36-я пехотная дивизия Национальной гвардии Техаса: история и организация

US Army National Guard formation
the Confederate States Army division during the American Civil War

The 36th Infantry Division ("Arrowhead") also known as the "Panther Division", the "Lone Star Division", "The Texas Army", and the "T patchers", is an infantry division of the U. S. Army and part of the Texas Army National Guard. The 36th Infantry Division was organized during World War I (1914–1918) from units of the Texas National Guard and of the Oklahoma National Guard. As an all Texas unit, the Arrowhead Division was called to service for World War II (1937–1945) on 25 November 1940, was deployed to the European Theater of Operations in April 1943, and returned to the Texas Army National Guard in December 1945. In late 1941, a unit of the 36th Infantry, the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, was detached and deployed to the Pacific Theatre of Operations (PTO) against the Japanese forces. In the course of the fighting, the Japanese Imperial Army captured some soldiers from the 2/131 FA and enslaved them to perform forced labor. Their fate as a unit was unknown for most of World War II, which resulted in the 2/131 FA Bn. being nicknamed the "Lost Battalion" of the PTO. In 2004, the 36th Infantry Division was reconstituted in a reorganization of the 49th Armored Division.

The 36th Division headquarters arrived at the port of New York aboard the USS Patricia on 4 June 1919 after 11 months of overseas service and was demobilized on 18 June 1919 at Camp Bowie. In accordance with the National Defense Act of 1920, the division was allotted to the state of Texas and assigned to the VIII Corps in 1921. The designated mobilization training center for the “Texas Division” was Camp Hulen on Matagorda Bay near Palacios, Texas, where much of the division’s training activities occurred between the wars. The division headquarters was reorganized and federally recognized on 2 May 1923 at Houston, Texas. The division headquarters was relocated on 20 September 1930 to Fort Worth, and on 22 September 1936 to San Antonio, Texas. The division, less the 61st Field Artillery Brigade, conducted its summer camp at Camp Mabry, in Austin, Texas, from 1922–23, Fort Crockett, Texas, in 1924, back to Camp Mabry in 1925, and at Camp Hulen from 1926 1939. The 61st Field Artillery Brigade conducted its training every other year at Camp Bullis, Texas, so that its subordinate batteries could conduct live fire training at the ranges located there. For at least three years, in 1931, 1932, and 1933, the division’s subordinate units trained over 170 company grade officers of the 90th Division at Camp Hulen and Camp Bullis. Like the 26th Division, the 36th Division was one of the few National Guard divisions that was located all in one state and therefore could maximize the opportunity to train as one unit. From 1922 1935, the 36th Division gradually increased the levels of training proficiency as its units became more skilled. The training was conducted at individual level initially and up to regimental level for the later camps. In 1936, the division and brigade staffs participated in the Third Army command post exercise (CPX) at Camp Bullis. The CPX was designed to prepare the staffs for the large scale maneuvers to be held in 1938. The division participated in the Eighth Corps Area concentration of the Third Army maneuvers at Camp Bullis in August 1938. During that maneuver, the 36th Division operated as part of the provisional Blue Corps against the 2nd and 45th Divisions of the Brown Corps. In January 1940, the 36th Division commanding general and his staff participated in the 2nd Division's maneuver near Christine, Texas. For the final phase of the exercise, the division commander and staff assumed control of the simulated combat actions of the 2nd Division. In August 1940, the “Texas Division” again participated in the Third Army maneuvers, this time near the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana as part of the provisional VIII Corps.

The 36th Division was called up again for active federal service on 25 November 1940, during World War II (although the United States was neutral at this stage), departing for its mobilization station at Camp Bowie on 14 December 1940. The division commanded by Major General Claude V. Birkhead, moved to Brownwood, Texas, on 1 June 1941, where it participated in the VIII Corps Brownwood Maneuvers until 13 June 1941. The division then returned to Camp Bowie. The division then moved to Mansfield, Louisiana, and took part in both the August and September 1941 Louisiana Maneuvers. The division, now commanded by Brigadier General Fred L. Walker, a Regular Army officer from Ohio and a distinguished veteran of World War I, then returned to Camp Bowie on 2 October 1941, where it was reorganized from a square division into a triangular division on 1 February 1942 and redesignated the 36th Infantry Division, just weeks after the American entry into World War II, as a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, which was followed four days later by the German declaration of war against the United States. As a result of this reorganization, the 144th Infantry, plus numerous supporting units, were transferred out of the division. The division then moved to Camp Blanding, Florida, on 19 February 1942, and participated in the Carolina Maneuvers between 9 July 1942, and 15 August 1942. The division then was staged at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts, on 17 August 1942, for its port call to the European Theater Of Operations (ETO). During its time at Camp Edwards, the division conducted mock assaults of Martha's Vineyard Island in preparation for future amphibious operations. The division departed the New York Port of Embarkation (NYPOE) on 2 April 1943, for service in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO).

