7th Infantry Division (Light)

The 7th Infantry Division is a non-deployable administrative headquarters of the United States Army based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. It is charged with maintaining the capability of two Stryker infantry brigade combat teams, a combat aviation brigade, and a Division Artillery Unit, as well as preparing units for several U.S. Army Pacific yearly exercises. The 7th Infantry Division is the only active-duty multi-component division headquarters in the Army. Major General Michelle A. Schmidt commands the division. The 7th Infantry Division is also home to two of the Army's newest enabling battlefield capabilities, the Multi Domain Task Force and the Intelligence, Information, Cyber, Electronic Warfare and Space Capabilities, or I2CEWS battalion.

The division was first activated in December 1917 in World War I, and has been based at Fort Ord, California for most of its history. Although elements of the division saw brief active service in World War I, it is best known for its participation in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II where it took heavy casualties engaging the Imperial Japanese Army in the Aleutian Islands, Leyte, and Okinawa. Following the Japanese surrender in 1945, the division was stationed in Japan and Korea, and with the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 was one of the first units in action. It took part in the Inchon Landings and the advance north until Chinese forces counter-attacked and almost overwhelmed the scattered division. The 7th later went on to fight in the Battle of Pork Chop Hill and the Battle of Old Baldy.

After the Korean War ended, the division was headquartered at Camp Casey with artillery units supporting the 1st Cavalry Division just south of the Korean Demilitarized Zone until the mid-1960s. In the late 1980s, it briefly saw action overseas in Operation Golden Pheasant in Honduras and Operation Just Cause in Panama. In the early 1990s, it provided domestic support to the civil authorities in Operation Green Sweep and during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. In 1994 the division was inactivated with a few units transferring to Fort Lewis and Fort Ord closing. In June 1999 the 7th was reactivated at Fort Carson, Colorado and comprised three National Guard brigades. The 1st Battalion, 162d Infantry of the Oregon Army National Guard was attached to the 7th Infantry Division and deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2003 to 2004. The division's final role was as a training and evaluation unit for Army National Guard brigades, which it undertook until its inactivation in 2006.

On 26 April 2012, the Department of Defense announced the reactivation of the 7th Infantry Division headquarters supporting the mission of I Corps.

History

World War I

Activation and movement to France

The War Department ordered the formation of the 7th Division on 6 December 1917 at Camp Wheeler, near Macon, Georgia. The nucleus of the division was formed by Regular Army units stationed at Camp Wheeler (8th Field Artillery), Camp Greenleaf (22nd, 34th, 35th, and 36th Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals), and Chickamauga Park (55th and 56th Infantry and 80th Field Artillery), Georgia, Fort Bliss (34th and 64th Infantry), Camp Logan (79th Field Artillery), and Fort Sam Houston (5th Engineer Regiment), Texas, Fort Sill, Oklahoma (8th Field Artillery), and Camp Vail, Vermont (10th Field Signal Battalion). Regular Army officers and graduates of the First and Second Officers' Training Camps formed the commissioned personnel of the unit, and Brigadier General Charles H. Barth assumed command on 1 January 1918. Systematic training began in the spring and was continued through the summer despite many transfers. In May and June 1918, 20,000 new men joined the division from Camp Wheeler, Camp Travis, Texas, and Columbus Barracks, Ohio, the majority hailing from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, and Pennsylvania.

On 18 July 1918, the division moved to ports of embarkation as it prepared to deploy to Europe as a part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). The unit arrived at Hoboken, New Jersey and in New York, via Camp Merritt, where additional replacements joined the unit. The majority of the unit sailed to Brest, France. The 7th Supply Train and the 7th Train Headquarters and Military Police sailed for Bordeaux, France. The units began to arrive in France on 26 July with the last units arriving on 3 September 1918. Most of the division sailed to Europe aboard the SS ''Leviathan''.

Training in France

From the period of 17 August to October 9, the division conducted final training and preparation to enter the line in the Ancy-le-Franc Training Area. Some soldiers from the unit were sent to the 4th and 26th Divisions as replacements for losses. From the period of 2 September through the 14th the unit was under the administrative control of the VI Corps.

World War I Combat

While on the Western Front, the 7th Division did not see action at full divisional strength, though its infantry and reconnaissance elements did engage German forces. On 11 October 1918, it first came under shell fire and later, at Saint-Mihiel, came under chemical attack. Elements of the 7th probed up toward Prény near the Moselle River, capturing positions and driving German forces out of the region. It was at this time that the division first received its shoulder sleeve insignia.

