29th Infantry Division (United States)

World War I The 29th Division was constituted on paper on 18 July 1917, three months after the American entry into World War I, in the National Guard. Troops came from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. As the division was composed of men from states that had units that fought for both the North and South during the American Civil War, it was nicknamed the "Blue and Gray" division, after the blue uniforms of the Union and the gray uniforms of the Confederate armies. The division was organized as a unit on 25 August 1917 at Camp McClellan, Alabama. In November, 1,000 draftees from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia joined the division, while in January 1918, the 1st Delaware Infantry was relieved from assignment to the division and used to form the separate 59th Pioneer Infantry Regiment. In May, remaining vacancies were filled by 5,000 more draftees from New York, New England, and the Midwest. The division, commanded throughout its existence by Major General Charles G. Morton, departed for the Western Front in June 1918 to join the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). The division's advance detachment reached Brest, France on 8 June. In late September, the 29th received orders to join the U.S. First Army's Meuse–Argonne offensive as part of the French XVII Corps. During its 21 days in combat, the 29th Division advanced seven kilometers, captured 2,148 prisoners, and knocked out over 250 machine guns or artillery pieces. Thirty percent of the division were casualties in the war, including 170 officers and 5,691 enlisted men were killed or wounded. Shortly thereafter the Armistice with Germany was signed on 11 November 1918, ending hostilities between the Central Powers and the Allied Powers. The division returned to the United States in May 1919. at a review in Alsace, France, 1918 Order of battle, 1917–1918 • Headquarters, 29th Division • 57th Infantry Brigade • 113th Infantry Regiment (former 4th New Jersey Infantry less Headquarters Company, Machine Gun Company, Company L, and part of Supply Company, 1st New Jersey Infantry less Company K, and 2nd New Jersey Infantry less band, Machine Gun Company, and Companies G and L) • 114th Infantry Regiment (former 3rd New Jersey Infantry less band, Machine Gun Company, and Companies I and L, and 5th New Jersey Infantry less Company F) • 111th Machine Gun Battalion (former Machine Gun Company, 4th New Jersey Infantry, and Machine Gun Company and Company L, 2nd New Jersey Infantry) • 58th Infantry Brigade • 115th Infantry Regiment (former 1st Maryland Infantry less Company H, 5th Maryland Infantry less Headquarters, Supply, and Machine Gun Companies, and 4th Maryland Infantry less band, Machine Gun Company, and Companies A, B, D, E, F, H, and I) • 116th Infantry Regiment (former 2nd Virginia Infantry, 1st Virginia Infantry less band) and Machine Gun Company, and 4th Virginia Infantry less Headquarters Company, Machine Gun Company, and Companies D, I, and M) • 112th Machine Gun Battalion (former Company H, 1st Maryland Infantry, Machine Gun Company, 4th Maryland Infantry, and Machine Gun Company and Company D, 4th Virginia Infantry) • 54th Field Artillery Brigade • 110th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (former Headquarters and Supply Companies, 5th Maryland Infantry, Batteries A, B and C, Maryland Field Artillery, Batteries A and B, D.C. Field Artillery, 1st Squadron, D.C. Cavalry, and detachment from Company A, Virginia Signal Corps) • 111th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (former 1st Virginia Field Artillery, Headquarters Company and Companies I and M, 4th Virginia Infantry, and detachment from Company A, Virginia Signal Corps) • 112th Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm) (former 1st New Jersey Field Artillery less Battery F, Troops B and D, 1st New Jersey Cavalry, and detachment from Company A, Virginia Signal Corps) • 104th Trench Mortar Battery (former Battery F, New Jersey Field Artillery) • 110th Machine Gun Battalion (former Machine Gun Company, 5th Maryland Infantry, Machine Gun Company, 4th New Jersey Infantry, and Machine Gun Company, 1st Virginia Infantry) • 104th Engineer Regiment (former 1st Battalion. New Jersey Engineers, Company K, 1st New Jersey Infantry, Company G, 2nd New Jersey Infantry, Companies I and L, 3rd New Jersey Infantry, Co. L, 4th New Jersey Infantry, and Co. F, 5th New Jersey Infantry) • 104th Field Signal Battalion (former Companies A and C, New Jersey Signal Corps, and Company B, D.C. Signal Corps) • Headquarters Troop, 29th Division (detachment from 1st Squadron, New Jersey Cavalry) • 104th Train Headquarters and Military Police (former Troops A and C, 1st Squadron New Jersey Cavalry, and Troop A, Maryland Cavalry) • 104th Ammunition Train (former 1st Squadron, Virginia Cavalry, and individual transfers) • 104th Supply Train (individual transfers) • 104th Engineer Train (individual transfers) • 104th Sanitary Train • 113th, 114th, 115th, and 116th Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals (former 1st Maryland Ambulance Company, 1st Virginia Ambulance Company, 1st New Jersey Field Hospital, 1st Maryland Field Hospital, and 1st Virginia Field Hospital) == Interwar period ==

