CLASSIC 7TH INFANTRY
DIVISION (LIGHT) PATCH
Seventh
Infantry Division History
KOREAN WAR
When the Korean conflict erupted in June of
1950, the 7th was under the command of Major General David Goodwin Barr. Barr
assembled his Division at Camp Fuji, the tent city on the lower slopes of
Fujiyama, and put them through a rigorous training schedule. The Division, which
had sent several levies of replacements to the fighting front, was woefully
under strength; consequently, 8,000 Republic of Korea soldiers were integrated
into its ranks. This was a far from an ideal solution, but it was the best that
could be reached under the circumstances. The ROK soldiers were willing and
resourceful--and later they .showed themselves to be courageous as well. But the
language barrier was too much to overcome completely. They had to be taught not
only to obey commands, but also to understand what the commands meant. Each 7th
soldier was given a Korean "running mate" with whom he was supposed to "buddy"
both in training and in combat.
While the 7th trained to a fine edge in
Japan, the "police action" in Korea started to assume all the earmarks of an
infantryman's shooting war. The U. S. Japan garrison was stripped bit by bit as
divisions were rushed across the Sea of Japan in an effort to halt the North
Koreans who were riding the crest of aggression behind a vanguard of
Russian-made T-34 tanks. The Eighth Army was fighting with its back at the sea
when General MacArthur decided on an amphibious invasion of Korea's west coast,
designating the 1st Marine Division and the 7th Infantry Division to do the job.
Soon the 7th Division--code-named "Bayonet"
for its movement to Korea--was to board troop transports. A day later the
shoreline of Korea was ahead. The old-timers among the men grimaced knowingly
long before the embattled peninsula became visible. As many of the GIs expressed
it in the letters they wrote home. "You could sure smell Korea a long time
before you saw it!"
The amphibious venture was a classic. It put
U. S. forces on Korea's west coast while the active front was still on the
Naktong perimeter far to the southeast. The landing at Inchon sent the North
Koreans reeling, and soon the Gl's and Leathernecks were moving in on the South
Korean capital city, Seoul. The Division's 32nd Infantry boldly seized
Angyang-ni and South Mountain, terrain features dominating Seoul. Then, with the
capital in the bag, the Division turned its attention to the south. The 17th
Infantry, yanked out of Eighth Army reserve, rejoined the Division in time to
fight a fierce 12-hour battle for two vital hills southeast of Seoul. Soon
Barr's soldiers were in command of all terrain south-southwest of the Han River;
they continued to drive toward the southeast to seize key terrain, and also to
cut off possible enemy escape routes. The Division then marched 25 miles east to
Suwon to capture the important rail juncture of Ichon.
Suwon was taken by the 31st Infantry
Regiment fighting under its battle flag for the first time since its surrender
to the Japanese on Bataan. The 31st pushed below Suwon and after a stiff fight
cleared a tank-supported enemy pocket near Osan, site of the Communist tank
breakthrough against the 24th Division some sixty days earlier. Here the
Division linked up with the flying column from the 1st Cavalry Division, which
had raced 102 miles from the Naktong, through enemy-held country, to clear the
way for the joining of the two U. S. forces. With the arrival of troops from the
Naktong perimeter the mission of the Inchon landing force was complete, and the
7th started a long overland truck march to the east coast of Pusan. Here
training was renewed, and harried troop commanders attempted to get replacements
for their combat-thinned ranks.
Soon the Bayonet soldiers were again loading
into troop transports. This time the target was the east coast village of Iwon.
Their orders were: "Advance to the Yalu!"
The Yalu was the river boundary between
North Korea and Manchuria. To its north was the "privileged sanctuary" which
supplied the North Korean Army, and which was to play so significant a role in
the ultimate fate of the Bayonet soldiers who came ashore at Iwon on the last
day of October in 1950.
After an unopposed beachhead landing on the
last day of October, 1950, the Division started driving north. Along the way
they met a sharp skirmish at Pungsan and a harsh firefight at Kapsan. The push
continued in arctic-like cold weather, and on November 20, Colonel Herbert B.
Powell's 17th Infantry slogged into Hyesanjin-on-the-Yalu--the first U. S. unit
to reach the Manchurian border. Hyesaujin, which means "ghost city of broken
bridges" was the northernmost point of advance by the United Nations' command in
three years of bitter warfare.
"We swept through the city," related Colonel
Powell, "and took a good look around. Then we dropped back to a good hill
position to wait for something to happen." They didn't have long to wait.
