The 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. The regiment's 1st and 2nd Battalions are light infantry units assigned to the 1st and 2nd Brigade Combat Teams respectively of the 10th Mountain Division located at Fort Drum, New York. The 3rd Battalion was active in the U.S. Army Reserve in Colorado. The 4th Battalion was a Regular Army unit assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
History World War II The 87th Mountain Infantry Battalion was activated on 15 November 1941 at Fort Lewis, Washington, with Lieutenant Colonel Onslow S. Rolfe as the commanding officer. This unit was the first American unit of mountain troops.McKay Jenkins, The Last Ridge: The Epic Story of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division and the Assault on Hitler's Europe (New York: Random House, 2003), p. 33 Captain George F. Earle, History of the 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, Italy, 1945 (Denver: Bradford-Robinson, 1945), p. 6 According to Captain George Earle, 12 officers and one enlisted man had met at Fort Lewis and were designated as the cadre of this battalion. However, another source reports that when its first recruit, Charles McLane, reported for duty at Fort Lewis 8 December of that year, and asked to be directed to his battalion. After some discussion among the staff, the duty officer replied, "Corporal, as far as I can figure out, you are the ski troops."Peter Shelton, Climb to Conquer (New York: Scribner's, 2003), p. 25
Over the following months, skilled skiers recruited by the National Ski Patrol, mostly Europeans, some of whom had fled the encroachment of Nazi Germany, arrived at Fort Lewis. Peer Shelton notes that "as the companies of the first battalion filled upA Company, then B Company, and so onthe roster ... became a kind of who's who of American skiing." Best known of them was Norwegian Torger Tokle.Shelton, Climb to Conquer, p. 31 Lieutenant Colonel Rolfe negotiated a deal with the National Park Service to lease Paradise Inn through May for Army use, and the growing battalion trained there.Shelton, Climb to Conquer, p. 30
In the spring of 1942, the unit was reorganized as the 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment and a second and third battalions added.Jenkins, The Last Ridge, p. 40 In the summer of 1942 the regiment moved to Camp Hale, Colorado.Jenkins, The Last Ridge, p. 45 On 11 June 1943, the regiment departed for Fort Ord where they had training in amphibious landing, then on 27 July the regiment was detached from the 10th Mountain Division and sailed to the Aleutian Islands as part of Amphibious Task Force 9.Jenkins, Last Ridge, pp. 82-97; Shelton, Climb to Conquer, pp. 67-82 Also included in Task Force 9 were the First Special Service Force and the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade. At the conclusion of the campaign, the 87th returned to the United States via Canada and went to Camp Carson, Colorado, arriving by 1 January 1944. It was reunited with the 10th Mountain Division in the middle of February 1944, replacing the 90th Infantry Regiment.Captain Earle, History of the 87th Mountain, p. 7
As part of the 10th Mountain Division, the regiment sailed from Newport News 3 January 1945 on the SS West Point for Italy, landing in Naples 13 January.Captain Earle, History of the 87th Mountain, p. 9 There it took part in the Italian Campaign, seeing action in Operation Encore (19 February5 March). The regiment took part in the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, driving north from the Apennine Mountains on 20 April into the Po valley west of Bologna.Shelton, Climb to Conquer, p. 184 Using plywood assault boats scrounged by the Divisional engineering unit, on 23 April Company A of the 87th Mountain Infantry was the first Allied unit to cross the Po river.Shelton, Climb to Conquer, p. 189; Captain Earle, History of the 87th Mountain, pp. 122-124 The regiment continued to slice through the disintegrating enemy units, reaching Lake Garda days before the capitulation of the German forces in Italy on 2 May., pp. 221-224
While part of the occupying force, the regiment was redeployed east to the vicinity of Udine on 19 May as a show of force to the Yugoslavians, intended to discourage them from occupying territory they disputed with Italy. Until the regiment left for Caporetto, Italy on 17 July, its men served as peace keepers between Yugoslavian soldiers and Italian partisans, manning positions along the Isonzo River from Plezzo to Tolmino. From Caporetto, the regiment proceeded to Naples where they left Italy on the SS Mt. Vernon 2 August.Captain Earle, History of the 87th Mountain, pp. 148-153
The Regiment later claimed to have been the first infantry regiment to have fought in both the Pacific and European Theaters.
Postwar The 87th Infantry was again assigned to the 10th Mountain Division on 18 June 1948, where it was reactivated as a training division at Fort Riley, Kansas. In January 1954, 10th Division became a standard infantry division and was sent to West Germany. It was inactivated on 14 June 1958 at Fort Benning, GA.
