U.S. 94th Infantry Division
Encyclopedia
The 94th Division was a unit of the United States Army
in World War I
, and of the Organized Reserve Corps
in 1921 until 1942.
The 94th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army
in World War II
, and of the United States Army Reserve
from 1956 until 1963. It continued in the Army Reserve as the 94th Command Headquarters (Divisional) from 1963 until the Army's realignment of reserve component combat arms into the Army National Guard
in 1967.
The 94th Army Reserve Command (later redesignated 94th Regional Support Command and 94th Regional Readiness Command) was a regional command and control headquarters over most United States Army Reserve
units throughout the six New England
states of Maine
, Massachusetts
, Vermont
, New Hampshire
, Connecticut
, and Rhode Island
. For forty years, beginning in the late 1960s, the United States Army Reserve was divided up into a varying number of regional, branch-immaterial commands. Originally designated "army reserve commands" ("ARCOMs"), several were disbanded in and around 1995, while the remainder were redesignated "regional support commands" ("RSCs") at that time and re-dubbed "regional readiness commands" ("RRCs") in 2001. In addition to the RRCs, several mission-oriented commands were established, including such as training divisions and engineer commands. Like most RRCs, the 94th Regional Readiness Command was scheduled to be deactivated in fiscal year 2009 as part of the Army Reserve's reorganisation into a functionally-based command structure reporting to respective major Army commands ("MACOMs"); plans were altered, the 94th became a training division headquartered at Fort Lee.
The 94th ARCOM/RSC/RRC wore the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 94th Infantry Division but did not, according to the United States Army Center of Military History, perpetuate the lineage of the old division and was thus not entitled to the division's battle honors. Similarly, Army Regulation 840-10 dictates that the distinguishing flag of an RRC features a white-bordered, 38.1 cm (15 in.) tall rendering of the shoulder sleeve insignia on a plain blue background, rather than on the horizontally divided bi-colour background of red over blue as carried by an infantry division.
The 94th Division (Force Sustainment) is a unit of the United States Army Reserve
, charged with providing training in the eastern portion of the United States. The Division is based at Fort Lee, Virginia and is subordinate to the 80th Training Command. The 94th Infantry Division's standard (flag) and lineage bestowed upon the 94th Division (Force Sustainment) at its activation in 2009.
and composed of Spanish-speaking troops. However, the US Army lacked enough Spanish-speaking instructors to train the necessary support and technical services units, so it was agreed to create it as a "paper" division like the 93rd. The infantry regiments were assigned numbers 373 through 376, which would have been associated with the National Army's 94th Division. Only the 373rd–375th Infantry Regiments were formed. With the close of World War I
, the division was disbanded.
In 1921 the 94th Division was re-activated as an element of the Organized Reserves
("OR") and nicknamed the "Pilgrim Division" in reference to the rich cultural history. A shoulder sleeve insignia featuring a Native American with bow and arrow was authorized on 21 July 1922. This design was superseded 6 September 1923 by one depicting the black silhouette of a Puritan
carrying a blunderbuss
on his shoulder, on a gray circle (the wording of the new design's description was amended on 22 December of the same year).
Like the other OR divisions, the 94th was an authorised only a cadre organisation of officers; even then, the OR units were perpetually under-strength and little equipment or funds with which to train.
The OR units were not mobilized as units. Rather, its officers were ordered to active duty individually, and were disbursed to existing Regular Army and Army National Guard
units. The majority of mid-level officers (captains through lieutenant colonels) in the U.S. Army during the Second World War II were OR officers. As such, the 94th provided leaders to every theater in the war.
With virtually all of the division's personnel having gone off to war without it, the 94th Division existed only on paper when its shoulder sleeve insignia was changed on 5 September 1942 to a half-black, half-gray circle with the Arabic numerals
9 and 4 superimposed in reverse colors. Ten days later, on 15 September 1942, the division was recomposed as the 94th Infantry Division at Fort Custer near Kalamazoo
, Michigan.
, France on D plus 94, 8 September 1944, and moved into Brittany
to relieve the 6th Armored Division and assume responsibility for containing some 60,000 German troops besieged in their garrisons at the Channel ports of Lorient
and Saint-Nazaire
. The 94th inflicted over 2,700 casualties on the enemy and took 566 prisoners before being relieved by the 66th Infantry Division on New Year's Day 1945.
As part of General Patton's
Third United States Army, the 94th Infantry Division ("94th ID") was known as "Patton's Golden Nugget". Moving east, the division relieved the 90th Infantry Division on 7 January 1945, taking positions in the Saar
-Moselle
Triangle south of Wasserbillig
, facing the Siegfried Switch Line. Fresh for the fight, the 94th shifted to the offensive, 14 January, seizing Tettingen and Butzdorf that day. The following day, the Nennig
-Berg
-Wies
area was wrested from the enemy, severe counterattacks followed and it was at Nennig that the Germans gave the division its nickname "Roosevelt's Butchers" for stacking the dead in houses and along roads and refusing prisoners lacking the means to guard and transport them. Butzdorf, Berg, and most of Nennig changed hands several times before being finally secured. On the 20th, an unsuccessful battalion attack against Orscholz, eastern terminus of the switch position, resulted in loss of most of two companies. In early February, the division took Campholz Woods and seized Sinz. On 19 February 1945, supported by heavy artillery and air support, the division launched a full-scale attack with all three regiments, storming the heights of Munzigen Ridge, to breach the Siegfried Line switch-line defenses and clear the Berg-Munzingen Highway.
