| 5th Infantry Division | |
|---|---|
 5th Infantry Divisionshoulder sleeve insignia | |
| Active | 1917–1921 1939–1946 1947–1992 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Nicknames | "Red Diamond",[1] "Red Devils" |
| Motto | We Will |
| Engagements | World War I
|
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Stafford LeRoy Irwin Bernard W. Rogers |
| Insignia | |
| Distinctive unit insignia |  |
| US Infantry Divisions | ||||
|
The5th Infantry Division (Mechanized)—nicknamed the "Red Diamond",[1] or the "Red Devils" —was an infantrydivision of theUnited States Army that served in World War I, World War II and theVietnam War, and with theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and theU.S. Army III Corps. It was deactivated on 24 November 1992 and reflagged as the 2nd Armored Division.[2]
On 17 November 1917, theWar Department directed the organization of the 5th Division with headquarters atCamp Logan,Texas, around a cadre of Regular Army troops that had been stationed at Camp Logan, Camp Forrest,Georgia,Camp Greene,North Carolina, Camp Johnston,Florida, Camp Stanley, Texas, andFort Leavenworth,Kansas. Major GeneralCharles H. Muir assumed command on 11 December 1917.[3] The organization was a "square" division (i.e., there were four infantry regiments) with an authorized strength of 28,105 personnel.
Units associated with the division included:
The entire division arrived in France by 1 May 1918 and components of the units were deployed into the front line.[4] The 5th Division was the eighth of forty-two American divisions to arrive on the Western Front. The 5th Division trained withFrench Army units from 1 to 14 June 1918.[3] The first soldiers of the unit to be killed in action died on 14 June of that year. Among the division's first casualties wasCaptainMark W. Clark, then commanding the 3rd Battalion,11th Infantry Regiment, who would later become afour-stargeneral.
On 12 September, the unit was part of a major attack that reduced the salient atSt. Mihiel[4] and later fought in theMeuse–Argonne offensive, the largest battle fought by theAmerican Expeditionary Forces (AEF) (and the largest in thehistory of the U.S. Armed Forces) in World War I. The war ended soon after, onNovember 11, 1918.
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The division then served for the next few months in the Army of Occupation, being based inBelgium and Esch-sur-Alzette,Luxembourg until it departed Europe. The division returned to the United States through theNew York Port of Embarkation atHoboken, New Jersey, on 21 July 1919.
The 5th Division adopted a red diamond as its shoulder sleeve insignia.[5] The color red was selected in honor of World War I commanderJohn E. McMahon, who was a member of the Army'sField Artillery branch.[6] The diamond shape was chosen in recognition of the Diamond Dyes company, a maker of fabric coloring products whose ad slogan "It Never Runs" conveyed a martial meaning during war.[6] The shape of the diamond in the 5th Division's insignia represents strength, because in bridge construction the trusses that provide the greatest durability are mutually supporting isosceles triangles.[6]
Upon arrival atCamp Merritt,New Jersey, emergency period personnel were discharged from the service. The division proceeded toCamp Gordon,Georgia, arrived there 26 July, and remained there until October 1920, when it was transferred toCamp Jackson,South Carolina, for permanent station. As a part of the War Department's decision to maintain only three fully-active stateside infantry divisions, the 5th Division was inactivated, less the 10th Infantry Brigade and several smaller units, on 4 October 1921 at Camp Jackson. The 5th Division was allotted to theFifth Corps Area for mobilization responsibility, and assigned to theV Corps.Camp Knox,Kentucky, was designated as the mobilization and training station for the division upon reactivation. During the period 1921–39, the active elements of the 5th Division consisted of the 10th Infantry Brigade and other assorted divisional elements which formed the base from which the remainder of the division would be reactivated in the event of war.
