Veterans Visit National Parks for Free (and some Antietam pictures)

We visited the Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland and learned that veterans get access to National Parks and other Federal Public Lands for free. Forever.

Last week (September 17^th) was the 161^st anniversary of the Battle of Antietam. We have visited many times. Antietam, located next to the small town of Sharpsburg, Maryland, is my favorite Civil War battlefield. Antietam has historical significance in that the battle has a combined casualty count of 22,727 killed, wounded, and missing. That makes Antietam (or Sharpsburg to the Confederates) the highest one-day casualty count in American military history. It was the impetus for Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which changed the Federal cause for fighting the war from preserving the Union to ending slavery. Moreover, it is an easy battlefield to view the terrain and understand the flow of the battle. Climb the observation tower. It’s worth it. And finally, the battlefield park is more than a park or a tourist attraction. It’s hallowed ground where thousands of Americans fought and died. That being said, Antietam is also a beautiful place to go for a walk and enjoy the fall weather.

I was going to talk about the battle and the remodel of the Visitor Center. Also, I wanted to point out how cool it is to visit a battlefield as near to its anniversary as possible. That way you have good odds of similar weather and you get an idea of what the foliage looked like at the time of the battle. Instead, I wanted to make sure that you are aware of the new program that allows free access to active military, veterans, and Gold Star family members.

It was time to renew my annual National Park Pass. I was thinking that I’d score on that senior discount this year (one of the few advantages of getting old). When we walked up to the counter and told the Ranger on duty what we wanted, he asked if I was a veteran. I am, I said, and so is my wife. He then went on to explain that since last November, the National Park Service has been providing free lifetime access to NPS and other Federal lands to active military, veterans, and Gold Star families. Would I like an “America the Beautiful” lifetime pass for free? Yes, please.

Here are the official rules. To get your pass you need a Veteran ID. You can obtain a digital Veteran ID from the VA’s website. (When they started producing those, I had no idea. I’ve obviously been asleep at the wheel on these things over the years.) The NPS is not supposed to accept your DD214 as proof of your veteran status. They need to see your Veteran ID. To obtain the Veteran ID you can use a copy of your DD214. Sound bureaucratic? Hey, it’s the government, and if you are a veteran then this Catch-22 logic should make you feel right at home. But it’s worth the trouble. If you have your Veteran ID, then not only can you use it to get a lifetime pass to National Parks, but there are a bunch of other perks and discounts out there for veterans (like the ten percent discount at Cabela’s). So get your Veteran ID from the VA website (links below), then go in person to any NPS site and pick up your lifetime pass.

Enjoy some pictures of the battlefield from our trip last Wednesday. If you are looking for background on the Battle of Antietam, I have “Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam” by Stephen Sears on my shelf. Get out and enjoy a historic site while the weather is nice. Maybe I’ll see you at Valley Forge next week. 😉

Link: Information on National Park Passes

Link: VA website to obtain a Veteran ID

A Summary History of the 2nd Armored Division

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"Hell On Wheels"
(Original article written 6/2/08 by Jim Broumley)

The United States Army's 2nd Armored Division, nicknamed "Hell On Wheels," is one of the most storied shoulder patches from World War II. The Second Armored Division's combat history in WWII covered three years, two continents, and ten countries. The 2nd A.D. is remembered by most Cold War veterans for its service at Fort Hood, Texas, with a reinforced brigade forward stationed in West Germany. After participating in the Persian Gulf War, the 2nd Armor Division was deactivated as part of the downsizing of the Army in the 1990s.

The 2nd Armored Division was formed on July 15, 1940, at Fort Benning, Georgia. Then Colonel George S. Patton was in charge of training the new division, and later that year was promoted to Brigadier General and took command. The 2nd AD continued training through 1941 with maneuvers in Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, and the Carolinas. Reportedly, Patton boasted during these maneuvers that the 2nd Armored Division would be "Hell on Wheels" when it met the enemy. The moniker stuck and became the Division's nickname and part of the unit shoulder sleeve insignia.