Moving forward, the 94th Infantry Division and the 10th Armored Division
secured the area from Orscholz and Saarburg
to the confluence of the Saar
and Moselle River
s by 21 February 1945. At Ayl
General Patton ordered to cross the Saar immediately, against the advice of many of his officers. Many men and material were lost during the very ill-prepared Saar crossing. Two of the three crossings sites were eventually abandoned due to heavy and pinpoint German artillery and machinegun fire. After establishing the bridgehead, the 376th regiment was detached to assist the 10th Armored Division in the capture of Trier
. By 2 March 1945, the division stretched over a 10-mile front, from Hocker Hill on the Saar through Zerf
, and Lampaden
to Ollmuth
. A heavy German attack near Lampaden
achieved penetrations, but the line was shortly restored, and on 13 March, spearheading the XX Corps
, the division broke out of the Ruwer River
bridgehead by ford and bridge. Driving forward, the 94th reached the Rhine on 21 March, where it fought in the Battle for Ludwigshafen. Ludwigshafen was taken on 24 March, in conjunction with Combat Command A
of the 12th Armored Division.
The division then moved by rail and motor to the vicinity of Krefeld
, Germany, relieving the 102nd Infantry Division on 3 April and assuming responsibility for containing the western side of the Ruhr Pocket
from positions along the Rhine. With the reduction of the pocket in mid-April, the division was assigned military government
duties, first in the Krefeld
and later in the Düsseldorf
areas.
By mid-April, the division relieved the 101st Airborne Division
and assumed military government duties, first in the Krefeld vicinity and later around Düsseldorf. It was in that status when hostilities were declared at an end on 7 May 1945. From mid-June until the end of November, the division served the military government in Czechoslovakia
.
The 94th Infantry Division was inactivated on 9 February 1946.
in 1956. On 14 May of that year, the "9/4" shoulder sleeve insignia was rescinded, and the former Puritan shoulder sleeve insignia (with a minor change in the design) was reinstated.
Robert S. McNamara who wanted to merge the Army Reserve into the Army National Guard, and the United States Congress
who wanted to maintain the Army Reserve as it then existed. Under the compromise plan, all of the combat divisions and most separate combat brigades of the Army Reserve were deactivated with a corresponding increase in the National Guard; at the same time, non-divisional combat support and combat service support units were reallocated in the Army Reserve.
Under the aforementioned compromise plan agreed to by the Congress and the Defense Department, the fourteen area corps were deactivated; in their place, eighteen army reserve commands ("ARCOMs") were established. Commanded by a reserve major general, each ARCOM served as a regional non-tactical peacetime headquarters for unrelated support units. Each ARCOM was, in turn, assigned to one of five continental U.S. armies ("CONUSAs")
under Continental Army Command ("CONARC"). On 22 April 1968, the number and shoulder-sleeve insignia of the former 94th Division were re-allocated to the new 94th U.S. Army Reserve Command ("ARCOM"), headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts and subordinate to First United States Army.
Two company
-level units within the 94th ARCOM served in the Vietnam War
: Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 513th Maintenance Battalion (Direct Support); and the 241st Military Intelligence Detachment.
94th ARCOM units participated annually in Exercise REFORGER
(from REturn of FORces to GERmany) and Operation Bright Star
throughout the Cold War
. These exercises were intended to ensure that NATO and the United States military had the ability to quickly deploy forces to West Germany and Egypt in the event of a conflict with the Soviet Union
.
In 1980, the peacetime Army Reserve chain of command
was overlaid with a CAPSTONE wartime trace. In an expansion of the roundout and affiliation program begun ten years earlier, CAPSTONE purported to align every Army Reserve unit with the active and reserve component units with which they were anticipated to deploy. Units maintained lines of communication with the units—often hundreds or thousands of miles away in peacetime—who would presumably serve above or below them in the event of mobilization. This communication, in some cases, extended to coordinated annual training opportunities.
Many of the 94th's units and individual soldiers rotated through Honduras in the 1980s. Operation Fuertes Caminos ("strong roads") provided villagers with roads on which to move their crops to market, while providing invaluable real-world training and experience to reserve engineers, medical personnel, logisticians and others.
Operation Nordic Shield was held in the summer of 1987. Units of the 94th ARCOM; principally the 187th Infantry Brigade (Separate)
, the 167th Support Group (Corps)
and their subordinate battalion
s and companies
; deployed to Canadian Forces Base
Gagetown
in southern New Brunswick
, to simulate the defense of Iceland against Warsaw Pact
forces, the CAPSTONE mission of both the 187th and 167th.
Units under the 94th Army Reserve Command participated in a series of mobilization exercises in the 1980s, including the Selected Reserve Call-Up (23–25 October 1987), Golden Thrust '88 (November 1988), and Proud Eagle 90 (12 October through 2 November 1989). Each of these was designed to evaluate not only the units' ability to prepare to mobilise, but to examine the mobilization processes, systems, and logistical coordination so as to find and correct the unanticipated flaws.
In 1990–1991, over 1,000 soldiers from the 94th ARCOM served overseas in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Despite the commonly held belief that CAPSTONE traces were set in stone, the process of selecting units to mobilize and deploy largely ignored CAPSTONE.
The ARCOM's Puritan shoulder sleeve insignia reverted again to the "9/4" design on 27 November 1991.
