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38th Infantry Division (United States)

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38th Infantry Division
38th Infantry Division SSI
38th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve inisgnia
Active 1917–1919
1941-present
Country United States of America
Branch Army National Guard
Type Infantry
Size Division
Garrison/HQ Indianapolis, Indiana
Nickname(s)

Cyclone (Special Designation)[1]

Avengers of Bataan[2]
Engagements World War I
World War II
Decorations Distinguished Unit Citation
Commanders
Current
commander		 Major General Joseph L. Culver
Insignia
distinctive unit insignia File:38 INF DIV.gif
 
38th Infantry Division (United States)

The 38th Infantry Division ("Cyclone"[1]) is an Indiana Army National Guard division in the United States Army headquartered at Stout Field in Indianapolis, Indiana and presently undergoing transformation. As a division, it saw service in both World War I and World War II.

World War I[]

The Division was activated in August 1917 as a National Guard Division from Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia. It had previously been in existence for a few months as the 17th Division drawing personnel from Indiana and Kentucky only.

While training for the European war at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, the 38th was hit by a cyclone, killing Pvt. Vaughn D. Beekman, and giving the 38th the nickname of Cyclone Division.[3] The division went overseas in October 1918. The Division was overseas approximately 6 months, but was skeletonized and its personnel went to other units.

  • Commanders: Maj. Gen. William H. Sage (25 August 1917), Brig. Gen. Edward M. Lewis (19 September 1917), Brig. Gen. H. H. Whitney (8 November 1917), Maj. Gen. William H. Sage (12 December 1917), Brig. Gen. William Sage (15 March 1918), Brig. Gen. William V. Judson (15 April 1918), Brig. Gen. Augustine McIntyre (12 July 1918), Brig. Gen. F. M. Caldwell (18 July 1918), Maj. Gen. Robert L. Howze (30 August 1918), Brig. Gen. F. M. Caldwell (18 October 1918), Maj. Gen. Robert L. Howze (27 October 1918).
  • Inactivated: June 1919.

World War II[]

Combat Chronicle[]

WELCOME20TO20BATAAN

Sign erected in the Philippines during World War II.

DinalupihanBataajf2720 05

Historical marker (38th Infantry Division, Battle of Bataan, Layac Junction).

The 38th Infantry Division arrived in Hawaii on 17 January 1944. It received further training and the duty of the defense of Oahu. Elements trained in the Oro Bay area, New Guinea, from July to November; then moved to Leyte in December. Enemy paratroops attempted to capture the Buri, Bayug, and San Pablo strips on 6 December. The 149th Infantry Regiment destroyed organized resistance, 11 December, and defended the strips until relieved, 4 January 1945. The Division landed in the San Narciso area in Southern Zambales Province, Luzon, 29 January 1945, without opposition. The San Marcelino airstrip was secured on the same day and the port facilities at Olongapo were captured on the 30th as well as Grande Island in Subic Bay after an amphibious landing. Driving west of Olongapo the 38th destroyed an intricate maze of enemy fortifications in Zig-Zag Pass. While elements landed at Mariveles on the southern tip of the peninsula, 15 February, other units pushed down the east coast road to Pilar and across the neck of land to Bagac along the route of the March of Death. The Bataan Peninsula was secured on 21 February, although mopping-up activities remained. Elements moved to Corregidor, 24 February, to clear the enemy from the Rock. Units assaulted and captured Caballo Island, 27 March, Fort Drum on El Fraile Island, 13 April, and Carabao Island, 16 April. The 38th engaged enemy forces in the mountainous terrain between Fort Stotsenburg and Mount Pinatubo, 10 March. Elements pushed north from San Felipe to Palauig Bay and east from Botolan along the Capas Trail cutting the enemy's withdrawal route. The Division moved to the area east of Manila, 1 May, and attacked enemy forces behind the Shimbu Line. By 30 June effective enemy opposition had been broken. The 38th continued mopping up enemy remnants in the Marikina area of eastern Luzon until VJ Day. For its efforts in The Philippines, General Douglas MacArthur nicknamed the 38th Division "The Avengers of Bataan."[4]

Post World War[]

