Big Red One

The 1st Infantry Division (1ID) is a combined arms division of the United States Army, and is the oldest continuously serving division in the Regular Army. It has seen continuous service since its organization in 1917 during World War I. It was officially nicknamed "The Big Red One" (abbreviated "BRO") after its shoulder patch and is also nicknamed "The Fighting First". The division has also received troop monikers of "The Big Dead One" and "The Bloody First" as puns on the respective officially sanctioned nicknames. It is currently based at Fort Riley, Kansas.

The 1st Infantry Division was first deployed to fight in France in World War I, fought extensively in Africa, Italy, France, and Germany during World War II, and participated extensively during United States' campaigns in the Vietnam War. The 1st Infantry was stationed in what became West Germany from 1945 to 1955, and its units rotated to West Germany throughout the remainder of the Cold War. It subsequently deployed to fight in the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the War in Afghanistan. 37 members of the "Big Red One" have been awarded the Medal of Honor, making the 1st Infantry one of the U.S. Army's most honored divisio

World War I

A few weeks after the American entry into World War I, the First Expeditionary Division, later designated as the 1st Infantry Division, was constituted on 24 May 1917, in the Regular Army, and was organized on 8 June 1917, at Fort Jay, on Governors Island in New York harbor under the command of Brigadier General William L. Sibert, from Army units then in service on the Mexico–United States border and at various Army posts throughout the United States. The original table of organization and equipment (TO&E) included two organic infantry brigades of two infantry regiments each, one engineer battalion; one signal battalion; one trench mortar battery; one field artillery brigade of three field artillery regiments; one air squadron; and a full division train. The total authorized strength of this TO&E was 18,919 officers and enlisted men. George S. Patton, who served as the first headquarters commandant for the American Expeditionary Forces, oversaw much of the arrangements for the movement of the 1st Division to France, and their organization in-country. Frank W. Coe, who later served as Chief of Coast Artillery, was the division's first chief of staff.

The first units sailed from New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey, on 14 June 1917. Throughout the remainder of the year, the rest of the division had followed, landing at St. Nazaire, France, and Liverpool, England. After a brief stay in rest camps, the troops in England proceeded to France, landing at Le Havre. The last unit arrived in St. Nazaire 22 December. Upon arrival in France, the division, less its artillery, was assembled in the First (Gondrecourt) training area, and the artillery was at Le Valdahon.

On 4 July, the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, paraded through the streets of Paris to bolster the sagging French spirits. An apocryphal story holds that at Lafayette's tomb, to the delight of the attending Parisians, Colonel Charles E. Stanton of the division's 16th Infantry Regiment stepped forward and declared, "Lafayette, nous sommes ici! afayette, we are here! Two days later, on 6 July, Headquarters, First Expeditionary Division was redesignated as Headquarters, First Division, American Expeditionary Forces.

On 8 August 1917, the 1st Division adopted the "square" Table of Organization and Equipment (TO&E), which specified two organic infantry brigades of two infantry regiments each; one engineer regiment; one signal battalion; one machine gun battalion; one field artillery brigade of three field artillery regiments, and a complete division train. The total authorized strength of this new TO&E was 27,120 officers and enlisted men.

On the morning of 23 October, the first American shell of the war was fired towards German lines by a First Division artillery unit. Two days later, the 2nd Battalion of the 16th Infantry had suffered the first American casualties of the war.

By April 1918, the German Army had pushed to within of Paris. In reaction to this thrust, the division moved into the Picardy Sector to bolster the exhausted French First Army. To the division's front lay the small village of Cantigny, situated on the high ground overlooking a forested countryside. The 28th Infantry Regiment attacked the town, and within 45 minutes captured it along with 250 German soldiers. It was the first American victory of the war. The 28th was thereafter named the "Black Lions of Cantigny."