The Chinese Communist Forces (CCF)
intervened in the war on November 27, striking twin blows against Eighth Army in
western Korea and X Corps in the east. The enemy attack caught the 7th strung
out, with some elements as far as 250 miles apart. The 17th was northwest of the
Chosin at Hyesanjin. Neither of the other regiments was intact at the time the
action started, nor were they able to get together during the furious action
that followed.
Captain Charles Peckham's Company B, 31st
Infantry, had been on special detail, and was nearing Koto-ri en route north to
rejoin its outfit, the 1st Battalion, which was supposed to reinforce the 3d
Battalion on the northeast shore of the Chosin reservoir. The 2nd Battalion was
at Majong-dong awaiting orders. Peckham didn't get through. At Koto-ri his
Company was impressed into a hurriedly organized special column called Task
Force Drysdale. Composed of Peckham's Company, a company of Marines, and the
41st Commando (Royal Marines), Task Force Drysdale fought its way up the main
supply route to crash the Chinese road blocks and bring much-needed supplies and
ammunition to the sorely-pressed defenders of Hagam-ri. They sustained heavy
casualties en route.
Furthest north at this time was the 1st
Battalion of the 32d Infantry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Don Carlos
Faith, Jr. Faith's command, beyond the northeast shore of the reservoir, engaged
in five days of hellish combat. Fighting in the cruelest weather, surrounded,
vastly outnumbered and outgunned, knowing full well that no help could come,
they fought to the end.
Behind them was the task group headed by
Colonel Allan D. MacLean, commander of the 31st Infantry Regiment. MacLean had
with him his 3d Battalion, his heavy mortar company, the 57th Field Artillery
battalion, and a few self-propelled automatic weapons. In the five days that
followed, MacLean's battalion of the 31st suffered nearly as many casualties as
the entire 31st had suffered on Bataan.
In one particularly vicious attack the
Chinese drove a wedge between Faith's and MacLean's forces. MacLean was
conferring with Faith at the time, and was thus cut off from his command.
Furthermore, both outfits were completely surrounded. Knowing it was essential
for them to link up again, MacLean and Faith decided to mount an attack to
demolish the Chinese block between their outfits. In the firefight that
followed, MacLean disappeared, never to be seen by his men again; much later
they learned he had been taken prisoner.
Faith's soldiers reached MacLean's command
just as the Chinese were getting set to launch an attack on the artillery
batteries, hit the Communist soldiers from the rear, and drove them off, killing
more than 6o of them. Then Faith combined the two U. S. forces, and decided to
attack to the south in an effort to reach the base at Hagaru-ri.
His tattered frost-bitten soldiers were in
miserable condition. Most of them were walking wounded; some were forced to use
their weapons for crutches. Faith rallied the dispirited men and led them down
the road toward the enemy strong point which threatened to wipe them out. He
called the shots all the way as his men, near the point of collapse after five
days of savage close quarters' fighting, followed him to the roadblock. Faith
was in the lead, and was finally knocked down; but his men overran the enemy
position and found themselves momentarily out of contact with the enemy.
Practically none of the officers or key noncoms
were left. The remains of the task force dissolved into small groups for the
last ten miles down to Hagaru-ri. It was only ten miles, but it might as well
have been ten thousand for some of them. That night, December 1, the dazed and
bloodied survivors started straggling in. When the last survivors of Task Force
Faith reached the lines at Hagaru-ri on December 4, the 1st Battalion, 32d
Infantry, which had started its march north on November 25 one thousand strong,
was able to muster only 181 officers and men.
Nor was the ordeal over. In column with the
Marines, the elements of the 7th Division which were in or around Koto ri had to
fight their way south to the Hamhung perimeter in a blinding snowstorm with the
enemy dogging at them all the way, sniping at them from the ridgelines, and
getting closer with each passing hour.
Not all of the 7th Division had suffered the
terrible toll inflicted on Faith's Battalion and MacLean's Task Force. A number
of units redeployed to the Hungnam port area intact, still fit to fight. But the
last days of 1950 were mostly sad ones for a Division which had once been known
as the "Lucky Seventh." It had barreled up to the Yalu River, the only U. S.
Division to achieve that high water mark, and then had been set upon by the
massed divisions of a new enemy and forced to retrace its steps, fighting every
inch of the way. Phase II of the Division's combat career in Korea ended with
the bitter campaign of the Chosin Reservoir.
