100th Division – Short History
In July 1918, the Headquarters of the Division originated and activated at Camp Bowie, Texas, at the end of World War I. Inactivation took place on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. The Division was demobilized a year later. In June 1921, the unit was reconstituted with the headquarters at Wheeling W.Va., and the 400th Infantry Regiment in Louisville.
Less than twelve months after the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the 100th Infantry Division was activated at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, with an enlisted cadre principally from the 76th Infantry Division and an officer cadre from the Army at large. From activation through V-E Day and beyond, the 100th was commanded by Major General Withers A. Burress, and was thus one of only 11 US Army divisions to be led by the same commanding general throughout the war.
In late 1943, the Division moved from Fort Jackson to winter maneuvers in the Tennessee mountains, before moving to Fort Bragg for further training in early 1944. While at Bragg, the Division received, retrained, and integrated as infantrymen over 3,000 replacements from the disbanded Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) — an organization designed to train Ameri ca’s “best and brightest” young men for service in technical military occupations. Also, while at Bragg, Technical Sergeant Walter L. Bull of Company A, 399th Infantry Regiment earned the Army’s first Expert Infantryman Badge, a badge still earned today only by the most technically competent Infantrymen and certain Special Operations personnel in the Army.
The Division went into combat in early November 1944as part of the U.S. Seventh Army’s VI Corps, with the mission of penetrating the German Winter Line in the High Vosges Mountains on the edge of the oft-disputed province of Alsace.
The Vosges terrain was formidable, and the severe winter weather added hundreds of casualties to those inflicted by the tenacious German defenders. Nevertheless, the 100th led the attack through the Vosges Mountains as, for the first time in history, an army succeeded in penetrating that vaunted terrain barrier to the Rhine Plain and Germany. While falling back toward Germany, the enemy bitterly defended the modern Maginot fortifications around the ancient fortress city of Bitche. Just after reducing these intimidating defenses, in the last hour of 1944 the Division was attacked by elements of three German divisions, including a full-strength SS-Panzer Grenadier division, heavily supported by armor, in Operation NORDWIND, the last German offensive on the western front. As the units on the left and right gave ground, the men of the 100th stood fast, and the Division quickly became the only unit in the Seventh Army to hold its sector in the face of the massive enemy onslaught. In the brutal fighting which ensued, the Division stubbornly resisted all attempts at envelopment, and despite heavy casualties, the 100th completely disrupted the German offensive.
The 100th Infantry Division captured the Citadel of Bitche in March 1945 and passed through the Siegfried Line into Germany.
For an excellent look into the members of the 100th and the “Sons Of Bitche”, see this YouTube video:
The Division’s last major battle was the attack on Heilbronn in April 1945, which required an assault crossing of the Neckar River in small boats, in full view of the crews of dozens of German artillery pieces which laid fierce direct fires over the crossing site. In over a week of savage urban combat, the Division defeated elements of the German Army and Waffen-SS divisions, seized the key industrial city, and pursued the beaten foe through Swabia toward Stuttgart.
For these combat actions, the 100th Infantry Division received streamers for the Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns; its subordinate units garnered a total of eight Distinguished Unit Citations. Among the men of the 100th Infantry Division honored for heroism were three who earned the Medal of Honor: Lieutenant Edward A. Silk, Technical Sergeant Charles F. Carey, and Private First-Class Michael Colalillo. In addition, Centurymen earned 36 Distinguished Service Crosses, over five hundred Silver Stars, and well over 3,500 Purple Hearts.
In all, in 185 days of uninterrupted ground combat, the 100th Infantry Division liberated and captured over four hundred cities, towns, and villages, defeated major elements of eight German divisions, and took 13,351 prisoners. In doing so, it sustained 916 soldiers killed in action, 3,656 wounded in action, and lost 180 men missing in action.