Soissons was taken by the 1st Division in July 1918. The Soisson's victory was costly – 700 men were killed or wounded. (One of them, Private Francis Lupo of Cincinnati, was missing in action for 85 years, until his remains were discovered on the former battlefield in 2003. The Remains of Pfc Charles McAllister, recovered with Francis Lupo were not identified and reburied until August 21, 2024). The 1st Division took part in the first offensive by an American army in the war, and helped to clear the Saint-Mihiel salient by fighting continuously from 11 to 13 September 1918. The last major World War I battle was fought in the Meuse-Argonne Forest. The division advanced a total of seven kilometers and defeated, in whole or part, eight German divisions. This victory was mainly due to the efforts of Colonel George C. Marshall, who began the war as the division's deputy chief of staff before being elevated to G-3 for the entire AEF in July 1918. Combat operations ended with the implementation of the terms of the Armistice on 11 November 1918. At the time the division was at Sedan, the farthest American penetration of the war, and was the first to cross the Rhine into occupied Germany.

By the end of the war, the division had reported it had suffered 4,964 killed in action, 17,201 wounded in action, and 1,056 missing or died of wounds. Five division soldiers received Medals of Honor.

The division's dog mascot was a mixed-breed terrier known as Rags. Rags was adopted by the division in 1918 and remained its mascot until his death in 1936. Rags achieved notoriety and celebrity as a war dog, after saving many lives in the crucial Argonne Campaign by delivering a vital message despite being bombed and gassed.

Order of battle

Assigned units

*Headquarters, 1st Division
* 1st Infantry Brigade
** 16th Infantry Regiment
** 18th Infantry Regiment
** 2nd Machine Gun Battalion
* 2nd Infantry Brigade
** 26th Infantry Regiment
** 28th Infantry Regiment
** 3rd Machine Gun Battalion
*1st Field Artillery Brigade
** 5th Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm)
** 6th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm)
** 7th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm)
** 1st Trench Mortar Battery
* 1st Machine Gun Battalion
* 1st Engineer Regiment
* 2nd Field Signal Battalion
* Headquarters Troop, 1st Division
* 1st Train Headquarters and Military Police
** 1st Ammunition Train
** 1st Supply Train
** 1st Engineer Train
** 1st Sanitary Train
*** 2nd, 3rd, 12th, and 13th Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals)
1st Military Police Company, 1st Infantry Division.

Attached units

= En route to France and in 1st (Gondrecourt) Training Area

=
(as of 9 June – 23 September 1917)
* 5th Regiment USMC

= Ménil-la-Tour Area 28 February – 3 April 1918

=
* 1st Battalion, 2nd Engineers (2nd Division)

= Cantigny Sector, at times from 27 April to 7 July 1918

=
* French 228th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm)
* French 253d Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm)
* 1st and 2nd Battalions of the French 258th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm)
* 4th Battalion, Fr 301st Artillery Regiment (155 mm)
* One battery, French 3rd Cl Artillery Regiment (155 mm)
* 3rd and 4th Battalions, French 284th Artillery Regiment (220 mm)
* 2nd Battalion, French 289th Artillery Regiment (220 mm)
* One battery, Fr 3d Cl Artillery Regiment (220 mm)
* 6th Battalion, Fr 289th Artillery Regiment (280 mm)
* Two batteries Fr TM (58 mm)
* One battery Fr TM (150 mm)
* One battery Fr TM (240 mm)
* Fr 5th Tank Battalion (12 tanks)

=Aisne-Marne Operation

=
(as of 18–23 July 1918)
* Fr 42d Aero Sq
* Fr 83d Bln Company
* Fr 253d FA-Portée (75 mm)
* Fr 11th and 12th Groups of Tanks