The 2nd Armored Division was organized as a "heavy" armored division that had two armored regiments of four medium tank battalions and two light tank battalions. The heavy division also maintained an "armored infantry regiment" organization. Hell On Wheels and the 3rd Armored Division kept this structure throughout the war; while the army's other 14 armored divisions were reorganized as "light" armored divisions.

The core units of 2AD were the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment, the 66th Armored Regiment, the 67th Armored Regiment, the 17th Armored Engineer Battalion, the 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, and the 142nd Armored Signal Company. The 2d Armored Division Artillery was composed of the 14th, 78th, and 92nd Armored Field Artillery Battalions. However, there was a variety of attachments throughout the war.

Some elements of the 2nd Armored Division saw combat for the first time when Allied Forces landed at Casablanca, in North Africa, on November 8, 1942. However, the Division as a whole did not enter combat until the invasion of Sicily on July 10, 1943. The Hell On Wheels Division saw action at Butera, Campobello, and through to Palermo. During the fight for Sicily, the 2nd AD fought against the German's elite Hermann Göring Panzer Division. In November of 1943, the 2nd Armored Division was moved to England to train for the invasion of Europe, Operation Overlord.

The 2AD was landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-day plus 3, June 9, 1944. Hell On Wheels raced across France with the rest of the Third Army during July and August. The Division reached the Albert Canal in Belgium on September 8, 1944, and crossed the German border north of Schimmert on September 18, 1944. On October 3, 1944, the 2nd Armor attacked the Siegfried Line, breached it, and then crossed the Wurm River, seized Puffendorf on November 16th, and Barmen on November 28th. The 2d Armor Division was holding positions on the Roer River when ordered to help contain the German's Ardennes offensive, the Battle of the Bulge.

During the Battle of the Bulge, Hell On Wheels fought in eastern Belgium, blunting the German Fifth Panzer Army's penetration of American lines. The Division helped reduce the Bulge in January, fighting in the Ardennes forest in deep snow and freezing winter conditions. After a rest in February, the Division drove on across the 1,153-foot wide Rhine River on March 27, 1945, in an unprecedented seven hours while under mortar fire. On April 11, 1945, the 2nd Armored Division was the first American Division to reach the Elbe River. On orders, the Division halted on the Elbe. In July 2nd A.D. was the first American unit to enter the German capital city of Berlin.

During World War II, Hell On Wheels took 94,151 prisoners of war, liberated 22,538 Allied prisoners of war, shot down or damaged on the ground 266 enemy aircraft, and destroyed or captured uncountable thousands of enemy tanks and other equipment and supplies. 2nd Armored Division soldiers had been awarded 9,369 awards for distinguished service and bravery including two Medals of Honor, twenty-three Distinguished Service Crosses, two thousand three hundred two Silver Stars, and not to mention nearly six thousand Purple Hearts. In 238 battle days, the 2nd Armored suffered 7,348 casualties, including 1,160 killed in action. After a brief period of occupation duty, the 2nd Armored Division returned to Fort Hood, Texas in 1946.

Based at Fort Hood, the 2nd Armored Division furnished thousands of trained replacements to units serving in the Korean War. In 1951 the Hell on Wheels division returned to Germany to serve for six years in support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and then returned to Fort Hood. The 1/50 Infantry; 2/1 Cavalry; 1/40 Field Artillery; and 1/92 Field Artillery fought in the war in Vietnam, but not the Division as a whole. The main division, however, would spend much of the next 35 years at Fort Hood.

During the Cold War, the 2nd Armored Division's primary mission was to prepare to conduct heavy armored combat against Warsaw Pact forces in defense of NATO. Hell On Wheels formed a key component of the U.S. military's plan to move "ten divisions in ten days" to Europe in the event of a Soviet threat to NATO. The division practiced this task numerous times during Exercise REFORGER (Return of Forces to Germany) from 1967 to 1988. To build and maintain combat skills, the division's maneuver brigades deployed almost annually to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, to face an opposing force modeling Soviet military weapons and tactics.

