The 63rd Readiness Division is a base and administrative support formation of the United States Army Reserve (USAR). It is responsible for USAR units throughout the seven-state region of southwestern United States including California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas.
The 63rd RSC traces its history to the 63rd Infantry Division ("Blood and Fire"), an infantry division of the Seventh Army of the Sixth United States Army Group of the Army of the United States that fought in Europe during World War II. After the war it was inactivated, but later the division number and shoulder sleeve insignia were authorized for use by the 63rd Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) of the United States Army Reserve.
Although the 63rd Regional Readiness Command located in Los Alamitos, CA, was not authorized to carry the lineage of the 63rd Infantry Division, the creation of the new 63rd Readiness Division in Moffett Field, CA, authorizes it to inherit the lineage and the bi-color red and blue background 63rd Infantry Division flag as an exception to policy.United States Army Center of Military History Memorandum for Record dated 15 January 2009 The unit was inactivated on 6 December 2009 and replaced by the 79th Sustainment Support Command, and was reactivated as a regional support command.
Organization 2025 The 63rd Readiness Division is a subordinate geographic command of the United States Army Reserve Command. The division provides programs and services that enhance individual and unit readiness for mobilization and deployment of Army Reserve forces in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. As of December 2025 the division consists of the following units:
63rd Readiness Division, in Mountain View (CA) III Armored Corps Main Command Post — Operational Detachment (MCP-OD), at Fort Hood (TX)
Public Affairs units: 201st Theater Public Affairs Support Element, in Bell (CA) 222nd Broadcast Operations Detachment, in Bell (CA) 301st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, in Mesa (AZ) 302nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, in Vallejo (CA) 205th Theater Public Affairs Support Element, at Joint Base San Antonio (TX) 206th Broadcast Operations Detachment, in Grand Prairie (TX) 211th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, in Bryan (TX) 343rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, at Camp Robinson (AR) 345th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, at Joint Base San Antonio (TX)
Military History Detachments: 22nd Military History Detachment, in Bell (CA) 35th Military History Detachment, in Bell (CA) 47th Military History Detachment, in Bell (CA) 51st Military History Detachment, in Bell (CA)
Chaplain Detachments 105th Chaplain Detachment, at March Air Reserve Base (CA) 107th Chaplain Detachment, in Grand Prairie (TX) 112th Chaplain Detachment, at Camp Robinson (AR) 114th Chaplain Detachment, at Camp Parks (CA) 121st Chaplain Detachment, in San Marcos (TX) 122nd Chaplain Detachment, in Seagoville (TX)
Army Bands: 191st Army Band, at Camp Parks (CA) 300th Army Band, in Bell (CA) 395th Army Band, in Mustang (OK)
History World War II Activated: 15 June 1943 Overseas: 25 November 1944 Campaigns: Ardennes-Alsace (Operation Northwind), Rhineland campaign (253rd, 254th, and 255th Infantry Regiments only), Central Europe Days of combat: 119 Prisoners taken: 21,542
Formation and deployment The 63rd Infantry Division was activated on 15 June 1943, at Camp Blanding, Florida, using a cadre from the 98th Infantry Division. Shortly thereafter, the division removed to Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi to train for action in Europe. On three occasions during the next seventeen months the division turned recruits into combat teams that were sent overseas as replacement troops. The first elements of the division arrived in Europe in December 1944, were assigned to the Seventh Army of the U.S. Sixth Army Group of the United States Army and deployed in support of the Battle of the Bulge; the balance joined them in France in January 1945.
Commanders Brigadier General/Major General Louis E. Hibbs (June 1943 – July 1945) Brigadier General Frederick M. Harris (August 1945 – 27 September 1945)
Order of Battle
The division consisted of the following units: Headquarters, 63rd Infantry Division 253rd Infantry Regiment 254th Infantry Regiment 255th Infantry Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 63rd Infantry Division Artillery 718th Field Artillery Battalion (155 mm) 861st Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) 862nd Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) 863rd Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) 263rd Engineer Combat Battalion 363rd Medical Battalion 63rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized) Headquarters, Special Troops, 63rd Infantry Division Headquarters Company, 63rd Infantry Division 763rd Ordnance Light Maintenance Company 63rd Quartermaster Company 563rd Signal Company Military Police Platoon Band 63rd Counterintelligence Corps Detachment
Major attached units 70th Tank Battalion (attached 12–18 March 1945) 740th Tank Battalion (attached 17–28 March 1945) 753rd Tank Battalion (attached 31 March-28 May 1945) 692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 30–31 May 1945) 776th Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 16–21 March 1945) 822nd Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 21 March-28 May 1945) 436th AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion (attached 11 February-1 May 1945)World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939–1946 by Shelby Stanton.
