30th_Armored_Division

30th Armored Division (United States)

30th Armored Division (United States)

Military unit

The 30th Armored Division was a Tennessee-based unit of the Army National Guard from the 1950s to the 1970s.

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Activation and service

In 1954 the 30th Infantry Division was reorganized, with units in North Carolina and South Carolina constituting the 30th Infantry Division, and units in Tennessee forming the nucleus of the new 30th Armored Division.[1]

Though never federalized during wartime, the 30th Armored Division (called "Volunteers," for Tennessee's "Volunteer State" nickname) was activated for support to law enforcement, including responses to civil disturbances in Memphis and Nashville after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.[2]

In 1968 the headquarters of the Mississippi Army National Guard's 108th Armored Cavalry Regiment was reorganized as 1st Brigade, 30th Armored Division. (The brigade was subsequently designated the 155th Separate Armored Brigade.)[3] In addition, in 1968 units from the Florida Army National Guard and Alabama Army National Guard also became part of the 30th Armored Division.[4]

The 30th Armored Division was inactivated in December, 1973.[5]

Commanders

Hugh B. Mott as commander of 30th Armored Division.

The following officers served as commander of the 30th Armored Division:

  • MG Paul H. Jordan, 1954-1957[6][7]
  • MG Robert E. Frankland, 1957-1959[8]
  • MG Warren C. Giles, 1959-1962[9]
  • MG Clarence B. Johnson, 1962-1963[10]
  • MG William R. Douglas, 1963-1966[11]
  • MG Thomas G. Wells Jr., 1966-1968[12][13][14]
  • MG Hugh B. Mott, 1968-1969[15]
  • MG Glynn C. Ellison, 1969-1971[16]
  • MG Carl M. Lay, 1971-1973[17]
  • MG John M. Calhoun, 1973[18]

Lineage

During its existence the 30th Armored Division was never deployed as an organization, and received no combat honors. Several members volunteered individually to join regular Army units during the Vietnam War.[19]

The 30th Armored Division's lineage was carried by the Tennessee Army National Guard's 30th Armored Brigade until the brigade's inactivation in 1996.[20][21]

References

  1. [1]
    John B. Wilson, Center of Military History, Armies, Corps, Divisions, and Separate Brigades, 1988, page 604
  2. [2]
    Lentz, Richard (6 April 1968). "Dr. King Is Slain By Sniper: Looting, Arson Touched Off By Death". Memphis Commercial Appeal.
  3. [3]
    Global Security, 155th Armored Brigade (Separate) (Heavy), 2011
  4. [4]
    Jeffrey Lynn Pope, Leonid E. Kondratiuk, editors, Armor-Cavalry Regiments: Army National Guard Lineage, 1995, pages 41, 48
  5. [5]
    Tennessee Secretary of State, Blue Book, 1980, page 312
  6. [6]
    "Guardsmen to Enter Camp on Sunday, June 18". Waverly News-Democrat. 10 June 1955.
  7. [7]
    Kingsport Times, Gen Paul Jordan to Speak Here, 10 February 1956
  8. [8]
    Kingsport News, Change of Command, 11 December 1959
  9. [9]
    Tennessee Secretary of State, Tennessee Blue Book, 1961, page 130
  10. [10]
    National Guard Association of the United States, The National Guardsman, Volume 16, 1962, page 67
  11. [11]
    National Guard Association of the United States, The National Guardsman, Volume 18, 1964, page 30
  12. [12]
    U.S. Army, General Orders Number 44 Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, 22 August 1968, page 11
  13. [13]
    National Guard Association of the United States, The National Guardsman, Volume 21, 1967, page 38
  14. [14]
    "Letter to Major General Thomas G. Wells, Jr. Commanding General, 30th Armored Division". NDC Blog, National Archives and Records Administration. 8 April 1968. p. 1.
  15. [15]
    United Press International (11 November 1968). "Tennessee Adjutant General Will Resign". Middleboro Daily News.
  16. [16]
    "Guard May Get New Boss". Florence Times. Associated Press. 29 July 1971.
  17. [17]
    "Tennessean to Head Guard Unit". Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. 4 August 1971.
  18. [18]
    "Guard Gets New Division Commander". Gadsden Times. Associated Press. 1 June 1973.
  19. [19]
    Tennessee National Guard, History, Tennessee National Guard Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, 2012
  20. [20]
    Listman, John. "30th Armored Division". National Guard Education Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  21. [21]
    Timothy S Aumiller, United States Army Infantry, Artillery, Armor/Cavalry Battalions 1957-2011, 2007, page 25
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