50th Armored Division
50th Armored Division shoulder sleeve insignia
Active	1946–93
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	Armored warfare
Size	Division
Part of	New Jersey Army National Guard
Nickname	"Jersey Blues"
Commanders
Notable commanders	Donald W. McGowan
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia
NATO Map Symbol	50

The50th Armored Division was adivision of theArmy National Guard from July 1946 until 1993.

On 13 October 1945 theWar Department published a postwar policy statement for the entire Army, calling for a 27-division Army National Guard structure with 25 infantry divisions and two armored divisions. Once the process of negotiation was complete, among the new formations formed were the49th and 50th Armored Divisions, the first armored divisions in the Army National Guard. The 50th Armored Division replaced the44th Infantry Division within theNew Jersey Army National Guard, with the 50th Armored assuming the 44th Infantry's "Jersey Blues" nickname. Most 50th Armored Division units were legacy units of the 44th Infantry and inherited the lineage and history of those units.

In a 1968 reorganization, the 50th Armored was joined by the 27th Armored Brigade from New York, the legacy unit left after the inactivation of the27th Armored Division. Since the 50th Armored Division was no longer completely within New Jersey, it retired the "Jersey Blues" nickname. In 1968, the 50th Armored Division was reorganized to draw its units from New Jersey and theVermont Army National Guard. Armor battalions in New Jersey and Vermont were upgraded to M48A1 and M48A3Patton medium tanks.

During 1975 and 1976 Vermont and New Jersey armor battalions started turning in their M48A3 tanks and began receiving the M48A5 which had the same 105mm gun and fire control system as theM60A1 in use by the active Army. During this time, many Vermont tank crews competed in gunnery exercises held in West Germany and consistently brought back awards. The division's training was rigorous during the Soviet threat peak years of the late 1970s to mid 1980s. Germany was the primary area of operations for the division if it was to have been activated.

The bi-state organization comprised:^[1]

• Headquarters, 50th Armored Division (Somerset, New Jersey)
  • 104th Engineer Battalion HQ & HQ, Co.A, Co.B, Co.C, Co.E (bridge)Teaneck, New Jersey. Co.D, Vermont
  • 5th Squadron,117th Cavalry
  • 150th Aviation Battalion (UH-1 & AH-1 Hueys) (later 1st Battalion,150th Aviation)
• 1st Brigade (Woodbridge, New Jersey)
• 2nd Brigade (Cherry Hill, New Jersey)
• 86th Brigade (Montpelier, Vermont)
• Division Artillery (Trenton, New Jersey)
• Division Support Command

The Center of Military History notes that reorganizing theArmy National Guard to meet the new 'Division 86' structures in the mid-1980s was a challenging process, and most Guard divisions expanded their recruiting areas. The 50th Armored Division did not, and instead had the allotment for one of its brigades moved to the Texas Army National Guard, making the future of the division within the force structure 'uncertain'.^[2] In June 1988, Vermont's 86th Brigade left the 50th Armored Division and became part of the26th Infantry Division.^[3]

On 1 September 1993, the 50th Armored Division was inactivated and its remaining brigades joined other divisions.^[4] New Jersey's50th Infantry Brigade, which took the Division's lineage, was made part of the42nd Infantry Division.^[3] The 36th Infantry Brigade from Texas was reabsorbed into the49th Armored Division.^[3]

50th Division

1st Brigade

1-102 Armor

5-102 Armor

2-113 Infantry

3-113 Infantry

2nd Brigade

2-102 Armor

3-102 Armor

1-114 Infantry

2-114 Infantry

50th Aviation
1-150 Aviation

5-117 Cavalry

E/150 Aviation

DIVARTY

1-112 Field Art.

3-112 Field Art.

4-112 Field Art.

104 Engineer

250 Signal

550 Mil. Intel.

50 MP Co.

50 Chem. Co.

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50th Armored Division key locations 1989 (without DISCOM):
Division/brigade headquarters Infantry Armor
Aviation Artillery Engineers Other units

At the end of theCold War the division was a unit of theNew Jersey Army National Guard, with a round-out brigade from theTexas Army National Guard. The division was organized according to theArmy of Excellencetable of organization and equipment:

Much of this data is drawn from theAnnual Report of the NJ ARNG for 1988.