The 36th Division landed in French North Africa on 13 April 1943, and trained at Arzew and Rabat. However, the training was hampered by the need to supply guards for some 25,000 Axis prisoners of war (POWs) who had surrendered at the conclusion of the Tunisian campaign in May. It was assigned to Major General Ernest J. Dawley's VI Corps, part of the Fifth Army, but attached to the Services of Supply, North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA), for supply. The 36th Division was originally intended to take part in the Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, but Lieutenant General George S. Patton the Seventh Army commander, preferred to use experienced troops instead and the 36th Division remained in North Africa. The Fifth Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, who knew the 36th Division well from his time as chief of staff to Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, commander of Army Ground Forces, and specifically chose the 36th Division, rather than the more experienced 34th Infantry Division, together with the British 46th and 56th Infantry Divisions, to spearhead the Allied assault landings at Salerno, Italy, which was given the codename of Operation Avalanche. Having missed out on the fighting in Sicily, the division first saw action in the Italian campaign, landing at Salerno on 9 September 1943. It was the first U. S. combat unit to fight on the European continent when it landed by sea at Paestum and fought in the Battle of Salerno against intense German opposition. The Germans launched numerous fierce counterattacks on 12–14 September, but the 36th, which at one stage during the battle was holding a 35 mile sector of the front (six times more than a full strength infantry division was able to hold), repulsed them with the aid of air support and naval gunfire, and, with the help of paratroopers of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (part of the 82nd Airborne Division), advanced slowly, securing the area from Agropoli to Altavilla. After sustaining over 4,000 casualties in its first major action, the division spent the next few weeks behind the lines, where it remained in the Fifth Army reserve, absorbing replacements and training for future combat operations. Despite the heavy losses, the 36th Division was considered to have fought well, and four men were awarded the Medal of Honor. The 36th Division returned to combat in mid November, after six weeks of rest, now under Major General Geoffrey Keyes' II Corps command. It captured Mount Maggiore, Mount Lungo, and the village of San Pietro despite strong enemy positions and severe winter weather. This grueling campaign against the Bernhardt Line was marked by futile attempts to establish a secure bridgehead across the Gari River, erroneously identified as the Rapido on 1 January 1944, to 8 February. The division attacked across the Gari River on 20 January but was harshly repulsed by the 15th Panzergrenadier Division. The 141st and 143rd Infantry Regiments were virtually destroyed, and the attack was stopped on 22 January. In 48 hours, the 36th Division had sustained 1,681 casualties, 143 of them killed, 663 wounded, and 875 missing, out of almost 6,000 men who took part. Many of the casualties consisted of newly arrived replacements who were poorly integrated into their units. German losses were minimal, with only 64 killed and a further 179 wounded. A company commander in the 143rd Infantry said, "I had 184 men. Forty eight hours later, I had 17. If that's not mass murder, I don't know what is." 36th Division losses until the end of January 1944 was of 2,255 battle casualties and 2,009 non battle, with the combat effectiveness of the 141st and 143rd Infantry Regiment lost. Strong controversy flared among the officers of the division. Lieutenant General Clark, the Fifth Army commander, was severely criticized for having ordered a difficult frontal attack, and was accused of having caused the disaster. After the war Congress, urged on by veterans of the division, conducted an investigation into the causes and responsibility for the defeat on the Gari River. Clark was absolved of blame and he personally believed the attack to be necessary, in order to attract German reserves from Northern Italy to prevent their use at Anzio, where an amphibious assault, codenamed Operation Shingle, was being launched by Anglo American forces in an attempt to outflank the Winter Line, capture the Italian capital of Rome, and potentially force a German withdrawal away from their formidable Winter Line defenses. However, the German reserves identified in Northern Italy had already been drawn forward onto the front of the British X Corps during the First Battle of Monte Cassino a few days before, thus making the 36th Division's assault unnecessary, although this was unknown to Clark at the time. After assisting the 34th Infantry Division in the attack on Cassino and fighting defensively along the Gari River, the severely depleted 36th withdrew from the line on 12 March, for rest and recreation. The division arrived by sea at the Anzio beachhead on 22 May, under the command of Major General Lucian Truscott's VI Corps, to take part in Operation Diadem, with the breakout from the beachhead commencing the following day. It drove north to capture Velletri on 1 June, and entered Rome on 5 June 1944, the day before the Normandy landings. Pushing up from Rome, the 36th encountered sharp resistance at Magliano, but reached Piombino on 26 June, before moving back to Paestum for rest and recreation. In July Major General Walker, who had commanded the 36th Division since September 1941, was replaced by Major General John E. Dahlquist.