The story of the most recently accounted for of the Division’s MIAs is illustrative of the spirit of the Century Division during WWII. While doggedly defending his position during Operation NORDWIND on 1 January 1945, PFC Maurice Lloyd, Company L/399th Infantry Regiment of Rock Island, Illinois, fired his Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) against the onrushing Grenadiers until he was shot through the head. By the time the Americans recovered their lost ground later in the winter, new snow had fallen, concealing PFC Lloyd’s body, and he was listed as Missing in Action until 1976. In that year, a French hiker taking a cross-country route through the woods in the Low Vosges near Lemberg found PFC Lloyd’s remains, still in his foxhole . . . and still clutching the BAR with which he had so defiantly spat death at the attackers over 31 years before. The remains of this soldier of the Century, which remained “face toward the enemy” for over three decades, were finally laid to rest in honored glory amongst his comrades in the US Army’s Ardennes Cemetery.
Soldiers from the 100th Infantry Division earned the first EIB, were the first to ever fight their way through the Vosges Mountains, seized the Citadel at Bitche for the first time in its 250-year history, and were the only unit to hold its ground during
the last German offensive in the west of World War II.
The unit was inactivated in January 1946 at Fort Patrick Henry, Va., and reactivated as the USAR 100th Airborne Division later that fall in Louisville. The unit was redesignated as the 100th Infantry Division in 1952, and the 100th became a replacement training division in 1955.
In 1959 it was redesignated the 100th Division for institutional training, one of only twelve in the nation (now reduced to seven in the year 2000). The mission was to teach basic, advanced individual and common training to new soldiers. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy mobilized 1,500 soldiers to Fort Chaffee, Ark., during the Berlin Crisis. The 100th did the country proud by training 32,000 soldiers after rebuilding long unused and dilapidated rifle ranges, barracks, and other facilities. With the training mission accomplished, the unit was demobilized in August 1962 and returned to reserve status.
In 1971 Staff Sgt. Sherron Cooper became the first female soldier in the 100th. The division played a key role in “Reptrain 76” by relieving a backlog of untrained reservists and guardsmen. Within a 13-week period, 1,000 soldiers were graduated from intensive training supplied by the 100th.
In 1977 the unit’s mission changed from basic combat and advanced individual armor training to one station unit training. The mission was to prepare for mobilization mission by conducting entry level training for enlistees in one station format in armor or armor recon. In 1978 it was selected as the first Army Reserve unit to be equipped with its own M-1 tanks, and the only training division with the mission of conducting training on the M-1 Abrams tank and the M-3 Bradley Cavalry vehicle. By 1986 the Division was considered the largest reserve unit in Kentucky, commanding 58 percent of all reservists in the state with an annual economic impact
of $25 million.
Within 10 days after Operation Desert Storm was launched in January 1991, two brigade task forces (1,147 soldiers) were activated to go to Fort Knox to train 2,000 tank crewmen and armored Cavalry scouts. As a first, in 1992 the 100th Division trainers took total responsibility for three company cycles of Basic Training at Fort Knox; the 100th Division established a 21st Century Division Management System to provide a direct link between commanders’ quantifiable objectives and resource spending. It gave the 100th efforts accountability a bottom line.
In 1995 the Division was reorganized to include USAR Schools by taking over responsibilities for The Army School System; implemented a distance learning systems approach to military career training. In 1996 the 100th Division’s 1st Brigade worked with Readiness Group Knox to pioneer the national training experiment to USAR combat units at crew and platoon levels.
During 1997 the Division played a key role in Operation Future Challenge, a Fort Knox-based Basic Camp for JROTC. Three years later, the 100th Division was solely responsible for the six-week camp.
The 100th Division took the 2000 USAR Communities of Excellence Award; 2nd Bn, 399th Regiment, 7th Brigade began turn-in of M1A1 tanks, ending the training era. The division continued the training mission but leased the equipment. The Division also hosted a reunion of 100th Infantry Division veterans from WW II.
