decided upon a program. In the meantime, the Army expanded piecemeal. Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson approved the activation of another infantry division on 14 July 1950, but it was not until October that the 4th Infantry Division, which had been serving as a training division at Fort Ord, moved to Fort Benning to be reorganized as a combat unit. The Army Staff expected the division to be trained by the late spring of 1951.[1]
Because it would have taken too much time to organize new Regular Army divisions and Class B Organized Reserve Corps divisions (officers and enlisted cadre), the Army's leadership decided to recommend bringing some understrength National Guard divisions into federal service. On 10 August the president approved inducting four Guard infantry divisions. To accommodate them, the Army reactivated four World War II camps, and early in September the 28th (Pennsylvania), 40th (California), 43d (Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont), and 45th (Oklahoma) Infantry Divisions entered active federal service. Army Field Forces and the Army Staff selected those units because of their geographic distribution, the status of their equipment, and their strength, which ranged from 8,000 to 9,500 officers and enlisted men each. The Army Staff immediately began working to bring the divisions up to their full table of organization and equipment strength.[2]
Initially individual reservists recalled to active duty filled Regular and Guard divisions, but to maintain them and other divisions, as well as organize new units, the Army Staff relied on volunteers and draftees who were schooled in existing or reactivated training centers. To operate the centers, Army Field Forces activated five Regular Army divisions, the 8th Infantry at Fort Jackson, South Carolina; the 101st Airborne at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky; the 5th Armored at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas; the 6th Armored at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; and the 7th Armored at Camp Roberts, California, between August and November 1950. The 6th Infantry Division was also reactivated to replace the 4th at Fort Ord.[3]
The Chinese intervention in the fall of 1950 stimulated broader mobilization measures. After considerable debate, President Truman declared a national emergency, which required additional military forces to meet the Soviet threat in Europe as well as to fight the war in Korea. The mobilization plan called for eighteen combat divisions to be on active duty by June 1952. To obtain the additional divisions, the president approved the induction of the National Guard's 31st (Alabama and Mississippi) and 47th (Minnesota and North Dakota) Infantry Divisions into federal service in January 1951. These were reorganized under reduced tables that called for approximately 14,500 officers and enlisted men. For the eighteenth division, the Army reactivated the Regular Army's 1st Armored Division in March. This last unit improved the balance in the active force among infantry, armored, and airborne divisions, which stood at 2 armored, 2 airborne, and 14 infantry.[4]
In the fall of 1951 the Joint Chiefs of Staff reevaluated the mobilization program and set a new goal of twenty-one active duty combat divisions by 31 December 1955. From the National Guard, the 37th (Ohio) and 44th (Illinois)
- ↑ Schnabel, Policy and Direction, pp. 117–20; Stillwaugh, “Personnel Policies,” ch, 1, pp. 9–12; Ltr, TAG to CGs, Third, Fourth, and Sixth Armies, 16 Oct 50, sub: Change in Status of Certain Units, AGAO-1 322 (29 Aug 50), G–1–M, 4th Inf Div file, DAMH-HSO.
- ↑ Schnabel, Policy and Direction, pp. 122–25, 294; National Guard Bureau, "Induction and Release of Army National Guard Units," pp. 21–24, National Guard Induction, Korean. War. Reference Paper files, DAMH-HSO; OCAFF Diary, "Action in Support of FECOM 3 July 1950–30 September 1950," Ms, DAMH-HSR; Ltr, TAG to CGs, First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Armies. 6 Sep 50, sub: Reorganization of Certain Units Called to Active Duty from Civilian Components, AGAO-I 322 Gen Res (23 Aug 50) G–1–M, AG Reference files, DAMH-HSO.
- ↑ Crossland and Currie, Twice a Citizen, pp. 96–97; Ltr, TAG to CG, Third Army, 10 Aug 50, sub: Activation of the 8th Infantry Division (Training), AGAO-I 322 (7 Aug 50) G–1–M, 8th Inf Div file, GO 51, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, 1950, Ltr, TAG to CG, Second Army, 10 Aug 50, sub: Activation of the 101st Airborne Division (Training), AGAO-I 322 (7 Aug 50) G–1–M, 101st Abn Div file, Ltr, TAG to CG, Fourth Army, 21 Aug 50, sub: Activation of the 5th Armored Division, 21 Aug 50, AGAO-I 322 Training Div (15 Aug 50) G–1–M, 5th Armd Div file, Ltr, TAG to CG, Fifth Army, 21 Aug 50, sub: Activation of the 6th Armored Division, AGAO-I 322 Training Div (15 Aug 50) G–1–M, 6th Armd Div file, Ltr, TAG to CG, Sixth Army, 10 Nov 50, sub; Activation of the 7th Armored Division, AGAO-I 322 (11 Oct 50) G–1–M, 7th Armd Div file, Ltr, TAG to CGs, Third, Fourth, and Sixth Armies, 16 Oct 50, sub: Change in Status of Certain Units, AGAO-I 322 (29 Aug 50), 4th Inf Div file, and Divisional Historical Data Cards, all DAMH-HSO.
- ↑ Schnabel, Policy and Direction, pp. 298–300; Truman, Papers of the President, 1950, pp. 746–47, "Induction and Release of Army National Guard Units," pp. 39–41: Ltr, TAG to CGs, Third and Fourth Armies, 26 Apr 51, sub: Reorganization of Certain General Reserve Units, AGAO-I 322 Gen Res (2 Apr 51) G–1–M, AG Reference files, Ltr, TAG to CGs, Third and Fourth Armies, 1 Mar 51, sub: Activation of the 1st Armored Division, AGAO-I 322 (24 Feb 51) G–1–M, 1st Armd Div file, DAMH-HSO.