New Year's day, 1951, found the Division,
spearheaded by the 17th Infantry Regiment, again heading north, attacking at
Tangyang in South Korea, and blocking enemy threats from the northwest. Soon all
of the refurbished Bayonet was back in action around Cheehon, Chungju, and
Pyongchang. The 7th was under a new commander, Major General Claude Birkett
Ferenbaugh. The Bayonet engaged in a series of successful "limited objective"
attacks in the early weeks of February. Late February found the 17th Infantry
Buffalos, now under the command of Colonel William Quinn, driving against a
ridge near the village of Maltari. A platoon from Company E inched close to the
crest only to be enveloped in automatic weapons fire from both flanks and the
front. The leaders of both front-running squads went down, and the leaderless
men were dazed and bewildered. Corporal, Einar H. Ingman, a 21-year-old soldier
from Tomahawk, Wisconsin, quickly assumed command. He reorganized the squads
under fire, then waded into the enemy all by himself, taking out a machine gun
crew with grenades and rifle fire. Another enemy gun 50 yards to his right
opened up, and Ingman went after it. Halfway there he was hit by a grenade, but
managed to keep going. He was almost to his target when the enemy gunner spotted
him and fired a long burst that caught Ingman in the head and neck and sent him
reeling to the ground. But the Wisconsin soldier rose to his feet and resolutely
resumed his one-man war. He wiped out the machine gun crew, then slumped
unconscious over the gun he had taken. The two squads followed him and got to
the emplacement he had taken just in time to see a large number of the enemy
fleeing down the far side of the hill, throwing away their rifles. Ingman, who
had also been wounded in the fighting near Seoul, recovered from the wounds he
got in this furious action, was promoted to Sergeant First Class, and awarded
the Congressional Medal of Honor.
The Bayonet was put in the van of the IX
Corps assault, and fought a fierce three-day battle culminating with the
recapture of the terrain that had been lost near the Hwachon Reservoir just over
the 38th Parallel in North Korea. Here the Division enjoyed a victory that was
doubly sweet. In capturing the town bordering on the reservoir it cut off
thousands of enemy troops who were trapped in the important electrical power
center, and at the same time gained some measure of revenge for the bitter
memories of the Chosin campaign. The IX Corps' attack, Operation Pile driver,
continued in the face of fanatical Chinese resistance. The enemy waited for the
Gl's in the hills beyond the Hwachon, entrenched in log bunkers and reinforced
pillboxes behind heavily-mined roads, coming out to fight at night.
The end of June brought the 7th a welcome
assignment to the rear, the first relief from frontline duty since the Division
had reached Korea. There was the inevitable reshuffling of assignments. Colonel
Quinn was ordered to a new assignment; His successor was Lieutenant Colonel Hal
Dale McCown. Lieutenant Colonel Glen A. Nelson, who had been a battalion
commander under Mickey Finn back in the Hourglass days of World War II, took
over the 31st Infantry Regiment; and Colonel Charles McNamara Mount, Jr., took
over the 32nd Infantry.
After a brief rest the Division was ordered
into defensive positions north of Hwachon. Toward the end of August, a number of
limited objective attacks were ordered to take key terrain features and improve
the front lines. In ten days the Division captured five important hills, in what
one division historian has described as "the best fighting in tire Division's
history."
When the Division returned to the lines
after another assignment in reserve, it was to the Heartbreak Ridge sector
recently vacated by the 2d Division. The 7th also took in the northern the of
the "Punchbowl." About this time General Ferenbaugh left, to be replaced by
Major General Lyman L. Lemnitzcr, under whom the Bayonet continued to defend
"Line Missouri" through September 1952. By that time General Lemnitzer had been
replaced by Major General Wayne C. Smith, who took over while the Division was
still on the so-called "Static Line."
The Division's Operation Showdown was
launched in the early morning hours of October 14, 1952, with the 31st Infantry
Polar Bears passing swiftly through the lines of the 32 Infantry Buccaneers. The
target of the assault was the Triangle Hill complex northeast of Kumhwa. The
31st moved against a strategic spot which for obvious reasons was named "Jane
Russell Hill."
The next day the Bayonet attacked again. And
again on the day after that. Three days later the attack finally succeeded. In
one of the counterattacks mounted by the Communists, a strategic Bayonet
position on the hill would have been overrun but for the courage of PFC Ralph E.