During this era the Army reorganized its combat forces, abandoning three tactical infantry regiments per division for five battle groups of five companies each, known as the Pentomic organization. Effective 1 July 1957 the lineage of Company A, 87th Infantry Regiment was reorganized and redesignated as HHC, 1st Battle Group, 87th Infantry and remained assigned to the 10th Infantry Division. It was relieved effective 14 June 1958 from the 10th and reassigned to the 2d Infantry Division. The unit was reorganized and redesignated on 15 February 1963 as the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry and relieved on 4 September 1963 from assignment to the 2d Infantry Division and assigned to the 8th Infantry Division. It remained there until it the lineage was inactivated 1 October 1983 in Germany and relieved from assignment to the 8th Infantry Division when the unit was reflagged with a different regimental designation. On 2 May 1987 the battalion was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division and activated at Fort Drum, New York.
The lineage of Company B was inactivated effective 1 July 1957 in Germany, redesignated as HHC, 2d Battle Group, 87th Infantry and relieved from assignment to the 10th Infantry Division. It was redesignated on 25 January 1963 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2d Battalion, 87th Infantry, and assigned to the 2d Infantry Division (organic elements concurrently constituted) and activated on 15 February 1963 at Fort Benning, Georgia. That same year it was relieve from assignment to the 2d Infantry Division and assigned to the 8th Infantry Division, then in Germany, where it was inactivated on 1 May 1966. It was reactivated on 31 August 1973 when the division's 1st Brigade (Airborne) in Mainz-Gonsenheim was taken off jump status and the 2d Battalion (Airborne), 509th Infantry was reorganized and reflagged as the 2d Battalion, (Mechanized) 87th Infantry. On 16 June 1986 the battalion colors were again inactivated when the unit was reflagged as a battalion of the 8th Infantry, pairing it with CONUS-based elements of the 8th Infantry under the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado. On 2 May 1988 the battalion was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division and activated at Fort Drum, New York.
Vietnam War Two companies of 87th Infantry were in Vietnam during the war, both as Rifle Security units. The first was Company C, 87th Infantry, which was attached to the 92d Military Police Battalion guarding Tan Son Nhut Air Base. It was later assigned to Long Binh Post under the U.S. Army Support Command, Saigon. Coming from Fort Lewis, WA, it was in Vietnam from 29 November 1966 to 26 November 1972.
Also coming from Fort Lewis was Company D, 87th Infantry, which was attached to the 95th Military Police Battalion at Long Binh from 1 December 1966 to 6 November 1969. The unit served a second tour in Vietnam from 30 June 1971 to 30 April 1972 when it guarded installations of the 26th General Support Group at Tấn Mỹ.
Both companies had an authorized strength of 151 in 1968 and 160 in 1971.Shelby Stanton, Vietnam Order of Battle, pp. 154-155.
Army Reserve Effective 1 January 1975 the lineage of Company C, 87th Infantry was withdrawn from the Regular Army, allotted to the Army Reserve, redesignated as HHC, 3d Battalion, 87th Infantry and activated at Fort Carson, CO. The battalion was authorized 38 officers, 4 warrant officers and 692 enlisted personnel (later changed to 37, 2, and 754, respectively) with headquarters in Building 2344 at Fort Carson as a unit of the 96th Army Reserve Command.
In addition to the 96th shoulder sleeve insignia, members of the unit wore color 10th Division shoulder sleeve insignia on the left front pocket of fatigue shirts to signify the battalion's historical link to the then-inactive division. Mountain tabs were not worn over the patch as they were almost impossible to find before the division was reactivated at Fort Drum and tabs went into production again.
Units of the 3d Battalion, 87th Infantry were stationed at the following locations:
HHC, Building 2344, Fort Carson, CO 80913 Co A, 2501 West Northern Avenue, Pueblo, CO 81004 (Demolished for Asbestos) Co B, Building 731, Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Denver, CO 80240 Co C, 482-28 Road, PO Box 1805, Grand Junction, CO 81501 2d Platoon, 631 Grand Avenue, PO Box 1805, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601 3d Platoon, 109 West 19th Street, PO Box 378, Durango, CO 81301 Support Company, Building 2344, Fort Carson, CO 80913
A detachment of the battalion's Company C was located at 158 Bodo Drive, Durango, CO 81301; it was inactivated on 16 October 1984.
Company C moved from the Denver Federal Center to 10455 East 25th Avenue, Aurora, CO 80011 effective 1 June 1985, and then to 1788 Helena Street, also in Aurora, effective 1 February 1990.
The battalion was ordered into active military service on 17 January 1991. It arrived at Fort Carson for training on 19 January 1991 and moved to Germany on 5 February 1991. There it performed anti-terrorist security missions for V Corps. It returned to Fort Carson on 1 May 1991, and personnel were released for terminal leave on 15 May 1991 as the battalion reverted to reserve status.
By early 1991 HHC had relocated to Building 8932, Duncan-Selix USAR Center, Fort Carson, CO. Effective 16 September 1991 the Combat Support Company (formerly Support Company) was inactivated.
The battalion was organized effective 16 September 1992 to consist of 34 officers, 2 warrant officers, and 547 enlisted personnel as a light infantry unit.
During the post-Cold War drawdown, when most reserve component combat arms units were concentrated in the Army National Guard, the battalion was inactivated on 15 September 1994 at Fort Carson.
Schofield Barracks