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25 Army Hist. 1 (1993)

handle is hein.milandgov/aryhsy0025 and id is 1 raw text is: AR MY HISTORY THE PROFESSIONAL BULLETIN OE ARMY HISTORY PB-20-93-2 (No. 25) Washington, D.C. Winter 1993 The Red Bull Division: The Training and Initial Engagements of the 34th Infantry Division, 1941-43 Richard W. Stewart Although the story of the 34h Infantry D si ion in Nonth Africa and one of the divisions nginents, the i th infan nthedisaster Kassene Pass is well known, fe w wrters have offered a satisfactory ex plana- Tion of the re asons behind the 34th's perforniance. This essay wll focus on the composition, niobihi ation,. training. and deployment of the 34th infantry Division,. ational Guari. one of many divisions of the United States Army called to active duty in the months before Pearl Hiarbor. Only by examining the histiry o the division pnor to its landing in Norii Africa can histori- n!gain a clear understanding of the character and i!ites o-if 34th Divsio 'wi exaini tons at Kassenne Pass. T he 34th Inftantry Divi i n-hc iRed 11l was in many ways a typical National Guard division of the late 1930s and early 1940s. It was a division in name otly: mt drill and maneuvers were conducted at the company and battalion level. The division was scat- tered throughout Iow a, Minnesota, and Norlh and South 1)ako a and iruly camne together s .aivioo ny in The summet of 1940 at Camp Riptiy, Wiscons Th 34th was still a sluan division, as were most divisions in the Army in 1940. Its strcture was based on tO ngde of t woregimnenis each, taling onpaper lsund 27,31 l men1() The34thX' maj r uni werethe 67th and 68th Infantry Brigades, consisting of the 1 33d, 135th, 164th, and 168th Infantry Regiments. It also had the 590th Field Artillery ngade (consisting of three regmn1 )the 09thMCdial Baralion, the !(th ng'neer B'uilion, and the usual number o sma-let dmisional un.i of Military Poi. Quanernac r. Sig- nal Corps, and so forth. (2) Although sources generally are silent atiut the Camp Ripley encampment which brought the whole dmisonogtritislikely thati traingw milar tothatof any er National Guarddivision: lml it tactics, marksmanship. and close-order drill. The only dlfference inthisencamnpment was theeritec of h divisional headquarters and the fact that the camp lasted (rorn 4-24 August: three weeks rather than the traditional two weeks, (3) Upon theirretum frnom Camp Ripley,the scattered unitsof the 34th qu cklyd dcovered thatw wrid ri-. w rebeginmg to tect theiIrrnin programs. Training time tn their am ories was to be doubled !4: Armory training was nomially sevcrely himited how- ever, umts were too widely scattered to assemble for more complex lnstrnelion. By official lowa Ghard policy~so-catled Armory Training cni temanly nf discipline, use and care of arms, material and equip- meit., leadership. respo nibility of commanders. pro tection measures against chemical warfare, and target practice. In theirconstricted environment,little more could he done. (5) As early as October 1940, uMts oT the 34th began receivin rts for imtrnentactationa ire nd iin ito f d ral service. The unis were arted nine times, throwmg personal lives into chaos and uncertainty. (6) ompo n ints of the division finally were federalized in January and February 1941. The division headquar ters and most of the major units were activated on 10 Fe buiary 1941. (7) Thc units initially moved into their armones. Manry of these had been built for occasional use only and lacked training facilities and sleenpig quarters. In addit in, the sub-ero weaiherof Iowa and Minnesota in January and February made it Impractacal to train outside forextended peiods. Fristhbi ws a constant concemn because the men lacked oversh os, and many men were forced to buy their own gloves snce the A my did not have enough woolen ma 'rt for the issue leather gloves. (8) ThIs was jut the fitst of many supply problems that would plague the dmsion over

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