Operation Nordic Shield II was held in the summer of 1992. As they did five years before, units of the 94th ARCOM; principally the 187th Infantry Brigade (Separate)
, the 167th Support Group (Corps)
and their subordinate battalion
s and companies
; deployed to Canadian Forces Base
Gagetown
in southern New Brunswick
, to simulate the defense of Iceland against Warsaw Pact
forces, the CAPSTONE mission of both the 187th and 167th. Part of the 1992 exercise included lanes training as part of the United States Army Forces Command
's "Bold Shift" initiative to reinforce unit war-fighting task proficiency.
In 1995, the 94th ARCOM was redesignated the 94th Regional Support Command (RSC) and removed to from Hanscom Air Force Base to Fort Devens
, Massachusetts.
The 94th RSC deployed soldiers to Honduras and Guatemala in 1999 in support of Operation New Horizon, and later to the Balkans
in support of Operation Joint Guardian and Operation Joint Forge.
Continuing with Operation New Horizon, the command deployed members of the 94th Military Police Company to Rambala-Bocas del Toro, Panamá
in spring 2007.
, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Mission areas include Continental United States ("CONUS"), Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Kuwait, the Horn of Africa
and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The 804th Medical Brigade, a major subordinate command of the 94th Regional Support Command, mobilized at Fort Devens and trained for combat in support of operations in Kuwait (and eventually Iraq) at Fort Drum, New York in February 2003. The 804th arrived in Kuwait in March 2003 and assumed command and control of over 4400 soldiers in five countries in support of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. In mid-February 2004 the 804th arrived back at Fort Devens after successfully completing an over 12 month activation. The 804th conducted a relief-in-place/transfer-of-authority with the 8th Medical Brigade from New York City.
In December 2002, the 94th RSC moved into its final headquarters at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.
At its end, the 94th Regional Readiness Command was made up of more than 6,000 citizen-soldiers serving with in fifty-six units located throughout New England
.
The 94th RRC mobilized and deployed over twenty units and more than 2,500 soldiers in support of the Global War on Terror
.
In September 2008, the 94th Division (Force Sustainment) entered "carrier status", under the command of Brigadier General Mark Corson, at Ft. Lee, Virginia. The division is one of three major divisions under the umbrella of the 80th Training Command (The Army School System), the third-largest command organization in the U.S. Army Reserve.
On 17 October 2009, the 94th Division was reactivated, under the command of Brigadier General Karen LeDoux, at Ft. Lee, Virginia. The activation ceremony included many of the veterans of who served in the 94th Division during World War II. The event included the 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) and its Fife and Drum Corps.
The 94th Division's original red and blue colors flown by the division during World War II were returned by Army Heraldry.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and of the Organized Reserve Corps
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
in 1921 until 1942.
The 94th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and of the United States Army Reserve
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
from 1956 until 1963. It continued in the Army Reserve as the 94th Command Headquarters (Divisional) from 1963 until the Army's realignment of reserve component combat arms into the Army National Guard
Army National Guard
Established under Title 10 and Title 32 of the U.S. Code, the Army National Guard is part of the National Guard and is divided up into subordinate units stationed in each of the 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia operating under their respective governors...
in 1967.
The 94th Army Reserve Command (later redesignated 94th Regional Support Command and 94th Regional Readiness Command) was a regional command and control headquarters over most United States Army Reserve
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
units throughout the six New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
states of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, and Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. For forty years, beginning in the late 1960s, the United States Army Reserve was divided up into a varying number of regional, branch-immaterial commands. Originally designated "army reserve commands" ("ARCOMs"), several were disbanded in and around 1995, while the remainder were redesignated "regional support commands" ("RSCs") at that time and re-dubbed "regional readiness commands" ("RRCs") in 2001. In addition to the RRCs, several mission-oriented commands were established, including such as training divisions and engineer commands. Like most RRCs, the 94th Regional Readiness Command was scheduled to be deactivated in fiscal year 2009 as part of the Army Reserve's reorganisation into a functionally-based command structure reporting to respective major Army commands ("MACOMs"); plans were altered, the 94th became a training division headquartered at Fort Lee.
The 94th ARCOM/RSC/RRC wore the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 94th Infantry Division but did not, according to the United States Army Center of Military History, perpetuate the lineage of the old division and was thus not entitled to the division's battle honors. Similarly, Army Regulation 840-10 dictates that the distinguishing flag of an RRC features a white-bordered, 38.1 cm (15 in.) tall rendering of the shoulder sleeve insignia on a plain blue background, rather than on the horizontally divided bi-colour background of red over blue as carried by an infantry division.
The 94th Division (Force Sustainment) is a unit of the United States Army Reserve
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
, charged with providing training in the eastern portion of the United States. The Division is based at Fort Lee, Virginia and is subordinate to the 80th Training Command. The 94th Infantry Division's standard (flag) and lineage bestowed upon the 94th Division (Force Sustainment) at its activation in 2009.
World War I
The 94th started as a provisional division in 1918. It was originally going to be formed as the 94th (Puerto-Rico) Division, based out of Puerto RicoPuerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and composed of Spanish-speaking troops. However, the US Army lacked enough Spanish-speaking instructors to train the necessary support and technical services units, so it was agreed to create it as a "paper" division like the 93rd. The infantry regiments were assigned numbers 373 through 376, which would have been associated with the National Army's 94th Division. Only the 373rd–375th Infantry Regiments were formed. With the close of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the division was disbanded.
