3rd Armored Division (United States)

The 3rd Armored Division (also known as "Spearhead", 3rd Armored, and 3AD) was an armored division of the United States Army. Unofficially nicknamed the "Third Herd", the division was first activated in 1941 and was active in the European Theater of World War II. The division was stationed in West Germany for much of the Cold War and also participated in the Persian Gulf War. On 17 January 1992, still in Germany, the division ceased operations. In October 1992, it was formally inactivated as part of a general drawing down of U.S. military forces at the end of the Cold War.

World War II

Composition

The 3rd Armored Division was organized as a "heavy" armored division, as was its counterpart, the 2nd Armored Division ("Hell on Wheels"). Later on in World War II, higher-numbered U.S. armored divisions were made smaller, with a higher ratio of armored infantry to tanks, based on lessons learned from fighting in North Africa.

As a "heavy" division, the 3rd Armored commanded two armored regiments containing a total of four medium tank battalions and two light tank battalions (18 companies) instead of the usual three tank battalions containing both light and heavy tanks (12 companies). The division commanded 232 medium tanks, compared to the 168 allotted to a standard light armored division, and commanded attached units numbering over 16,000 men in place of the usual 12,000 found in the light armored divisions. The 3rd Armored also commanded three armored infantry battalions.

The division's core units were the 36th Armored Infantry Regiment, the 32nd Armored Regiment, the 33rd Armor Regiment, the 23rd Armored Engineer Battalion, the 83rd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, and the 143rd Armored Signal Company. During World War II, these units were organized into task forces known as combat commands A, B and R (Reserve).

Headquarters Company
Service Company
Combat Command A
Combat Command B
32nd Armored Regiment
33rd Armored Regiment
36th Armored Infantry Regiment
83rd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
23rd Armored Engineer Battalion
143rd Armored Signal Company
3rd Armored Division Artillery
54th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
67th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
391st Armored Field Artillery Battalion
3rd Armored Division Trains
3rd Ordnance Maintenance Battalion
Supply Battalion
45th Armored Medical Battalion
Military Police Platoon

Attached units included: The division cut off 40,000 Wehrmacht troops at Mons and captured 8,000 prisoners. Division troops crossing the [[Siegfried line to Germany.|thumb]]

Hurtgen and the Bulge

On 10 September 1944, the 3rd, now nicknamed the "Spearhead Division", fired what it claimed was the first American field artillery shell onto German soil of the war. Two days later, it passed the German border and soon breached the Siegfried Line after taking part in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.

The 3rd Armored Division fought far north of the deepest German penetration during the Battle of the Bulge. The division worked its way south in an attack designed to help wipe out the bulge and bring First Army's line abreast of General George S. Patton's Third Army, which was fighting northward toward Houffalize. It severed a vital highway leading to St. Vith and later reached Lierneux, Belgium, where it halted to refit. Two weeks later, it crossed the Rhine at Honnef, a town south of Cologne.

On 31 March, the commander of the division, Major General Maurice Rose, rounded a corner in his jeep and found himself face to face with a German tank. As he withdrew his pistol either to throw it to the ground or in an attempt to fight back, the young German tank commander, apparently misunderstanding Rose's intentions, shot and killed the general.

The division's last major fighting in the war was the Battle of Dessau, which the division captured on 23 April 1945 after three days of combat. Following the action at Dessau, the division moved into corps reserve at Sangerhausen.

Casualties

The 3rd Armored Division suffered the following casualties:

Total battle casualties: 9,243
Killed in action: 1,810
Wounded in action: 6,963
Missing in action: 104
Prisoner of war: 366

Enemy casualties

The division inflicted the following enemy casualties:

Combat vehicles destroyed: 6,751
Prisoners of war: 76,720

Individual awards

Members of the division received the following awards:

thumb|3rd Armored Division M60A3 tanks and armored personnel carriers near the [[Sembach Kaserne|Sembach Air Base exit ramp.]]