The 100th Division quickly responded to the call for volunteers following the events of September 11th, 2001.
As Army National Guard units from Ohio and Kentucky mobilized at Fort Knox, a need was identified for additional cadre to assist in their in-processing, training, and transportation.
Approximately twenty members of various units within the 100th Division volunteered to perform up to 30 days of Active-Duty Training. Working closely with the 1st Armored Training Battalion cadre, the 100th Division soldiers made sure the newly activated soldiers had the administrative and mission support needed to complete their mobilization training.
In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, the Department of Defense recommended to relocate the 100th Division headquarters to Fort Knox in support of the re-engineering and streamlining of training missions delivered by Army Reserve. In the Fall of 2017, the 100th Training Division was redesignated as the 100th Training Division Leader Development (LD).
Today the 100th Training Division (LD), with units located across the United States, continues the mission to implement the Army Reserve Leader Development strategy on a continuum of career education, training, and experience for leaders in the Army Reserve.
Katika Julai 1918, makao makuu ya kikosi hicho yalianzishwa na kuanzishwa katika kambi ya Bowie, Texas, mwishoni mwa Vita Kuu ya Kwanza ya Dunia. Idara hiyo ilifutwa mwaka mmoja baadaye. Katika Juni 1921, kikosi hicho kilirudishwa na makao makuu huko Wheeling, W. Va., na Kikosi cha 400 cha Wanajeshi huko Louisville. Baada ya miezi 12 baada ya mashambulizi ya Japani ya Pearl Harbor, Kikosi cha 100 cha Wanajeshi kilianzishwa katika Fort Jackson, South Carolina, na kikosi cha askari kutoka Kikosi cha 76 cha Wanajeshi na kikosi cha maofisa kutoka Jeshi la Marekani. Kuanzia siku ya ushindi hadi siku ya mwisho ya vita, kikosi cha 100 kilikuwa kikiongozwa na Meja Jenerali Withers A. Burress, na hivyo kilikuwa moja ya vikosi 11 tu vya Jeshi la Marekani kuongozwa na jenerali mmoja wakati wa vita. Katika 1943, kikosi hicho kilihamia Fort Jackson kwa ajili ya mazoezi ya majira ya baridi kali katika milima ya Tennessee, kabla ya kuhamia Fort Bragg kwa ajili ya mafunzo zaidi mapema 1944. Wakati katika Bragg, mgawanyiko kupokea, retrained, na kuunganishwa kama wanajeshi zaidi ya 3,000 badala kutoka kufutwa Jeshi Mafunzo ya Mafunzo ya Programu (ASTP), shirika iliyoundwa kwa mafunzo ya Marekani bora na kipaji vijana kwa ajili ya huduma katika taaluma za kijeshi. Wakati huo huo, wakati katika Bragg, Mtaalamu Sergeant Walter L. Bull wa Kampuni A, 399th Infantry Regiment alipata Jeshi la kwanza la Wataalamu wa Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi la Jeshi. Kikosi hicho kilianza kupigana mapema Novemba 1944 kama sehemu ya jeshi la Marekani. Jeshi la saba la Ujerumani, ambalo lina jukumu la kuvunja mstari wa majira ya baridi kali wa Ujerumani katika milima ya Vosges, limepiga hatua ya kuingilia mkoa wa