Inter-War Years
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
("OR") and nicknamed the "Pilgrim Division" in reference to the rich cultural history. A shoulder sleeve insignia featuring a Native American with bow and arrow was authorized on 21 July 1922. This design was superseded 6 September 1923 by one depicting the black silhouette of a Puritan
Great Migration (Puritan)
The Puritan migration to New England was marked in its effects in the two decades from 1620 to 1640, after which it declined sharply for a while. The term Great Migration usually refers to the migration in this period of English settlers, primarily Puritans to Massachusetts and the warm islands of...
carrying a blunderbuss
Blunderbuss
The blunderbuss is a muzzle-loading firearm with a short, large caliber barrel, which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity and/or caliber. The blunderbuss could be considered to be an early form of shotgun,...
on his shoulder, on a gray circle (the wording of the new design's description was amended on 22 December of the same year).
Like the other OR divisions, the 94th was an authorised only a cadre organisation of officers; even then, the OR units were perpetually under-strength and little equipment or funds with which to train.
Re-formed from whole cloth
Army National Guard
Established under Title 10 and Title 32 of the U.S. Code, the Army National Guard is part of the National Guard and is divided up into subordinate units stationed in each of the 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia operating under their respective governors...
units. The majority of mid-level officers (captains through lieutenant colonels) in the U.S. Army during the Second World War II were OR officers. As such, the 94th provided leaders to every theater in the war.
With virtually all of the division's personnel having gone off to war without it, the 94th Division existed only on paper when its shoulder sleeve insignia was changed on 5 September 1942 to a half-black, half-gray circle with the Arabic numerals
Arabic numerals
Arabic numerals or Hindu numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals or Indo-Arabic numerals are the ten digits . They are descended from the Hindu-Arabic numeral system developed by Indian mathematicians, in which a sequence of digits such as "975" is read as a numeral...
9 and 4 superimposed in reverse colors. Ten days later, on 15 September 1942, the division was recomposed as the 94th Infantry Division at Fort Custer near Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
, Michigan.
Statistics
- Activated: 15 September 1942.
- Overseas: 6 August 1944.
- Campaigns: Northern France, RhinelandRhinelandHistorically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
, Ardennes-Alsace, Central EuropeCentral Europe CampaignAfter crossing the Rhine the Western Allies fanned out overrunning all of western Germany from the Baltic in the north to Austria in the south before the Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945. This is known as the "Central Europe Campaign" in United States military histories.By the early spring of... - Days of combat: 209.
- Awards:
- Unit
- 1 Presidential Unit Citation (formerly called a Distinguished Unit Citation)
- Individual
- 1 Medal of HonorMedal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
- 54 Distinguished Service CrossesDistinguished Service Cross (United States)The Distinguished Service Cross is the second highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of the United States Army, for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force. Actions that merit the Distinguished Service Cross must be of such a high degree...
- 2 Distinguished Service MedalsDistinguished Service Medal (Army)The Distinguished Service Medal is a military award of the United States Army that is presented to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the United States military, has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great...
- 510 Silver StarSilver StarThe Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
s - 10 Legions of MeritLegion of MeritThe Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
- 12 Soldier's MedalSoldier's MedalThe Soldier's Medal is a military award of the United States Army. It was introduced as Section 11 of the Air Corps Act, passed by the Congress of the United States on July 2, 1926...
s - 2792 Bronze Star MedalBronze Star MedalThe Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
s - 66 Air MedalAir MedalThe Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...
s
- 1 Medal of Honor
- Unit
- Commanders:
- Major GeneralMajor general (United States)In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
Harry J. Malony (September 1942 through May 1945) - Brigadier GeneralBrigadier general (United States)A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
Louis J. Fortier (June through July 1945) - Major GeneralMajor general (United States)In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
Allison J. Barnett (1 August 1945 through 9 February 1946)
- Major General
- Returned to U.S.: 6 February 1946
- Inactivated: 9 February 1946 at Camp Rucker, Alabama.
Combat chronicle
Following a brief stay in England, the 94th landed on Utah BeachUtah Beach
Utah Beach was the code name for the right flank, or westernmost, of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944...
, France on D plus 94, 8 September 1944, and moved into Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
to relieve the 6th Armored Division and assume responsibility for containing some 60,000 German troops besieged in their garrisons at the Channel ports of Lorient
Lorient
Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...
and Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...
. The 94th inflicted over 2,700 casualties on the enemy and took 566 prisoners before being relieved by the 66th Infantry Division on New Year's Day 1945.
As part of General Patton's
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
Third United States Army, the 94th Infantry Division ("94th ID") was known as "Patton's Golden Nugget". Moving east, the division relieved the 90th Infantry Division on 7 January 1945, taking positions in the Saar
Saar River
The Saar is a river in northeastern France and western Germany, and a right tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Vosges mountains on the border of Alsace and Lorraine and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier. It has two headstreams , that both start near Mont Donon, the highest peak...
-Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
Triangle south of Wasserbillig
Wasserbillig
Wasserbillig is a town in the commune of Mertert, in eastern Luxembourg. , Wasserbillig has 2,186 inhabitants, which makes it the largest town in Mertert. It lies at the confluence of the rivers Moselle and Sauer, which form the border with Germany at the town...
, facing the Siegfried Switch Line. Fresh for the fight, the 94th shifted to the offensive, 14 January, seizing Tettingen and Butzdorf that day. The following day, the Nennig
Nennig
Nennig is a village in the Saarland, Germany, part of the municipality of Perl. It is situated on the river Moselle, opposite Remich, Luxembourg. Nennig is known for a Roman villa containing well-preserved mosaics that were excavated in the 19th century...
