ATTENTION: ONE RULE OF THIS SITE IS IF YOU LEAVE A COMMENT ADVERTIZING "ANYTHING" YOU WILL BE DELETED FROM THIS SITE THIS ALSO APPLIES TO CLICKABLE VIDEOS OR CLICKABLE LINKS NO EXCEPTIONS !!!I was formed to fight and defeat the wermacht (German Army)
Oppressing most of Europe...
My Most Impressive battle was the battle of Stavelot..
After Defeating the Nazis I returned to the States.In 1955
I Returned to Germany in operation Gyroscope.. and remained
there until 1991 when I was Deactivated..WORLD WAR TWO
The Division Goes Into Battle::
The first elements of the 3rd Armored in France saw combat on June 29, with the division as a whole beginning combat operations on July 9, 1944. During this time, it was under the command of VII Corps and XVIII Airborne Corps for some time, and assigned to the First Army and the 12th Army Group for the duration of its career.The division "spearheaded" the US First Army through Normandy, taking part in a number of engagements, notably including the Battle of Saint Lo, where it suffered significant casualties. After facing heavy fighting in the hedgerows, and developing methods to overcome the vast thickets of brush and earth that constrained its mobility, the unit broke out at Marigny, alongside the Big Red One 1st Infantry Division, and swung south to Mayenne.Ordered to help close the Falaise Gap and Argentan pocket which contained the German Seventh Army, the division finished the job near Putanges by 18 August Six days later the outfit had sped through Courville and Chartres and was located at the banks of the Seine. On the night of August 25, 1944 the crossing of the Seine by the division started; once over, the 3rd slugged its way across France, reaching Belgium on September 2, 1944.Toppled in the path of the division were Meaux, Seissons, Laon, Marle, Mons, Charleroi, Namur and Liege. It was at Mons that the division cut off 40,000 Wermacht troops and captured 8,000 prisoners. Then the division began the first invasion of Germany since the days of Napoleon.3 AD Tanks & Troops cross the Siegfried Line, September 1944
Across the Rhine
On September 10, 1944 the Spearhead Division sent what it claimed was the first American Field Artillery shell of the War onto German soil. Two days later it passed the German border and soon breached the Siegfried Line, taking part in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest.The 3rd Armored Division continued fighting during the Battle of Bulge, far north of the deepest German penetration. Countering German attacks, it severed an important highway leading to St Vith. By January, the German offensive had been checked, and the division began pushing its way into Germany. Advancing at a little better than half a mile a day against stiff resistance, the 3rd captured ten towns in January 1945, took 2,149 prisoners and destroyed 61 armored vehicles.THE COLD WAR
The division was reactivated on 15 July 1947 at Fort Knox, Kentucky to act as training formation. In 1955 it was reorganized for combat and shifted to Germany the next year. It replaced the 4th Infantry Division.The Mission and the Men
The 3rd Armored's primary mission during this period was, in the event of War, to defend the Fulda Gap against numerically superior Warsaw Pact forces alongside other NATO elements. At the peak of East/West tensions during the Reagan Administration, as many as (19) Soviet and East German divisions faced off against Spearhead soldiers. To prepare their defenses against an invasion, the division's units frequently conducted field training at Hohenfels, Wildflicken and Grafenwohr US Army Training areas, conducting exercises of live fire, movement and communications tactics. The division would also frequently take to the German countryside for training maneuvers, including what became an annually staged war game Reforger, which simulated invasion of Western Europe by Warsaw Pact forces.Throughout the Cold War, the division's Headquarters was based in Drake Kaserne, in Frankfurt Germany, with a number of its subunits based in other Kasernes throughout the German state of Hesse, east to Buedingen and Gelnhausen and north to Giessen. The division itself comprised an average of 15,000 soldiers, organized into three primary brigades. These brigades (ROAD Reorg in 1963) were individually manned by at least one battalion each of Infantry, Armor, and Artillery, and various supporting units, notably including Medical, Engineering, and Aviation elements. The division had also evolved a dedicated Military Intelligence Battalion by 1980.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 (aka "The Rock")SEE THIRDS BLOG, where the 1st Brigade was stationed. The most famous soldier in the 3rd Armored Division during this time was Elvis Presley, assigned to First Battalion, 32nd Armor Rgt in the 3rd Brigade at Ray Barracks in Friedberg. After his time in service, Presley made the movie G.I. Blues, in which he portrays a 3rd Armored Division Tank Crewman with a singing careerTHE GULF WAR 1991