Alsace. Eneo la Vosges lilikuwa lenye kutisha, na hali mbaya ya hewa ya majira ya baridi kali iliongeza mamia ya majeruhi kwa wale waliosababishwa na walinzi wa Ujerumani wenye bidii. Hata hivyo, kikosi cha 100 kiliongoza shambulio hilo kupitia Milima ya Vosges, na kwa mara ya kwanza katika historia, jeshi lilifaulu kuvunja kizuizi hicho cha ardhi kilichokuwa kikijulikana sana kuelekea Bonde la Rhine na Ujerumani. Wakati wa kurudi nyuma kuelekea Ujerumani, adui alitetea kwa uchungu ngome za kisasa za Maginot kuzunguka mji wa kale wa ngome ya Bitche. Baada ya kuondolewa kwa ulinzi huo, katika saa ya mwisho ya mwaka wa 1944, kikosi hicho kilishambuliwa na vikosi vitatu vya Ujerumani, ikiwa ni pamoja na kikosi cha SS-Panzer Grenadier, kilichokuwa kikitegemezwa sana na silaha, katika operesheni ya NORDWIND, shambulio la mwisho la Ujerumani kwenye pande za magharibi. Wakati vikosi vya kushoto na kulia vilipokuwa vikikata tamaa, wanaume wa 100 walisimama kwa nguvu, na mgawanyiko huo ukawa kikosi pekee katika Jeshi la Saba kushikilia sekta yake katika uso wa shambulio kubwa la adui. Katika mapigano makali yaliyofuata, mgawanyiko huo ulipinga kwa ukaidi majaribio yote ya kuzunguka, na licha ya hasara kubwa, 100th ilivuruga kabisa mashambulizi ya Ujerumani. Kikosi cha 100 cha Wanajeshi cha Ujerumani kiliteka ngome ya Bitche mnamo Machi 1945 na kupita kupitia Mstari wa Siegfried hadi Ujerumani. "Kwa mfano, ""Sons of Bitch"" ni kundi la kijeshi la Ujerumani ambalo lilishambulia eneo la Heilbronn mnamo Aprili 1945 na kuvuka Mto Neckar kwa mashua ndogo, huku vikosi vya askari wa Ujerumani vikipiga risasi kwa nguvu." Katika mapigano ya kijeshi ya majiji ya Ujerumani, Idara ya Jeshi la Ujerumani ilishinda vikosi vya Jeshi la Ujerumani na Waffen-SS, ikashika mji muhimu wa viwanda, na kufuatia adui aliyeshindwa kupitia Swabia kuelekea Stuttgart. Kwa vitendo hivi vya vita, Idara ya 100 ya Wanajeshi ilipokea streamer kwa kampeni za Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, na Ulaya ya Kati; vitengo vyake vya chini vilipata jumla ya alama nane za kitengo cha kipekee. "Wanajeshi wa kikosi cha 100 cha wanajeshi walioheshimiwa kwa ujasiri walikuwa watatu ambao walipata medali ya heshima: Luteni Edward A. "" Silk, Msaidizi wa Ufundi Charles F. Carey, na Private First-Class Michael Colalillo. Kwa kuongezea, Centurion walipata 36 Distinguished Service Crosses, zaidi ya nyota mia tano za fedha, na zaidi ya 3,500 Purple Hearts. Katika siku 185 za mapigano ya ardhi, Kikosi cha 100 cha Wanajeshi kilikamata na kuondoa majiji na vijiji zaidi ya mia nne, vikashinda vikosi vikubwa vya Ujerumani, na kukamata wafungwa 13,351. Katika vita hivyo, jeshi la Marekani lilishinda vita na kuua askari 916 na kujeruhiwa 3,656 na kupoteza watu 180 waliopotea. Hadithi ya hivi karibuni zaidi ya wahusika wa Idara ya MIA ni mfano wa roho ya Idara ya Karne wakati wa Vita Kuu ya Pili ya Ulimwengu. Wakati akilinda msimamo wake wakati wa operesheni ya NORDWIND mnamo Januari 1, 1945, PFC Maurice Lloyd, Kampuni