-Berg
Berg, Baden-Württemberg
Berg is a municipality in the district of Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.-Sister cities: Brest, Belarus...
-Wies
Wies, Baden-Württemberg
Wies is a village and a former municipality in the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Since 1 January 2009, it is part of the municipality Kleines Wiesental....
area was wrested from the enemy, severe counterattacks followed and it was at Nennig that the Germans gave the division its nickname "Roosevelt's Butchers" for stacking the dead in houses and along roads and refusing prisoners lacking the means to guard and transport them. Butzdorf, Berg, and most of Nennig changed hands several times before being finally secured. On the 20th, an unsuccessful battalion attack against Orscholz, eastern terminus of the switch position, resulted in loss of most of two companies. In early February, the division took Campholz Woods and seized Sinz. On 19 February 1945, supported by heavy artillery and air support, the division launched a full-scale attack with all three regiments, storming the heights of Munzigen Ridge, to breach the Siegfried Line switch-line defenses and clear the Berg-Munzingen Highway.
U.S. 10th Armored Division
The 10th Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army in World War II. During the European Theater of Operations the 10th Armored Division was part of the Twelfth United States Army Group and was originally assigned to General George S. Patton’s Third United States Army...
secured the area from Orscholz and Saarburg
Saarburg
Saarburg is a city of the Trier-Saarburg district in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany, on the banks of the Saar River in the hilly country a few kilometers upstream from the Saar's junction with the Moselle....
to the confluence of the Saar
Saar River
The Saar is a river in northeastern France and western Germany, and a right tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Vosges mountains on the border of Alsace and Lorraine and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier. It has two headstreams , that both start near Mont Donon, the highest peak...
and Moselle River
Moselle River
The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, joining the Rhine at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Mosel through the Our....
s by 21 February 1945. At Ayl
Ayl
Ayl is a municipality in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
General Patton ordered to cross the Saar immediately, against the advice of many of his officers. Many men and material were lost during the very ill-prepared Saar crossing. Two of the three crossings sites were eventually abandoned due to heavy and pinpoint German artillery and machinegun fire. After establishing the bridgehead, the 376th regiment was detached to assist the 10th Armored Division in the capture of Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
. By 2 March 1945, the division stretched over a 10-mile front, from Hocker Hill on the Saar through Zerf
Zerf
Zerf is a municipality in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
, and Lampaden
Lampaden
Lampaden is a municipality in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The village itself is over a thousand years old and acquired grazing rights in the year 1036...
to Ollmuth
Ollmuth
Ollmuth is a municipality in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-External links:*...
. A heavy German attack near Lampaden
Lampaden
Lampaden is a municipality in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The village itself is over a thousand years old and acquired grazing rights in the year 1036...
achieved penetrations, but the line was shortly restored, and on 13 March, spearheading the XX Corps
XX Corps (United States)
The XX Corps of the United States Army fought from northern France to Austria in World War II. Constituted by redesignating the IV Armored Corps, which had been activated at Camp Young, California on 5 September 1942, XX Corps became operational in France as part of Lieutenant General George S....
, the division broke out of the Ruwer River
Ruwer River
The Ruwer is a river in Germany with a length of 46 kilometres, a right tributary of the Moselle River. The valley of the Ruwer is a part of the wine-growing region Mosel near Trier in Rhineland-Palatinate...
bridgehead by ford and bridge. Driving forward, the 94th reached the Rhine on 21 March, where it fought in the Battle for Ludwigshafen. Ludwigshafen was taken on 24 March, in conjunction with Combat Command A
Combat command
A Combat Command was a combined-arms military organization of comparable size to a brigade or regiment employed by armored forces of the U.S. Army from 1942 until 1963...
of the 12th Armored Division.
The division then moved by rail and motor to the vicinity of Krefeld
Krefeld
Krefeld , also known as Crefeld until 1929, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its centre lying just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine...
, Germany, relieving the 102nd Infantry Division on 3 April and assuming responsibility for containing the western side of the Ruhr Pocket
Ruhr Pocket
The Ruhr Pocket was a battle of encirclement that took place in late March and early April 1945, near the end of World War II, in the Ruhr Area of Germany. For all intents and purposes, it marked the end of major organized resistance on Nazi Germany's Western Front, as more than 300,000 troops were...
from positions along the Rhine. With the reduction of the pocket in mid-April, the division was assigned military government
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
duties, first in the Krefeld
Krefeld
Krefeld , also known as Crefeld until 1929, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its centre lying just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine...
and later in the Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
areas.
By mid-April, the division relieved the 101st Airborne Division
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
and assumed military government duties, first in the Krefeld vicinity and later around Düsseldorf. It was in that status when hostilities were declared at an end on 7 May 1945. From mid-June until the end of November, the division served the military government in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
.
The 94th Infantry Division was inactivated on 9 February 1946.
Assignments in the ETO
- 27 July 1944: XIII Corps, Ninth Army.
- 28 August 1944: XIII Corps, Ninth Army, 12th Army Group.
- 23 September 1944: Ninth Army, 12th Army Group.
- 9 October 1944: 12th Army Group.
- 5 January 1945: 12th Army Group, but attached to OiseOiseOise is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
Section, Communication Zone, for supply. - 6 January 1945: XX CorpsXX Corps (United States)The XX Corps of the United States Army fought from northern France to Austria in World War II. Constituted by redesignating the IV Armored Corps, which had been activated at Camp Young, California on 5 September 1942, XX Corps became operational in France as part of Lieutenant General George S....