In 1978 the 2nd Armored Division's 3rd Brigade deployed to the Federal Republic of Germany and was assigned to NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG). The 3rd Brigade received additional aviation, engineer, military intelligence, medical, and logistics support units. Now designated as the 2nd Armored Division (Forward), the unit was based at a new military facility near the village of Garlstedt just north of the city of Bremen. The unit's primary mission in the event of conflict with the Warsaw Pact was to either secure airfields or staging areas for the deployment of III Corps from the United States or to deploy directly to the Inter-German Border (IGB) and establish a blocking position as part of a NATO combat force. However, with the end of the Cold War, the U.S. military began to draw down its combat units. The 2nd Armored Division was scheduled to be inactivated in the spring of 1990.

The invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein in August 1990 caught the division in the midst of the post-Cold War drawdown of the U.S. military. On October 10, 1990, the division began to deploy more than 5,000 soldiers to Saudi Arabia to participate in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The 2nd Armored Division's Second Brigade could not be deployed as it was in the middle of deactivating. The Division's 1st Brigade deployed to Saudi Arabia independently and participated in Operation Desert Storm by providing heavy armor for USMC forces in their attack into Kuwait. The 3rd Brigade - 2nd Armored Division (Forward) - based in Germany, conducted combat operations as the third maneuver brigade of the 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kansas. On February 24, 1991, the Second Armored entered Iraqi-held Kuwait. In 100 hours Allied Forces had taken back the country of Kuwait and defeated the Iraqi Army.

Between the cease-fire and the official end of the war in April 1991, the 2nd Armored Division (Forward) took part in security operations to ensure peace in Kuwait. Hell On Wheels then redeployed to Saudi Arabia where some of its soldiers established and ran three refugee camps near Raffia, Saudi Arabia. Division relief workers processed over 22,000 Iraqi refugees between April 15 and May 10, 1991.

Desert Storm had temporarily interrupted the inactivation of the division that had begun in 1990. However, after the Persian Gulf War, the 2nd Armored Division went through a confusing series of deactivations and re-designations. The 1st Brigade returned to Fort Hood and was re-designated the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. On September 1, 1991, the 2nd Armored Division (Forward) officially became the 2nd Armored Division (-). Over the summer and fall of 1992, the 2nd Armored Division (-) was inactivated. In 1992, the 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Polk, Louisiana was re-designated the 2nd Armored Division. In 1993 that unit moved to Fort Hood. In December 1995 the 2nd A.D. was again re-designated, this time as the 4th Infantry Division. This ended more than 55 years of continuous active duty for the "Hell On Wheels" Division. 

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A Summary History of the 1st Aviation Brigade

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"Golden Hawks"
(Original article written by Jim Broumley, 5/15/2008)

1st Aviation Brigade SSI
 

In 1965, as the U.S. Army's involvement in Vietnam grew deeper, the ubiquitous use of the helicopter in the new "frontless" war became apparent. The Army had to have the means to maintain tactical and administrative control over all of its divisional and non-divisional aviation assets in the country. It did this with the creation of the 1st Aviation Brigade, the Golden Hawks.

In April 1965 the USA Aviation Brigade (Provisional) was activated in Vietnam with the existing 13th, 14th, 52nd, and 145th Aviation Battalions reporting to it. In August it became the 12th Aviation Group. Now doubled in size, the 12th Aviation Group was used as the basis to form the 1st Aviation Brigade in March 1966.