Colin Powell also served in the division. He was assigned to the 2nd Armored Rifle Battalion, 48th Infantry, Combat Command B, Coleman Kaserne, Gelnhausen, between 1958 and 1960. His first Army command assignment was infantry platoon leader. The 3rd Armored's primary mission between May 1956 to July 1992 was, in the event of war, to defend the Fulda Gap alongside other NATO elements and if ordered, use tactical nuclear weapons against numerically superior Warsaw Pact forces. The Division Artillery's (DIVARTY) 333rd Field Artillery Regiment was equipped with MGM-52 Lance surface-to-surface tactical nuclear missiles in case conventional firepower was not enough to stop advancing Warsaw Pact forces if an invasion took place. USAREUR maxed out its Cold War troop strength in June 1962; that number was never achieved again. Also in June 1962, the nuclear warheads for U.S. Davy Crockett devices arrived in Europe (3rd AD combat maneuver battalions were issued Davy Crocketts). In late October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet Forces, including those in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG), were placed on the highest alert level, as there was no way to communicate between Washington and Moscow. Two of the five armies in the GSFG were positioned to advance through the Fulda Gap – the 8th Guards Army, containing three motor rifle divisions and one tank division, and 1st Guards Tank Army, containing four tank divisions and one motor rifle division. From 1963 onwards, Reorganization Objective Army Division (ROAD) changes meant organizational changes within the 3rd AD's three combat commands and a name changeover to "brigades" (e.g. Combat Command A became 1st Brigade).

thumb|Ayers Kaserne, 1985. Note Motorpools with Tanks, APCs & Artillery

To prepare their soldiers for a potential invasion by the Warsaw Pact, the 3rd Armored Division's units frequently conducted field training, including exercises of live fire, movement and communications, in Bavaria at Hohenfels Training Center, Wildflecken Training Center, and Grafenwöhr Training Center. Throughout its time in Cold War Germany, beginning in mid-1956, the division would also frequently take to the German countryside for training maneuvers, including, beginning in January 1969, what became an annually staged war game called Reforger (REturn of FORces to GERmany), which simulated an invasion of Western Europe by Warsaw Pact forces.

Throughout the Cold War, the division headquarters company, the 503rd Administrative Company, 503rd Adjutant General Company, 503 MI Company and 503rd MP Company were based at Drake Kaserne in Frankfurt, with 143rd Signal Battalion and other support units stationed across the street at Edwards Kaserne in Frankfurt, West Germany. A number of its subunits were based in other Kasernes throughout the German state of Hessen, notably Ayers Kaserne (50° 28' 32.44" N 8° 38' 29.24" E) at Kirch-Goens and Schloss Kaserne at Butzbach (CCA/1st Brigade), Gelnhausen (CCB/2d Brigade), Ray Barracks at Friedberg (CCC/3rd Brigade) and Fliegerhorst near Hanau (eventually converted to the division's Aviation Brigade base). The NCO Academy contained two companies: Co. A was assigned to the medieval castle at Usingen-Kransberg, while Co. B was located in Butzbach. The division itself was of comprised an average of 15,000 soldiers organized into three combat commands (CCs) of comparable sizes to the World War II combat commands. These brigades were manned by at least one battalion each of infantry, armor, and artillery, and various supporting units, including medical, engineer, and aviation elements.

Most of the kasernes were located adjacent to or within German communities, leading to lively trade and interaction between soldiers and German civilians. A few, however, were somewhat remotely located, particularly Ayers Kaserne ("The Rock")(50° 28' 32.44" N 8° 38' 29.24" E) outside Kirch-Goens, where the 1st Brigade was stationed.

Throughout the summer of 1990, in response to the winding down of the Cold War, 3AD was instructed to begin selective standing down of various division elements. Some units, for example the 3rd Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery, were turning in equipment and cross-leveling with other 3AD units when momentous events in the Middle East developed in August 1990. That month, Iraq invaded Kuwait, and soon after, President George H. W. Bush committed U.S. troops to the theater, first to defend Saudi Arabia, and then to eject Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Deployment of advance elements of 3AD began in December, with the remaining deploying units arriving by January. Units that had drawn down were replaced or augmented back to full strength. As an example, 3–5 ADA was replaced by the 8th Infantry Division's 5th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery. Other units were attached to 3AD to bring it up to, and even beyond, full strength. The division and its equipment were shifted from Germany to Saudi Arabia, with Army National Guard and Army Reserve elements taking over some of their duties in Germany, while in others, kasernes were left virtually empty. This massive deployment was made possible by the end of the Cold War.

