The 3rd Armored Division (also known as "Spearhead", 3rd Armored, and 3AD) was an armored division of the United States Army. Unofficially nicknamed the "Third Herd", the division was first activated in 1941 and was active in the European Theater of World War II. The division was stationed in West Germany for much of the Cold War and also participated in the Persian Gulf War. On 17 January 1992, still in Germany, the division ceased operations. In October 1992, it was formally inactivated as part of a general drawing down of U.S. military forces at the end of the Cold War.
World War II Division organization Initial division organization When the 3rd Armored Division was formed on 15 April 1941 it was composed of the following units:
3rd Armored Division Division Headquarters Headquarters Company, 3rd Armored Division 143rd Armored Signal Company 3rd Armored Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company 32nd Armored Regiment (Light) Headquarters and Headquarters Company Armored Reconnaissance Company (M3 scout cars) Armored Machine Gun Company (M2 half-track cars and M1919 .30-caliber machine guns) Service Company (Light) 3× Tank battalions (Light) each battalion consists of: 1× Headquarters and Headquarters Platoon, 3× tank companies with M3 Stuart light tanks 33rd Armored Regiment (Light) same organization as 1st Armored Regiment (Light) 47th Armored Regiment (Medium) (transferred in June 1942 to the 14th Armored Division) Headquarters and Headquarters Company Service Company (Medium) 2× Tank battalions (Medium) each battalion consists of: 1× Headquarters and Headquarters Platoon, 3× tank companies with M3 Lee medium tanks 67th Armored Field Artillery Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 4× Field artillery batteries (24× M2 105mm towed howitzers) Ammunition Train Service Battery 36th Armored Infantry Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2× Armored infantry battalions each battalion consists of: 1× Headquarters and Headquarters Platoon, 3× Rifle companies on M3 half-tracks, and 1× Heavy Weapons Company with M3 37mm Anti-Tank guns and M4 mortar carriers Anti-Tank Company (M3 37mm Anti-Tank guns) Service Company 83rd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment 2× Armored reconnaissance companies (M3 scout cars) Light Tank Company (M3 Stuart light tanks) Armored Reconnaissance Rifle Company (M3 half-tracks) 54th Field Artillery Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 3× Field artillery batteries (12× M2 105mm towed howitzers) Anti-Tank Gun Battery (8× M1897 75mm anti-tank guns) Service Battery 23rd Armored Engineer Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Armored engineer companies Bridge Company 15th Quartermaster Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company Quartermaster Truck Company Light Maintenance Quartermaster Company 18th Armored Ordnance Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2× Ordnance companies 45th Armored Medical Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment Medical Collecting Company Medical Clearing Company Division Surgeon's Office
Heavy armored division The Louisiana Maneuvers in August and September 1941 had a profound impact on the organization of US armored division. The exercises exposed that the existing armored divisions were too heavy in armor and too light in infantry and artillery. Additionally the divisions lacked the resources to organize combat teams, while the armored brigade complicated the command channel. It was also found that the division's service elements needed greater control. As a result the Table of Organization of armored divisions was radically reorganized: the armored brigade headquarter was eliminated. The number of armored regiments was reduced from three to two, and the two remaining armored regiments were reorganized to consist of one light and two medium tank battalions each. Three self-propelled 105mm howitzer battalions replaced the armored artillery regiment and field artillery battalion, and control of the artillery passed to an artillery section in the division headquarters. The armored infantry regiment was reorganized to consist of three battalions of three companies each. The engineer battalion added a fourth engineer company. Each divisions also formed two combat command headquarters, which did not have assigned units, but allowed the division commander to assemble combat teams as required. The quartermaster battalion was replaced by a supply battalion, while the ordnance battalion added a third ordnance maintenance company. For better control of the division's service elements, division trains were added. To support the division headquarters company a service company was formed, which provided transportation and supplies, and included the division's military police platoon.