The Brigade served in Vietnam from May 1966 until March 1973. At its peak strength, the 1st AVN BDE had over 4,000 rotary and fixed-wing aircraft and 24,000 soldiers assigned. The organization became so large that the Brigade was organized into Aviation Groups. The Groups were then assigned Aviation Battalions and Companies, or Squadrons and Troops in the case of Cavalry units. The 1st Aviation Brigade was responsible for forty percent of the Army's helicopter assets and one hundred percent of its fixed-wing assets in Vietnam. In 1969, the brigade carried more than 6.5 million troops in more than 4 million sorties, flying more than 1.5 million hours to accomplish this monumental mission. Units of the Brigade performed brilliantly throughout the war and were instrumental in inventing and perfecting the art of helicopter warfare. Upon withdrawal from the Republic of South Vietnam, the Golden Hawks were sent to Fort Rucker, Alabama, to serve as a training brigade where they are still stationed today.

During the Vietnam War, the 1st Aviation Brigade and its support units constituted the largest operational aviation brigade in the Army. As such, the Golden Hawks were involved in practically every operation of note during the conflict. However, Lam Son 719 stands out because it involved heavy use of aviation assets, including the 1st Aviation Brigade. This Operation demonstrates both the successes and the failures in the use of helicopters during the, up to that date, unconventional war that was Vietnam. It is also demonstrative of the sacrifices made by the aircrews who manned them.

Operation Lam Son 719 involved a mass use of Army helicopters. The Operation took place from February 8th to March 25, 1971. Its mission was the coordinated insertion of South Vietnamese troops by air and armored units into Laos. While ground troops were strictly South Vietnamese, the United States provided logistical, aerial, and artillery support. The intent of the operation was to drive the North Vietnamese regular army out of areas of Laos contiguous to the South Vietnamese border.

As United States forces were not allowed to operate on the ground inside of Laos, the American portion of the mission was given the name Operation Dewey Canyon II. American lift helicopters ferried South Vietnamese troops into Laos. Helicopter gun-ships provided close air support for the South Vietnamese ground forces (ARVN) and destroyed an estimated 88 North Vietnamese P-76 tanks. Unfortunately, the operation was considered a failure on the ground when the South Vietnamese forces took heavy losses in their withdrawal from Laos. Combined U.S./ARVN helicopter losses totaled 108 destroyed and 618 damaged. During Lam Son 719 American helicopters had flown more than 160,000 sorties and 19 U.S. Army aviators had been killed, 59 were wounded, and 11 were missing at its conclusion. Many of the helicopters were shot down by Soviet-built 37-millimeter (mm), radar-directed, antiaircraft guns.

During Lam Son 719, Army helicopter pilots often were forced to fly in what at best could be discerned as marginal weather. Helicopters serving in the Vietnam War did not have tactical radar on board, so pilots had a difficult time flying during inclement weather. The fact that more helicopters were not lost during this operation was due, in large measure, to the flying skills and bravery of these pilots. Lam Son 719 itself incurred a great deal of controversy inside and outside of military circles as to its efficacy and results. The operation served as a lessons-learned report for the Army. None of which detracts from the hard work and courage of the aircrews who wore the Golden Hawks shoulder patch.

Today, the 1st Aviation Brigade is responsible for training aviation officers, warrant officers, and soldiers with a variety of aviation military occupational specialties (MOS). The Golden Hawks Brigade Headquarters and most subordinate units are stationed at the United States Army Aviation Center, Fort Rucker, Alabama. The 1st Aviation Brigade commands four distinctly different battalions, each with a unique mission to train young soldiers and officers - the 1st Battalion, 13th Aviation Regiment; the 1st Battalion, 145th Aviation Regiment; 1st Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment; and the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training Battalion at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Additionally, the 1st Aviation Brigade commands the U.S. Army's Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Level C Training Detachment. Along with its many command responsibilities, logistical support requirements, and administrative duties, the Brigade's primary mission is to train and develop future aviation warfighting leaders.

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What happened at Howland Island during WWII?