=Saizerais Sector

=
(as of 8–24 August 1918)
* Fr 258th Aero Sq
* 6th and 7th Bln Companies
* 3 batteries Fr 247th FA- Portée
* Preceding and during the Saint-Mihiel Operation, at times from 8–14 September 1918
* 8th Observation Sq
* 9th Bln Company
* 58th Field Artillery Brigade and 108th Am Tn (33d Division)
* 76th Field Artillery (3d Division) (75 mm)
* Two batteries, 44th CA (8")
* Troops D, F, and H, 2nd Cavalry
* Two platoons, Company A, 1st Gas Regiment (Eight mortars)
* Two infantry battalions (42nd Division)
* 6th Infantry Brigade (3nd Division)
** Two companies, 51st Pioneer Infantry
** 7th MG Battalion (3d Division)
** 49 tanks of 1st Tank Brigade

= Meuse-Argonne Operation

=
(as of 1–2 October 1918)
* 60th Field Artillery Brigade
* 110th Am Tn (35th Division)
(as of 1–12 October 1918)
* 1st Aero Squadron
* 2d Bln Company
* Fr 219th Field Artillery (75 mm)
* Fr 247th Field Artillery (6 batteries 75 mm)
* Fr 5th Battalion 282d Artillery (220 mm)
* Provisional Squadron, 2d Cavalry
* Company C, 1st Gas Regiment
* Company C, 344th Tank Battalion, 1st Tank Brigade (16 tanks)
* Companies B and C, 345th Tank Battalion, 1st Tank Brigade (16 tanks)
(as of 7 October 1918)
* 362d Infantry (91st Division)
(as of 8–11 October 1918)
* 181st Infantry Brigade (91st Division)

= Coblenz Bridgehead

=
* 14th Bln Company (18–30 June 1919)
* MG elements, Fr 2d Cavalry Division (18–30 June 1919)
* 4th MG Battalion (2d Division) 18–29 June 1919
* 7th MG Battalion (3d Division) 20–30 June 1919

Detached service

* At Le Valdahon 22 August – 18 October 1917 with 15th (Scottish) Division during the Second Battle of the Aisne, 24 July 1918 with U.S. 90th Division
** 1st Field Artillery Brigade
** 1st Am Tn
* With the 15th (Scottish) Division during Aisne-Marne Operation 24 July 1918 in Saizerais ( Villers-en-Haye) Sector 24–28 August 1918;
with 42nd Division in Meuse-Argonne Operation 13–31 October 1918;
with 2nd Division in Meuse-Argonne Operation 1–4 November 1918.
** 1st Sn Tn
* With III Corps 28 September – 2 October 1918
** 1st Engineers
* With American forces in Germany after 9 August 1919.
** 2d, 6th Field Artillery
** Company A, 1st Engineers
** Companies A, B, C, D, 1st Sup Tn
** F Hosp 13

Interwar period

The 1st Division arrived at the port of Hoboken, New Jersey, in September 1919 after completing nine months of occupation duty near and in Coblenz, Germany. it participated that month in the Victory Parades in New York City on 10 September and Washington, D.C. on 17 September, then proceeded to Camp Meade, Maryland, where all emergency period personnel were discharged from the service. It then went to Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky, and took up temporary station there from 20 October 1919 to 8 October 1920. It dispatched elements of several regiments to quell striking coal miners in West Virginia in November 1919 and again to Lexington, Kentucky, in February 1920. It transferred in a permanent change of station to Camp Dix, New Jersey, where it arrived on 10 October 1920.

On 7 October 1920, the 1st Division organized under the new peacetime table of organization and equipment which included two organic infantry brigades of two infantry regiments each, a field artillery brigade of two (later three) field artillery regiments and an ammunition train, an engineer regiment; a medical regiment, a division quartermaster train, a special troops command, and an observation squadron. The total authorized strength of this TO&E was 19,385. The 1st Division was one of three Regular Army infantry divisions and one cavalry division that was authorized to nominally remain at "peacetime" strength. In 1921, the 1st Division was allotted to the Second Corps Area, and assigned to the II Corps. In August 1921, elements of the division were once again dispatched to West Virginia to control striking coal miners. In spring 1922, the division’s units were ordered to posts throughout the northeastern United States, with most units arriving at their new duty stations in June and July 1922.

