9th Infantry Division

9th Infantry Division, Order of Battle in Vietnam.

The 9th Division was reactivated on 1 February 1966 and arrived in Vietnam on 16 December 1966 from Fort Riley, Kansas.

- 2d Battalion, 39th Infantry
- 3d Battalion, 39th Infantry
- 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry
- 2d Battalion, 47th Infantry (Mechanized)
- 3d Battalion, 47th Infantry (Riverine)
- 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry (Riverine)
- 2d Battalion, 60th Infantry
- 3d Battalion, 60th Infantry (Riverine)
- 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry (Mechanized Dec. 1966 – 12 Sept 1968; Infantry 13 Sept 1968 – Oct 1970)
- 6th Battalion, 31st Infantry
- Company E, 50th Infantry (reflagged as Co. E, 75th Inf (Ranger)), 2 Dec 1967 – Aug 1969
- Company E, 75th Infantry, Oct 1969 – Oct 1970
- 3d Squadron, 5th Cavalry, Feb 1967 – Nov 1971
- 9th Aviation Battalion, Jan 1967 – Aug 1969
- 2d Battalion, 4th Artillery (105mm Howitzer), Jan 1967 – Oct 1970
- 1st Battalion, 11th Artillery (105mm Howitzer), Jan 1967 – Aug 1969
- 3d Battalion, 34th Artillery (105mm Howitzer)(Riverine), Dec 1966 – Jul 1969 (Riverine)
- 1st Battalion, 84th Artillery (155mm Howitzer/8-inch Howitzer), Feb 1967 – Aug 1969
- 15th Engineer Battalion, Oct 1966 – Aug 1969
- 571st Engineer Company, Oct 1969 – Oct 1970
- 9th Medical Battalion, 4 January 1967 – 18 Aug 1969
- 9th Signal Battalion, 19 December 1966 – 19 Aug 1969
- 9th Supply and Transport Battalion, 16 Dec 1966 – 23 Aug 1969
- 709th Maintenance Battalion, 26 Jan 1967 – 20 Aug 1969
- 9th Adjutant General Company, 30 Dec 1966 – 26 Aug 1969
- 9th Military Police Company, 19 Dec 1966 – 25 Sept 1969 - 335th Army Security Agency Company
- 99th Support Battalion, 1 Oct 1969 – 12 Oct 1970
- 493 Military Intelligence Detachment, 3/9th Inf Div, 19 Dec 1966 - 20 Aug 1970

Commanding:
Maj. Gen. George S. Eckhardt (Feb 1966 - Jun 1967)
Maj. Gen. George G. O'Connor (Jun 1967 - Feb 1968)
Maj. Gen. Julian Ewell (Feb 1968 - Apr 1969)
Maj. Gen. Harris W. Hollis (Apr 1969 - Aug 1969)

9th Infantry Division

Arrived Vietnam: 16 December 1966 from Fort Riley, KS
Departed Vietnam: 27 August 1969; HHC and 1st Brigade to Hawaii; 2nd Brigade to Fort Lewis, WA

Commanders
Major General George S. Eckhardt       Dec 66
Major General George G. O’Connor       Jun 67
Major General Julian J. Ewell           Feb 68
Major General Harris W. Hollis           Apr 69

The 9th Infantry Division (“Old Reliables”) was constituted 1 August 1940 at Fort Bragg and deployed overseas 11 December 1942 to invade North Africa, where advanced elements of the division landed 8 November 1942. It pushed through Tunisia into Bizerte, which fell 7 May 1943. The division then landed at Palermo in Sicily that August and was later sent to England for the impending cross-channel invasion of France. The 9th Infantry Division landed in Normandy 10 June 1944, cutting off the Cotentin Peninsula and assisting in the capture of fortified Cherbourg. In July the division participated in the breakthrough at St.-Lo and swept across northern France. It held defensive positions near the Roer River from December 1944 through January 1945, then crossed the Rhine at Remagen Bridge 7 March 1945, pushing into the German Harz Mountains. The division was inactivated, but reactivated 15 July 1947 at Fort Dix, New Jersey, serving some 15 years before being inactivated once more. On 1 February 1966, however, the division was reraised at Fort Riley and sent to the III Corps Tactical Zone of Vietnam. The division swept through Dinh Tuong Province 6 January - 31 May 1967 in Operation PALM BEACH, spending February and March with South Vietnamese forces combating the enemy in Long An Province. Meanwhile, one of its brigades was selected to fulfill the concept of a Mobile Riverine Force, created in 1967 and integrated with a Navy task force at each level of the brigade’s command. For the first time since the American Civil War, when Union Army forces operated on the Mississippi, Cumberland and other rivers, the U.S. Army was utilizing an amphibious force operating entirely afloat. The force was a complete package, independent of fixed support bases and with all of its normal fire support embarked or in tow. The troops lived on barrack ships docked at the mobile riverine base Anchorage. On tactical operations Navy armored troop carrier boats, preceded by minesweeping craft and escorted by armored boats (“monitors”) , transported the soldiers along the vast network of waterways in the Delta. The first element of the Mobile Riverine Force (2nd Brigade) arrived in Vietnam in January 1967 and after shakedown training in the Rung Sat swamps, moved to its base near My Tho, which was named Dong Tam – a base on a 600-acre island created among inundated rice paddies by dredging earth from the bottom of the Mekong River. The mobile riverine force often operated with other specialized units such as Navy SEAL teams, South Vietnamese Marines, units of the ARVN 7th Division and River Assault Groups on reconnaissance, blocking and pursuit operations. In 1968 the 9th Infantry Division engaged in bitter fighting in the Saigon area, and in 1969 operated throughout the IV Corps Tactical Zone. The division was redeployed to Hawaii as part of the first increment of the U.S. withdrawal, but it left the 3rd Brigade in Vietnam. The 9th Infantry Division served 985 days in Vietnam.