In accordance with the National Defense Act of 1920, the division was allotted to the states of Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, and assigned to the III Corps in 1921. The division headquarters was reorganized and federally recognized on 31 July 1923 at Washington, D.C. The designated mobilization training center for the "Blue and Gray" Division was Fort Eustis, Virginia. Units from New Jersey that were part of the 29th Division in World War I were assigned to the new 44th Division, which encompassed troops from New Jersey and New York. As a result, the 57th Infantry Brigade and 104th Engineer Regiment went to the 44th Division, while the newly constituted 91st Infantry Brigade and 121st Engineer Regiment were assigned the 29th Division. When 155 mm howitzers were returned to infantry divisions beginning in 1929, a formerly non-divisional unit from Pennsylvania was assigned to the division. From 1922 to 1936, the division's subordinate units held separate summer camps at locations within their respective states: Camp Albert C. Ritchie, near Cascade, Maryland, for Maryland and District of Columbia units, the Virginia Beach State Military Reservation at Virginia Beach, Virginia, for Virginia units, and the target range in Monroe and Wayne Counties, Pennsylvania, near Tobyhanna, for the artillery units. The division staff, composed of personnel from all four states, came together to conduct joint training most summers before World War II. The division staff's summer training periods were conducted most years at Camp Ritchie, Virginia Beach, or Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. The headquarters also participated in several corps area and army-level command post exercises (CPXs) during the interwar years. However, the first time the majority of the division's subordinate units had the chance to operate together came in June 1935 during the portion of the First Army maneuvers held at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the 91st Infantry Brigade and the 121st Engineers did not attend the maneuver. The poliomyelitis epidemic which had developed in Virginia that summer prompted the governor of Pennsylvania to refuse the brigade's entry into the state. The next opportunity to train as one unit came in August 1939 when the entire division was assembled at Manassas, Virginia, for the Third Corps Area concentration of the First Army maneuvers. In that maneuver, the "Blue and Gray" Division operated as part of the provisional III Corps. For the additional week's training directed by the War Department for all National Guard units that winter, the Virginia elements of the 29th Division assembled 12–18 November 1939 at Virginia Beach, while the Maryland and District of Columbia elements assembled at Camp Ritchie. The final division training event before induction came in August 1940 when the 29th Division participated in the First Army maneuvers near Canton, New York. The division again operated as part of the III Corps against the provisional I Corps. The division was relieved from the III Corps on 30 December 1940 and assigned to the II Corps. It was inducted into federal service at home stations on 3 February 1941. Instead of Fort Eustis, however, it was ordered to move to Fort George G. Meade, where it arrived on 4-5 February 1941. The division was transferred to the A.P. Hill Military Reservation, Virginia, on 14 September 1941. After the division’s initial train-up period, it participated in the Carolina Maneuvers in October–November 1941 as part of the II Corps in the vicinity of Hoffman-Oakboro, North Carolina. Location of the division headquarters on 7 December 1941 was in transit between North Carolina and Fort George G. Meade. Commanders Source: • Major General Anton Stephan (Washington, D.C.), 31 July 1923 – 10 April 1934 • Major General Milton A. Reckord (Maryland), 14 April 1934–February 1942 Order of battle, 1939 Source: Italics indicates state of headquarters allocation; headquarters not organized or inactive. • Headquarters, 29th Division (Washington, D.C.) • Headquarters Detachment, 29th Division (Washington, D.C.) • Headquarters, Special Troops, 29th Division (Washington, D.C.) • Headquarters Detachment, Special Troops (Washington, D.C.) • Medical Detachment, Special Troops (Washington, D.C.) • Headquarters Company, 29th Division (Washington, D.C.) • 29th Military Police Company (Washington, D.C.) • 29th Signal Company (Norfolk, Virginia) • 104th Ordnance Company (Medium) (Washington, D.C.) • 29th Tank Company (Light) (Danville, Virginia) • Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 58th Infantry Brigade (Baltimore, Maryland) • 1st Infantry Regiment (MD) (Frederick, Maryland) (later redesignated 115th Infantry) • 5th Infantry Regiment (MD) (Baltimore, Maryland) (later redesignated 175th Infantry) • Headquarters, 91st Infantry Brigade (Richmond, Virginia) (later redesignated 88th Infantry Brigade) • Headquarters Company, 91st Infantry Brigade (Berryville, Virginia) • 1st Infantry Regiment (VA) (Richmond, Virginia) (later redesignated 176th Infantry) • 116th Infantry Regiment (Lynchburg, Virginia) • Headquarters, 54th Field Artillery Brigade (Norfolk, Virginia) • Headquarters Battery, 54th Field Artillery Brigade (Richmond, Virginia) • 110th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (Pikesville, Maryland) • 111th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (Hampton, Virginia) • 176th Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) • 104th Ammunition Train (Virginia National Guard) • 121st Engineer Regiment (Washington, D.C.) • 104th Medical Regiment (Baltimore, Maryland) • 104th Quartermaster Regiment (Baltimore, Maryland) == World War II ==