The division headquarters was posted to Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, New York, arriving there on 6 June 1922. The 1st Infantry Brigade and the division special troops were concentrated at posts in the New York City area, while the 2nd Infantry Brigade was scattered over posts in upstate New York. The 1st Field Artillery Brigade's units were spread from Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont, to Fort Hoyle, Maryland. By the mid-1920s, however, the division headquarters had nearly ceased to exist, with only the division commander and a few staff officers remaining to carry out essential functions; they did not exercise a true command function over their units. By 1926, the War Department and the Second Corps Area realized the unsustainability of the situation and repopulated the 1st Division headquarters. The training of the division’s maneuver units took place, for the most part, in the late summer and early fall after they assisted the training of Organized Reserve units, the Citizens' Military Training Camps, and summer camps for ROTC cadets. The 1st Infantry Brigade conducted training each fall at Camp Dix, New Jersey, where the brigade also trained its affiliate Reserve units during the summer. The 2nd Infantry Brigade usually conducted the training of its Reserve units at the brigade’s home posts, and afterwards, concentrated for training at Pine Camp, New York, in the fall. The first opportunity after 1922 to gather the division in one place came in 1927 when most of the division assembled at Camp Dix for various training events from August–November. To prepare the staff for the maneuver, the division held a CCX (command and communications exercise) at Camp Dix earlier that spring. The exercise was apparently very successful as similar CCXs were held periodically thereafter. The next major training event for the division came in August 1935 when the First and Second Corps Area elements of the First Army were assembled at Pine Camp for small unit maneuvers. This maneuver was followed in turn by the First Army command post exercise held at Fort Devens in August 1937. Shortly afterward, in September 1937, the division, minus the 2nd Infantry Brigade and some field artillery units, was concentrated at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, Pennsylvania, for maneuvers. Concurrently, the 2nd Infantry Brigade, reinforced by the artillery units from Fort Ethan Allen and Madison Barracks, New York, assembled at Pine Camp for maneuvers.

These maneuvers were followed by the first of several amphibious operations performed by the division’s units prior to World War II. The first landing exercises were held by division elements in Puerto Rico and Culebra Island in January and February 1938. The amphibious training was followed by the next First Army maneuver, held in the Plattsburg, New York, area in August 1939. In October 1939, the 1st Division adopted a new "triangular" peacetime TO&E which included three infantry regiments, a military police company, an engineer battalion, a signal company, a light field artillery regiment of three battalions and a medium field artillery regiment of two battalions, a medical battalion, and a quartermaster battalion. The authorized strength of this TO&E was 9,057 officers and enlisted men. In November 1939, the division deployed to Fort Benning, Georgia, where it was assigned temporarily to the IV Corps to train and test the new triangular organization. These exercises were held in preparation for maneuvers in Louisiana in May 1940 when the IV Corps was pitted against the provisional IX Corps.

After the exercises in Louisiana, the division returned to New York to participate in the 1940 First Army Maneuvers near Canton, New York, in August–September. For this maneuver, the 1st Division was again part of the II Corps. The 1st Division reorganized again on 1 November 1940 to a new TO&E, which added a reconnaissance troop, and put the two field artillery regiments under a division artillery command, raising its strength to a total of 15,245 officers and enlisted men. The two regiments were later reorganized into four battalions. In February 1941, the “Fighting First” was transferred to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, to concentrate for additional training. Concurrently, the division was relieved from the II Corps and assigned to the VI Corps. The following August, the division moved to the New River area of North Carolina for additional amphibious training. After the training at New River, the 1st Division participated in the Carolina Maneuvers held in November 1941 near Charlotte, North Carolina.