On 15 August 1944, as part of the U. S. 6th Army Group, the division made another amphibious assault landing, against light opposition in the Saint Raphaël Fréjus area of southern France as part of Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of Southern France. A rapid advance opened the Rhone River Valley. Montelimar fell, 28 August, and large German units were trapped. On 15 September, the division was attached to the French First Army. The 36th advanced to the Moselle River at Remiremont and the foothills of the Vosges. On 30 September, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (442nd RCT, a Japanese American unit) was assigned to the 36th to help shore up the division. The 442nd was subsequently used to spearhead the capture towns of Bruyères and Biffontaine where they faced stiff opposition. On 24 October the 143rd Infantry relieved the 100th and 3rd Battalion who were sent to Belmont, another small town to the north, for some short lived rest. On 23 October the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry were cut off just beyond the town or Biffontaine. On 27 October the 442nd RCT was called back in to save this Lost Battalion. On the afternoon of 30 October 3rd Battalion broke through and reached 1st Battalion, 141st, rescuing 211 T Patchers at the cost of 800 men in five days. However, the fighting continued for the 442nd as they moved past the 141st Infantry. The drive continued until they reached Saint Die on 17 November when they were finally pulled back. The 100th fielded 1,432 men shortly before, but was now down to 239 infantrymen and 21 officers. The 2nd Battalion was down to 316 riflemen and 17 officers, while not a single company in the 3rd Battalion had over 100 riflemen; the entire 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team was down to less than 800 soldiers. On 13 October 1944, when attached to the 36th Infantry Division, the unit was at 2,943 rifleman and officers, but in only three weeks 140 were killed and 1,800 were wounded, while 43 were missing. For this action, the 442nd RCT would earn 3 of its 7 Presidential Unit Citations. In a grinding offensive, the division crossed the Meurthe River, breached the Ste. Marie Pass and burst into the Alsatian Plains. The enemy counterattacked, 13 December 1944, but the 36th held the perimeter of the Colmar Pocket. Two days later, the division was released from attachment to the French First Army, and returned to the control of VI Corps, now under Major General Edward H. Brooks, under the Seventh Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Alexander Patch. The German counterattacks out of the Colmar Pocket were so fierce, that at times, the field artillery was forced to fire over open sights at point blank range to stop them. On 20 December 1944, the division resumed the attack, advancing northward along the Rhine River to Mannheim meeting heavy resistance at Haguenau, Oberhöfen, and Wissembourg. In this action Company "G" of the 143rd Infantry received a Presidential Unit Citation. On 27 December 1944, the division was reassigned to Major General Frank W. Milburn's XXI Corps of the Seventh Army, and was pinched out and returned to Seventh Army reserve on 30 December 1944. During these battles in France the division had the highest rate of desertion out of any division in the American Army. The division was taken out of the line for the first time since it had landed in the south of France. On 3 January 1945, the division was reassigned to Major General Wade H. Haislip's XV Corps. In January 1945, the division was reassigned to VI Corps. It returned to the line early March. The 36th was reassigned to the Seventh Army on 29 March 1945, and moved to the Danube River on 22 April 1945. The 36th Division has been recognized as a liberating unit for its work securing the subcamps of the Dachau concentration camp system. The 36th Division was reassigned to the XXI Corps on 27 April 1945, and attacked the Künzelsau area on the 30th. Members of the 36th Division's 142nd Infantry arriving as reinforcements on 5 May tipped the Battle for Castle Itter in favor of a combined U. S. Army/Wehrmacht defense against a Waffen SS attack, the only time German and American forces fought side by side in World War II. By 8 May 1945, otherwise known as Victory in Europe Day (VE Day), the 36th Division was based in Kitzbühel, Austria where it captured Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt, the commander of all German Armed Forces on the Western Front, and its final station was at Kufstein, Austria on 14 August 1945. After 400 days of combat, the 36th Infantry Division returned to the United States in December 1945. It was returned to the Texas Army National Guard on 15 December 1945.