The 3rd Armored Division, then commanded by Major General Paul Funk, was one of four US heavy divisions deployed with U.S. Army VII Corps. The division and its equipment were shifted from Germany to Saudi Arabia, with in some cases, National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve elements taking some of their duties in Germany, while in others, Kasernes were left virtually empty. One must note that this massive redeployment was possible only due to the Western victory in the Cold War, in which the 3rd AD helped to play a part by guarding the Fulda Gap.After redeployment, the division acclimated to the desert climate and its troops faced new challenges in mobility, tactics and maintenance in the sandy and hot climate. Various National Guard and Army Reserve units were then attached to the division for the duration of the conflict, bringing the division's size to over 20,000 troops - 25% larger than during its time in Germany.The majority of the division's troops never received Desert BDUs, due to a shortage of the uniforms, and fought in lightweight summer "woodland camouflage" uniforms, covered by tanker suits or the ever-present and much-despised chemical warfare protective MOPP suits.Into Battle
Finally, after months of training the division moved to the Line of Departure, alongside the 1st Armored Division on its left flank and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment on its right flank. While the Iraqi Army concentrated much of its defenses in and around Kuwait itself, the 3rd AD and VII Corps launched a massive armored attack into Iraq, just to the west of Kuwait, taking the Iraqis completely by surprise.A 3rd AD Brigade along the Line of DepartureScouts from 2nd Brigade crossed on the afternoon of the February 23, 1991 just after 1500 hours. Less than two hours later, they had penetrated several miles into Iraq and managed to capture over 200 prisoners. On February 24, the official first day of action, the division as a whole swung into action as part of a coordinated attack by hundreds of thousands of allied troops.During the first day of battle, the 3rd Armored pushed 18 miles into Iraq, taking over 200 prisoners. By dawn of the second day, an additional 50 prisoners had been taken, with scouts reporting enemy reinforcements moving to meet the division.The Second Day
At 1115 hours of the second day, all elements of the division were finally across the Line of Departure. The day was marked by hard pushing to penetrate deep and fast, striking for an objective south of Basra. In the course of its drive, various elements of the division engaged the enemy, taking prisoners, skirmishing, sometimes bypassing enemy strongholds to gain ground, other time engaging in full scale battle.
The Third DayIraqi Tank knocked out by 3rd AD fireBy nightfall of the second day, the 3rd AD had driven 53 miles into Iraq, with dozens of enemy vehicles destroyed, hundreds of POWs captures, and on the verge achieving its first Objective - an accomplishment that war planners had not anticipated.The Third Day
On the third day of combat, February 26, the division closed in upon its objective and faced for the first time the Iraqi Republican Guard, a much stronger foe than the forces the division had first engaged, and less inclined to retreat or surrender. Opposing forces included the highly touted Republican Guard "Tawakalna" Division, the Iraqi 52nd Armored Division and elements of the 17th and the 10th Armored Divisions. The division engaged in full scale tank battles for the first time since World War II, and as one of the division's veterans states "There was more than enough action for everyone.Action continued after nightfall, and by By 1840 hours, the ground and air elements of the 3rd AD could report over 20 Tanks, 14 Armored personnel carriers, several trucks and some artillery pieces destroyed. Unfortunately, that same evening, the 4/32nd Armored lost the division's first casualties Bradley Fighting Vehicle to tank fire - with two soldiers killed and three wounded. During the night, both darkness and sandstorms hampered soldiers' visibility, but thermal sighting systems on board the M1A1 Abrams tanks and Bradleys allowed gunners to knock out Iraqi targets.By the fourth day, the division reached its objective, and pursued its now retreating enemy. The division turned east, into Kuwait, continuing to inflict heavy casualties and capture troops as it rolled forward, often hitting new units whose defensive berms and foxholes faced south from their northern flank, rendering their defenses ineffective. By nightfall, forces facing the 3rd Armored Division had been virtually eliminated, with their remnants in full retreat.By the fifth day of combat, the division had achieved all objectives and continued to push East to block Iraqi retreat from Kuwait, conducting mopping up operations. One hundred hours after the ground campaign started, President Bush declared a ceasefire.
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