World War II

Order of battle

* Headquarters, 1st Infantry Division
* 16th Infantry Regiment
* 18th Infantry Regiment
* 26th Infantry Regiment
* Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Infantry Division Artillery
** 5th Field Artillery Battalion (155 mm)
** 7th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
** 32nd Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
** 33rd Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
* 1st Engineer Combat Battalion
* 1st Medical Battalion
* 1st Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized)
* Headquarters, Special Troops, 1st Infantry Division
** Headquarters Company, 1st Infantry Division
** 701st Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
** 1st Quartermaster Company
** 1st Signal Company
** Military Police Platoon
** Band
* 1st Counterintelligence Corps Detachment
*103rd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion (Automatic Weapons)

Combat chronicle

Shortly after the German invasion of Poland, beginning World War II in Europe, the 1st Infantry Division, under Major General Walter Short, was moved to Fort Benning, Georgia, on 19 November 1939 where it supported the U.S. Army Infantry School as part of American mobilization preparations. It then moved to the Sabine Parish, Louisiana area on 11 May 1940 to participate in the Louisiana Maneuvers. The division next relocated to Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn on 5 June 1940, where it spent over six months before moving to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, on 4 February 1941. As part of its training that year, the division participated in both Carolina Maneuvers of October and November before returning to Fort Devens, Massachusetts on 6 December 1941.

A day later, on 7 December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and, four days later, Germany declared war on the United States, thus bringing the United States into the conflict. The division was ordered to Camp Blanding, Florida, as quickly as trains could be gathered and winter weather permitted, and arrived on 21 February 1942. The division, now under Major General Donald C. Cubbison, was there reorganized and refurbished with new equipment, being re-designated as the 1st Infantry Division on 15 May 1942. Within a week, the division was returned to its former post at Fort Benning, Georgia, from where it was expedited on 21 June 1942 to Indiantown Gap Military Reservation for wartime overseas deployment final preparation. The division, now under the command of Major General Terry Allen, a distinguished World War I veteran, departed the New York Port of Embarkation on 1 August 1942, arrived in Beaminster in south-west England about a week later, and departed 22 October 1942 for the combat amphibious assault of North Africa.

As part of II Corps, the division landed in Oran, Algeria on 8 November 1942 as part of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa. Elements of the division then took part in combat at Maktar, Tebourba, Medjez el Bab, the Battle of Kasserine Pass (where American forces were pushed back), and Gafsa. It then led the Allied assault in brutal fighting at El Guettar, Béja, and Mateur. The 1st Infantry Division was in combat in the Tunisian Campaign from 21 January 1943 to 9 May 1943, helping secure Tunisia. The campaign ended just days later, with the surrender of almost 250,000 Axis soldiers. After months of nearly continuous fighting, the division had a short rest before training for the next operation.

In July 1943, the division took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, still under the command of Major General Allen. Lieutenant General George S. Patton, commanding the U.S. Seventh Army, specifically requested the division as part of his forces for the invasion of Sicily. It was still assigned to the II Corps. In Sicily, the 1st Division saw heavy action when making amphibious landings opposed by Italian and German tanks at the Battle of Gela. The 1st Division then moved up through the center of Sicily, slogging it out through the mountains along with the 45th Infantry Division. In these mountains, the division saw some of the heaviest fighting in the entire Sicilian campaign at the Battle of Troina; some units lost more than half their strength in assaulting the mountain town. On 7 August 1943, Major General Allen was relieved of his command by Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, then commanding the II Corps. Allen was replaced by Major General Clarence R. Huebner who was, like Allen, a decorated veteran of World War I who had served with the 1st Infantry Division throughout the war.

When that campaign was over, the division returned to England, arriving there on 5 November 1943 to prepare for the eventual invasion of Normandy. One regimental combat team of 1st Infantry Division and one regimental combat team from the 29th Infantry Division as well as A,B,C companies of the 2nd Rangers Battalion and the 5th Rangers Battalion comprised the first wave of troops that assaulted German Army defenses on Omaha Beach on D-Day. The division had to run 300 yards to get to the bluffs, with some of the division's units suffering 30 percent casualties in the first hour of the assault, and secured Formigny and Caumont in the beachhead by the end of the day. The division followed up the Saint-Lô

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