The division headquarters was organized on 5 May 1926 as a "Regular Army Inactive" (RAI) unit withOrganized Reserve personnel atFort Benjamin Harrison,Indiana, and functioned in essentially the same manner as the headquarters of an Organized Reserve division. Headquarters, Fifth Corps Area, subsequently ordered the headquarters to cease operations on 1 September 1927, and all Regular Army personnel assigned to the headquarters were relieved. Though the command functions of the division ceased, Reserve personnel remained assigned to the division headquarters for training, mobilization, and assignment purposes. By 1927, most of the inactive elements of the division were also organized with Reserve personnel as RAI units. The RAI units generally trained with the active elements of the division during summer training camps. Several units, such as the 5th Medical Regiment, 19th and 21st Field Artillery Regiments, and the 60th and 61st Infantry Regiments were affiliated with various colleges and universities sponsoringROTC and organized as RAI units with the Regular Army cadre and commissionees from the schools’ programs. The active elements of the division also maintained habitual training relationships with units of the V Corps,XV Corps, and the83rd,84th, and100th Divisions. The training of those Reserve units was usually conducted at Camp Knox and at the regimental home stations of the 10th and 11th Infantry Regiments. These two regiments also supported the Reserve units’ conduct of theCitizens Military Training Camps held at Camp Knox, Fort Benjamin Harrison, andFort Thomas, Kentucky.
The 10th Infantry Brigade, reinforced by the active elements of the 5th Tank Company, 19th Field Artillery Regiment, 5th Quartermaster Regiment, and the6th Division's3rd Field Artillery Regiment, held maneuvers in those years when funds were available, at Camp Knox. During these maneuvers, the 5th Division headquarters was occasionally formed in a provisional status to train Regular and Reserve officers in division-level command and control procedures. The division headquarters was also provisionally formed for the August 1936Second Army maneuvers at Fort Knox. For that maneuver, the division (10th Infantry Brigade as the nucleus) was reinforced by the 1st Signal Company and theWest Virginia National Guard’s201st Infantry, in addition to the other active divisional elements.[7]
On 16 October 1939, the 5th Division was reactivated as part of the United States mobilization in response to the outbreak ofWorld War II in Europe the previous month, being formed atFort McClellan,Alabama, under the command ofBrigadier GeneralCampbell Hodges.[7]
In spring 1940, the division was sent toFort Benning,Georgia, and then temporarily toLouisiana for training exercises, before being transferred to Fort Benjamin Harrison at the end of May 1940. That December the division relocated toFort Custer,Michigan. The division received over 5,300draftees during February and March 1941, chiefly hailing from Michigan and theGreat Lakes region. From Fort Custer, the division participated in the Tennessee maneuvers in June 1941. The division went next toCamp Joseph T. Robinson, Arkansas, in August 1941 to stage for both the Arkansas andLouisiana Maneuvers, before returning to Fort Custer that October. The division, having been under the command ofMajor GeneralCortlandt Parker from August, was there when the Japaneseattacked Pearl Harbor and Germanydeclared war on the United States in December 1941, thus bringing the United States into the conflict. As the winter passed, the division was brought up to strength and fully equipped for forward deployment into a war zone. During April 1942, the 5th Division received its overseas orders and departed theNew York Port of Embarkation (NYPOE) at the end of the month forIceland. The 5th Division debarked there in May 1942, where it replaced the British garrison on the island outpost along the Atlanticconvoy routes and a year later was reorganized and re-designated as the5th Infantry Division on 24 May 1943.[8]
The 5th Infantry Division, now commanded by Major GeneralStafford LeRoy Irwin, left Iceland in early August 1943 and was sent to England to prepare and train for the eventualinvasion of Northwest Europe, then scheduled for the spring of 1944. Upon arrival in England the 5th Division was stationed atTidworth Barracks inSouth West England, before moving toNorthern Ireland.