From the period of 10 October until the end of the war on 11 November, the division, minus their artillery occupied and conducted local engagements in the Puvenelle Sector (Lorraine). On 10 October 1918, the division relieved the 90th Division on the front with a front line from Sablière, Vandières (incl), Côte 327, north edge of Bois des Rappes, la Souleuvre Fme, 1½ km south of Rembercourt-sur-Mad. The 92nd Division was on the right and the 37th Division was on the left. On 16 October, the 28th Division moved in on the left of the 7th Division. Several days later, on 23 October, the 92nd Division (VI Corps) occupied the sector on the. Three days later on 26 October the sector was reduced by moving the east boundary to a line between Villers-sous-Prény and Prény (both incl). Elements of the 92nd Division relieved the 56th Infantry Regiment. On 29 October, the sector was extended west to a line from Xammes to Charey, with the 64th Infantry relieving elements of the 28th Division, on a front along the eastern edge of Bois de Blainchamp, northern edge of Bois de Hailbat, eastern edge of Bois du Rupt, northern edge of Bois de la Montagne.

During this period in early November, the 7th Division began preparing for an assault on the Hindenburg Line as part of the Second Army. The division launched a reconnaissance in force on the Voëvre plain, but the main assault was never conducted as hostilities ended on 11 November 1918 with the signing of the Armistice with Germany.

On 1 November the division conducted local attacks and established outposts at Bois de Trou-de-la-Haie and Bois de Grand-Fontaine. From 9 November through 11th the division executes local attacks and makes gains along the front. On 9 November the division assumes temporary occupation of a hill west of Prény. On 10 November, Hill 323 (1 km southeast of Rembercourt) is occupied. On 11 November, the line is established from 310.2 to 287.1 in the Bois de Grand-Fontaine, the quarry near 278.7, west of Rembercourt, and the small woods ¼ km south of Mon Plaisir Fme.

During its 33 days on the front line, the 7th Division suffered 1,709 casualties, including 204 killed in action and 1,505 wounded in action and was awarded a campaign streamer for Lorraine. The division then served on occupation duties as it began preparations to return to the United States.

Order of battle

7th Division commanders during World War I included Brigadier General Charles H. Barth and Major General Edmund Wittenmyer. The following lists shows the order of battle, units that contributed personnel to form the nucleus of units, and the unit activation dates and locations.

Headquarters, 7th Division

* 13th Infantry Brigade (formed 18 December 1917 at Chickamauga Park)
** 55th Infantry Regiment (formed from personnel of the 17th Infantry at Chickamauga Park, 1917)
** 56th Infantry Regiment (formed from personnel of the 17th Infantry at Chickamauga Park, 1917)
** 20th Machine Gun Battalion
* 14th Infantry Brigade (formed 20 December 1917 at Camp Bliss)
** 34th Infantry Regiment (formed from personnel of the 7th, 20th, and 23rd Infantry Regiments in at Camp Baker, near El Paso, Texas)
** 64th Infantry Regiment (formed from personnel of the 34th Infantry in 1917 at Camp Baker)
** 21st Machine Gun Battalion
* 7th Field Artillery Brigade (formed at Camp Wheeler on 8 January 1918)
** 8th Field Artillery Regiment (155mm) (formed from personnel of the 5th and 6th Field Artillery Regiments at Camp Wheeler and Fort Sill)
** 79th Field Artillery Regiment (75mm) (formed at Camp Logan)
** 80th Field Artillery Regiment (75mm) (formed at Chickamauga Park)
**7th Trench Mortar Battery
* 19th Machine Gun Battalion
* 5th Engineer Regiment
* 10th Field Signal Battalion
*Headquarters Troop, 7th Division
* 7th Train Headquarters and Military Police
**7th Ammunition Train
**7th Engineer Train
**7th Supply Train
**7th Sanitary Train
*** 22nd, 34th, 35th, 36th Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals

Interwar period

The 7th Division arrived at Camp Mills, New York, 20 June 1919, after completing 6 months of training at the Colombey-les-Belles Training Area in France. On arrival, emergency period personnel were discharged from the service at Camp Mills. The division proceeded to Camp Funston, Fort Riley, Kansas, arrived 29 June, and remained there until July 1920. The division was transferred to Camp George G. Meade, Maryland, in July 1920 for permanent station. As a part of the War Department's decision to maintain only three fully-active stateside infantry divisions, the 7th Division was inactivated, less the 14th Infantry Brigade and several smaller units, on 22 September 1921 at Camp Meade. Concurrently, the inactivated units were assigned active associate units for mobilization purposes. The 7th Division was allotted to the Seventh Corps Area for mobilization responsibility and assigned to the VII Corps. Fort Snelling, Minnesota, was designated as the mobilization and training station for the division upon reactivation. During the period 1921–39, the 7th Division was represented by the 14th Infantry Brigade and other assorted active elements that formed the base force from which the division would be reactivated in the event of war. Additionally, most of the inactive elements were organized by mid-1927 as "Regular Army Inactive" (RAI) units with Organized Reserve personnel.