L-399th Regiment ya Rock Island, Illinois, alirusha bunduki yake ya Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) dhidi ya Grenadiers waliokimbilia hadi alipopigwa risasi kichwani. Wakati Marekani ilipopata ardhi iliyopotea baadaye katika majira ya baridi kali, theluji mpya ilikuwa imeshuka, ikificha mwili wa PFC Lloyd, na aliorodheshwa kama Missing in Action hadi 1976. Katika mwaka huo, mtembeaji Mfaransa kuchukua njia ya kuvuka nchi kupitia misitu katika Vosges Chini karibu Lemberg kupatikana PFC Lloyd mabaki, bado katika foxhole yake. . . "Alikuwa bado ameshikilia kamba ambayo alikuwa amewatupia mauti washambuliaji wake miaka 31 iliyopita.""" Mabaki ya askari huyu wa karne, ambaye alibaki "kifuani kwa adui" kwa zaidi ya miongo mitatu, hatimaye yaliwekwa kupumzika kwa utukufu kati ya wenzake katika Makaburi ya Ardennes ya Jeshi la Marekani. Wanajeshi wa Kikosi cha 100 cha Wanajeshi walipata nafasi ya kwanza ya kupigana katika mapigano ya Vosges, wakashika ngome ya Bitche kwa mara ya kwanza katika historia yake ya miaka 250, na walikuwa kikosi pekee cha kushikilia ardhi wakati wa mashambulizi ya mwisho ya Ujerumani magharibi mwa Vita Kuu ya Pili ya Dunia. Kikosi hicho kiliondolewa katika Januari 1946 katika Fort Patrick Henry, Virginia, na kuanzishwa tena kama Kikosi cha 100 cha US Airborne baadaye katika msimu huo huko Louisville. Kikosi hicho kilipewa jina la Divisheni ya 100 ya Jeshi la Wanajeshi mwaka 1952 na kikosi hicho kilibadilishwa kuwa Divisio ya Mafunzo mwaka 1955. Mwaka 1959 ilibadilishwa jina kuwa Idara ya 100 kwa ajili ya mafunzo ya taasisi, moja ya kumi na mbili tu nchini (sasa imepunguzwa hadi saba mwaka 2000). Ujumbe huo ulikuwa kufundisha mafunzo ya msingi, ya hali ya juu ya mtu binafsi na ya kawaida kwa askari wapya. Mwaka 1961 Rais John F. Kennedy aliwakusanya askari 1,500 huko Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, wakati wa mgogoro wa Berlin. Kikosi cha 100 kilijivunia kuwafundisha askari 32,000 baada ya kujenga tena uwanja wa kupigia risasi, kambi za askari, na vituo vingine ambavyo havikuwa vinatumiwa kwa muda mrefu. Baada ya mafunzo hayo, kikosi hicho kiliondolewa katika jeshi mnamo Agosti 1962 na kurudi katika hali ya hifadhi. Mwaka 1971 alijiunga na kikosi cha Sgt. Sherri Cooper, mwanamke wa kwanza katika jeshi la Marekani Idara hiyo ilicheza jukumu muhimu katika "Reptrain 76" kwa kupunguza backlog ya reservists untrained na walinzi. Katika kipindi cha wiki 13 tu, askari 1,000 walihitimu kutoka kwa mafunzo makali yaliyotolewa na Kikosi cha 100. Mwaka 1977 ujumbe wa kitengo hicho ulibadilika kutoka kwa mapigano ya msingi na mafunzo ya silaha za kibinafsi hadi mafunzo ya kitengo kimoja cha kituo. Ujumbe huo ulikuwa kuandaa kwa ajili ya ujumbe wa kuhamasisha kwa kufanya mafunzo ya kiwango cha kuingia kwa enlistees katika muundo wa kituo kimoja katika silaha au silaha recon. Mwaka 1978 ilichaguliwa kama kitengo cha kwanza cha Jeshi la Hifadhi kuwa na vifaa vya mizinga yake mwenyewe ya M-1, na mgawanyiko pekee