Pomeroy, who calmly pulled his machine gun off its tripod and started walking
downhill toward the enemy, firing into them as he walked, hand grenades blew the
helmet off his head, but he continued into the enemy's midst. And when he came
to the end of the ammunition belt, he swung the machine gun as a club,
continuing to close with the enemy until they engulfed him by sheer numbers. He
was still fighting them when his buddies of Company E, 31st Infantry, got their
last glimpse of him.
The Bayonet remained in the Triangle Hill
area until the end of October, when it was relieved by the 25th Infantry
Division. It had won an important victory in what Lieutenant General Reuben E.
Jenkins, commander of IX Corps, termed "the most violent action of this corps in
over a year." General Jenkins also said, "In my opinion there could be no finer
assignment for a Corps Commander than to command a corps composed of divisions
of the quality of the 7th Infantry Division."
'The New Year (1953) found the 31st Polar
Bears and the 32nd Buccaneers holding positions on "Line Jamestown" awaiting the
return of the 17th from Koje-do. The Buffalos rejoined the Division in
mid-January, to join in the patrol activity around Old Baldy and Pork Chop.
April brought a stepping-up of the enemy's ground activity and Operation Little
Switch, the exchange of sick and wounded prisoners. The Communists overran Pork
Chop, but the 7th counterattacked and re-took the OP the next day. While the,
negotiations continued their deliberations at Panmunjom, the frontline activity
continued. July 6 the Reds launched a determined attack against Pork Chop--the
strongest display of force the Bayonet had seen in that sector. Five days of
savage, fighting followed with the same ground being taken and retaken as the
tide of battle surged first one way and then the other.
At twenty minutes before eleven AM. on July
27, 1953, a message was received by the Division--and immediately flashed to all
units--that an Armistice had been signed and was to go into effect at ten that
night. Collectively and individually the Division breathed a sigh of relief, and
each man prayed silently that, having got this close, his luck would hold out
another twelve hours.
On OP Westview, where a ninety-minute battle
had raged the night before, the Bayonet soldiers wondered anxiously if the enemy
might decide to finish the war in a blaze of glory. Those were 12 extra-long
hours.
The men checked and rechecked their gear,
and cleaned their weapons. At one outpost six rounds of mortar fire fell inside
the perimeter during the afternoon, but none of the boys were hit. Around nine
PM the 7th soldiers noticed that the Reds had a huge searchlight beam playing on
Old Baldy.
Forty-five minutes ticked slowly by. The
latest order was passed from man to man: "No firing from now on--it's up to
them!"
Then the hour struck; the campaign in Korea
had come to an end.
Someone said, "Look. They shut off that
damned searchlight." A 7th Division soldier wrote in his diary, "We could hear
voices across the line, but for the first time the angry noises of warfare had
disappeared."
MODERN LIGHT
FIGHTERS
7TH INFANTRY DIVISION
(LIGHT)
The 7th Inf Div (L) operated throughout Panama
during Operation JUST CAUSE. Units were deployed early and had rotated through
the Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC) as part of Operation NIMROD DANCER.
A battalion task force, the 3d Bde Headquarters, and a major portion of the
Aviation Bde were in Panama during the days prior to the outbreak of
hostilities. Upon notification, the 2d Bde deployed shortly after H-Hour and
began operations in the western portion of Panama, while the 1st Bde deployed on
D + 2 and moved into Panama City to conduct stability operations. Units operated
throughout the entire country of Panama until redeployment from mid-January to
early February.
1st Brigade, 7th
Infantry Division (Light)
The 1st Bde, 7th Inf Div (L), initially
deployed to Panama on 12 May 89 as the Army element of Operation NIMROD DANCER.
The Bde HQ, 1-9 Inf, 2-9 Inf, 2-8 FA Bn (-), and the forward area support team
(-) rapidly moved to, and occupied, Ft. Sherman. Based upon an analysis of PLAN
BLUE SPOON, the Bde began a series of source projections which permanently
placed infantry forces in close proximity of the PDF Naval Infantry at Coco
Solo, the 8th Infantry company at Ft. Espanar, and the Colon Bottleneck.
Detailed plans were prepared and rehearsed as part of "Sand Flea" exercises. The
1st Bde conducted a relief in place with 3d Bde and returned to Ft. Ord, CA, on
16 Oct 90.
On 20 Dec, the Bde was alerted and deployed.