At the outbreak of World War II, the U.S. Army began the buildup and reorganization of its fighting forces. The division was called into active service on 3 February 1941. Instead, the core units of the division were its three infantry regiments, along with supporting units. On 12 March 1942, over three months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent American entrance into World War II, with this reorganization complete the division was redesignated as the 29th Infantry Division and began preparing for overseas deployment to Europe. In July the divisional commander, Major General Gerow, was promoted to command V Corps and Major General Charles Hunter Gerhardt assumed command of the division, remaining in this post for the rest of the war. Operation Overlord D-Day of Operation Neptune, the cross-channel invasion of Normandy, finally came on 6 June 1944. Neptune was the assault phase of the larger Operation Overlord, codename for the Allied campaign to liberate France from the Germans. The 29th Infantry Division sent the 116th Infantry to support the western flank of the veteran 1st Infantry Division's 16th Infantry at Omaha Beach. Omaha was known to be the most difficult of the five landing beaches, due to its rough terrain and bluffs overlooking the beach, which had been well fortified by its German defenders of the 352nd Infantry Division. The 116th Infantry was assigned four sectors of the beach; Easy Green, Dog Red, Dog White, and Dog Green. Soldiers of the 29th Infantry Division boarded a large number of attack transports for the D-Day invasion, among them landing craft, landing ship, tank, and landing ship, infantry ships and other vessels such as the , , and USS Buncombe County. German reserves formed a new defensive front outside the town, and American forces fought a fierce battle with them two miles outside of the town. • Killed in action: 3,887 In 1963, the division was reorganized in accordance with the Reorganization Objective Army Divisions plan, eliminating its regimental commands in favor of brigades. The 1st Brigade, 29th Infantry Division and 2nd Brigade, 29th Infantry Division were from the Virginia Army National Guard, On 30 September 1985, the division was reactivated at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with units from the Virginia Army National Guard (VAARNG) and Maryland Army National Guard (MDARNG). == Structure 1989 ==

At the end of the Cold War the division was a joint Virginia Army National Guard (VA ARNG) and Maryland Army National Guard (MD ARNG) formation. Virginia provided the division's headquarters, the 1st and 2nd Brigade, the Division Artillery (with one MD ARNG artillery battalion) and other minor units, while Maryland provided the 3rd Brigade, Aviation Brigade (with two VA ARNG aviation companies), the Division Support Command (with one VAARNG aviation company) and other minor units. The division was organized as follows: • 29th Infantry Division (Light), Fort Belvoir (VA ARNG) • Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Fort Belvoir (VAARNG) • 1st Brigade, Staunton (VAARNG) • 2nd Battalion, 110th Field Artillery, Pikesville (MDARNG) (18 × M101 105 mm towed howitzers) • 29th Division Band, Roanoke (VAARNG) == The 1990s ==

