More Than a Century of Serving
From the 88th Division in 1917 to the 88th Readiness Division
COMMAND HISTORY:
The 88th Division was activated on Aug. 5, 1917, at Camp Dodge, Iowa. Initial soldiers were selective service men from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota. In August 1918, the division moved to Europe to support fighting during World War I. Elements of the division participated in training near the front lines with the French Army and occupied quiet sectors of the front in Alsace beginning in early October 1918. The Armistice of November 11, 1918, ended the war a month later.
The 88th Division headquarters returned to the U.S. and was demobilized on June 10, 1919. Pursuant to the National Defense Act of 1920, the 88th Division was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on June 24, 1921, and the headquarters moved up to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn. where it remained until activated for World War II.
On July 15, 1942, the now named 88th Infantry Division was ordered to active service. On Dec. 15, 1943, the division arrived at Casablanca to fight on the Italian Front. The division arrived in Naples, Italy on Feb. 6, 1944, and fought in several notable battles in Italy against Axis forces, including Anzio, Mount Battaglia, Po River, Verona, Vincenz, and were the first Allied unit to enter an Axis capitol city when they entered Rome on June 4, 1944. In total, the 88th Infantry Division was in combat for 344 days.
After the end of the World War II, the 88th remained in Italy conducting occupation duty, with elements serving as the temporary military government of the Free Territory of Trieste, an independent state between Italy and Yugoslavia on behalf of the United Nations Security Council. Designated TRUST (Trieste United States Troops), the command served as the front line of the Cold War from 1947-1954. In 1954, the mission ended, and all elements returned to the U.S.
In January 1968, the 88th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) was formed at Fort Snelling, Minn. as one of 18 ARCOMs organized to provide command and control to Army Reserve units.
In 1996, when the Army Reserve's command structure was revised, the 88th Regional Support Command (88th RSC) was established at Fort Snelling. Its mission was to command-and-control Army Reserve units in a six-state region, which included Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. In addition, the 88th RSC ensured operational readiness, provided area support services, and supported emergency operations in its area of responsibility.
In 2003, the Army Reserve's command structure was again revised, and the 88th Regional Readiness Command (88th RRC) was formed at Fort Snelling with responsibility for USAR units in the same six states included in the 88th RSC. Various Combat Support units mobilize and deploy to Operation Iraqi Freedom in late 2003-mid 2004.
In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, DoD recommended realigning Fort Snelling, MN by disestablishing the 88th Regional Readiness Command. This recommendation was part of a larger recommendation to re-engineer and streamline the Command-and-Control structure of the Army Reserve that would create the Northwest Regional Readiness Command at Fort McCoy, WI.
In 2008, the 88th Regional Readiness Command (88th RRC) moved to Fort McCoy, Wis. The mission was changed to provide base operations support to the new 19 state region, Welcome Home Warrior ceremonies, and the Yellow Ribbon weekends.
In 2017, the 88th RRC was renamed and reorganized in its current state as the 88th Readiness Division. The division headquarters split, with the commander and operations moving back to Fort Snelling and the rest of the headquarters staff remaining in Fort McCoy.
In August 2021, the 88th was ordered to support Operation Allies Refuge/Welcome as the core of Task Force McCoy, one of eight resettlement sites housing Afghan evacuees. From August 2021 until February 2022, the task force assisted in feeding, housing, clothing, and providing assistance to 13,000 Afghans resettling in the United States.