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The 1st Infantry Division of the United States Army, nicknamed the Big Red One after its shoulder patch, is the oldest continuously serving unit in the Army.
It was officially organized as the First Expeditionary Division on 8 June 1917, under the command of Brigadier General William L. Sibert, just a few weeks after the entrance of the United States into World War I. Units of the division began sailing for France on 14 June. On 6 July, the division's name was changed to its present form. The division first went into battle on 23 October.
In World War II, the division landed in Oran, Algeria as part of Operation Torch. Elements then took part in seesaw combat at Maktar, Medjez el Bab, Kasserine Pass, Gafsa, El Guettar, Beja, and Mateur, 21 January-9 May 1943, helping secure Tunisia. It then took part in Operation Husky in Sicily. When that campaign was over, the Division returned to England to prepare for the Normandy invasion. It was the division that stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day, some units suffering 30 percent casualties in the first hour, and secured Formigny and Caumont in the beachhead. The Division followed up the St. Lo break-through with an attack on Marigny, 27 July 1944, and then drove across France in a continuous offensive, reaching the German border at Aachen in September. The Division laid siege to Aachen, taking the city after a direct assault, 21 October 1944. The First then attacked east of Aachen through Hurtgen Forest, driving to the Roer, and moved to a rest area 7 December for its first real rest in 6 months' combat, when the von Rundstedt offensive suddenly broke loose, 16 December. The Division raced to the Ardennes, and fighting continuously from 17 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, helped blunt and turn back the German offensive. Thereupon, the Division attacked and again breached the Siegfried Line, fought across the Roer, 23 February 1945, and drove on to the Rhine, crossing at the Remagen bridgehead, 15-16 March 1945. The Division broke out of the bridgehead, took part in the encirclement of the Ruhr Pocket, captured Paderborn, pushed through the Harz Mountains, and was in Czechoslovakia, at Kinsperk, Sangerberg, and Mnichov, when the war in Europe ended.
The division fought in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1970.
The division also participated in Operation Desert Storm, rolling over the Iraqi 26th Infantry Division and taking 11,400 prisoners in four days.
As of 2003, the division is headquartered at Leighton Barracks in Würzburg, Germany, with its seven constituent brigades and four independent battalions stationed at various locations.
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