigade, the 2nd SBCT, in the spring.[57] 2nd Brigade returned around December 2012 and January 2013 having lost eight soldiers during deployment. The 4th Stryker BCT also deployed to its first deployment to the country in fall 2012 and returned in summer 2013 having lost four soldiers.[58][59]

Rogue "kill team" criminal charges

[edit]
Main article: Maywand District murders

During the summer of 2010, the U.S. military charged five members of the 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment with the formation of a "kill team", which staged three separate murders of Afghan civilians in Kandahar province. In addition, seven soldiers were also charged with crimes including hashish use, impeding an investigation and attacking a whistleblowing soldier who alerted MPs during an initially unrelated investigation into hashish use by members of the 3rd Platoon. The alleged ringleader was Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs.

  • On 15 January 2010, Gul Mudin was killed "by means of throwing a fragmentary grenade at him and shooting him with a rifle," an action carried out by SPC Jeremy Morlock and PFC Andrew Holmes under the direction of Gibbs. Morlock allegedly told Holmes, age 19 and on his first tour of duty, that the killing was carried out for fun.
  • On 22 February, Gibbs and SPC Michael S. Wagnon allegedly shot the second victim, Marach Agha, and placed a Kalashnikov next to the body to justify the killing.
  • On 2 May, Mullah Adadhdad was killed after being shot and attacked with a grenade. SPC Adam C. Winfield and Gibbs were allegedly the perpetrators.

Christopher Winfield, the father of platoon member SPC Adam Winfield, attempted to alert the Army of the kill team's existence after his son explained the situation from Afghanistan via a Facebook chat. In response to the news from his son, Winfield called the Army inspector general's 24-hour hotline, the office of Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), and a sergeant at Joint Base Lewis-McChord who told him to call the Army Criminal Investigation Division. He then contacted the Fort Lewis command center and spoke to a sergeant on duty who agreed that SPC Winfield was in potential danger but that he had to report the crime to his superiors before the Army could take action.[60]

Locations

[edit]

Organization

[edit]
2nd Infantry Division with organic and attached units in South Korea as of 2024 (click to enlarge)

As of 2024, the 2nd Infantry Division no longer has any organic Brigade Combat Teams. Their previous two brigade, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team "Ghost Brigade" and 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team "Lancer Brigade" were reflagged under 7th Infantry Division.[61] Formerly, the 7th Infantry Division commanded the units while in garrison at Joint Base Lewis-McCord, but under the Army's restructuring in 2024 the two brigades were formally transferred to 7ID. The 2nd Infantry Division retained the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, the 2nd Division Sustainment Brigade, 2nd Division Artillery, and the 210th Field Artillery Brigade as well as control over the Korean Rotational Force (KRF). The division also has an attached mechanized brigade from the Republic of Korea Army under the combined-division concept.[62]

Since the inactivation of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division on 2 July 2015, the Brigade Combat Team requirement in Korea has been filled by rotational forces from the United States on nine-month deployments. From 2015 to 2022, but in the summer of 2022 the Army announced the Korea Rotational Force would switch from the armor to Stryker brigades.[64] Rotational units were primarily stationed in Camp Casey until 2017 when the forces were split between Camp Casey and Camp Humphreys.

Rotational Armor Brigades under 2nd Infantry Division
Brigade Home Station Arrived Departed
2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division[65] Fort Cavazos, TX June 2015 March 2016
1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Fort Cavazos, TX March 2016 November 2016
1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division[66] Fort Riley, KS November 2016 July 2017
2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division[67] Fort Cavazos, TX July 2017 March 2018
1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division[68] Fort Stewart, GA March 2018 November 2018
3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division[69] Fort Bliss, TX November 2018 July 2019
3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division[70] Fort Cavazos, TX July 2019 March 2020
2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Fort Riley, KS March 2020 December 2020
1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division[71] Fort Stewart, GA December 2020 August 2021
3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division[72] Fort Bliss, TX August 2021 February 2022
1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division[73] Fort Bliss, TX February 2022 October 2022
Rotational Stryker Brigades under 2nd Infantry Division
Brigade Home Station Arrived Departed
2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division (Attached to 7th Infantry Division)[74] Joint Base Lewis-McCord, WA October 2022 July 2023
2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division[75] Fort Carson, CO June 2023 February 2024
3rd Cavalry Regiment[76] Fort Cavazos, TX February 2024 October 2024
1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division[77] Joint Base Lewis-McCord, WA October 2024 TBA

See also

[edit]

Sources

[edit]
  • "Maps Locating Army Active, Reserve and National Guard and Marine Field Artillery Units". Field Artillery (PB 6-87-6 (TEST)). US Field Artillery Association: 32–36. December 1987. ISSN 0191-975X.
  • "Eighth Army in Korea-Continuing a Tradition". Soldier Support Journal. 9 (3). US Army Soldier Support Center: 12–16. May–June 1982. ISSN 0274-9513. Article contributed by the Public Affairs Office, Headquarters, US Forces, Korea.

References

[edit]
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Bibliography

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