in Kosovo in May 2009 as part of the International Security Assistance Force in 2011 At the end of the Cold War, the Army was reduced in size and budget. The 29th Infantry Division was retained, however 2nd Brigade was inactivated in favor of assets from the inactivating 26th Infantry Division, which was redesignated the 26th Brigade, 29th Infantry Division. In March 1994, during a time of post-Cold War reductions in the size of the Regular Army, the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment was tasked to test a new concept. The Regiment's task was to organize, train, certify, and deploy a multi-component battalion-sized task force made up of National Guard, Army Reserve and Regular Army Soldiers to serve as the US Army's rotational Infantry Battalion for the Multi-National Force and Observers (MFO) in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. The Soldiers selected for the unit reported to Fort Bragg in North Carolina in July 1994 to begin their training for the mission. The task force was designated as the 4th Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and carried the lineage of Company D, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which had served throughout World War II and into the 1950s. Also known as Task Force 4-505 or "The Sinai Battalion", it was formally activated on 4 November 1994. The battalion was made up of 88% National Guardsmen and Army Reservists from 32 different states, and 12% Regular Army Soldiers, most from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. Virginia and Maryland Army National Guardsmen from the 29th Infantry Division (Light) provided the largest contingent for the battalion. All of the National Guard and Army Reserve Soldiers volunteered for a year of active duty in order to serve in the unit. After completing six months of peacekeeping training at Fort Bragg, the 4th Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment deployed to the Sinai from January through June 1995, then redeployed to Fort Bragg. On 15 July 1995, the 4th Battalion was inactivated at Fort Bragg, and its soldiers returned to their parent units. == Twenty-first century ==

Hundreds of soldiers from the 29th Infantry Division completed nine days of training on 16 June 2001 at Fort Polk, Louisiana, to prepare for their peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, as the second division headquarters to be deployed as a part of SFOR 10. In all, 2,085 National Guard soldiers from 16 states from Massachusetts to California served with the multinational force that operated in the US sector, MND-N. Their rotation began in October 2001 and lasted six months. The division underwent a major reorganization in 2006. A special troops battalion was added to the division's command structure, and its three brigades were redesignated. It as organized around three brigades; the 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team of North Carolina, the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of Virginia, and the Combat Aviation Brigade, 29th Infantry Division of Maryland. In December 2006, the division took command of the Eastern region of Kosovo's peacekeeping force, to provide security in the region. The division's soldiers were part of a NATO multi-national task force consisting of units from Ukraine, Greece, Poland, Romania, Armenia and Lithuania under the command of U.S. Army Brigadier General Douglas B. Earhart who concurrently served as the 29th's Deputy Commanding General. The division returned to Fort Belvoir in November 2007. After a three-month pre-deployment train-up at Mississippi's Camp Shelby, the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in September 2007, as part of the Iraq War's Operation Iraqi Freedom, returning home in May 2008. Approximately 72 Virginia and Maryland National Guard soldiers with the 29th ID were deployed to Afghanistan from December 2010 to October 2011. As part of the 29th ID Security Partnering Team, the Soldiers were assigned to NATO's International Security Assistance Force Joint Command Security Partnering Team with the mission of assisting with the growth and development of the Afghan National Security Forces where they served as advisers and mentors to senior Afghan leaders. They were part of a NATO Coalition of 49 troop-contributing nations that Security Partnering personnel interacted with daily across Afghanistan. They were replaced in November 2011 by a new team from the 29th Infantry Division. A team of 65 29th ID soldiers served in Afghanistan as a Security Partnering Team until July 2012. The 29th ID suffered one casualty during this deployment. Maj. Robert Marchanti of the Maryland Army National Guard was killed on 25 February 2012. In 2014 the 29th ID twice sent soldiers to the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany to assist in the training of U.S. and multinational soldiers preparing to head to Kosovo as part of the Kosovo Force mission. The 29th ID soldiers performed as the KFOR staff, serving as subject matter experts, enforcing KFOR orders, systems and procedures, and working with JMRC to help the deploying troops achieve their training objectives. The 29th ID currently serves as the Domestic All-Hazards Response Team (DART) in FEMA Regions 1 through 5 (states east of the Mississippi). In this role, the 29th ID is prepared to assist the state National Guard in their service to governors and citizens during an incident response. The DART provides defense support of civil authority capabilities in response to a catastrophic event. The DART conducts joint reception, staging, onward movement and Integration of inbound OPCON forces and establishes base support installations and /or forward operating bases for sustaining operations. On 24 July 2015, Brig. Gen. Blake C. Ortner took command of the 29th Infantry Division from Maj. Gen. Charles W. Whittington. On 19 December 2016, the 29th Infantry Division assumed command of U.S. Army Central's intermediate division headquarters, Task Force Spartan, at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. This deployment includes 450 Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina Army National Guard soldiers and is the first time the 29th Infantry Division has been a part of the Third Army since 1944, during WWII. More than 80 members of the 29th deployed to Jordan in August 2016 where they assumed command of the military's joint operations center there to support Operation Inherent Resolve. On 3 October 2020, Epperly was succeeded by Maj. Gen. John M. Rhodes. ==Organization==

