WWII 10th Mountain Division a Forerunner of Today’s Elite Special Forces
The Montpelier Argus taught me some World War II history on Monday with this article about the 10th Mountain Division, a unit about which I’d never heard.
The division was activated in July 1953 and was the result of collaborative efforts among the War Department, the American Alpine Club, and the National Ski Patrol Committee of the National Ski Association. The soldiers fought initially in Italy, arriving in December 1944, where they cleared mountain passes and seized Nazi held peaks. After the war they served as security forces and assisted with the occupation.
As a highly specialized unit involved in climbing, skiing, and parachute landings, the 10th Mountain Division was a forerunner of the elite special forces that are now a critical part of the U.S. military.
The article provides more detail on the unit, which has been memorialized in the documentary “The Last Ridge.” Although deactivated after WWII, the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) was reactivated in 1985 and today its members are serving in Afghanistan.
WWII, 10th Mountain Division, special forces
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