wa mafunzo na utume wa kufanya mafunzo kwenye mizinga ya M-1 Abrams na gari la wapanda farasi la M-3 Bradley. Kufikia mwaka 1986, Idara hiyo ilikuwa ikionwa kuwa kitengo kikubwa zaidi cha hifadhi huko Kentucky, ikiongoza asilimia 58 ya wahudumu wote wa hifadhi katika jimbo hilo na athari ya kila mwaka ya kiuchumi ya $ 25 milioni. Baada ya siku kumi tu ya kuanza kwa operesheni ya Desert Storm, vikosi viwili vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi vya vikosi. "Mwaka wa 1992, walimu wa kikosi cha 100 walichukua jukumu la jumla kwa mzunguko wa kampuni tatu za mafunzo ya msingi huko Fort Knox; Kikosi cha 100 kilianzisha ""Mfumo wa Usimamizi wa Kikosi cha Karne ya 21"" ili kutoa uhusiano wa moja kwa moja kati ya malengo ya kikosi na matumizi ya rasilimali." "Hiyo ni kwa sababu ya ""100th Efforts"" ambayo ni moja ya masharti ya msingi ya uhasibu." Mwaka 1995 Idara hiyo ilirekebishwa ili kujumuisha Shule za USAR kwa kuchukua majukumu ya Mfumo wa Shule za Jeshi; kutekeleza mbinu ya mifumo ya kujifunza umbali kwa mafunzo ya kazi ya kijeshi. Mwaka 1996 Kikosi cha Kwanza cha Kikosi cha 100 kilifanya kazi na Kikosi cha Utayari cha Knox kuanzisha majaribio ya kitaifa ya mafunzo kwa vitengo vya kupigana vya USAR katika ngazi za wafanyakazi na vikosi. Mwaka 1997 Idara hiyo ilicheza jukumu muhimu katika operesheni ya Future Challenge, kambi ya msingi ya Fort Knox kwa JROTC. Baada ya miaka mitatu, kikosi cha 100 kilikuwa na daraka la pekee la kuandaa kambi hiyo ya majuma sita. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""Ushindi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi wa Ukombozi.""" Idara hiyo iliendelea na utume wa mafunzo lakini ikakodisha vifaa. Pia, katika mkutano huo, walikutana na wanajeshi wa kikosi cha 100 cha wanajeshi wa Vita Kuu ya Pili ya Dunia. Kikosi cha 100 kilijibu haraka wito wa kujitolea baada ya matukio ya Septemba 11, 2001. Wakati vikosi vya Walinzi wa Taifa kutoka Ohio na Kentucky vilipokuwa vikikusanyika huko Fort Knox, uhitaji wa wafanyakazi wa ziada uligunduliwa kusaidia katika usindikaji, mafunzo, na usafirishaji wao. Wanajeshi wa kikosi cha 100 walijitolea kufanya mazoezi ya siku 30 ya kazi. Kwa kushirikiana na kikosi cha 1st Armored Training Battalion, askari wa 100th Division walihakikisha wanajeshi waliotumika hivi karibuni walikuwa na msaada wa kiutawala na wa utume unaohitajika kukamilisha mafunzo yao ya kuhamasisha. Katika mapendekezo yake ya BRAC ya 2005, Wizara ya Ulinzi ilipendekeza kuhamisha makao makuu ya Kikosi cha 100 hadi Fort Knox kwa msaada wa uhandisi upya na utaratibu wa misheni ya mafunzo iliyotolewa na Jeshi la Hifadhi. Katika mwaka wa 2017, Idara ya Mafunzo ya 100 ilibadilishwa kuwa Idara ya Mafunzo ya 100 ya Maendeleo ya Kiongozi (LD). Leo, Idara ya Mafunzo ya 100 (LD), na vitengo vilivyo katika Marekani, inaendelea na utume wa kutekeleza mkakati wa Maendeleo ya Kiongozi wa Jeshi la Hifadhi ya Jeshi, juu ya kuendelea kwa elimu ya kazi, mafunzo, na uzoefu kwa viongozi katika Jeshi la Hifadhi.