After two years of training the 5th ID landed in Normandy onUtah Beach, on 9 July 1944, over a month after the initialD-Day landings, and four days later took up defensive positions in the vicinity ofCaumont-l'Éventé. Launching a successful attack atVidouville 26 July, the division drove on southeast ofSaint-Lô, attacked and capturedAngers, 9–10 August, capturedChartres, (assisted by the7th Armored Division), 18 August,[9] pushed toFontainebleau, crossed theSeine atMontereau, 24 August, crossed theMarne and seizedReims, 30 August, and positions east ofVerdun. The division then prepared for theassault on Metz, 7 September.[10] In mid-September abridgehead was secured across theMoselle, south ofMetz, atDornot andArnaville after two attempts. The first attempt at Dornot by the11th Infantry Regiment failed. German-heldFort Driant played a role in repulsing this crossing. A second crossing by the10th Infantry Regiment at Arnaville was successful.[11] The division continued operations against Metz, 16 September to 16 October 1944, withdrew, then returned to the assault on 9 November. Metz finally fell 22 November. The division crossed the German border, 4 December, captured Lauterbach (a suburb ofVölklingen) on the 5th, and elements reached the west bank of the riverSaar, 6 December, before the division moved to assembly areas.
On 16 December, theGermans launched their winter offensive in theArdennes forest, theBattle of the Bulge, and on the 18th the 5th ID was thrown in against the southern flank of the Bulge, helping to reduce it by the end of January 1945. In February and March, the division drove across and northeast of theSauer, where it smashed through theSiegfried Line and later took part in theAllied invasion of Germany.
The 5th ID crossed the riverRhine atNierstein on the night of 22 March 1945. After capturing some 19,000 German soldiers, the division continued toFrankfurt-am-Main, clearing and policing the town and its environs, 27–29 March.[12] In April the 5th ID, now commanded by Major GeneralAlbert E. Brown, after Major General Irwin's promotion to command ofXII Corps, took part in clearing theRuhr Pocket and then drove across the Czechoslovak border, 1 May, reachingVolary andVimperk as the war in Europe ended.[12]
Under the new "triangular" organization, units assigned included:[14]
Following World War II, the 5th Infantry Division was inactivated on 20 September 1946 at Camp Campbell (now Fort) Kentucky. However, the division was reactivated on 15 July 1947 under Brigadier GeneralJohn H. Church.[citation needed] From 1951 to 1953, the division was stationed atFort Indiantown Gap,Pennsylvania, and trained 30,000 replacements for the Korean War. The later part of the 1950s saw the division stationed inWest Germany as part of the U.S. contribution toNATO, though the division later returned to the United States.
When the1st Infantry Division deployed toSouth Vietnam in 1965, additional maneuver battalions were required; thus two infantry battalions from the 2nd Brigade, 5th Infantry Division, atFort Devens in Massachusetts were relieved and assigned to "The Big Red One."[16] In September 1965, the 2nd Brigade, 5th Infantry Division was moved, minus personnel, toFort Carson in Colorado and refilled there. The remaining personnel at Fort Devens formed the basis of the196th Infantry Brigade.
By 1968 the division was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, as a mechanized formation.[17] 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division was dispatched to South Vietnam after theTet Offensive to replace aU.S. Marine Corps unit. The brigade, consisting of one battalion each of infantry, mechanized infantry and armor, served there from July 1968 until 1971defending theVietnamese Demilitarized Zone in northernQuảng Trị Province. Combat units included 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry; 1st Battalion, 61st Infantry (Mechanized); 1st Battalion, 77th Armor; A Troop, 4th Squadron, 12th Cavalry; and 5th Battalion, 4th Artillery, A Company, 7th Engineer Battalion (Society of the Fifth Division). On 22 August 1971, the colors of 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division were cased and the brigade was inactivated at Fort Carson. Its final assignment was toIII Corps, with the mission of reinforcing Europe if a general war was to break out there.[18] In September 1969 the 4th Brigade, 5th Infantry Division was activated at Fort Carson, although, on the later return of4th Infantry Division home from Vietnam in December 1970, the 4th Division replaced the 5th Division at Fort Carson, whereupon the 5th Division was inactivated.