Company D (Ranger), 151st Infantry was one of a small number of National Guard units mobilized for service in the Republic of Vietnam and was one of the most highly decorated units to serve in that conflict. Since 11 September 2001, the 38th Infantry Division has provided headquarters and forces for a variety of operational rotations including Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq), Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Joint Forge (Bosnia), Operation Joint Guardian (Kosovo), Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (Djibouti), Multinational Force and Observers (Egypt), United States Air Forces Europe(USAFE) Force Protection (England, Germany, Italy, and Belgium), and Operation Noble Eagle (Continental United States) Rotations I through IV. In 1996, over 7,000 soldiers from the 38th Infantry Division (from Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan) supported the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2005, the Division Headquarters mobilized in the support of Hurricane Katrina relief operations (dubbed "Task Force Cyclone") and exercised command and control of all National Guard forces in the State of Mississippi.[5] Team Gator in Al Anbar-Operation Iraqi Freedom

From October 2006 to September 2007, a company from the 38th Infantry Division saw extensive combat in Ramadi and Fallujah, Iraq. This company and its parent battalion were administratively assigned to the 38th Infantry Division, but operationally assigned to the 76th Infantry Brigade (Separtate) just prior to the mobilization and deployment of 2006–2007. Originally known as Company A, 2nd Battalion (Mechanized), 152nd Infantry Regiment, the unit became an expeditionary force with members from all companies in the battalion, and was renamed Headquarters, and Headquarters Company (-), and would come to be known as "Team Gator". Upon arrival in Al Anbar Province, the unit was operationally assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division's "Ready First Combat Team" and conducted extensive joint patrols and enemy clearing operations in both the Ramadi and Fallujah AOs during the some of the most intense fighting of the 2006–2007 campaign. One platoon would be assigned under the tactical control of USMC Regimental Combat Teams in the Fallujah AO, with the rest of the company being assigned to the Ready First Brigade in Ramadi. The company would also have a platoon from the Minnesota National Guard under its operational control.

When the Ready First Brigade departed Ramadi, the company would be assigned to a new brigade, 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division (Raider Brigade), and it would participate in major clearing operations during the Surge of 2007. It was also during this time that the company would be reconsolidated in Ramadi when the Fallujah platoon was returned to the operational control of its company headquarters. Team Gator, or the "Cyclones" as they were known by their call sign, opened 8 new police stations in Al Anbar Province, including western, southern, and eastern Ramadi; as well as in and around the Falllujah AO. During the process, the unit participated in 8 battalion sized enemy clearing operations, conducted hundreds of joint patrols with Iraqi Security Forces, and was credited with the capture of over 100 insurgents, and an unknown number killed. The company would pay heavily for its accomplishments with 27 Purple Hearts, and one soldier killed in action, Staff Sergeant Bradley D. King, who was killed on 2 April 2007, by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) during a raid on a known insurgent bomb maker's house in the village of Fuhaylat, southwest of Fallujah. Soldiers of the unit earned 27 Bronze Stars, with two for Valor. The company received the Naval Unit Commendation and the Meritorious Unit Commendation. The company had many soldiers who committed numerous acts of heroism that have not been truly known to this day. The unit is second only to Company D Rangers for being the most decorated and combat experienced company sized element in the Indiana Army National Guard since World War II.

Current Structure[]

38th US Infantry Division

Structure 38th Infantry Division

38th Infantry Division SSI 38th Infantry Division exercises Training and Readiness Oversight of the following elements, they cannot be considered organic:[6]

Attached Units[]

See also[]

References[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Special Designation Listing". United States Army Center of Military History. 21 April 2010. Archived from the original on 9 June 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20100609010028/http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/spdes-123-arng.html. Retrieved 14 July 2010. 
  2. ↑ "Avengers of Bataan: 38th Infantry Division, Historical Report". Military Bookshop. November 2011. 
  3. ↑ 38th Infantry Division (Mechanized) "Cyclone" Accessed 18 August 2008.
  4. ↑ "http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/arng-in.htm". GlobalSecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/arng-in.htm. Retrieved 2 August 2010. 
  5. ↑ Camp Atterbury "In the News", 3 September 2005. Accessed 18 August 2008.
  6. ↑ AUSA, Torchbearer Special Report, 7 November 2005; http://www.ausa.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/ILW%20Web-ExclusivePubs/Torchbearer/TBearComp1v12.pdf

Sources[]

External links[]

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