2nd Battalion, 3rd General Support Aviation Regiment

The combat-proven 3rd Infantry Division is poised to fight and win our Nation's Wars. As the “Hammer of the XVIII Airborne Corps” and part our Nation’s premier strategic response force, units of 3rd ID regularly deploy to support combatant commands all over the world, assisting our allies and partners in a wide range of environments and missions.

The 3rd Infantry Division was constituted November 12, 1917 in the Regular Army as Headquarters, 3rd Division and organized on November 21, 1917 at Camp Greene, North Carolina for service in World War I.

The Division saw combat for the first time in France, during the war. On July 14, 1918, led by general Dickman, the Division earned both its nickname, the “Rock of the Marne” and its motto, “Nous resterons là” (we shall remain here). During the final push of the German “Peace Offensives” on Paris, the 7th Machine Gun Battalion held back the German forces like a rock at the Marne River while other units retreated. The Division went on to play a significant role in both the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives, the two major operations that inflicted mortal blows to Imperial Germany. These three main battles of World War I, Marne, Meuse-Argonne and St Mihiel are symbolized with three white stripes on the 3rd ID patch.

During World War II, the Division first saw action as a part of the Western Task Force in the North African invasion on November 8, 1942. The 3rd ID continued to make an impact in the war during the Sicilian campaign codenamed “Operation Husky” under the leadership of General Truscott, then by landing on the beaches of Anzio in Italy, breaking the siege of the U.S. beachhead against three German divisions.

On August 15, 1944, otherwise known as the “Forgotten D-Day,” the Division landed at St. Tropez, France, and advanced up the Rhone Valley, through the Vosges Mountains, and reached the Rhine at Strasbourg by late November. After maintaining their defensive position, the Soldiers took part in clearing the Colmar Pocket beginning on January 23, 1945. 

The Marne division crushed German forces during the Battle of the Bulge, then on March 15, it broke through the Siegfried Line south of Zweibrücken, smashing through the defenses. Then they seized Nuremberg, the birthplace of Nazism, from April 17 until the 20, then up to Bergestgaden, the Eagles nest. When asked by a Chicago Tribune reporter, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, an officer in the German Army, admitted that the Marne Soldiers were the best American division his troops faced on the Italian and Western Fronts. The 3rd ID completed four amphibious landings, and were in combat for nearly 600 consecutive days.

The “Dogface Soldier,” written in 1942, was adopted during World War II by General Truscott as the 3rd ID song.

During the Korean War, the Division was known as the "Fire Brigade" of Eighth Army for its rapid response to crises. The unit’s strength was increased by the augmentation of South Korean Soldiers and the 65th Infantry Regiment from Puerto Rico, known as the “Borinquineers.” It was the 3rd ID’s 15th Infantry Regiment that defended the critical observation post named Outpost Harry and withstood a fierce siege from Chinese forces from June 10 until the 18th. The

3rd ID supported the 1st Marine Division, 7th Infantry Division, Eighth Army and various other units in the war until 1953.

From April 1958 to April 1996, the Marne Division was stationed with the VII Corps in West Germany near the Czech border. In 1965, Walt Disney himself designed ‘Rocky’, since then the symbol of the fierce 3rd ID Dogface Soldiers.

Following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, more than 6,000 Dogface Soldiers deployed with the 1st Armored Division as part of Operation Desert Storm. Later, nearly 1,000 Soldiers deployed to southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq to provide support to Kurdish refugees.

As part of the Army's reduction to a ten-Division force, the 24th Infantry Division was inactivated and reflagged as the 3rd Infantry Division. On April 26, 1996, the 24th ID cased its colors and the 3rd ID took its role as the armored force of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Stewart, Fort Benning, and Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. 

The Division repeatedly demonstrated its capability by deploying battalion and brigade-sized units to Kuwait, Egypt, Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo in partnership training and peacekeeping missions. In 2003, the Marne Division demonstrated that it was the premier mechanized force in the world. Although some elements were already present in Kuwait, the remainder deployed in a matter of mere weeks. 

Leading the advance up the Euphrates River Valley, the 3rd Infantry Division crushed several fiercely defended positions before reaching Saddam International Airport and the Al Faw Palace on the western side of Baghdad in early April. Several days later, the 2nd Brigade made two daring “Thunder Runs” into the middle of Baghdad, the second of which culminated in the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue with a mechanized recovery vehicle.

Following a year of transformation into units of action in 2005, the 3rd Infantry Division headquarters and three brigades returned to Iraq and redeployed to Fort Stewart and Fort Benning in early 2006. By early 2007, the entire Division had returned to Iraq as part of the “Surge.” Throughout 2009 and 2010, 3rd ID participated in several major events such as national parliamentary elections in March 2010, the transition from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn in September 2010 and the establishment of the Combined Security Mechanism, a tripartite security agreement bringing together the Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish Pesh Merga.

From September 2012 to July 2013, Maj. Gen. Robert B. Abrams commanded Regional Command South as headquarters elements of the 3rd Infantry Division deployed to Afghanistan for the first time. By 2015, the Division had transformed into a lighter and smaller force with the inactivation of two Brigade Combat Teams. The Division headquarters deployed again to Afghanistan in 2015 as Joint Task Force 3, and then again in 2017, through the transition to Operation Resolute Support, and accompanied by its 3rd Sustainment Brigade and 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade.

Throughout 3rd ID’s history, 61 Soldiers have earned the Medal of Honor, making 3rd ID the most awarded division in the US Army. Dogface Soldiers are quiet professionals who lead by example, support each other, and care about

their Soldiers. They are proud of who they are, of the legacy of service and sacrifice of their elders and their own, their Families, and the communities in which they live and serve.