3rd Infantry Division Unit Rings
3rd Infantry Division
Based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, the 3rd Infantry Division also known as Marne Division is a direct subordinate unit of the U.S. Army Forces Command, and boasts a history of valorous service in World War I in France and World War II in Italy. Marne Division deploys through Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia.
The 3rd Infantry Division was the first conventional U.S. unit to enter Baghdad during the 2003 invasion, and the first division to serve four tours in Iraq. Its current organization includes four brigade combat teams, one aviation brigade, and support elements.
Motto: “Rock of the Marne”
The 3rd Infantry Division was activated at Camp Greene, North Carolina, in November 1917. Eight months later, at midnight on 14 July 1918 the Division went into combat for the first time. During World War I, as a member of the American Expeditionary Force to Europe the Division earned its name as the “Rock of the Marne,” when surrounding units retreated, the 3rd Infantry Division remained. Although the stand was quite successful, the unit suffered many casualties.
In World War II, the 3rd Infantry Division was one of the Army’s premier assault units. General Lucian K. Truscott, Jr. led the division in battles in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and France. As the sole United States fighting force for 531 continuous days of combat, the 3rd Infantry Division fought in places like Casablanca, Anzio, Tome, the Vosges Mountains, Colmar, the Siegfried Line, Palermo, Nurnberg, Munich, Berchtesgaden, and Salzburg. The 3rd Infantry Division soldiers earned 2 medals of Honor during World War I, and 36 more during World War II. The most decorated soldier in World War II was among them: Lieutenant Audie Murphy, serving with the 15th Infantry Regiment in Italy and France.
During the Korean War, the Division was known as the “Fire Brigade” for its rapid response to crisis. 3rd Infantry Division had been headquartered at Fort Benning along with its 15th Infantry Regiment. The 7th Infantry Regiment was located at Fort Devens. 3rd Infantry Division initially arrived in Japan where, as the Far East Command Reserve it planned post conflict occupation missions in northern Korea.
The Division went on to support combat missions of the Eighth Army until 1953 when it was withdrawn. Notably, the Division fought valiantly, besides its extremely essential and able contribution during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, at the Chorwon-Kumwha area, Jackson Heights and Arrowhead outposts, and blocked a CCF push in the Kumsong Area in July 1953. The 3rd Infantry Division received ten Battle Stars. Eleven more MOH recipients were added to the division’s list of heroes during the Korean War. Eight were from the |7th Infantry Regiment. Three more recipients were with the 15th Infantry Regiment. In April 1958, the Marne Division returned to Germany to secure the defense of Western Europe.
In November of 1990, soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division were once again called into action. Following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, more than 6,000 Marne men and women deployed for Operation Desert Storm as part of the Allied Coalition that brought a swift end to Saddam Hussien’s military aggression in the Gulf region. Nearly 1,000 soldiers deployed to Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq as part of Operation Provide Comfort charged with protecting Kurdish Refugees. Almost 100 were part of Task Force Victory, which began the task of rebuilding Kuwait.
A new chapter of Marne history began with the activation of the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Stewart and in the Coastal Empire. Three Army divisions were reflagged as the Army restructured from 12 to 10 active Divisions. In 1996 the division was restationed at Fort Stewart, Fort Benning, and Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. The division repeatedly demonstrated its deployability since then by maintaining a battalion, and later a brigade task force presence in Kuwait. It has also moved sizable forces to Egypt, Bosnia and Kosovo in partnership training and peacekeeping missions. After an intense period of training at both Fort Stewart, Georgia and Fort Polk, Louisiana, elements of the Marne Division deployed Task Force Eagle to Bosnia-Herzegovina for a peace enforcement mission called Stabilization Force 8 ( SFOR 8 ) as part of Multinational Division (North). Transfer of authority to the 3rd Infantry Division was conducted on 5 October 2000. Midway through this deployment (SFOR 8), 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division was relieved by the 48th Brigade of the Georgia National Guard on 1 April 2001 for SFOR 9. The SFOR 9 transfer of authority was conducted on 5 October 2001 and transferred to the 29th Infantry Division and Marne Soldiers returned home. Bosnia was not the only place where Marne Soldiers worked as a peacekeeping force. Task Force Falcon, under the leadership of the 101st Division (Air Assault) utilized large parts of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division to perform essential peace keeping duties in the ravaged province of Kosovo. More than 2,400 3rd Infantry Division soldiers of the 1st Brigade joined approximately 2,200 101st Airborne Division soldiers in May 2001 as part of the Kosovo Force, or KFOR, for NATO peacekeeping and peace enforcement duties, in the Multi-National Division (East) sector of the province. Soldiers patrolled the sector along with soldiers from Greece, Russia, Poland and Ukraine. All returned to Fort Stewart by late November 2001. The 3rd Infantry routinely sent troops to Kuwait starting in the early 1990s. In 1998 the Division deployed to Kuwait in response to Saddam Hussein’s expulsion of UN weapons inspectors. The Division also rotated troops through the Intrinsic Action exercise, along with other Army units. The 3rd Division was relieved from the rotation in 2000 and 2001 because of its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. As of early 2002 it was announced that the Division would be the only Army unit training in Kuwait. Until the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, the Army assembled a Desert Spring force with soldiers from about 5 different units. Under the new policy, 3rd Infantry Division would rotate its 3 brigades and one brigade from Fort Reilly, Kansas, in and out of the region.
