50th Armored Division (United States)


The 50th Armored Division was a division of the Army National Guard from July 1946 until 1993.

History

On 13 October 1945 the War Department published a postwar policy statement for the entire Army, calling for a 27-division Army National Guard structure with 25 infantry divisions and two armored divisions. Once the process of negotiation was complete, among the new formations formed were the 49th and 50th Armored Divisions, the first armored divisions in the Army National Guard. The 50th Armored Division replaced the 44th Infantry Division within the New Jersey Army National Guard, with the 50th Armored assuming the 44th Infantry's "Jersey Blues" nickname. Most 50th Armored Division units were legacy units of the 44th Infantry and inherited the lineage and history of those units.
In a 1968 reorganization, the 50th Armored was joined by the 27th Armored Brigade from New York, the legacy units left after the inactivation of the 27th Armored Division. Since the 50th Armored Division was no longer completely within New Jersey, it retired the "Jersey Blues" nickname. In 1968, the 50th Armored Division was reorganized to draw its units from New Jersey and the Vermont Army National Guard. Armor battalions in New Jersey and Vermont were upgraded to M48A1 and M48A3 Patton medium tanks.
Between 1975-76 Vermont and New Jersey armor battalions started turning in their M48A3 tanks and began receiving the M48A5 which had the same 105mm gun and fire control system as the M60A1 in use by the active Army. During this time, many Vermont tank crews competed in gunnery exercises held in West Germany and consistently brought back awards. The division's training was rigorous during the Soviet threat peak years of the late 1970s to mid 1980s. Germany was the primary area of operations for the division if it was to have been activated.
The bi-state organization comprised:
  • Headquarters, 50th Armored Division
  • *104th Engineer Battalion HQ & HQ, Co.A, Co.B, Co.C, Co.E Teaneck, New Jersey. Co.D, Vermont
  • *5th Squadron, 117th Cavalry
  • *150th Aviation Battalion
  • 1st Brigade
  • 2nd Brigade
  • 86th Brigade
  • Division Artillery
  • Division Support Command
On 1 October 1987 the 150th Aviation, a parent regiment under the United States Army Regimental System, was organized in the New Jersey, Vermont and Delaware Army National Guard. It was organized to consist of 1st Battalion at Trenton Airport, New Jersey, Company D at Burlington Airport, Vermont; Company E at New Castle Air National Guard Base, Delaware and Company F at Dover, New Jersey, all elements of the 50th Armored Division.
The Center of Military History notes that reorganizing the Army National Guard to meet the new 'Division 86' structures in the mid-1980s was a challenging process, and most Guard divisions expanded their recruiting areas. The 50th Armored Division did not, and instead had the allotment for one of its brigades moved to the Texas Army National Guard, making the future of the division within the force structure 'uncertain'. In June 1988, Vermont's 86th Brigade left the 50th Armored Division and became part of the 26th Infantry Division.

Inactivation

On 1 September 1993, the 50th Armored Division was inactivated and its remaining brigades joined other divisions. New Jersey's 50th Infantry Brigade, which took the Division's lineage, was made part of the 42nd Infantry Division. The 36th Infantry Brigade from Texas was reabsorbed into the 49th Armored Division.

Structure in 1988

At the end of the Cold War the division was a unit of the New Jersey Army National Guard, with a round-out brigade from the Texas Army National Guard. The division was organized according to the Army of Excellence table of organization and equipment:
Much of this data is drawn from the Annual Report of the NJ ARNG for 1988.
The brigade's armor battalions were equipped with M60A3 TTS main battle tanks. M48A5 Patton tanks had been replaced by M60A3 TTS tanks by May 1987 and by the end of 1989 the National Guard fielded 3,072 M60A3 TTS. The 410 M1 Abrams tanks of the National Guard were issued to round-out units of army divisions. The division's infantry battalions were equipped with M113 armored personnel carriers, of which the National Guard had 6,870 at the end of Fiscal Year 1987, with a further 1,411 due to be taken in service in 1988. The standard helicopters of National Guard units were the AH-1S Cobra, of which the National Guard had approximately 350 by 1989, the OH-58C Kiowa and the UH-1H Iroquois helicopters. Cavalry Reconnaissance units fielded 19 × M60A3 TTS, 8 × AH-1S Cobra, 12 × OH-58C Kiowa and 1 × UH-1H Iroquois helicopters; attack battalions fielded 21 × AH-1S Cobra, 13 × OH-58C Kiowa and 3 × UH-1H Iroquois helicopters, while the assault aviation company fielded 15 × UH-1H Iroquois helicopters and the command support aviation company UH-1 helicopters in various configurations.

Commanders of the 50th Armored Division

  • Major General Clifford R. Powell, July 1946 - November 1948
  • Major General Donald W. McGowan, November 1948 - October 1955
  • Major General Edward O. Wolf, October 1955 - December 1965
  • Major General James H. Weyhenmeyer Jr., December 1965 - March 1977
  • Major General Herman S. Tenkin, April 1977 - October 1979
  • Major General George J. Betor, October 1979 - September 1981
  • Major General Melvin J. Crain, September 1981 - March 1986
  • Major General Mark B. Mullin, March 1986 - April 1990
  • Major General Richard S. Schneider, April 1990 - October 1991
  • Major General Robert J. Byrne, October 1991 - September 1993