4th Infantry Division (U.S.)

An active modular division, the 4th Infantry Division of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas, except for its 3rd Brigade at Fort Carson, Colorado. It is known as the "Ivy Division" for its insignia, four ivy leaves on a diamond field, which symbolize the roman numeral "IV."

The 4th Division is a "heavy" division armed with M1A2 Abrams tanks, M2 Bradley armored fighting vehicles, M109 155 mm howitzers, AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, and UH-60 Black Hawk transport helicopters. It is subordinate to III Corps.

It contains many of the units of the renamed 24th Infantry Division (mechanized), which was the heavy division of the XVIII Airborne Corps during the Gulf War.

Role in research and development

It was the first fully "digitized division" and has been used as the large-scale testbed for a variety of command and control systems, especially in the Force XXI program. When put in this role, it was renamed the 4th Infantry Division from a formation that had previously been the 2nd Armored Division (U.S.).

The division was the first to be fully equipped with the M1A2 SEP (system enhancement program) tank and M2A3 SEP Bradley infantry fighting vehicle. Both are equipped with what was the Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below, or (FBCB2), battlefield situational awareness and communications system; now Blue Force Tracker. Its AH-64 Apache attack helicopter have both FBCB2 and the Longbow radar system; the latter is shared with the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior armed scout helicopter and the AGM-65 Maverick missile.

First World War

It was created in 1917.

Second World War

At the Battle of Normandy, the 4th was the first U.S. division to land at Utah Beach. It participated in the liberation of Paris on August 25, 1944,

Crossing into Germany in September 1944, it fought in the Hürtgen Forest and Battle of the Bulge. By March 1945, it crossed the Rhine River, captured Nuremberg, and turned into Bavaria.

In April 1945, it liberated a subcamp of the Dachau Concentration Camp at Huanstetten. and a few weeks later captured the German city of Nuremberg. It was recognized as a liberating unit by the U.S. Army's Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1992.

Vietnam War

It was based at An Khe in Binh Dinh Province.

Gulf War

The 24th Infantry Division (mechanized) contained many of the units in the current division; the 24th was deactivated as part of force reductions.

Iraq War

In preparation for the Gulf War, the 4th was designated to be part of a northern attack prong through Turkey, but Turkey did not give permission for ground troops to invade Iraq from its territory. Initially ordered to deploy in January 2003, the division did not arrive in Kuwait until late March, under the command of then-MG Ray Odierno. The delay was caused by the inability of the United States and Turkey to reach an agreement over using Turkish military bases to gain access to northern Iraq, where the division was originally planned to be located. Units from the division began crossing into Iraq on April 12, 2003, and were sent to Baghdad to take over security duties from 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

The 4th was initially ordered to deploy in January 2003 before the war began, but did not arrive in Kuwait until late March. Eventually, it entered Iraq on April 12, 2003, and took over the security role for Bagdad from I Marine Expeditionary Force, expanding its coverage to Kirkuk and Tikrit.

On December 13, 2003, its 1st Brigade participated in Operation RED DAWN, which captured Saddam Hussein. The division was relieved, in April 2004, by the 1st Infantry Division (U.S.) and an attached Army National Guard (U.S.) infantry brigade.