Deployment order of battle

280px|thumb|Order of battle of the 3rd US Armored Division during Gulf War.

For Desert Storm, the division consisted of:

Second day

At 1115 hours on the second day of the invasion, all elements of the division finally moved across the line of departure. The day was marked by hard pushing to penetrate deep and fast for an objective south of Basra. In the course of its drive, various elements of 3AD engaged the enemy, taking prisoners, skirmishing, sometimes bypassing enemy strongholds to gain ground, and other times engaging in full-scale battle.

Action continued after nightfall, and by 1840 hours, the ground and air elements of the 3rd AD reported over 20 tanks, 14 APCs, several trucks and some artillery pieces destroyed. That same evening, the 4th Battalion, 32nd Armor lost the division's first casualties, with two soldiers killed and three wounded to 25mm cannon fire and the Bradley Fighting Vehicle they were in destroyed. During the night, both darkness and sandstorms hampered soldiers' visibility, but thermal sighting systems onboard the M1A1 Abrams tanks and Bradleys allowed gunners to continue to knock out Iraqi targets. The 3rd Brigade, 3AD had also captured 2,500 enemy prisoners. The division was now pushing east to block the Iraqi retreat from Kuwait and conduct mopping up operations.

The 3rd AD served at the Battle of 73 Easting and the Battle of Norfolk. Only three of its M1A1 Abrams tanks were damaged during combat operations. The 3rd Armored Division suffered 15 soldiers killed between December 1990 and late February 1991. Seven soldiers were killed in action and another 27 were wounded during combat operations.

Following the war, 3rd Armored Division was one of the first units rotated to Camp Doha, Kuwait, providing protection to Kuwait as the country was rebuilt. It was inactivated on 2 July 2015.

The following 3AD units were assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division:

1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry
2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry
3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry
2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery
2nd Battalion, 227th Aviation
3rd Battalion, 227th Aviation

Additionally, the 122nd Support Battalion (Main) from the Division Support Command was reactivated at Fort Bragg and assigned to the Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division as the 122nd Support Battalion (Aviation). The 54th Support Battalion (Main) was reactivated on 16 September 1994 as the 54th Support Battalion (Base) of the 80th Support Group (Area).

Commanders

The 3rd Armored Division had thirty-nine commanders over the course of its history, many of whom went on to obtain four star rank.

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MG Alvan Cullom Gillem Jr. (April 1941 – January 1942)
MG Walton Harris Walker (January 1942 – August 1942)
MG Leroy H. Watson (August 1942 – August 1944)
MG Maurice Rose (August 1944 – March 1945)
BG Doyle O. Hickey (March 1945 – June 1945)
BG Truman E. Boudinot (June 1945 – July 1945)
BG Frank A. Allen Jr. (July 1945)
MG Robert W. Grow (July 1945 – November 1945)
MG Ray T. Maddocks (July 1947 – April 1948)
MG Roderick R. Allen (April 1948 – June 1950)
BG Raymond E. S. Williamson (June 1950 – February 1951)
MG Ira Platt Swift (February 1951 – July 1951)
BG Arthur R. Walk (July 1951 – October 1951)
BG Raymond E. S. Williamson (October 1951 – November 1952)
BG John T. Cole (November 1952 – December 1952)
MG Richard W. Stevens (December 1952 – January 1954)
MG Gordon Byrom Rogers (January 1954 – April 1955)
MG John Murphy Willems (April 1955 – July 1956)
MG Robert W. Porter Jr. (July 1956 – January 1958)
MG Thomas F. Van Natta III (January 1958 – July 1959)