In January 2003, Soldiers in the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) were officially informed that they were headed for the Middle East to do their part in Operation Enduring Freedom. On 20 March 2003, the Division began to cross the border from Kuwait to Iraq, beginning Operation Iraqi Freedom. n February 2004 the Army directed that the 3rd Infanry Division (Mechanized) adopt the CSA approved Armored Unit of Action design developed by the Training and Doctrine Command Task Force Modularity. This modular Unit of Action model contained several significant changes from the previously approved reorganization COA for the Division. The most significant changes involved the creation of a Reconnaissance Battalion for each Unit of Action, similar to the structure found in the Stryker Brigade Combat Teams. The addition of a fourth maneuver company to each Armor and Infantry Task Force, the assignment of an Engineer Company to each maneuver Task Force in lieu of the Direct Support Combat Engineer Battalions assigned to each Brigade from the Division Engineer Brigade, and the retention of 16 Paladins, organized into 2 batteries, in each Direct Support Artillery, or Strike Battalion were also important. In January 2005, the Third Infantry Division became the first Army Division to serve a second tour in Iraq. The division headquarters took control of the Multi-National Division Baghdad, MND-B, headquartered at Camp Liberty and with responsibility for the greater Baghdad area.
In the fall of 2008, the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade was assigned to serve as the on-call federal response force under the control of NORTHCOM, the combatant command assigned responsibility for the continental United States. The brigade remained at its home station of Fort Stewart, Georgia. The brigade will be trained in responding to WMD attacks, crowd control, and dealing with civil unrest. The force was renamed Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosive Consequence Management Response Force. Its acronym, CCMRF, is pronounced “see-smurf”, and the unit is now under the daily control of United States Northern Command’s Army North, whose mission is to “protect the United States homeland and support local, state, and federal authorities.” It should be noted that the unit is a multi-branch force with Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Marines from the four branches of the United States Department of Defense.
In March 2009, 4th Brigade reorganized from a mechanized or heavy brigade to a light infantry brigade. As part of this reorganization, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor was redesignated as 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry.
Distinctive Unit Insignia
A silver colored metal and enamel insignia 1 1/8 inches in height consisting of a silver rock issuing from the inner arc of a blue annulet inscribed with the words “NOUS RESTERONS LA” in silver letters; on the rock and surmounting the upper part of the annulet a silver wyvern winged blue bearing thereon three silver diagonal bands.
The rock, inscription and wyvern refer to the two designations by which men of the 3d Infantry Division are popularly known: “Marne Men” and “Blue and White Devils”.
The rock represents the Division’s firm stand against the German offensive at the Marne River during World War I.
It was there that it became known as the “Rock of the Marne” and there that the Commanding Officer, General Joseph Dickman, stated “Nous Resterons La”.
The wyvern, an heraldic form of the devil, bears the Division’s blue and white stripes on its wing in commemoration of the Division’s action at Anzio, Italy, during World War II where they were called “Blue and White Devils” by the enemy.
3rd Infantry Division Unit Rings
Our unit rings are a great way to celebrate service with a particular Unit.
Each ring includes the particular unit insignia, they can also be inscribed
with the soldiers name, rank, even details of overseas deployments.
