From Pearl Harbor to Japan: How 25th Infantry Division Earned its 'Tropic Lightning' Name in WWII
Sgt. Kenneth Nine was scheduled to ship back to the states that Monday morning. After partying until 5 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, the 27th Infantry platoon sergeant sat exhausted in front of Schofield Barracks. Then Japanese planes flew overhead, strafing everything in sight. Nine’s commanding officer ran up and said, “Get in the saddle […]
Task Force Smith: How the 24th Infantry Division Saved South Korea at the Start of the Korean War
In July of 1950, the Korean War looked as if it was about to come to an unexpectedly quick conclusion. South Korean troops had been pushed far south before gradually falling into a defensive line around the port of Pusan. Across the Sea of Japan, American soldiers boarded transport planes at Itazuke Air Base, Japan, […]
How the 10th Mountain Division Built America’s Cold-Weather Warfare Doctrine
At 9,200 feet in the Colorado Rockies, the U.S. Army built Camp Hale in 1942 to train a new kind of soldier. The 10th Mountain Division was created to fight in snow, ice, and high-altitude terrain that had hampered armies for centuries. Its formation was the result of a civilian campaign led by Charles Minot “Minnie” […]
101st Airborne Division Troops Return to Bastogne to Mark 80th Anniversary of Battle of the Bulge
“The snow turned red,” machine gunner Vincent Speranza recalled, as the hastily dug-in troops of the 101st Airborne Division opened up on attacking German infantry and tanks to defend the Belgian crossroads town of Bastogne 80 years ago. Then-Pvt. 1st Class Speranza, the son of Italian immigrants, said his lieutenant had ordered the first-line defenders […]
'The Whole Team Is Pretty Jacked': 3rd Infantry Division Soldiers Recognized Among Top Artillery Crews
Pfc. Zachary Nichols has been in the Army less than a year, only arriving to his unit in the middle of a deployment to Europe last fall. But now he is recognized as being part of one of the best artillery units in the service. Earlier this month, the Army held its inaugural “Best Redleg” […]
Army Division Bars Leaders from Bothering Their Soldiers After Work Hours
One of the Army’s highest-profile divisions has set a ban on most work-related cell phone usage after work hours. Maj. Gen. David Doyle, commander of the Fort Carson, Colorado-based 4th Infantry Division, issued a memo last week barring leaders from texting or calling subordinates between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m. — with some caveats, including […]
Lighter, More Protection: Army Next-Gen Helmet Now Fielded to 82nd Airborne Division Soldiers
The Army has officially started fielding its newest combat helmet, the Next-Generation Integrated Head Protection System, to soldiers in close-combat formations, the service announced Tuesday. According to service officials, the NG-IHPS will provide soldiers with “increased ballistic and fragmentation protection” in a 40% lighter package compared to the earlier Integrated Head Protection System, which was […]