6th Infantry Division:
The Red Star Division

When the U.S. entered WW II, the 6th Infantry Division was
on active duty with the Regular Army with Headquarters at
Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The Division participated in
the 1942 Tennessee maneuvers and received additional training
at the Desert Training Center (California-Arizona Maneuver Area)
and had four changes of station before being assigned to Hawaii
in July and August of 1943. The Division was assigned to defend
the island of Oahu and also underwent training for the jungle
fighting to come.

The shoulder patch of the 6th Division is based on a WW I
design that was approved by the AEF on October 20th, 1918.
The original approval called for a plain six-pointed star,
but a 6th Division letter dated 22 October 1918 added the number
"6" in the center. There is no record that this design was ever
approved (though worn by many men), and the number was not
authorized when the patch was reauthorzied for wear on June
21st, 1922. The six-pointed star suggests the unit number and
may have been adopted from baggage and transport marking.

This division reportedly marched more than any other and became
known as the "Sight-seeing Sixth." The insignia, a six-pointed
star, refers to the numerical designation of the division.

The 6th Infantry Division (Light) was inactivated in July 1994 and
replaced by the US Army, Alaska, with headquarters moving to Fort
Richardson. The Division had two active brigades and a reserve
round-out brigade. Upon inactivation of the 6th Infantry Division
(Light) on July 6, 1994, the principal Army unit in the state was
the US Army Alaska, which has its headquarters at Fort Richardson,
adjacent to Anchorage. The new organization, commanded by a major
general, was a result of a Department of the Army decision in
March 1993 to downsize the 6th Infantry Division (Light) to a
brigade task force. During the 6th Infantry Division's
inactivation in July 1994, the 1st Brigade was inactivated at
Fort Richardson and activated at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. The
1st Brigade 6th Infantry Division (Light) was redesignated the
172nd Infantry Brigade (Separate) April 17, 1998.


Current location: Ft. Richardson, Alaska (First Brigade).

Campaigns:
World War I
(Meuse-Argonne, Alsace 1918),

World War II
(New Guinea, Luzon),

Armed Forces Expeditions
(Panama, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait).

Decorations:

Philippine Presidential Unit Citation
(streamer embroidered 17 October 1944 - July 1945).