World War I •
Activated: January 1918 •
Overseas: November 1918 •
Commanders: • Col. Elmore F. Taggart (5 January – 14 February 1918) • Col. G. L. Van Deusen (15 – 24 February 1918) • Brig. Gen.
Joseph D. Leitch (25 February – 9 March 1918; 18 March – 17 July 1918; 4 – 10 August 1918; 12 August – 1 September 1918) • Maj. Gen.
John Frank Morrison (10 – 17 March 1918) • Maj. Gen.
William S. Graves (18 July – 3 August 1918; 11 August 1918) • Maj. Gen.
Eli A. Helmick (2 September 1918 – 19 November 1918; 26 November 1918) • Brig. Gen.
John J. Bradley (20 – 26 November 1918)
Organization On 17 December 1917, the
War Department directed the organization of the 8th Division at
Camp Fremont,
California, from Regular Army units. • Headquarters, 8th Division • 15th Infantry Brigade •
12th Infantry Regiment •
62nd Infantry Regiment (formed with a cadre from the 12th Infantry) • 23rd Machine Gun Battalion • 16th Infantry Brigade •
8th Infantry Regiment •
13th Infantry Regiment • 24th Machine Gun Battalion • 8th Field Artillery Brigade •
2nd Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm) •
81st Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (formed from the 23rd Cavalry) •
83rd Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (formed from the 25th Cavalry) • 8th Trench Mortar Battery • 22nd Machine Gun Battalion • 319th Engineer Regiment (formed with a cadre from the
3rd Engineers) • 320th Field Signal Battalion • Headquarters Troop, 8th Division • 8th Train Headquarters and Military Police • 8th Ammunition Train • 8th Supply Train • 8th Engineer Train • 8th Sanitary Train • 11th, 31st, 32nd, and 43rd Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals
Moving abroad In August 1918, Major General Graves, along with his staff, 5,000 men, and 100 officers, was transferred to
Siberia to occupy
Vladivostok in Russia as part of the
intervention in the Russian Civil War. Major General Eli A. Helmick succeeded Graves in command of the division. The overseas movement of the division to Europe commenced on October 30, 1918. The 8th Field Artillery Brigade, 8th Infantry Brigade, 16th Infantry Brigade headquarters, and the 319th Engineer Regiment were the only divisional units to go to France. The 13th and 62nd Infantry Regiments were at sea when recalled after the
Armistice. The 12th Infantry did not leave its pre-embarkation point at
Camp Mills,
New York, because it was quarantined for
Spanish influenza. The troops who did reach France became the garrison of
Brest and assisted in building huge camps for troops about to embark for return to the United States. The 8th Infantry Regiment became part of the American occupation forces in Germany until August 1919 and the remainder returned to the United States in January 1919, after which the division disbanded.
Between wars The 8th Division officially demobilized at
Camp Lee,
Virginia, in September 1919. The division was partially reconstituted on 24 March 1923, allotted to the Third
Corps Area for mobilization purposes, and assigned to the
III Corps.
Camp George G. Meade, Maryland, was its designated mobilization station for reactivation. The 16th Infantry Brigade (12th and 34th Infantry Regiments), the 1st Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, the 15th Ordnance Company, and the 8th Tank Company (Light) were assigned to the division in June 1923 as Regular Army active units, and formed the force from which the remainder of the division would be reactivated in the event of war. The commanding general of the brigade was considered the division commander for planning purposes. The 16th Infantry Brigade was stationed at
Fort Howard, Maryland, from 1922 to 1928;
Fort Hunt, Virginia, from 1928 to 1931; in
Washington, D.C., from 1931 to 1936; and at Fort Meade from 1936 to the activation of the division. The division headquarters was organized in April 1926 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a "Regular Army Inactive" (RAI) unit using personnel of the
Organized Reserve, and by mid-1927, most of the division's other inactive elements were also organized as such. The active units of the division conducted annual training with the III and
XIII Corps and the
79th,
80th, and
99th Divisions. Summer training camps were usually conducted at Camp Meade. The 16th Infantry Brigade's 12th and 34th Infantry Regiments, reinforced by the
3d Cavalry and the
District of Columbia National Guard's 260th Coast Artillery, were called out on 28 July 1932 to quell potential trouble from the
Bonus Army in
Washington, D.C. The 12th Infantry was ordered to clear the
United States Capitol and the camps on the
Anacostia Flats of the veterans that afternoon. The division was also provisionally organized in 1939 for the
First Army Maneuvers at
Manassas, Virginia, with the 16th Brigade reinforced by the
66th Infantry (Light Tanks). In preparation for becoming a "triangular" division, the 8th Infantry Division was reactivated on 1 July 1940 at
Fort Jackson,