The active elements of the division maintained habitual training relationships with divisional RAI units, as well as with those of the VII Corps, XVII Corps, and the 88th, 89th, and 102nd Divisions. The RAI and Reserve units often trained with the active elements of the division during summer training camps usually conducted at Forts Riley and Leavenworth, Kansas, Fort Crook, Nebraska, or Fort Snelling. The 3rd and 17th Infantry Regiments also supported the Reserve units’ conduct of the Citizens' Military Training Camps held at Fort Leavenworth and Fort Des Moines, Iowa. The 14th Infantry Brigade, reinforced by the active elements of the 7th Tank Company, 9th and 14th Field Artillery Regiments, and 7th Quartermaster Regiment, held maneuvers in those years when funds were available, at Fort Riley or Camp Ripley, Minnesota. During these maneuvers, the 7th Division was occasionally formed in a provisional status to exercise division-level command and control procedures. The division headquarters was also provisionally formed on 21 July 1937 for the August 1937 Fourth Army maneuvers at Camp Ripley. For that maneuver, the division (14th Infantry Brigade as the nucleus) was reinforced by the Minnesota National Guard’s 92nd Infantry Brigade, in addition to the other active divisional elements.

World War II

On 1 July 1940, the 7th Division was formally reactivated at Camp Ord, California, under the command of Major General Joseph W. Stilwell. As the Regular Army was still seriously understrength, most of the early troops in the division were conscripted as a part of the United States' first peacetime military draft. The 7th Division was assigned to III Corps of the Fourth United States Army, and transferred to Longview, Washington, in August 1941 to participate in tactical maneuvers. Following this training, the division moved back to Fort Ord, California, where it was located when the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor caused the United States to declare war. The formation proceeded almost immediately to San Jose, California, arriving 11 December 1941 to help protect the west coast and allay civilian fears of invasion. The 53rd Infantry Regiment was relieved of assignment to the 7th Division and replaced with the 159th Infantry Regiment, newly deployed from the California Army National Guard. For the early parts of the war, the division participated mainly in construction and training roles. Subordinate units also practiced boat loading at the Monterey Wharf and amphibious assault techniques at the Salinas River in California.

On 9 April 1942, the division was formally redesignated as the 7th Motorized Division and transferred to Camp San Luis Obispo on 24 April 1942. Three months later, divisional training commenced in the Mojave Desert in preparation for its planned deployment to the African theater. It was again designated the 7th Infantry Division on 1 January 1943, when the motorized equipment was removed from the unit and it became a light infantry division once more, as the Army eliminated the motorized division concept fearing it would be logistically difficult and that the troops were no longer needed in North Africa. The 7th Infantry Division began rigorous amphibious assault training under US Marines from the Fleet Marine Force, before being deployed to fight in the Pacific theater instead of Africa. USMC General Holland Smith oversaw the unit's training.

Aleutian Islands

Elements of the 7th Infantry Division first saw combat in the amphibious assault on Attu Island, the westernmost Japanese entrenchment in the Aleutian islands chain of Alaska. Elements landed on 11 May 1943, spearheaded by the 17th Infantry Regiment. The initial landings were unopposed, but Japanese forces mounted a counteroffensive the next day, and the 7th Infantry Division fought an intense battle over the tundra against strong Japanese resistance. The division was hampered by its inexperience, lack of winter clothing, and poor weather and terrain conditions, but was eventually able to coordinate an effective attack. The fight for the island culminated in a battle at Chichagof Harbor, when the division destroyed all Japanese resistance on the island on 29 May, after a suicidal Japanese bayonet charge. During its first fight of the war, 549 soldiers of the division were killed, while killing 2,351 Japanese and taking 28 prisoners. After American forces secured the island chain, the 159th Infantry Regiment was ordered to stay, and the 184th Infantry Regiment took its place as the 7th Division's third infantry regiment. The 184th Infantry remained with the division until the end of the war. The 159th Infantry Regiment stayed on the island for some time longer until returning to the Lower 48. The 159th Infantry Regiment was then subsequently sent to Europe, in early 1945 and assigned to the 106th Infantry Division.

