Hayden presents...
The 10th Mountain Division
The fourteen hundred men of the 10th Mountain Division changed both WWII and the modern ski industry forever. I admire these men for their smartness and knowledge for the outdoors.
The Beginnings of the 10th Mountain Division.
In 1940, the US started considering the idea of mountain troops after Finland used its own mountain troops effectively in ski raids against the Soviet Union ( the Finnish were allied with the Germans). One of the main reasons some people believed the US needed mountain troops was that if Germany took over and opposed us from Canada, Germany would have the upper hand because Germany‘s specially trained mountain troops would fight well in the northern US mountains.
In 1940, the US established winter training for six divisions from Massachusetts to Washington. The reason for the training was two purposes: (1) to establish an agency to test winter warfare clothing in case of a need for winter warfare clothing arose; (2) to get skis and other equipment for recreational purposes. The US Army did not intend to make a mountain division when it ordered ski training to six divisions. It just wanted “to lay a foundation for future winter training.” Ski patrol units started training 2 weeks before the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Later the U.S. Army decided a division of mountain troops would be needed for cold and mountainous places such as Norway, Italy, Romania, and southern Germany.
On July 13, 1943, the 10th Light Division (Alpine) was formed. On November 6, 1944, it was renamed the 10th Mountain Division. Lloyd E. Jones was the very first commander of the 10th Mountain Division, he had previously been commander of the 76th FA Bri...
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...lties in Europe and became one of the most prized divisions in the US.
The 10th Division’s Legacy.
The 10th Mountain Division is one of Colorado ski industry’s biggest influences. They trained just 30 miles south of Vail. There, they learned to ski and climb cold and treacherous mountains. About 400 of the 10th Mountain Division Troops came back to Colorado after the war.
Two thousand 10th Mountain Division men went to the ski industry after the war. Veterans of the 10th Mountain Division made 60 different ski areas across the United States, including Aspen and Vail. Also, Veterans of the 10th Mountain Division started the Sierra Club, Ski Magazine and co-founded Nike.
After being de-activated after WWII, the 10th Mountain Division was reactivated in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan. The 10th Mountain Division currently trains in Fort Drum, New York.
The award-winning novel by Stephen Ambrose, Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, discusses one of the greatest examples of mission command in the form of 1st Lieutenant Richard Winters and his role in the Brecourt Manor Assault. This battle is a textbook example of how to fight against a superior enemy force that outnumbered the unit by four times as much. Facing overwhelming odds with just 16 paratroopers against over 60 German Soldiers, 1LT Winters nevertheless prevails and succeeds in achieving his objective while minimizing casualties to just three Soldiers lost. Looking back further into the American Revolution, the Battle of Bunker Hill on the American side is one of the earliest examples of Mission Command under the command of COL William Prescott.
Planning is one of the, if not the most, important element of war. This is why the hard-work Canadian military forces put into planning for the attack on Vimy Ridge earned the nation much deserved respect in the eyes of other countries around the world. Germany captured Vimy Ridge early in the war and made it into a strong defensive position, consisting of a huge system of tunnels and trenches manned by soldiers with machine guns and artillery pieces. Previous Allied attacks on Vimy Ridge in 1914 and 1915 had cost the British and French hundreds of thousands of casualties and had been mostly unsuccessful.The planning and preparations for the attack were extensive, and time consuming. The Canadians were trained rigorously. Models of...
organized into 'A', 'B', and 'C' platoon, and was given the designation of 'D' platoon,
Imagine, sick soldiers, small huts, vomit, smoke everywhere near you, people crying "No Meat! No meat!" the terror of seeing everyone suffer. During December of 1777, Washington decided to set a winter camp at Valley Forge for the next few months. They set up "huts" with cold hard straw to sleep on. March 1st is the end of my enlistment, and I would leave/ not re-enlist, because of the terrible conditions, the risk of dying, and if it was truly worth it or not.
Military mining played a big role in the battle of Vimy Ridge. Engineers built a
Stratford Caldecott’s “Remembering: Grammar-Mythos-Imagining the Real” is from his book Beauty in the Word, published in 2012. In this chapter, he argues that naming, as the beginning of grammar, is an integral part of our humanity. He goes on to connect grammar to the arts of remembering, tradition, and storytelling, as well as commenting on the danger of becoming too reliant on technology. Caldecott believes that grammar, and thereby Remembering, brings us into a greater community of human thought which transcends time; as a result, ‘Grammar’ is “the remembrance of Being” (Caldecott 59). This, he argues, is why it is so important to teach grammar; losing the art of grammar would mean losing our very humanity.
The conception of the idea to establish a special elite unit in the Army and the subsequent implementation took place between March and July 1942. This period was characterized by extensive research by a British scientist and extensive analysis by United States commanders. The special unit started their training in Montana at Fort William Henry Harrison before moving to other areas such as Camp Bradford and Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont. The forces lasted for the period between July 1942 and December 19441. The unit had three battalions made up of Canadian and American volunteers who engaged in intensive training in skiing, parachuting, amphibian warfare, mountain and demolition operations among other specialized skills. The elite forces were distinct, from their bi-national uniform to their specialized fighting skills. The soldiers engaged in war in Italy and Southern France before their disbandment late 19441.
(October 19, 2005). ROTC Traditions Continue During Border War. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from University of Wyoming from
Heinl, Lt. Robert Debs, Jr. Marines at Midway. Washington: Historical Section, Division of Public Information, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1948. Print.
It began to emerge the differences in tactics. The question was whether to continue so far the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Forces Europe, General Eisenhower’s tactics attacking on a broad front, or due to problems of supply to take just one mighty blow. In that period Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery developed a new operation plan, which would include the use of 1st Airborne Army (Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton), actually 1st Airborne Corps (Lieutenant General Frederick Browning). The Corps comprised of 82nd US Airborne Division (Brigadier General James M. Gavin), 101st US Airborne Division (Major General Maxwell D. Taylor), and 1st British Airborne Division (Major General Robert “Roy” E. Urquhart) supported with, under his command, 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade (Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski). These units should be dropped along the roa...
Training as an unexperienced soldier, then fighting in a war, only several months later, for your country just shows how much fearlessness and guts this whole division had, classifying them as the best division to ever be a part of the United States Army.
The United States Army has been through many changes since its start in 1775, yet it remains the greatest, most disciplined all volunteer fighting force in the world. Like the service members of the past and present, many Army units have contributed to the success of our military, and like those service members many have been lost. Even though these units are not as well known as the divisions they have belonged to, they have enriched the history of our Army just the same. The achievements of the 123rd Aviation Battalion have contributed to the history and success of our nations battles.
served as a chief of staff in the Army of the Cumberland, saw action at
Despite the challenges they had to face the danger and put their lives in risk knowing that they will make them fight for their dreams.
Thin air encompasses me as I commence the final day of skiing at Vail, Colorado. Seven days of skiing elapse rather painlessly; I fall occasionally but an evening in the Jacuzzi soothes my minor aches. Closing time approaches on the final day of our trip as I prepare myself for the final run of the vacation. Fresh off the ski lift, I coast toward the junction of trails on the unoccupied expert face of the mountain. After a moment of thought, I confidently select a narrow trail so steep that only the entrance can be seen from my viewpoint.