On 21 October 1974 the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division was reactivated atFort Polk in Louisiana as part of the Army's new 24-division force. Due to lack of sufficient housing, the brigade initially only had two maneuver battalions. (Maneuver and Firepower, Chap XIII) The division base and a second brigade was organized in 1975–77, and theLouisiana Army National Guard's256th Infantry Brigade was assigned as the 'round-out' third brigade of the division.
In 1989, units of the 5th Division, based at Fort Polk deployed in support ofOperation Nimrod Dancer to protect American interests in Panama. First Battalion, 61st Infantry (Mechanized), "Roadrunners" (1st Brigade, 5th ID) was one of the first reinforcing units and remained there until September when there was a hand over to 4th Battalion,Sixth Infantry (Mechanized), "Regulars" (2nd Brigade, 5th ID).[2] 4–6 Infantry was in country and assisted duringUnited States invasion of Panama (Operation "Just Cause") helping to overthrow Panamanian leaderManuel Noriega, and also assisted in an emergency extraction ofDelta Force operators engaged inOperation Acid Gambit when their helicopter went down. Corporal Ivan M. Perez and PVT Kenneth D. Scott were killed in action from the 5th Infantry Division during Just Cause.[19]
In August 1990, the 5th Division was alerted to prepare for deployment in support ofOperation Desert Shield, and theLouisiana Army National Guard's256th Infantry Brigade was mobilized as the 'round-out' third brigade in November.[20] The Division began sending units to train atFort Hood, and established a division headquarters-forward (5ID-(Fwd)) at the Texas base to prepare for deployment. The plan was to get all elements of the 256th Brigade up to standards, and then complete a rotation at theNational Training Center atFort Irwin before the division deployed to Southwest Asia. 5th ID Forward immediately encountered problems with the 256th Brigade units, and training suffered as a result. Several members of the 256th Brigade wentAWOL, while others refused to train as directed.[21] These delays prevented the Division from deploying to Fort Irwin, and the subsequent rapid start and end ofOperation Desert Storm effectively kept the Division from ultimately deploying to Southwest Asia in any capacity.[22][23] All units returned to Fort Polk by March 1991, with the 256th Brigade demobilization occurring later in May of that same year.
The 5th Division remained at Fort Polk until it was inactivated and reflagged as the2nd Armored Division November 1992.
15 DEC 1990
(9/1 FA (Prov) and its subordinate units retained their unit designations when the division reflagged as the 2nd Armored Division and moved to Fort Hood, TX)
(Partial list)[25]
World War I
Inactivated October 1921; reactivated October 1939
Reactivation under 1947 organization
Reactivation as Korean War training unit
| Reactivation underROAD as 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized)
Division inactivated Division reactivated at Fort Polk, Louisiana, in 1974
Division inactivated |
The division was inactivated for the final time on 24 November 1992, and reflagged as theU.S. 2nd Armored Division as part of the post-Cold War drawdown of U.S. forces. The 2nd Armored Division moved from Fort Polk toFort Hood in 1993, with the majority of the 5th Division's equipment.[2]
Though it was inactivated, the division was identified as the third highest priority inactive division in theUnited States Army Center of Military History's lineage scheme due to its numerous accolades and long history. All of the division's flags and heraldic items were moved to theNational Infantry Museum atFort Benning, Georgia, following its inactivation. Should the U.S. Army decide to activate more divisions in the future, the center will most likely suggest the first new division be the9th Infantry Division, the second be the24th Infantry Division, the third be the 5th Infantry Division, and the fourth be the2nd Armored Division.[26]
In theAxis & Alliesminiaturesrole-playing game, a U.S. infantry unit was designated "Red Devil Captain."
In theTwilight: 2000role-playing game, players start out as members of the 5th ID in July 2000, after the division is overrun by Soviet and Polish units nearKalisz, Poland during a hypothetical World War III.
In the 1981 movieTaps, the Red Diamond patch of the 5ID is worn by a Master Sergeant who is the father of one of the cadets at the school.
In the Bethesda Studios gameFallout 4, in the beginning section it is mentioned that the 5ID is stationed in Southeast Asia.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
