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The 10th Mountain Division was formed in November 1941. It was recruited by a civilian body called the
National Ski Patrol, which made it the only U.S. military unit since the Civil war to be recruited in this manner.
Many of the division’s soldiers were skiers and guides and were able to take care of themselves outdoors in all
four seasons.

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While the Division trained in Colorado and Texas, they fought in northern Italy and other parts of Europe during World War II. In recent years, the 10th Mountain division has been deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Currently it is based in Fort Drum,New York.

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The Division trained at Camp Hale, Colorado and Camp Swift, Texas.  In January 1945 they were the last U.S. Army division assigned to the European Theatre.  They fought in northern Italy  in some of the roughest terrains for 114 days in combat.  On May 1945 the Division reached Nauders, Austria, beyond the Resia Pass, where they made contact with German Forces.  992 of the division were lost in action, with 4,154 wounded.

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The World War II soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division would say “Sempre Avanti!”, which means “Always Forward!”.  They said that because they felt there was only way to fight the war and that was always moving forward.   They had multiple trials and setbacks, but they evolved into the U.S. Army’s elite 10th Mountain Division and pushed the German Army out of Italy.

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The insignia was a should sleeve patch showing a powder keg in blue with two red bayonets superimposed on it so that it crossed to form the Roman numeral “X” (or 10).  The bayonets represent the Infantry and numerical designation of the Division.

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After the war, the Division was deactivated and many veterans in post war years returned to Colorado, Wyoming and Montana and were credited with founding the modern U.S. ski industry.  They worked as ski instructors, forest rangers, lumberjacks, ski school directors, Olympic and college coaches, and helped found 62 ski resort areas including Winter Park, Arapahoe Basin and Vale.

Members of the 10th Mountain Division who went on to achieve notability in other fields include former Senate Majority Leader and Presidential candidate Bob Dole, anthropologist Eric Wolf, mathematician Franz Alt, co-founder of Nike, Bill Bowerman, retired broadcasting executive William Lowell Putnam III, Massachusetts Governor Francis Sargent, Founder of Vail Ski Resort Pete Seibert, Olympic medalist Floyd Simmons, the famous von Trapp family singers Werner von Trapp and Rupert von Trapp, Chairman and CEO of Mobil, Olympic Ski jumper Gordon Wren, U.S. downhill ski champion Toni Matt, world downhill ski champion Walter Prager.

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In addition to its important work in World War II, this light infantry division has been the most deployed unit in the U.S. military.  They have seen over 20 deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan.  The division has participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Desert Storm, Hurricane Andrew disaster relief, Operation Restore Hope and Operation Continue Hope.  Other efforts that the division participated in were Operation Uphold Democracy, Operation Joint Forge, and Operation Joint Guardian.

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The 10th Mountain Division was awarded two campaign streamers in World War II.  Campaign streamers were decorations attached to military flags to recognize achievements or events of a military unit of service.  They were also awarded one campaign streamer was for Somalia, and four campaign streamers in the War on Terrorism for a total of seven campaign streamers.  The 10th Mountain Division was also awarded three unit decorations in its operational history.  The division received 3 Distinguished Service Crosses, 1 Distinguished Service Medal, 449 Silver Star Medals, 7 Legion of Merit Medals, 15 Soldier’s Medals and 7,729 Bronze Stars.  On an individual basis, John David McGrath posthumously received the Medal of Honor.

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Following the war, the division was deactivated, then reactivated and designated as the 10th Infantry Division in 1948.  It became a training division and, in 1954, was converted to a full combat division and sent to Germany before being reactivated in 1985 and is now based at Fort Drum, New York.  Because it is designated a mountain warfare unit, it receives intense specialized training for fighting in mountainous and arctic conditions.  More recently, the 10th Mountain Division has been conducting operations in Iraq by advising and assisting Iraqi Security Forces.  Most impressively, since they were reactivated, the Division has been the most deployed of all U.S. Army divisions since World War II.