Photo By Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato | U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers from the 98th Training Division (Initial Entry Training)...... read more read more
By Maj. Michelle Lunato, 98th Training Division Public Affairs Officer
The 98th Training Division (Initial Entry Training) ceremonially inactivated eight U.S. Army Reserve units at Fort Benning, Georgia on July 8, 2017.
The inactivations, which were part of a command-wide restructure and realignment to help maintain and increase readiness, included one brigade and seven battalions. They included 3rd Brigade out of Salem, Virginia; 2nd Battalion, 321st Regiment out of Miami, Florida; 1st Battalion, 378th Regiment out of Lafayette, Louisiana; 4th Battalion, 518th Regiment out of Montgomery, Alabama; 1st Battalion, 323rd Regiment out of Cary, North Carolina; 1st Battalion, 518th Regiment out of Asheville, North Carolina; 3rd Battalion, 321st Regiment out of Fort Jackson, South Carolina; and 1st Battalion, 317th Regiment out of Suffolk, Virginia.
A number of the long-standing units dated back as far as 1917 and included thousands of Soldiers who have served from World War I to Afghanistan. The other units contributed to the Army in significant ways as well by training thousands of Soldiers processing through Basic Combat Training.
“These units have risen to every challenge given to them,” said Brig. Gen. Miles A. Davis, the commanding general of the 98th Training Division (IET) who presided over the ceremony. “I commend the Soldiers and families, past and present, of these units for their hard work, commitment to excellence and service to our great Nation.”
As the unit colors were slowly cased across the formation, portions of their history were announced to the civilians, Soldiers and veterans in attendance at the parade field that morning.
Soldiers of the 321st Regiment, which was constituted in August 1917, are recorded as being part of the force that sailed to France in August 1918, and quickly rotated into the front line defenses. In October of that same year, they repelled a major German raid, supported by artillery and flamethrower teams, killing eleven attackers in the process.
The 378th Regiment, which was constituted in September 1918, is documented as crossing over into France in September of 1944 as part of the 95th Infantry Division. There, they entered into combat during operations to cross the Moselle and capture the key German town of Metz. For their defense of the bridgehead, they received the nickname ‘The Iron Men of Metz.’
Soldiers from the 518th Regiment, which was constituted in July 1946, served the Nation as a training force, supplying the Army with newly trained and motivated recruits. Their Soldiers served in various locations and had companies in Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina. However, their primary mission was to provide training expansion for Fort Jackson’s influx of Soldiers.
The 323rd Regiment, which was constituted in August 1917, is known for entering the front lines in the St. Die‘ area of the Vosges Mountains. There, the infantry companies rotated into the defenses as a way to season the green Soldiers to the ways of trench warfare.
Soldiers from the 317th Regiment, which was constituted in August 1917, were mostly men from Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, and therefore, earned the name ‘The Blue Ridge Division.’ These Soldiers are recorded to have sailed to Europe with the 80th Division in 1918 and were placed under the British control in the Artois sector. There, they fought in both the Somme Offensive and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
After each unit’s colors were cased and their accomplishments listed, Davis looked at the audience and reminded them that the cased colors and formation of Soldiers represented thousands who had honorably served the Nation for generations, some nearly a century. “They have all made a mark on history.”
Acknowledging sacrifice and honoring history is a regular part of military ceremonies. And as the U.S. Army Reserve division realigns its forces to meet current needs and budgets, Davis urged the Soldiers and audience members to remember the past as they move into the future. “As we depart today, I challenge each and every one of you to carry forth the legacy of those who have served before you in these units. For I know, if the need should arise, you will see the colors of these units uncased and the Soldiers once again, answering our Nation’s call and exclaiming, ‘Follow Me!’”
| Date Taken: | 07.08.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.06.2017 07:19 |
| Story ID: | 247199 |
| Location: | FORT BENNING, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 785 |
| Downloads: | 6 |
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