If the name “Howland Island” rings a bell with you at all, it’s probably because it was the spot in the Pacific Ocean that Amelia Earhart was trying to locate during her around-the-world flight. She didn’t find it. Her plane disappeared on July 2, 1937. But something I didn’t know is that the Japanese bombed Howland Island on December 8, 1941, one day after their attack on Pearl Harbor.

Howland Island is located about 1700 miles southwest of Hawaii. It lies roughly halfway on a direct line from Hawaii to Australia, which made it a good spot to refuel in the early days of transoceanic flying. That is if you could find it. The island is only 1.4 x .55 miles, approximately one square mile in size. Howland came up on my radar when I was watching an excellent YouTube video on World War II in the Pacific. In the list of locations that the Japanese attacked on December 7-8 that we all know, (Hawaii, the Philippines, Wake, Guam, etc.) the narrator included Howland Island. Since I had not heard this before I had to look into it.

Howland Island was on sailing maps by the late 1700s. It is believed that Captain Bligh landed on the island for a short stay in 1789 after being set adrift by the mutineers of the HMS Bounty. Whalers in the early 1800s knew where it was. The United States gained possession of Howland Island in 1856, but really the island was a hazard to navigation (there were multiple shipwrecks on the island) and a place to harvest bird guano. In 1935, colonists came to the island to establish both a scientific research facility and to solidify American claims to this and other South Pacific islands. The belief was that the island would be used as part of a chain of refuel stops for commercial aircraft. In fact, WPA funds were used to build an airstrip on the island specifically for Earhart’s flight.

The Japanese attacked the island on December 8, 1941, with 14 bombers based in the Kwajalein Islands. Two colonists were killed in the attack. There was extensive damage to the airstrip. Two days later a Japanese submarine shelled the island, destroying the remaining buildings that had survived the first attack. Two times a single bomber flew over and dropped bombs on the island, even though there was nothing left to bomb. The U.S. Navy rescued the survivors on January 31, 1942. A battalion of U.S. Marines occupied Howland in September of 1943 and the island was called Howland Naval Air Station. But the war moved on and it was abandoned in May 1944.

Today, Howland is an uninhabited, unorganized, territorial possession of the United States. In 1974, a wildlife refuge was created that included Howland and 12 miles of ocean around it. Entry to the Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge is only by a special permit granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

A Summary History of the 18th Engineer Brigade

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18th Engineer Brigade
Shoulder Patch

 "Swords Up! Stay Sharp!"
(Original Article written by Jim Broumley, 11/24/2010)

The 18th Engineer Brigade (Theater) is part of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command. The unit's headquarters was stationed at Tompkins Barracks in Schwetzingen, Germany. The brigade mission statement reads: "The 18th Engineer Brigade plans, integrates, and provides command and control of full spectrum engineer missions in support of expeditionary, joint or combined operations for the Regional Combatant Commander." In other words, soldiers of the 18th Engineer Brigade provide various forms of support to other Army units, including combat engineer support, construction, and mechanical work. The Brigade's subordinate units include the 15th Engineer Battalion, the 54th Engineer Battalion, the 60th Engineer Detachment (Geospatial), the 243rd Construction Management Team, and an Emergency Management Assessment Team. The Brigade has participated in World War II, Vietnam, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 18th Eng Bde has been assigned to USAREUR since 2007.

18th Engineer Brigade
Unit Crest

The 18th Engineer Brigade traces its lineage back to the 347th Engineer General Services Regiment which was constituted in the organized reserves on July 29, 1921. The 347th was ordered to active duty in the build-up for WWII on May 6, 1942, and reported to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. The Regiment deployed to England in February 1944 and entered combat in France on June 29. The 347th participated in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns. The unit won its first Meritorious Unit Commendation in Europe during WWII. After the war, the 347th Engineers stayed on occupation duty in Germany until it was deactivated on June 1, 1946.

