divisions during the summer of 1946. That all divisions were to begin as Class C (officers only) units, progressing to the other categories as men and equipment became available, undoubtedly influenced the decision. Also, the War Department wanted to take advantage of the pool of trained reserve officers and enlisted men from World War II. By that time Army Ground Forces had been reorganized as an army group headquarters that commanded six geographic armies (Map 3). The armies replaced the nine corps areas of the prewar era, and the army commanders were tasked to organize and train both Regular Army and Organized Reserve Corps units. The plan the army commanders received called for twenty-five Organized Reserve Corps divisions–the 19th, 21st, and 22d Armored Divisions; the 15th, 84th, 98th, 99th, and 100th Airborne Divisions; and the 76th, 77th, 79th, 81st, 83d, 85th, 87th, 89th, 90th, 91st, 94th, 95th, 96th, 97th, 1024, 103d, and 104th Infantry Divisions. Demography served as the basic tool for locating the units within the army areas, as after World War I.[1]
The twenty-five reserve divisions activated between September 1946 and November 1947 (Table 19) differed somewhat from the original troop basis. The First Army declined to support an airborne division, and the 98th Infantry Division replaced the 98th Airborne Division. A note on the troop list nevertheless indicated that the unit was to be reorganized and redesignated as an airborne unit upon mobilization and was to train as such. After the change, the Organized Reserve Corps had four airborne, three armored, and eighteen infantry divisions. The Second Army insisted upon the number 80 for its airborne unit because the division was to be raised in the prewar 80th Division's area, not that of the 99th. Finally, the 103d Infantry Division, organized in 1921 in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona, was moved to Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota in the Fifth Army area. The Seventh Army (later replaced by Third Army), allotted the 15th Airborne Division, refused the designation, and the adjutant general replaced it by constituting the 108th Airborne Division, which fell within that component's list of infantry and airborne divisional numbers.[2]
A major problem in forming divisions and other units in the Organized Reserve Corps was adequate housing. While many National Guard units owned their own armories, some dating back to the nineteenth century, the Organized Reserve Corps had no facilities for storing equipment and for training. Although the War Department requested funds for needed facilities, Congress moved slowly in response.[3]
Given a smaller Organized Reserve Corps troop basis that called for infantry, armored, and airborne divisions, six prewar infantry divisions in that component were not reactivated in the reserves. The War Department deleted the 86th, 97th, and 99th Infantry Divisions when other divisions took over their recruiting areas, and the Regular Army, as noted, retained the 82d and 101st Divisions, which had been reorganized as airborne during the war. The future of the 88th Infantry Division, still on occupation duty in Italy, remained unsettled. Within the
- ↑ Ltr, AGF to CGs, First and Second Armies, and other addresses, 6 Jun 46, sub: Training and Administration of Civilian Components, Incl 3, AGF Plan for the Organized Reserve Corps; WD Cir 138, 1946; C. T. Tench, "The New Organization," Infantry Journal 59 (Jul 46): 18–22.
- ↑ Ltr, AGF to CGs, First and Second Armies, and other addresses, 6 Jun 46, sub: Training and Administration of Civilian Components, Incl 3, Plan for the Organized Reserve Corps; see author's notes for activation dates of ORC divisions, which are based on unit divisional files in DAMH-HSO.
- ↑ "Our Floundering Army Reserve Program," Reserve Officer 25 (Jul 1948): 4–6ff.