More attached and detached units are listed here:
In action
Three regiments of the 63rd Division arrived in Marseille, France, 8 December 1944, trained at Haguenau and, under the designation Task Force Harris, protected the east flank of the Seventh Army along the Rhine River. The task force fought defensively from 22 to 30 December 1944. On 30 December 44, while the 253d Inf Regt was attached to the 44th Inf Division and the 255th Inf Regt was attached to the 100th Inf Division, the 254th Inf Regt was moved to the Colmar area of France where it was attached to the 3d Inf Division which was at the time a part of the First French Army. The infantry regiments remained with their attachments until early February 1945. The rest of the division arrived at Marseille, 14 January 1945, and moved to Willerwald on 2 February, where it was joined by the advance elements on 6 February. On 7 February, the 63rd conducted local raids and patrols, then pushed forward, crossing the Saar River on 17 February, and mopping up the enemy in the Mühlenwald (Mühlen Woods). After bitter fighting at Güdingen early in March, the division smashed at the Siegfried Line on 15th at Saarbrücken, Germany, taking Ormesheim and finally breaching the line at Sankt Ingbert and Hassel on 20 March. Hard fighting still lay ahead, but the Siegfried Line was Germany's last attempt to defend its prewar boundaries along the western front. Before resting on 23 March, the 63d took Spiesen-Elversberg, Neunkirchen and Erbach. On 28 March, the division crossed the Rhine at Worms, moved to Viernheim and occupied Heidelberg on 30 March, establishing its command post there on 1 April. Continuing the advance, the 63rd crossed the Neckar River near Mosbach and the Jagst River on 3 April. The 253rd Infantry Regiment, received the majority of the German resistance during this time at the Battle of Buchhof and Stein am Kocher.The Battle of Buchhof and Stein am Kocher: The story of Second Battalion 253rd Infantry Regiment. 2014 Timothy A. Malone Heavy resistance slowed the attack on Bad Wimpfen, Möckmühl, and Adelsheim.
The division switched to the southeast, capturing Lampoldshausen and clearing the Harthäuser Woods on 7 April. A bridgehead was secured over the Kocher River near Weißbach on 8 April, and Schwäbisch Hall fell on 17 April. Advance elements crossed the Rems River and rushed to the Danube. The Danube was crossed on 25 April, and Leipheim fell before the division was withdrawn from the line on 28 April. A final command post was established at Bad Mergentheim on 30 April, 1945, after which the division was assigned security duty from the Rhine to Darmstadt and Würzburg on a line to Stuttgart and Speyer. The 63d began leaving for home on 21 August 1945, and was inactivated on 27 September 1945.
From mid-February 1945 until the end of the war, the 63d Division saw constant combat from Sarreguemines through the Siegfried Line to Worms, Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Gunzburg, with elements ending in Landsberg at the end of April 1945, pulled from the line for a much needed rest.
Controversy On 15 April 1945, American soldiers from the 63rd Infantry Division perpetrated the Jungholzhausen massacre, when they killed between 13 and 30 Waffen-SS prisoners of war in Braunsbach.
Casualties Total battle casualties: 4,502Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953) Killed in action: 861 Wounded in action: 3,326 Missing in action: 98 Prisoner of war: 219
Awards 7 Presidential Unit Citations 254th Infantry Regiment for Colmar, France (Colmar Pocket, 22 January-6 February 1945 (WD GO Number 44, 1945)) 2nd Battalion, 254th Infantry Regiment for Jebsheim, France, 25–29 January 1945 (WD GO Number 42, 1946) Companies A and B and 3rd Battalion, 253rd Infantry Regiment for Kleinblittersdorf. Germany, 17–24 February 1945 (WD GO Number 45, 1946) Company C, 253rd Infantry Regiment for Bübingen, Germany, 3–5 March 1945 (WD GO Number 44, 1945) 1st Battalion, 254th Infantry Regiment for Ensheim/Siegfried Line, Germany, 16–20 March 1945 (DA GO Number 14, 1997) 3rd Battalion, 254th Infantry Regiment for Siegfried Line, Germany, 16–20 March 1945 (DA GO Number 14, 1997) 2nd Battalion, 253rd Infantry Regiment for Buchhof and Stein, Germany, 4–12 April 1945 (DA letter, 22 March 2000, Awards Branch, DA) 1 French Croix de Guerre with Palm – 254th Infantry Regiment 16 Meritorious Unit Commendations 2 Medals of Honor Staff sergeant John R. Crews First Lieutenant James E. Robinson Jr. (Posthumously) 14 Distinguished Service Crosses S/Sgt Jack M. Collette (Posth.) Pfc Daniel F. Cronin Pfc Walter J. Dilbeck, Jr. Pfc John A. Dyer Capt Robert H. Meade S/Sgt Clifford B. Myrice S/Sgt Edward H. Patterson Capt Angelo E. Pilla Pfc Eugene B. Reich Sgt Carroll H. Ryerson (Posth.) 1st Lt Nathan S(c)hankman (Posth.) Pfc Gerald B. Stegemeyer Lt Col Robert E. Tucker Capt Robert S. Young (Posth.) 1 Distinguished Service Medal 455 Silver Stars 3 Legions of Merit 29 Soldier's Medals 5,313 Bronze Stars 68 Air Medals 4,999 Purple Heart Medals 1 British Military Cross 2 British Military Medals 2 French Legions of Honor 15 French Croix de Guerre individual awards
Post-war History (1945–1962) Headquarters, 63rd Infantry Division Inactivated 27 September 1945 at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. Assigned 1 March 1952 to the Sixth Army. Activated 1 March 1952 at Los Angeles, California (reflagged from 13th Armored Division. Reorganized and redesignated 31 March 1959 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 63rd Infantry Division. Location changed 27 March 1960 to Bell, California. Inactivated 31 December 1965 at Bell, California.
On 1 May 1959, the division was reorganized as a Pentomic Division. The division's three infantry regiments were inactivated and their elements reorganized into five infantry battle groups:
253rd Infantry Regiment Inactivated 27–29 September 1945 at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, and Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. Activated 1 March 1952 with headquarters at Los Angeles, California. Inactivated 1 May 1959 at Los Angeles, concurrently, Headquarters and Headquarters Company consolidated with Headquarters and Headquarters Company Headquarters, 3rd Battle Group, 31st Infantry.