, Third Army, 12th Army Group. - 29 March 1945: XII CorpsXII Corps (United States)The XII Corps fought from northern France to Austria in World War II. Constituted in the Organized Reserves in 1933, it was activated on 29 August 1942 at Columbia, South Carolina. XII Corps became operational in France as part of Lieutenant General George S. Patton's U.S. Third Army on 1 August...
, Fifteenth Army, 12th Army Group.
Cold War
94th Infantry Division
The division was reactivated in the United States Army ReserveUnited States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
in 1956. On 14 May of that year, the "9/4" shoulder sleeve insignia was rescinded, and the former Puritan shoulder sleeve insignia (with a minor change in the design) was reinstated.
94th Command Headquarters (Divisional)
The division was redesignated the 94th Command Headquarters (Divisional) on 16 October 1963, and was deactivated in 1967 as part of the compromise between U.S. Secretary of DefenseUnited States Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
Robert S. McNamara who wanted to merge the Army Reserve into the Army National Guard, and the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
who wanted to maintain the Army Reserve as it then existed. Under the compromise plan, all of the combat divisions and most separate combat brigades of the Army Reserve were deactivated with a corresponding increase in the National Guard; at the same time, non-divisional combat support and combat service support units were reallocated in the Army Reserve.
94th Army Reserve Command
Field army
A Field Army, or Area Army, usually referred to simply as an Army, is a term used by many national military forces for a military formation superior to a corps and beneath an army group....
under Continental Army Command ("CONARC"). On 22 April 1968, the number and shoulder-sleeve insignia of the former 94th Division were re-allocated to the new 94th U.S. Army Reserve Command ("ARCOM"), headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts and subordinate to First United States Army.
Two company
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
-level units within the 94th ARCOM served in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
: Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 513th Maintenance Battalion (Direct Support); and the 241st Military Intelligence Detachment.
94th ARCOM units participated annually in Exercise REFORGER
Exercise REFORGER
Exercise Reforger was an annual exercise conducted, during the Cold War, by NATO. The exercise was intended to ensure that NATO had the ability to quickly deploy forces to West Germany in the event of a conflict with the Warsaw Pact.The Reforger exercise itself was first conceived in 1967...
(from REturn of FORces to GERmany) and Operation Bright Star
Operation Bright Star
Operation Bright Star is a series of biennial combined and joint training exercises led by American and Egyptian forces in Egypt. These exercises began in 1980. They are designed to strengthen ties between the Egyptian and American militaries and demonstrate and enhance the ability of the Americans...
throughout the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. These exercises were intended to ensure that NATO and the United States military had the ability to quickly deploy forces to West Germany and Egypt in the event of a conflict with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
In 1980, the peacetime Army Reserve chain of command
Chain of Command
Chain of Command may refer to:* Chain of command, in a military context, the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed* "Chain of Command" , the fifth episode of the first season of Beast Wars...
was overlaid with a CAPSTONE wartime trace. In an expansion of the roundout and affiliation program begun ten years earlier, CAPSTONE purported to align every Army Reserve unit with the active and reserve component units with which they were anticipated to deploy. Units maintained lines of communication with the units—often hundreds or thousands of miles away in peacetime—who would presumably serve above or below them in the event of mobilization. This communication, in some cases, extended to coordinated annual training opportunities.
Many of the 94th's units and individual soldiers rotated through Honduras in the 1980s. Operation Fuertes Caminos ("strong roads") provided villagers with roads on which to move their crops to market, while providing invaluable real-world training and experience to reserve engineers, medical personnel, logisticians and others.
Operation Nordic Shield was held in the summer of 1987. Units of the 94th ARCOM; principally the 187th Infantry Brigade (Separate)
187th Infantry Brigade (United States)
The 187th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the United States Army. It was first formed under the United States Army Reserve's 94th Army Reserve Command, which wore the patch of the inactivated 94th Infantry Division, from which the 187th was formed when the 94th was inactivated and the...
, the 167th Support Group (Corps)
167th Support Battalion (United States)
The 167th Support Battalion is a support battalion of the United States Army Reserve based at Londonderry, New Hampshire, assigned to the 94th Regional Readiness Command....
and their subordinate battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s and companies
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
; deployed to Canadian Forces Base
Canadian Forces base
A Canadian Forces Base or CFB is a military installation of the Canadian Forces. For a facility to qualify as a Canadian Forces Base, it must station one or more major units .Minor installations are named Canadian Forces Station or CFS A Canadian Forces Base or CFB (French Base des forces...
Gagetown
CFB Gagetown
Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, referred to as CFB Gagetown is a large Canadian Forces Base located in southwestern New Brunswick.- Construction of the base :...
in southern New Brunswick
Sunbury County, New Brunswick
Sunbury County is located in central New Brunswick, Canada. A large military base is located in the western part of the county south of the town of Oromocto...
, to simulate the defense of Iceland against Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
forces, the CAPSTONE mission of both the 187th and 167th.
Units under the 94th Army Reserve Command participated in a series of mobilization exercises in the 1980s, including the Selected Reserve Call-Up (23–25 October 1987), Golden Thrust '88 (November 1988), and Proud Eagle 90 (12 October through 2 November 1989). Each of these was designed to evaluate not only the units' ability to prepare to mobilise, but to examine the mobilization processes, systems, and logistical coordination so as to find and correct the unanticipated flaws.