American forces then began preparing to move against nearby Kiska island, termed Operation Cottage, the final fight in the Aleutian Islands Campaign. In August 1943, elements of the 7th Infantry Division took part in an amphibious assault on Kiska with a brigade from the 6th Canadian Infantry Division, only to find the island deserted by the Japanese. It was later discovered that the Japanese had withdrawn their 5,000-soldier garrison during the night of 28 July, under cover of fog.

Marshall Islands

After the campaign, the division moved to Hawaii where it trained in new amphibious assault techniques on the island of Maui, before returning to Schofield Barracks on Oahu for brief leave. It was reassigned to V Amphibious Corps, a US Marine Corps command. The division left Pearl Harbor on 22 January 1944, for an offensive on Japanese territory. On 30 January 1944, the division landed on islands in the Kwajalein Atoll in conjunction with the 4th Marine Division, code named Operation Flintlock. The 7th Division landed on the namesake island while the 4th Marine Division forces struck the outlying islands of Roi and Namur. The division made landfall on the western beaches of the island at 09:30 on 1 February. It advanced halfway through the island by nightfall the next day, and reached the eastern shore at 1335 hours on 4 February, having wrested the island from the Japanese. The victory put V Amphibious Corps in control of all 47 islands in the atoll. The 7th Infantry Division suffered 176 killed and 767 wounded. On 7 February, the division departed the atoll and returned to Schofield Barracks.

Elements took part in the capture of Engebi in the Eniwetok Atoll on 18 February 1944, code named Operation Catchpole. Because of the speed and success of the attack on Kwajalein, the attack was undertaken several months ahead of schedule. After a week of fighting, the division secured the islands of the atoll. The division then returned to Hawaii to continue training. There, in June 1944, General Douglas MacArthur and President Franklin Roosevelt personally reviewed the division.

Leyte

The 7th Infantry Division left Hawaii on 11 October, heading for Leyte and include the Filipino troops of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and Philippine Constabulary were aided against the Japanese. At this time it was under the command of XXIV Corps of the Sixth United States Army. On 20 October 1944, the division made an assault landing at Dulag, Leyte, initially only encountering light resistance. Following a defeat at sea on 26 October, the Japanese launched a large, uncoordinated counteroffensive on the Sixth Army. After heavy fighting, the 184th Infantry secured airstrips at Dulag, while the 17th Infantry secured San Pablo, and the 32nd Infantry took Buri. The 17th Infantry troops moved north to take Dagami on 29 October, in intense jungle warfare that produced high casualties. The division then shifted to the west coast of Leyte on 25 November and attacked north toward Ormoc, securing Valencia on 25 December. An amphibious landing by the 77th Infantry Division effected the capture of Ormoc on 31 December 1944. The 7th Infantry Division joined in the occupation of the city, and engaged the 26th Japanese Infantry Division, which had been holding up the advance of the 11th Airborne Division. The 7th Division's attack was successful in allowing the 11th Airborne Division to move through, however, Japanese forces proved difficult to drive out of the area. As such, operations to secure Leyte continued until early February 1945. Afterward, the division began training for an invasion of the Ryukyu island chain throughout March 1945. It was relieved from the Sixth Army and the Philippine Commonwealth military, which went on to attack Luzon.

Okinawa

The division was reassigned to XXIV Corps, Tenth United States Army, a newly formed command, and began preparations for the assault on Okinawa. The Battle of Okinawa began on 1 April 1945, L-Day, when the 7th Infantry Division participated in an assault landing south of Hagushi, Okinawa alongside the 96th Infantry Division, and the 1st, and 6th Marine Divisions. of III Amphibious Corps. These divisions spearheaded an assault that would eventually land 250,000 men ashore. The 7th Division quickly moved to Kadena, taking its airfield, and drove from the west to the east coast of the island on the first day. The division then moved south, encountering stiff resistance from fortifications at Shuri a few days later. The Japanese had moved 90 tanks, much of their artillery, and heavy weapons away from the beaches and into this region. Eventually, XXIV Corps destroyed the defenses after a 51-day battle in the hills of southern Okinawa, which was complicated by harsh weather and terrain. During the operation, the division was bombarded with tens of thousands of rounds of field artillery fire, encountering Japanese armed with spears as it continued its fight across the island. Japanese also fought using irregular warfare techniques, relying on hidden cave systems, snipers, and small-unit ambushes to delay the advancing 7th Infantry Division. After the fight, the division began capturing large numbers of Japanese prisoners for the first time in the war, due to low morale, high casualties, and poor equipment. It fought for five continuous days to secure areas around the Nakagusuku Wan and Skyline Ridge. The division also secured Hill 178 in the fighting. It then moved to Kochi Ridge, securing it after a two-week battle. After 39 days of continuous fighting, the 7th Infantry Division was sent into reserve, having suffered heavy casualties.