On June 15, 1947, the 347th Engineer Regiment was reactivated in the organized reserves and headquartered in Salt Lake, Utah. They remained there until it was again deactivated on March 16, 1949. On October 25, 1954, the 347th Engineer General Services Regiment was re-designated the 18th Engineer Brigade for the first time and activated as a Regular Army unit at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where it remained until being deactivated on March 26, 1963.

The 18th Engineer Brigade was reactivated on July 16, 1965, at Fort Bragg, N.C. and prepared for deployment to Vietnam. From September 1965 until December 1966, the U.S. Army Engineer Command, Vietnam (Provincial) was created and the 18th Engineer Brigade became responsible for engineer support in the I and II Corps Tactical Zones. The Brigade Headquarters was located at Dong Ba Thin. The Brigade's initial activities centered around the rapid development of the port facilities, ammunition dumps, base camps, and airfields necessary to support the build-up of U.S. combat forces that were rapidly deploying to Vietnam. The 18th Engineer Brigade also provided support for combat search and destroy missions. On September 20, 1971, the Brigade was inactivated. The 18th Eng Bde had remained in Vietnam for over six years and participated in fourteen campaigns. The Brigade earned four more Meritorious Unit Citations during Vietnam.

The 18th Engineer Brigade was reactivated at Karlsruhe, Germany on October 21, 1977. For the next 15 years, the Brigade served as the principal construction brigade for the United States Army Europe and Seventh Army. The Brigade performed numerous construction projects in military communities and training areas throughout USAREUR that included massive range upgrades at Grafenwoehr, and the construction of the Range 23 complex at the Wildflecken Major Training Area. The 18th Engineer Brigade was also responsible for providing topographic support to the European Theater.

In 1990 and 1991, during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the 18th Engineer Brigade provided rail and sea deployment support to the VII Corps and deployed a Combat Heavy Battalion and Topographic Company to support operations in Southwest Asia. In April 1991, the Brigade Headquarters, along with the subordinate Combat Heavy Battalion, deployed to Zakho, Iraq in support of Operation Provide Comfort and was awarded the Joint Meritorious Unit Award for their performance during this operation. As part of the reduction of forces in Europe, the Brigade was deactivated once again on October 15, 1992.

On October 18, 2002, the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army approved the USAREUR and Seventh Army Concept Plan to activate the Theater Army Engineer Brigade (TAEB), beginning the process in 2000. The 18th EN BDE (TA) was activated on January 21, 2003. In February 2003, portions of the Brigade deployed to Turkey in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The 18th EN BDE (TA) deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom VI as Task Force Sword in April of 2005. TF Sword was made up of over 1,800 soldiers, including engineers from Slovakia, Poland, and Korea, and was responsible for the reconstruction of the country's infrastructure and the assured mobility of Coalition Forces. After redeployment, the 18th Engineer Brigade transformed into a functional engineer brigade and began train-up for the next deployment in support of the Global War on Terrorism.

On April 30, 2008, the 18th Engineer Brigade deployed to Tikrit, Iraq in support of OIF 08-10. The brigade planned, coordinated, and tracked force protection construction, base expansion and closure, and quality of life improvements throughout Multi-National Division-North. While on this deployment, the Brigade's rear detachment relocated to Tompkins Barracks, in Schwetzingen, Germany in May 2008. In August 2008, the Brigade relocated to Kirkuk. Then in January 2009, the Brigade received a change of mission and in February 2009 moved to Mosul to take on the mission of the Mosul Reconstruction Operations Center. On July 17, 2009, the 18th Engineer Brigade handed over responsibility of Mosul to the 130th Engineer Brigade. The 18th Engineer Brigade subsequently returned to Schwetzingen, Germany after its 15-month deployment.

The soldiers of the 18th Engineer Brigade continue to serve the country in an exemplary manner, as they always have in times of peace and war. The motto "Essayons et Edifions" emblazoned on the unit's crest is translated as "Let Us Try and Let Us Build." You can count on the 18th Engineer Brigade to do just that.

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