In 1990–1991, over 1,000 soldiers from the 94th ARCOM served overseas in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Despite the commonly held belief that CAPSTONE traces were set in stone, the process of selecting units to mobilize and deploy largely ignored CAPSTONE.
94th Regional Support Command
Operation Nordic Shield II was held in the summer of 1992. As they did five years before, units of the 94th ARCOM; principally the 187th Infantry Brigade (Separate)
187th Infantry Brigade (United States)
The 187th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the United States Army. It was first formed under the United States Army Reserve's 94th Army Reserve Command, which wore the patch of the inactivated 94th Infantry Division, from which the 187th was formed when the 94th was inactivated and the...
, the 167th Support Group (Corps)
167th Support Battalion (United States)
The 167th Support Battalion is a support battalion of the United States Army Reserve based at Londonderry, New Hampshire, assigned to the 94th Regional Readiness Command....
and their subordinate battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s and companies
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
; deployed to Canadian Forces Base
Canadian Forces base
A Canadian Forces Base or CFB is a military installation of the Canadian Forces. For a facility to qualify as a Canadian Forces Base, it must station one or more major units .Minor installations are named Canadian Forces Station or CFS A Canadian Forces Base or CFB (French Base des forces...
Gagetown
CFB Gagetown
Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, referred to as CFB Gagetown is a large Canadian Forces Base located in southwestern New Brunswick.- Construction of the base :...
in southern New Brunswick
Sunbury County, New Brunswick
Sunbury County is located in central New Brunswick, Canada. A large military base is located in the western part of the county south of the town of Oromocto...
, to simulate the defense of Iceland against Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
forces, the CAPSTONE mission of both the 187th and 167th. Part of the 1992 exercise included lanes training as part of the United States Army Forces Command
United States Army Forces Command
United States Army Forces Command is the largest Army Command and the preeminent provider of expeditionary, campaign-capable land forces to Combatant Commanders. Headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, FORSCOM consists of more than 750,000 Active Army, U.S. Army Reserve, and Army National...
's "Bold Shift" initiative to reinforce unit war-fighting task proficiency.
In 1995, the 94th ARCOM was redesignated the 94th Regional Support Command (RSC) and removed to from Hanscom Air Force Base to Fort Devens
Fort Devens, Massachusetts
Devens, Massachusetts is an unincorporated village and census-designated place in the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is the successor to Fort Devens, a military post that operated from 1917 to 1996. The area...
, Massachusetts.
The 94th RSC deployed soldiers to Honduras and Guatemala in 1999 in support of Operation New Horizon, and later to the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
in support of Operation Joint Guardian and Operation Joint Forge.
Continuing with Operation New Horizon, the command deployed members of the 94th Military Police Company to Rambala-Bocas del Toro, Panamá
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
in spring 2007.
Global War on Terror
After 11 September 2001, the 94th RSC deployed soldiers in support of Operations Noble EagleOperation Noble Eagle
Operation Noble Eagle is the name given to military operations related to homelandsecurity and support to federal, state, and local agencies...
, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Mission areas include Continental United States ("CONUS"), Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Kuwait, the Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The 804th Medical Brigade, a major subordinate command of the 94th Regional Support Command, mobilized at Fort Devens and trained for combat in support of operations in Kuwait (and eventually Iraq) at Fort Drum, New York in February 2003. The 804th arrived in Kuwait in March 2003 and assumed command and control of over 4400 soldiers in five countries in support of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. In mid-February 2004 the 804th arrived back at Fort Devens after successfully completing an over 12 month activation. The 804th conducted a relief-in-place/transfer-of-authority with the 8th Medical Brigade from New York City.
In December 2002, the 94th RSC moved into its final headquarters at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.
94th Regional Readiness Command
In August 2003, the 94th RSC was redesignated the 94th Regional Readiness Command (RRC).At its end, the 94th Regional Readiness Command was made up of more than 6,000 citizen-soldiers serving with in fifty-six units located throughout New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
.
The 94th RRC mobilized and deployed over twenty units and more than 2,500 soldiers in support of the Global War on Terror
War on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
.
94th Division rebirth in the 21st century
On 17 October 2009, the 94th Division was reactivated, under the command of Brigadier General Karen LeDoux, at Ft. Lee, Virginia. The activation ceremony included many of the veterans of who served in the 94th Division during World War II. The event included the 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) and its Fife and Drum Corps.
The 94th Division's original red and blue colors flown by the division during World War II were returned by Army Heraldry.
Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI)
- Native American design: Featured a Native American with bow and arrow.
- Puritan design:
- Description: On a disc silver gray, edged with a .32 cm (1/8-inch) black border, depicting the black silhouette of a PuritanGreat Migration (Puritan)The Puritan migration to New England was marked in its effects in the two decades from 1620 to 1640, after which it declined sharply for a while. The term Great Migration usually refers to the migration in this period of English settlers, primarily Puritans to Massachusetts and the warm islands of...
carrying a flintlockFlintlockFlintlock is the general term for any firearm based on the flintlock mechanism. The term may also apply to the mechanism itself. Introduced at the beginning of the 17th century, the flintlock rapidly replaced earlier firearm-ignition technologies, such as the doglock, matchlock and wheellock...
blunderbussBlunderbussThe blunderbuss is a muzzle-loading firearm with a short, large caliber barrel, which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity and/or caliber. The blunderbuss could be considered to be an early form of shotgun,...
on his shoulder. - Symbolism:
- Description: On a disc silver gray, edged with a .32 cm (1/8-inch) black border, depicting the black silhouette of a Puritan
- "9/4" design:
- Description: a black Arabic numeral "9" on the silver gray and a silver gray Arabic numeral "4" on the black. The diameter is 6.35 cm (2½ in.).