• 50th Armored Division,Somerset,New Jersey
  • Headquarters & Headquarters Company
  • 1st Brigade,Woodbridge^[5]
    • Headquarters & Headquarters Company
    • 1st Battalion,102nd Armor,Phillipsburg^[5][6][7]
    • 5th Battalion, 102nd ArmorDover^[8]
    • 2nd Battalion,113th Infantry,Newark^[5][9]
    • 3rd Battalion, 113th Infantry,Riverdale^[5][9]
  • 2nd Brigade,Cherry Hill^[5]
    • Headquarters & Headquarters Company
    • 2nd Battalion, 102nd Armor,West Orange^[5][10][7]
    • 3rd Battalion, 102nd ArmorVineland^[5][7]
    • 1st Battalion,114th Infantry,Woodbury^[5][11][12]
    • 2nd Battalion, 114th InfantryLong Branch^[5][12]
  • 36th Brigade,Houston,Texas (Texas Army National Guard)^[13]
    • Headquarters & Headquarters Company
    • 7th Battalion,112th Armor,Bryan, Texas
    • 8th Battalion, 112th Armor,Dallas, Texas^[14]
  • Aviation Brigade, 50th Armored Division,West Trenton^[5]
    • Headquarters & Headquarters Company
    • 5th Squadron,117th Cavalry (Reconnaissance),Westfield Army Airfield^[5][15]
    • 1st Battalion,150th Aviation (Attack), West Trenton^[5]
    • Company D, 150th Aviation (Command Support),Burlington Army Airfield (Vermont Army National Guard)
    • Company E, 150th Aviation (Assault),New Castle Army Airfield (Delaware Army National Guard)
  • 50th Armored Division Artillery,Trenton^[16][17][18]
    • Headquarters & Headquarters Battery
    • 1st Battalion,112th Field Artillery,Cherry Hill^[5] (18 ×M109A3 155 mm self-propelled howitzers)^{[16][17][18][19][20]}
    • 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery,Morristown (18 × M109A3 155mm self-propelled howitzers)^{[5][16][17][18][19][20]}
    • 4th Battalion, 112th Field Artillery,Lawrenceville (12 ×M110A2 203 mm self-propelled howitzers)^{[16][17][19][20]}
    • 1st Battalion,133rd Field Artillery,Beaumont (Texas Army National Guard) (18 × M109A3 155 mm self-propelled howitzers)^{[16][17][18][20][21]}
    • Battery A,197th Field Artillery (Target Acquisition), (New Hampshire Army National Guard)^{[16][17][18][20][22]}
  • 50th Armored Division Support Command,East Orange^[5][23]
    • Headquarters & Headquarters Company
    • 50th Support Battalion (Forward),Teaneck^[5]
    • 150th Support Battalion (Forward),Jersey City^[5]
    • 250th Support Battalion (Main),Sea Girt^[5][24]
    • 536th Support Battalion (Forward), (Texas Army National Guard)
    • Company F, 150th Aviation (Aviation Intermediate Maintenance),Dover^[5]
  • 3rd Battalion,200th Air Defense Artillery (New Mexico Army National Guard)^[25] (MIM-72 Chaparral,M163 Vulcan &FIM-92 Stinger)
  • 104th Engineer Battalion, Teaneck^[5][26]
  • 250th Signal Battalion,Plainfield^[27]
  • 550th Military Intelligence Battalion,Pedricktown^[28][29]
  • 50th Military Police Company, Somerset^[5][30]
  • 50th Chemical Company, Sea Girt^[5]
  • 50th Armored Division Band, Jersey City^[5]

The brigade's armor battalions were equipped withM60A3 TTSmain battle tanks.M48A5 Patton tanks had been replaced by M60A3 TTS tanks by May 1987 and by the end of 1989 the National Guard fielded 3,072 M60A3 TTS.^[31][32][33] The 410M1 Abrams^[31] tanks of the National Guard were issued to round-out units of army divisions.^[34] The division's infantry battalions were equipped withM113armored personnel carriers, of which the National Guard had 6,870 at the end of Fiscal Year 1987, with a further 1,411 due to be taken in service in 1988.^[31] The standard helicopters of National Guard units were the AH-1S Cobra, of which the National Guard had approximately 350 by 1989,^[35] the OH-58C Kiowa and theUH-1H Iroquois helicopters.^[36] Cavalry Reconnaissance units fielded 19 × M60A3 TTS, 8 × AH-1S Cobra, 12 × OH-58C Kiowa and 1 ×UH-1H Iroquois helicopters; attack battalions fielded 21 × AH-1S Cobra, 13 × OH-58C Kiowa and 3 ×UH-1H Iroquois helicopters,^[37] while the assault aviation company fielded 15 × UH-1H Iroquois helicopters and the command support aviation company UH-1 helicopters in various configurations.

• Major General Clifford R. Powell, July 1946 - November 1948^[38]
• Major GeneralDonald W. McGowan, November 1948 - October 1955^[39]
• Major General Edward O. Wolf, October 1955 - December 1965^[40]
• Major General James H. Weyhenmeyer Jr., December 1965 - March 1977^[41]
• Major General Herman S. Tenkin, April 1977 - October 1979^[42]
• Major General George J. Betor, October 1979 - September 1981^[43]
• Major General Melvin J. Crain, September 1981 - March 1986^[44]
• Major General Mark B. Mullin, March 1986 - April 1990^[45]
• Major General Richard S. Schneider, April 1990 - October 1991^[46]
• Major General Robert J. Byrne, October 1991 - September 1993^[47]

Notes

Bibliography

• "Chapter XIII The Total Army".Manoeuvre and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades.United States Army Center of Military History. 1998. CMH Pub 60-14. Archived fromthe original on 26 December 2012.
• http://www.geocities.com/armored50th/50th_Armored.html(Archived 21 October 2009 at theWayback Machine 2009-10-23)

• Armored divisions of the United States Army
• Divisions of the United States Army National Guard
• Military units and formations established in 1946
• Military units and formations disestablished in 1993

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