South Carolina, less Reserve personnel, and assigned to the
I Corps . and Brest. In early March 1945, the 8th had advanced into the Rhineland. It fought its way into the Ruhr region the following month. On 6 April the division attacked northwest to aid in the destruction of enemy forces in the
Ruhr Pocket, and by the 17th had completed its mission. After security duty, the division, under operational control of the
British Second Army, drove across the
Elbe, 1 May, and penetrated to
Schwerin when the war in Europe ended. On 2 May 1945, as it advanced into northern Germany, the 8th Infantry Division encountered the
Neuengamme concentration camp Wöbbelin subcamp, near the city of
Ludwigslust. •
Killed in action: 2,532 In 1956-57 it was sent to
West Germany, initially on a temporary basis in
Operation Gyroscope, but remained in West Germany for decades. The Division's First Brigade (with subordinate units) was stationed in
Mainz, the Second Brigade (with subordinate units) was stationed in
Baumholder, and the Third Brigade (with subordinate units) was stationed in
Mannheim (Sullivan and
Coleman Barracks). In 1974, an amendment by Senator
Sam Nunn of Georgia led to two more brigades being organized for European service. The
4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division ("Brigade-76") was dispatched to Europe in the fall of 1976. It was stationed in
Wiesbaden, attached to the 8th Infantry Division, and for eight years, made it unique - the 8th ID became the Army's only four-brigade division. In 1984, the 4th Brigade was inactivated and the division's size fell to the standard three brigades. From December 1957, until it was inactivated in January 1992, the 8th Infantry Division was headquartered at
Bad Kreuznach. From the late 1950s until the early 1960s, the 8th Infantry Division was organized as a partially Airborne Pentomic division, with two of its five battle groups (the
1st Airborne Battle Group, 504th Infantry, and
1st Airborne Battle Group, 505th Infantry) on jump status. In 1963 the division was reorganized into a brigade structure with the 1st Brigade on jump status, and 1-504th was reorganized and reflagged as the
1st Battalion (Abn), 509th Infantry and 1-505th as the 2d Battalion (Abn), 509th Infantry. Supporting units throughout the division (for example, one field artillery battalion, one company of the engineer battalion, one platoon of the MP company, etc.) were also on jump status. The 8th Infantry Division operated its own
jump school at
Wiesbaden Air Base to support its 1st Brigade as well as other elements of the
United States Army, Europe. In 1973 elements of the 1st Brigade were transferred to Vicenza, Italy, to establish a separate Airborne battalion combat team (1-509th INF) and the two Airborne infantry battalions were reorganized and reflagged as the
2d Battalion, 28th Infantry and the
2d Battalion, 87th Infantry. The reorganized 1st Brigade included a tank unit, the 4th Battalion,
69th Armor.
Desert Storm Four battalions deployed to
Operation Desert Storm. • Attached to
3d Armored Division: • 4th Battalion,
34th Armor •
12th Engineer Battalion • 5th Battalion,
3d Air Defense Artillery • Attached to the 42d Field Artillery Brigade: • 2d Battalion,
29th Field Artillery (M109A2/A3 155mm SP)
Deactivation The 8th Infantry Division deactivated on 17 January 1992,
Commanders • Brig. Gen.
Frank C. McConnell, Aug 1950 – Jan 1951 • Maj. Gen.
Harry J. Collins, Jan 1951 – Feb 1952 • Maj. Gen.
Whitfield P. Shepard, Feb 1952 – Jan 1953 • Brig. Gen.
John A. Dabney, Jan 1953 – Jan 1954 • Maj. Gen.
Riley F. Ennis, Jan 1954 – Jun 1954 • Maj. Gen.
Harry J. Collins, Jun 1954 – Aug 1954 • Maj. Gen.
Thomas L. Harold, Aug 1954 – Nov 1954 • Maj. Gen.
Thomas L. Sherburne Jr., Sep 1954 – Nov 1954 • Maj. Gen.
John G. Van Houten, Nov 1954 – Jan 1956 • Maj. Gen.
Thomas M. Watlington, Jan 1956 – Aug 1957 • Brig. Gen.
Harold K. Johnson, Aug 1957 • Maj. Gen.
Philip F. Lindeman Jr., Aug 1957 – Mar 1959 • Maj. Gen.
Lloyd R. Moses, Mar 1959 – Oct 1960 • Maj. Gen.
Edgar C. Doleman, Oct 1960 – Oct 1961 • Maj. Gen.
Andrew Goodpaster, Oct 1961 – Oct 1962 • Maj. Gen.
Stanley R. Larsen, Nov 1962 – Apr 1964 • Maj. Gen.
Joseph R. Russ, Apr 1964 – Apr 1966 • Maj. Gen.
Patrick F. Cassidy, Apr 1966 – Jun 1968 • Maj. Gen.
George L. Mabry Jr., Jun 1968 – Feb 1969 • Maj. Gen.
Elmer H. Almquist, Feb 1969 – Aug 1970 • Maj. Gen.
Donald V. Rattan, Aug 1970 – 19May 72 • Maj. Gen.
Frederic E. Davison May 72 Oct 73 • Maj. Gen.
Joseph C. McDonough, Oct 1973 – 19Jul 75 • Maj. Gen.
John R. D. Cleland, Jul 1975 – Jun 1977 • Maj. Gen.
Paul F. Gorman, Jun 1977 – May 1979 • Maj. Gen.
William J. Livsey, May 1979 – Jun 1981 • Maj. Gen.
Carl E. Vuono, Jun 1981 – Jun 1983 • Maj. Gen.
Charles W. Dyke, Jun 1983 – Jun 1985 • Maj. Gen.
Orren R. Whiddon, Jun 1985 – Jun 1987 • Maj. Gen.
Calvin A. H. Waller, Jun 1987 – Jun 1989 • Maj. Gen.
David M. Maddox, Jul 1989 – Nov 1990 • Maj. Gen.
John P. Otjen, Nov 1990 – Jan 1992 ==In popular culture==