- Symbolism: The insignia represents the numerical designation of the unit.
- Background:
- A design featuring a Native American with bow and arrow was authorized for the 94th Division on 21 July 1922.
- The above design was superseded by approval of the design of a Puritan carrying a blunderbuss on his shoulder on 6 September 1923.
- The above approval was amended to change the wording of the description on 22 December 1923.
- The Puritan design was superseded by design featuring the Arabic numeralsArabic numeralsArabic numerals or Hindu numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals or Indo-Arabic numerals are the ten digits . They are descended from the Hindu-Arabic numeral system developed by Indian mathematicians, in which a sequence of digits such as "975" is read as a numeral...
"9" and "4" on 5 September 1942. - The "9/4" design was rescinded (canceled) on 14 May 1956. The same letter reinstated the Puritan shoulder sleeve insignia, with a minor change in the design, for the 94th Infantry Division.
- The Puritan design was redesignated for the 94th Command Headquarters (Divisional) on 16 October 1963.
- The Puritan design was authorized for the 94th Army Reserve Command on 22 April 1968.
- The Puritan design was rescinded (canceled) on 27 November 1991. The same letter reinstated the "9/4" design.
- The insignia was redesignated effective 16 July 2003 for the 94th Regional Readiness Command.
Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI)
- Description: A gold color metal and enamel device, 2.86 cm (1⅛ in.) high overall, consisting of a nonagon divided diagonally from lower left to upper right, the upper area light gray and the lower area black, bearing overall a blue oblong with long axis vertical, charged with a gold silhouette of the bust of a PuritanGreat Migration (Puritan)The Puritan migration to New England was marked in its effects in the two decades from 1620 to 1640, after which it declined sharply for a while. The term Great Migration usually refers to the migration in this period of English settlers, primarily Puritans to Massachusetts and the warm islands of...
with flintlockFlintlockFlintlock is the general term for any firearm based on the flintlock mechanism. The term may also apply to the mechanism itself. Introduced at the beginning of the 17th century, the flintlock rapidly replaced earlier firearm-ignition technologies, such as the doglock, matchlock and wheellock...
blunderbussBlunderbussThe blunderbuss is a muzzle-loading firearm with a short, large caliber barrel, which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity and/or caliber. The blunderbuss could be considered to be an early form of shotgun,...
on his shoulder.
- Symbolism: The diagonally divided gray and black background refers to the shoulder sleeve insignia worn by the 94th Infantry Division during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and by the 94th ARCOM/RSC/RRC in 1991–2009. The geometric four-sided figure commemorates the four European campaignEuropean Theater of OperationsThe European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed U.S. Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It referred to Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and the...
honors. Blue is the color used for infantryInfantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
. The bust of the Puritan with flintlock blunderbuss is from the shoulder sleeve insignia worn during the period 1923–1942 and 1956–1991. It represents the history and traditions of the area with which past and present organizations have always identified. The nine sides of the device and the four sides of the oblong also allude to the numerical designation of the unit.
- Background: The distinctive unit insignia was originally authorized for the 94th U.S. Army Reserve Command on 4 June 1970. It was reassigned and authorized for 94th U.S. Army Regional Support Command on 16 April 1996. The insignia was redesignated effective 16 July 2003 for the U.S. Army 94th Regional Readiness Command.
Nicknames
- "Pilgrim Division" (pre-World War II)
- "Neuf-Cats" (official, derived from the French "neuf quatre", meaning "nine four")
- "Patton's Golden Nugget" (unofficial while assigned to Third U.S. Army in 1945)
- "Roosevelt's Bloody Butchers" (unofficial German nickname)
Legacy
- Until the re-merger of the Division's and Division HHC's lineages with those of the reserve command and reserve command HHC, only the LondonderryLondonderry, New Hampshire-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 23,236 people, 7,623 households, and 6,319 families residing in the town. The population density was 555.8 people per square mile . There were 7,718 housing units at an average density of 184.6 per square mile...
, New Hampshire-based 94th Military Police Company, retained direct lineage to the 94th Infantry Division's organic structure. - In 1963, a separate infantry brigade was organized in the US Army Reserve using the lineage of the division's 1st Brigade. As a separate brigade, however, it was granted its own shoulder sleeve insignia. The 187th Infantry Brigade was inactivated in 1994.
- State Highway 94 in ColoradoColorado State Highway 94State Highway 94 is an long east–west Colorado state highway that goes east beginning from US 24 just east of Colorado Springs and ending at U.S. Highway 40/U.S. Highway 287 in rural Cheyenne County west of Wild Horse. The highway serves Schriever Air Force Base and the towns of Ellicott,...
, New Jersey, and New YorkNew York State Route 94New York State Route 94 is a state highway entirely within Orange County in southern New York. The western terminus is at the New York-New Jersey state line, where it continues as NJ 94 for another to Columbia, New Jersey. Its eastern terminus is located at U.S. Route 9W in New Windsor....
are numbered after the 94th Infantry Division.
External links
- Fact Sheet of the 94th Infantry Division from http://www.battleofthebulge.org
- Reactivation of the 94th Division
- Photos of the 94th Division Reactivation Ceremony, 17 October 2009, Ft. Lee, VA