9th Infantry Division Order of Battle: Assigned and Attached Units

Division Infantry
6th Battalion, 31st Infantry
2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry
3rd Battalion, 39th Infantry
4th Battalion, 39th Infantry
2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry (Mechanized)
3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry (Riverine)
4th Battalion, 47th Infantry (Riverine)
2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry
3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry [Riverine)
5th Battalion, 60th Infantry [Mechanized)

Division Artillery
2d Battalion, 4th Artillery (105mm)
1st Battalion, 11th Artillery (105mm)
3rd Battalion, 34th Artillery (105mm) (Riverine)
1st Battalion, 84th Artillery (155mm)
Battery H, 29th Artillery [Searchlight)

Division Aviation
9th Aviation Battalion

Division Reconnaissance
3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry [Armored)
Company E, 50th Infantry [Long Range Patrol)
Company E, 75th Infantry [Ranger)

Division Support
9th Medical Battalion
9th Signal Battalion
9th Supply & Transport Battalion
15th Engineer Battalion
709th Maintenance Battalion
9th Administration Company
9th Military Police Company
335th Army Security Company
39th Chemical Detachment
19th Military History Detachment
47th Military History Detachment
9th Military Intelligence Company
18th Public Information Detachment
19th Public Information Detachment

9th Infantry Division Elements                   Vietnam Service
Division Headquarters and HQ Company               16 Dec. 66 - 27 Aug. 69
1st Brigade Headquarters and HQ Company           3 Jan 67 - 12 Aug 69
2nd Brigade Headquarters and HQ Company *           28 Jan 67 - 28 Jul 69
3rd Brigade Headquarters and HQ Company **           16 Dec 66 - 11 Oct 70
Division Artillery Headquarters and HQ Battery           19 Dec 66 - 18 Aug 69
Division Support Command Headquarters and HQ Co       19 Dec 66 - 27 Aug 69

(*Mobile Riverine Force; **Considered a separate command)

Division Headquarters Locations in Vietnam
Bear Cat Dec 66 - Jul 68
Dong Tam Aug 68 - Aug 69

3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division (Separate)

Arrived Vietnam: 26 July 1969*
Departed Vietnam: 11 October 1970
(*Date the 3rd Brigade was separated from the 9th Infantry Division and placed under the operational control of the 25th Infantry Division. The brigade first arrived in Vietnam December 1966)

Commanders
Colonel Andrew J. Gatsis Sep 69
Colonel Walworth F. Williams Mar 70

The 3rd Brigade of the 9th Infantry Division served under the command of the 25th Infantry Division performing operations in the southern III Corps Tactical Zone from July 1969 until it departed Vietnam. Its base camp of Tan An was located in the extreme southern portion of the III Corps. The major portion of the 9th Infantry Division departed Vietnam in September 1969, leaving the 3rd Brigade the sole remaining element of the division in Vietnam from that time forward, and thus the brigade commanders are listed from that point only above. The 3rd Brigade left Vietnam as part of INCREMENT IV of the U.S. Army withdrawal and was sent to Fort Lewis.

3d Brigade, 9th Infantry Division Order of Battle: Assigned and Attached Units

Brigade Infantry
6th Battalion, 31st Infantry
2d Battalion, 47th Infantry [Mechanized)
2d Battalion, 60th Infantry
5th Battalion, 60th Infantry

Brigade Artillery
2nd Battalion, 4th Artillery (105mm)

Brigade Reconnaissance
Troop D, 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry (Air)
Company E, 75th Infantry (Ranger)

Brigade Special Unit
39th Cavalry Platoon (Air Cushion Vehicle)

Brigade Support
99th Support Battalion
571st Engineer Company
56th Signal Company

Headquarters Location in Vietnam: Tan An