The 36th ID suffered significant losses during World War II, twice earning the distinction of having "lost" a battalion during the war. The "Lost Battalion" refers to the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry, which was surrounded by German forces in the Vosges Mountains on 24 October 1944. They would be rescued by the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated unit composed of second generation Japanese Americans. In five days of battle, over 800 men of the 442nd gave their lives in order to break through German defenses and rescue 211 survivors of the 141st. Texas Governor John Connally would make the members of the 442nd honorary Texans in appreciation of their rescue of the 141st Infantry in 1962. Earmarked as part of the reinforcements to U. S. Army troops in the Philippines, the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, was detached from the 36th Infantry and deployed on 21 November 1941 to join in the Pacific War. The 131st took part in the Battle of Java and fought fiercely at Porong with several other Allied units until the battalion was captured by the Japanese in March 1942. Information on the unit's fate was unknown and considered "lost" as details following the Dutch surrender in Java failed to reach the U. S. government. As prisoners, the men were forced to work in Burma and Thailand on the Burma Railway of The Bridge on the River Kwai fame, as well as coal mines, docks and shipyards in Japan and other southeast Asian countries. Conditions were poor, treatment harsh, and mortality exceptionally high. It was only through debriefing of survivors from Japanese POW convoys who had been sunk and rescued by U. S. submarines in September 1944 that the U. S. government would learn of the unit's fate. Repatriated after the end of the war in August 1945, the surviving POWs of the lost battalion were scattered throughout Southeast Asia in Java, Singapore, Burma, Thailand, French Indo China, Japan, China and Manchuria.

Presidential Unit Citation: 12.

The 36th Infantry Division assisted alongside other Texas National Guard units were activated to assist with the COVID 19 Pandemic. The 36th Infantry Division assisted with delivering over 7,000 pallets of protective equipment to testing facilities, decontaminating nursing homes, and distributing over 5,900,000 COVID 19 tests.

More Servicemembers within the 36th Infantry Division assisted in preparation for civil disturbances (rioting and looting) triggered by the George Floyd protests. The Servicemembers were trained in crowd control tactics, including non lethal responses and assisting civilian law enforcement agencies. Activated Soldiers serve in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

+36th Infantry DivisionStart dateEnd dateCommander 25 August 1917 18 September 1917MG Edwin St. John Greble 18 September 1917 6 December 1917BG George Blakely 6 December 1917 8 July 1918MG Edwin St. John Greble 8 July 1918 13 July 1918BG John A. Hulen 13 July 1918MG William R. Smith 18 June 1919Division returned activated to state control 2 May 1923MG William R. Smith 2 May 1923 9 September 1935MG John A. Hulen 9 September 1935 12 October 1936MG George R. Rains 12 October 1936MG Claude V. Birkhead 25 November 1940Division called up to federal service 12 September 1941MG Claude V. Birkhead 12 September 1941 7 July 1944MG Fred L. Walker 7 July 1944 1 November 1945MG John E. Dahlquist 1 November 1944 15 December 1945BG Robert I. Stack 15 December 1945Division returned inactive to state control 29 April 1946Unit reactivated in state control 29 April 1946 7 July 1948MG Preston A. Weatherred 7 July 1948 1 March 1953MG H. Miller Ainsworth 1 March 1953 21 September 1961MG Carl L. Phinney 21 September 1961 15 January 1968MG Everett S. Simpson 18 June 1969Division inactivated in state control 1 May 2004Division reactivated in state control 1 May 2004 1 April 2006MG Michael Taylor 1 April 2006 1 October 2007MG John T. Furlow 1 October 2007 17 April 2009MG Jose S. Mayorga 18 April 2009 20 January 2012MG Eddy M. Spurgin 21 January 2012 31 May 2014 MG James K. "Red" Brown 1 June 2014 30 April 2017MG Lester Simpson 1 May 2017 3 Sept 2018MG S. Lee Henry 4 Sept 2018 30 October 2021MG Patrick M. Hamilton 30 October 2021 17 March 2022MG Charles K. Aris 17 March 2022 PresentMG Ronald W. Burkett II