NICKNAME: "Hawaiian Division" and “Victory Division”
BATTLE HONORS:
World War II Central Pacific New Guinea (with arrowhead) Leyte (with arrowhead) Luzon Southern Philippines (with arrowhead)
Korean War UN Defensive UN Offensive CCF Intervention First UN Counteroffensive CCF Spring Offensive UN Summer-Fall Offensive Second Korean Winter Korea, Summer 1953
Southwest Asia Defense of Saudi Arabia Liberation and Defense of Kuwait
DECORATIONS: Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for DEFENSE OF KOREA
Army Superior Unit Award for 1994
Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for 17 OCTOBER 1944 TO 4 JULY 1945
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation for PYONGTAEK
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation for KOREA 1952-1953
ACTIVATED: March 1, 1921 September 21, 1975 October 17, 1999
DEACTIVATED: April 15, 1970 February 15, 1996 August 1, 2006
LINEAGE:
Constituted 1 February 1921 in the Regular Army as Headquarters, Hawaiian Division
Activated 1 March 1921 at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii
Reorganized and redesignated 1 October 1941 as Headquarters, 24th Infantry Division
Reorganized and redesignated 1 April 1960 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 24th Infantry Division
Inactivated 15 April 1970 at Fort Riley, Kansas
Activated 21 September 1975 at Fort Stewart, Georgia
Inactivated 15 February 1996 at Fort Stewart, Georgia
Activated 17 October 1999 at Fort Riley, Kansas
Inactivated 1 August 2006 at Fort Riley, Kansas
HISTORY:
"The 24th Infantry Division has its origins in Hawaii. It was first activated under the peacetime Square Division Table of Organization and Equipment (TO&E) on 25 February 1921 as the Hawaiian Division. It, the Philippine Division, and the Americal Division were the last three US Army divisions to be named rather than numbered. The division retained this TO&E until 1941, when it was reorganized under a Triangular Division TO&E, and the remainder organized into the new 25th Infantry Division.
World War II
24th ID Distinctive Unit Insignia The 24th Infantry Division was among the first to see combat in World War II and among the last to stop fighting. The Division was on Oahu, with Headquarters at Schofield Barracks, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, and suffered minor casualties. Charged with the defense of northern Oahu, it built an elaborate system of coastal defenses. In May 1943 it was alerted for movement to Australia and by 19 September 1943 had completed the move to Camp Caves, near Rockhampton, on the eastern coast of Australia. After a period of intensive training, the Division moved to Goodenough Island, 31 January 1944, to stage for the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura)-Tanahmerah campaign. The 24th landed on Dutch New Guinea, 22 April 1944, and smashed its way to and seized the important Hollandia Airdrome despite torrential rains and marshy terrain. Shortly after the Hollandia landing, the 34th Infantry Regiment moved to Biak, 18 June, to reinforce the 41st Infantry Division, and captured Sorido and Borokoe airdromes before returning to the Division on Hollandia in July. After occupation duty in the Hollandia area, the 24th Division landed on Red Beach on Leyte, 20 October 1944, as part of the X Corps, Sixth Army, and driving up Leyte Valley advanced to Jaro and took Breakneck Ridge, 12 November 1944, in heavy fighting. While mopping up continued on Leyte, the 19th RCT moved to Mindoro Island as part of the Western Visayan Task Force, landing in the San Jose area, 15 December 1944. Airfields and a PT base were secured for operations on Luzon. Divisional elements effected a landing on Marinduque Island. Other elements supported the 11th Airborne Division drive from Nasugbu to Manila. The 34th RCT, landing at San Antonio, Luzon, 29 January 1945, ran into a furious battle on Zig Zag Pass and suffered heavy casualties. On 16 February 1945 the 3d Bn. of the 34th Infantry took part in the amphibious landing on Corregidor and fought Japanese under a hot sun on the well-defended Rock. After numerous mopping up actions in March, the Division landed on Mindanao, 17 April 1945, cut across the island to Digos, 27 April, stormed into Davao, 3 May, and cleared Libby airdrome, 13 May. Although the campaign closed officially on 30 June, the Division continued to mop up Japanese resistance during July and August 1945. Patrolling continued after the official surrender of Japan. On 15 October 1945, the Division left Mindanao for Japan.
Korean War
When the North Koreans attacked South Korea in June 1950, elements of the 24th Infantry Division were the first to arrive in Korea, where they fought a delaying action against overwhelming odds. The delay permitted the United Nations to build up its forces near Pusan, and the division was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions. Over the next nineteen months the division fought in seven campaigns and was twice decorated by the Republic of Korea. In February 1952 the "Victory Division" returned to Japan where it served as part of the Far East reserve. In July 1953 the division went back to Korea to restore order in prisoner of war camps. The following year the division returned to Japan, where it served until February 1955. At that time the 24th deployed to Korea for another tour of duty.
Vietnam War years
When the United States reduced and realigned its divisions in the Far East in 1957, the 24th left Korea, eventually replacing the 11th Airborne Division in Germany. While in Germany, in addition to its standard infantry mission, the 24th fielded airborne units for about two years. The division remained in Germany until September 1968 when it redeployed two brigades to Fort Riley, Kansas, as part of Exercise REFORGER (Return of Forces to Germany). One brigade was maintained in Germany. As the Army withdrew from Vietnam and reduced its forces, the "Victory Division" was inactivated in April 1970 at Fort Riley.
Role in the Middle East
In September 1975 the 24th Infantry Division was reactivated at Fort Stewart, Georgia, as part of the program to build a sixteen-division force. Because the Regular Army could not field a full division at Fort Stewart, the 24th had the 48th Infantry Brigade, Georgia Army National Guard, assigned to it as a round-out unit. Targeted for a NATO role, the division was reorganized as a mechanized infantry unit in 1979. When the United Nations decided to halt aggression in Kuwait in 1990, the 24th was chosen for deployment to Southwest Asia. Serving in the Defense of Saudi Arabia and Liberation and Defense of Kuwait campaigns, the division under then Major General Barry McCaffrey helped to arrest the Iraqi war machine. Returning to the United States in the spring of 1991, the 24th was reorganized with all its elements in the Regular Army, two brigades at Fort Stewart and one brigade at Fort Benning, Georgia. In the fall of 1994 Iraq again menaced the Kuwaiti border, and two brigades from the division returned to Southwest Asia. As part of the Army's reduction to a ten-division force, the 24th Infantry Division was inactivated on 15 February 1996, and reflagged to become the 3rd Infantry Division. On 5 June 1999, the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) was once again activated, this time at Fort Riley, Kansas. From 1999 to 2006 the "Victory Division" consisted of an active component headquarters at Fort Riley and three enhanced separate brigades: 30th Heavy Separate Brigade at Clinton, North Carolina, 218th Heavy Separate Brigade at Columbia, South Carolina, and the 48th Separate Infantry Brigade in Macon, Georgia.
Inactivation
The 24th Infantry Division (Mech) inactivated on August 1, 2006 at Fort Riley. Its most recent operations included preparing Fort Riley for the return of the 1st Infantry Division, previously stationed in Germany."
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