10th Mountain Division:
The Mountaineer Division.

The 10th Mountain Division was activated on July 15th, 1943,
with Headquarters at Camp Hale, Colorado, as the 10th
Division (L) but was redesignated to Mountain on November 6th,
1944. Individuals who were specially qualified as skiiers,
woodsmen, mountaineers, or who had similar backgrounds were
actively recruited and assigned to the Division. After one
change of station and participation in maneuvers at the
Hunter-Liggett Military Reservation in California, the Division
embarked for Italy in December of 1944

The shoulder patch for the 10th Mountain Division was approved
by the AGO on January 7th, 1944, and the Mountain tab was
approved on November 22nd, 1944. The blue background of the
patch and the bayonets suggest the Infantry (the original
designation of the Division), and the bayonets also form a
Roman number "X" (10) representing the unit's number. The
overall design of the patch is in the shape of a powder-keg
suggesting the Division's explosive power. The Division
returned to the U.S. in August of 1945, was inactivated
in November of 1945, redesignated "Infantry" in June of 1948,
and then reactivated in July of 1948. Consequently, the
shoulder patch was worn without the tab both during
and after WW II.


Campaigns:
World War II
(North Apennines, Po Valley).

Desert Shield/Storm 1990-1991;
Although the 10th didn’t deploy to Southwest Asia as a unit,
about 1,200 10th Mountain Division soldiers did go.

Somalia 1992-94;
Operation Restore Hope December 1992 to May 1993.
On December 3, 1993, the Division headquarters was designated as
the headquarters for all Army Forces (ARFOR) of the Unified
Task Force (UNITAF) for Operation Restore Hope. Major General
Steven L. Arnold, the Division Commander, was named Army Forces
commander.