The 29th Infantry Division exercises training and readiness oversight of the following units, which are not organic: there is a division headquarters battalion, three infantry brigade combat teams, a division artillery, a combat aviation brigade, a sustainment brigade, and a field artillery brigade. • 29th Infantry Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion • Headquarters and Headquarters Company • 1st Squadron, 108th Cavalry Regiment (1-108th Cavalry Regiment)—reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition • 1st Battalion,121st Infantry Regiment (Slayers) • 2nd Battalion,121st Infantry Regiment (Warriors) • 3rd Battalion,121st Infantry Regiment (Pathfinders) • 1st Battalion,118th Field Artillery Regiment • 148th Brigade Support Battalion • 177th Brigade Engineer Battalion • 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (FL NG) • Headquarters and Headquarters Company • 1st Squadron, 153rd Cavalry Regiment (FL NG) • 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment • 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment • 1st Battalion, 167th Infantry Regiment (AL NG) • 2nd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery Regiment • 753rd Brigade Engineer Battalion • 53rd Brigade Support Battalion • 116th Mobile Brigade Combat Team (VA NG) • Headquarters and Headquarters Company • 2nd Squadron, 183rd Cavalry Regiment • 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment • 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment • 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment (KY NG) • 1st Battalion, 111th Field Artillery Regiment • 229th Brigade Engineer Battalion • 429th Brigade Support Battalion • 29th Division Artillery (Will be formed) • Headquarters and Headquarters Battery • 29th Combat Aviation Brigade (MD NG) • 1st Battalion, 285th Aviation Regiment (AZ NG) • 2d Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment (VA NG) • 8th Battalion, 229th Aviation Regiment (USAR) • 1st Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment (FL NG) • 248th Aviation Support Battalion (IA NG) • 113th Sustainment Brigade • Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (Fayetteville, Arkansas) • 1st Battalion, 142nd Field Artillery Regiment (Bentonville, Arkansas) • 2nd Battalion, 142nd Field Artillery Regiment (Barling, Arkansas) • 217th Brigade Support Battalion (Booneville, Arkansas) • 226th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade ==Honors==

Unit decorations Campaign streamers ==Legacy==

The 29th Infantry Division has been featured numerous times in popular media, particularly for its role on D-Day. The division's actions on Omaha Beach are featured prominently in the 1962 film The Longest Day, as well as in the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan. Soldiers of the division are featured in other films and television with smaller roles, such as in the 2009 film Inglourious Basterds and the 2005 film War of the Worlds. The 29th Infantry Division is also featured in numerous video games related to World War II. The division's advance through Normandy and Europe is featured in the games Close Combat, Company of Heroes and Call of Duty 3, in which the player assumes the role of a soldier of the division. A number of soldiers serving with the 29th Infantry Division have gone on to achieve notability for various reasons. Among them are highly decorated soldier Joseph A. Farinholt, soccer player James Ford, United States federal judge Alfred D. Barksdale, and historian Lawrence C. Wroth, generals Milton Reckord, Norman Cota, Charles D. W. Canham, and Donald Wilson. Major Thomas D. Howie who commanded 3d Battalion, 116th Infantry during the battle of St. Lo became immortalized as "The Major of St. Lo" for the honors rendered to him after being killed in action. U.S. soldiers who received the Medal of Honor during service with the 29th Infantry Division include Henry Costin, Earle Davis Gregory, and Patrick Regan from World War I and Frank D. Peregory and Sherwood H. Hallman. from World War II. == See also ==