The Bde was attached to the 82d Abn Div and given the mission to clear and
secure the majority of Panama City. Elements of 3-9 Inf closed into Howard AFB
on 22 Dec and less than 12 hours later were engaged in the city by squad-sized
elements and snipers. 1-9 and 2-9 quickly followed and, by 24 Dec, the Bde was
establishing control of an area encompassing 600,000 residents. Over the next
week, the Bde had 21 separate engagements with elements of the PDF and DIGBATs
while clearing and securing the area of operations (AO). Additionally, the Bde
was responsible for the security and isolation of the American, Cuban, Libyan,
and Nicaraguan Embassies as well as the new Panama government's headquarters and
office buildings. On 6 Jan 90, the Bde relieved the 82nd Abn Div of security of
the Papal Nunciatura. On 10 Jan the Bde reverted back to 7th Inf Div (L) control
and expanded its AO in Panama City to control that portion held by the departing
82d Abn Div. Subsequently, the Bde then transferred its AO to 2d Bde and
combined U.S. MP/Fuerza Publica de Panama (FPP) control and redeployed to Ft.
Ord on 17 Jan.
2d Brigade, 7th Infantry
Division (Light)
The 2d Bde, 7th Inf Div (L), departed for
Panama early on 20 Dec. They arrived at Torrijos Airport at H + 11 and
immediately assisted in securing the airfield. After D + 1, the brigade was
given an AO ranging west from the Panama Canal to the Costa Rican border.
Primary objectives for the 2d Bde included neutralizing the PDF, securing key
sites and facilities, protecting U.S. lives and property, restoring law and
order, and demonstrating support for the emerging Panamanian government.
The brigade began operations by air assaulting
the 5-21st Inf into the town of Coclecito on 22 Dec, while the 2-27th Inf and
the 3-27th Inf relieved the 2-75th and 3-75th Ranger Regiment in Rio Hato. The
2d Bde staged out of Rio Hato to continue a two-phased operation in the west.
The first phase had Bravo company, 3-27th Inf, air assault into Las Tablas and
secure the area. It captured 200 prisoners. During the second phase, the 2d Bde
moved to the town of David in the western part of Panama to conduct stability
operations until relieved by the 2d and 3d Battalions 7th Special Forces (SF).
On 8 Jan, after being relieved in the west, 2d Bde moved east to join 1st Bde in
Panama City and relieve the 82d Abn Div. On 13 Jan, 2d Bde assumed total
responsibility for the city. During this phase, 2-27th Inf (-) returned to David
by order of JTFSO to demonstrate the ability to swiftly re-enter any area and
show U.S. support of the new government.
The 2d Bde expanded operations to the east
toward the Colombian border, from 24 Jan to 6 Feb 90. Primary objectives were to
show a strong U.S. presence, support for the new Panamanian government, and
neutralize any remaining PDF elements. Operations continued in eastern Panama
generally without incident until 6 Feb when the brigade redeployed to Ft. Ord.
3d Brigade, 7th Infantry
Division (Light) (TASK FORCE ATLANTIC)
On 15 Oct 89, 3d Bde, 7th Inf Div (L), as part
of Operation NIMROD SUSTAIN, assumed responsibility for all U.S. forces in the
vicinity of Colon from 1st Bde, and became Task Force (TF) Atlantic. The task
force was involved in intense mission analysis, planning, preparation and
rehearsals. Every three weeks battalions would rotate to JOTC, and become
familiar with OPLAN 90-2. Units would conduct "Sand Flea" exercises primarily to
exercise U.S. freedom of movement rights under the Panama Canal Treaties and to
rehearse contingency plans. Freedom-of-movement convoys were conducted twice
weekly from Ft. Sherman to Ft. Clayton or from Howard Air Force Base and back.
Combat operations began at 20 0038 Dec with
attached MPs and 4-17th Inf neutralizing the PDF 8th Infantry Company at Ft.
Espinar and the PDF Naval Infantry at Coco Solo. 3-504th PIR, 82d Abn Div,
conducting periodic rotation training at JOTC, was attached to 3d Bde and given
the mission to secure Madden Dam, clear the Cerro Tigre logistic site, clear and
secure the town of Gamboa, and seize Renacer Prison. Local security of the Gatun
Locks and Ft. Sherman was provided by the JOTC cadre. By 0600 20 Dec all
objectives were secured.