After the reorganization the 3rd Armored Division was composed of the following units:
3rd Armored Division Division Headquarters Headquarters Company, 3rd Armored Division Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Combat Command A Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Combat Command B 143rd Armored Signal Company Armored Service Company (includes the division's Military Police Platoon) 32nd Armored Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Company Reconnaissance Company (initially M3 scout cars and T30 HMC self propelled guns, which were replaced by M8 Greyhound armored cars and M8 Scott self propelled guns) Maintenance Company Service Company 1st Tank Battalion (Light) (In June 1944 the battalion transferred its A and B companies to the 2nd and 3rd Tank Battalion and received F Company, respectively I Company, in return) Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Light Tank companies (A, B, C) (M3/M5 Stuart light tanks) 2nd Tank Battalion (Medium) (In June 1944 the battalion exchanged F Company with the 1st Tank Battalion's A Company) Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Medium Tank companies (D, E, F) (M4 Sherman tanks) 3rd Tank Battalion (Medium) Headquarters and Headquarters Company (In June 1944 the battalion exchanged I Company with the 1st Tank Battalion's B Company) 3× Medium Tank companies (G, H, I) (M4 Sherman tanks) 33rd Armored Regiment same organization as 32nd Armored Regiment 3rd Tank Battalion (Medium) Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2× Medium Tank companies (G, H) (M4 Sherman tanks), 1x Light Tank company (C) (M5 Stuart) 36th Armored Infantry Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Armored infantry battalions each battalion consists of: 1× Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3× Rifle companies on M3 half-tracks Service Company 83rd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Reconnaissance companies (initially M3 scout cars and then M8 Greyhound armored cars) Light Tank Company (M3/M5 Stuart or M24 Chaffee light tanks) 23rd Armored Engineer Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 4× Armored engineer companies Bridge Company 3rd Armored Division Artillery 3rd Armored Division Artillery Section 54th Armored Field Artillery Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 3× Field artillery batteries (M7 Priest self propelled howitzers) Service Battery 67th Armored Field Artillery Battalion same organization as 54th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 391st Armored Field Artillery Battalion same organization as 54th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 3rd Armored Division Trains Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3rd Armored Ordnance Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Maintenance companies 3rd Supply Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2× Truck companies 45th Armored Medical Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Medical companies 3rd Armored Division Band
Attached units:< 643rd Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 22 to 26 December 1944) 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion 703rd Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 25 June 1944 to 17 December 1944; 2 January 1945 to 9 May 1945) 803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 25 June 1944 to 2 July 1944) 413th AAA Gun Battalion (attached 7 July 1944 to 16 July 1944) 486th AAA Auto-Weapons Battalion (attached 25 June 1944 to 9 May 1945)
Training timeline
The 3rd Armored was activated on 15 April 1941 at Camp Beauregard, LA. In June 1941, it moved to Camp Polk, Louisiana (now Fort Johnson). On 9 March 1942, it came under the jurisdiction of the Army Ground Forces and was assigned to the II Armored Corps. In July 1942 it was transferred to Camp Young, CA and from August to October 1942, took part in maneuvers at the Desert Training Center there. It left Camp Young in January 1943 and moved to the Indiantown Gap Military Reservation in Pennsylvania.
The division arrived in the European Theatre on 15 September 1943, conducting pre-invasion training near Liverpool and Bristol in Great Britain. It remained in Somerset, England until 24 June 1944, when it departed to partake in the Normandy operations.
Combat service
The first elements of the 3rd Armored saw combat on 29 June in France, with the division as a whole beginning combat operations on 9 July 1944. During this time, it was under the command of VII Corps and XVIII Airborne Corps First Army, but was later reassigned to the XIX Corps under the Ninth Army for the rest of the war.
The division was the "spearhead" of the First Army through the Normandy Campaign, taking part in a number of engagements, most notably in the Battle of Saint-Lô, where it suffered significant casualties. After facing heavy fighting in the hedgerows and developing methods to overcome the vast thickets of brush and earth that constrained its mobility, the unit broke out at Marigny alongside the 1st Infantry Division and swung south to Mayenne. 3rd AD engineers and maintenance crews solved the problem of the Norman hedgerows by taking the large I-Beam invasion barriers from the beaches at Normandy and welding them on the fronts of Sherman tanks as large crossing rams. They would then hit the hedgerows at high speed, bursting through them without exposing the vulnerable underbellies of the tanks.
3rd Armored Division was alerted on 6 August 1944, to respond to an enemy four-division counterattack in the direction of Avranches. The enemy counteroffensive, Operation Lüttich, had as it's objective to cut off the newly operational 3rd US Army from its supply line on the coast. From 8-13 August 1944, Spearhead units, including Task Forces Hogan and Lovelady of the 33rd Armored Regiment, battled elements of the 2nd Panzer, 1st SS Panzer (LSSAH), 2nd SS Panzer (Das Reich) and 17th SS Panzergrenadier Divisions who had encircled the 120th Infantry Regiment inside the hilltop town of Mortain. The relief of Mortain was accomplished but with heavy casualties. Task Force Hogan suffered 20 Killed in Action, 140 wounded in action and 14 tanks disabled or destroyed by enemy fire. The American victory left German Army Group B's best units strung out and battered. As the Anglo-Canadians surged south of Caen, the stage was set for the Falaise Pocket encirclement. On 11 March 2020, the 3rd Armored Division units involved in the Battle of Mortain were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for "extraordinary heroism in action" as units attached to relieve the 30th Infantry Division.
The division was next ordered to help close the Argentan-Falaise Pocket containing the German Seventh Army, which it finished by 18 August near Putanges. Six days later, the outfit had sped through Courville and Chartres and was approaching the banks of the Seine River. On the night of 25 August 1944, the division began the crossing of the Seine; once completed, the 3rd moved across France, reaching the Belgian border on 2 September 1944.