After the 96th Infantry Division secured Conical Hill, the 7th Infantry Division returned to the line. It pushed into positions on the southern Ozato Mura hills, where Japanese resistance was heaviest. It was placed on the extreme left flank of the Tenth Army, taking the Ghinen peninsula, Sashiki, and Hanagusuku, fending off a series of Japanese counterattacks. Despite heavy Japanese resistance and prolonged bad weather, the division continued its advance until 21 June 1945, when the battle ended, having seen 82 days of combat. The island and surrendering troops were secured by the next day. During the Battle of Okinawa, the soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division killed between 25,000 and 28,000 Japanese soldiers and took 4,584 prisoners. Balanced against this, the 7th Division suffered 2,340 killed and 6,872 wounded for a total of 9,212 battle casualtiesA 1959 US Army publication gave these numbers as 1,116 killed, and around 6,000 wounded, to make total casualties for World War II 8,135. () during 208 days of combat. The division was slated to participate in Operation Downfall as a part of XXIV Corps under the First United States Army, but these plans were scrapped after the Japanese surrendered following the use of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

During World War II, soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division were awarded three Medals of Honor, 26 Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, 982 Silver Star Medals, 33 Legion of Merit Medals, 50 Soldier's Medals, 3,853 Bronze Star Medals, and 178 Air Medals. The division received four campaign streamers and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation during the war. The three Medals of Honor were awarded to Leonard C. Brostrom, John F. Thorson, and Joe P. Martinez.

Occupation of Japan

A few days after V-J Day, the division moved to Korea to accept the surrender of the Japanese Army in South Korea. After the war, the division served as an occupation force in Korea and Japan. Seven thousand, five hundred members of the unit returned to the United States, and the 184th Infantry Regiment was reassigned to the California Army National Guard, cutting the division to half its combat strength. To replace it, the 31st Infantry Regiment was assigned to the division. The 7th Infantry Division remained on occupation duty in Korea patrolling the 38th parallel until 1948, when it was reassigned to occupation duty in Japan, in charge of northern Honshū and all of Hokkaido. During this time, the US Army underwent a drastic reduction in size. At the end of World War II, it contained 89 divisions, but by 1950, the 7th Infantry Division was one of only 10 active divisions in the force. It was one of four understrength divisions on occupation duty in Japan alongside the 1st Cavalry Division, 24th Infantry Division, and 25th Infantry Division, all under control of the Eighth United States Army in June 1950, the 7th Infantry Division commander, Major General David G. Barr, assembled the division at Camp Fuji near Mount Fuji. The division was already depleted due to post-war shortages of men and equipment and further depleted as it sent large numbers of reinforcements to strengthen the 25th Infantry Division and 1st Cavalry Division, which were sent into combat in South Korea in July. The division was reduced to 9,000 men, half of its wartime strength. To replenish the ranks of the understrength division, the Republic of Korea Army (ROK) assigned over 8,600 Korean soldiers to the division. The Colombian Battalion was at times attached to the division. With the addition of priority reinforcements from the US, the division strength was eventually increased to 25,000 when it entered combat. Also fighting with the 7th Infantry Division for much of the war were members of the three successive Kagnew Battalions sent by Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia as part of the UN forces.

The division paired with the 1st Marine Division under US X Corps to participate in the Inchon Landing, code named Operation Chromite. The two divisions would be supported by the US 3rd Infantry Division in reserve. Supported by 230 ships of the US Navy, X Corps began landing at Inchon on 15 September 1950, catching the Korean People's Army (KPA) by surprise. The 7th Infantry Division began landing on 18 September, after the 1st Marine Division, securing its right flank. X Corps quickly advanced to Seoul and the 1st Marine Division attacked the 20,000 defenders of the city from the north and southwest, while the 7th Infantry Division's 32nd Infantry Regiment attacked from the southeast. The 31st Infantry followed behind. Seoul fell to X Corps after suffering moderate casualties, particularly for the Marines. The division then began advancing south to cut off KPA supply routes. The 32nd Infantry crossed the Han River on 25 September to create a bridgehead, and the next day, the division advanced to Osan south of Seoul and linked up with the 1st Cavalry Division of Eighth United States Army

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