TF Atlantic then shifted their emphasis to the
city of Colon. Because of the large numbers of prisoners surrendering at the
Colon Bottleneck, the TF delayed entering Colon until 22 Dec. On D + 3, three
rifle companies conducted an amphibious assault into the Duty Free Zone and into
the eastern part of the city while two rifle companies advanced through sporadic
sniper fire from the south, to seize Colon. The PDF Military Zone (MZ) II HQ,
Cristobal Department of Investigation (DENI) station and the Cristobal Pier were
quickly seized and secured. The TF began civil military operations (CMO) on 23
Dec to restore law and order in support of the new civil government.
On 7 Jan 3-504th PIR redeployed to Ft. Bragg
and on 16 Jan 3-17th Inf arrived to relieve 4-17th Inf. 3-17th Inf was attached
to 193d Inf Bde (L) and on 3 Feb 3d Bde redeployed.
7th Aviation Brigade,
7th Infantry Division (Light) (TASK FORCE AVIATION)
On 18 Dec, two days prior to hostilities, the
Aviation Bde deployed the tactical command post (TAC) from Ft. Ord to Panama.
The TAC assumed command and control over TF Hawk, a unit organized to support
NIMROD DANCER. TF Aviation was then formed, comprised of 1-228 Avn, elements of
the 82d Avn Bde, and the 7th Inf Div (L) Avn Bde. TF Aviation was then
reorganized into four subordinate elements: TF Hawk, TF 1-228 and Team Wolf and
later TF Candor.
Combat operations began with simultaneous
battalion and company air assaults, flown by pilots with night vision goggles (NVGs),
in support of TF Bayonet to Ft. Amador and TF Atlantic to Renacer Prison, Gamboa,
and Cerro Tigre. Attack helicopters engaged targets at Rio Hato, La Commandancia,
Ft. Cimmarron, Panama Viejo, and Torrijos airport. After daylight, air assaults
into Panama Viejo, Tinajitas, and Ft. Cimmarron were conducted supporting TF
Pacific. Upon completion of these missions, all aviation assets were placed
under JTFSO control.
TF Aviation conducted resupply, command and
control, reconnaissance missions, and support for the hostage rescue forces at
the Marriott Hotel. On D + 2 the AO expanded with the air assault of 5-21st Inf
into Coclecito (western area of operations). Reconnaissance missions were also
conducted in Colon.
On D + 5 the 7th Inf Div (L) requested, and was
given, air assets to support 2d Bde's operations in the west. Task Force Condor
was formed and consisted of UH-60s, AH-1s, and OH-58s. Support for 2d Bde
continued for two weeks, and consisted primarily of air assault and
reconnaissance missions. As 2d Bde 7th Inf Div (L) was relieved in the west by
SF, TF Condor began a phased recovery from David through Rio Hato to Ft. Kobbe.
TF Aviation redeployed all augmentation forces and reduced TF Hawk to Team Hawk.
7th Infantry Division (Light) Today
Active Duty Headquarters at Ft Carson, Colorado
In 1995 the Commission on Roles and Missions
(CORM) recommended a greater integration and cooperation between the Army's
Active and Reserve components. The Army National Guard Division Redesign Study
proposed forming two integrated war fighting divisions. Each integrated division
consists of an active component headquarters and three enhanced Army National
Guard Separate Brigades.
The Army National Guard Division Redesign Study
recommended the establishment of two AC/NG Integrated Divisions, each consisting
of an active Army headquarters (staffed by some of the 5,000 AC support
personnel) and three Army National Guard enhanced Separate Brigades. An Active
Component Division Commander would become responsible for the combat readiness
of the three brigades and the other elements necessary to create a full division
capable of deploying in wartime.
The integrated division concept establishes an
active duty division headquarters to oversee the training and readiness of its
associated three Enhanced Separate Brigades (eSBs). While this arrangement
provides readiness and training benefits to the eSBs, under this concept the
integrated division is not deployable because it lacks a division combat support
(CS)-combat service support (CSS) base. Although the AC/RC integrated divisions
currently are not deployable as division-sized combat formations, the Army has
identified deploy ability as a possible future evolution of this concept.
The 7th Infantry Division (Light) "Bayonets" is
one of two integrated AC/RC Divisions and is headquartered at Fort Carson,
Colorado. It is comprised of three separate enhanced Infantry Brigades spread
throughout the United States.
- The 39th Enhanced Separate Brigade (Arkansas
Army National Guard)
- The 41st Enhanced Separate Brigade (Oregon
Army National Guard)
- The 45th Enhanced Separate Brigade (Oklahoma
Army National Guard)
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