86th Infantry Division (United States)

The 86th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War I and World War II.
Currently called the 86th Training Division, based at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, members of the division now work with Active Army, Reserve, and National Guard units to provide them with a Decisive Action Training Environment on a yearly basis.
World War I.
The division saw no combat in World War I. It was activated 25 August 1917 at Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois, went overseas in August 1918, returned to the United States in November 1918, and was deactivated in January 1919.
Interwar period.
The division was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921 and assigned to the state of Illinois. The headquarters was organized on 10 September 1921.
World War II.
Combat chronicle.
The 86th Infantry Division arrived in France, 4 March 1945, and moved to Cologne, Germany, taking over defensive positions near Weiden, 24 March, in relief of the 8th Infantry Division. After a short period of patrolling on both sides of the Rhine, the division was relieved, and moved across the Rhine to Eibelshausen, Germany, 5 April. In a rapid offensive advance, the 86th moved across the Bigge River, cleared Attendorn, 11 April, and continued on to the Ruhr uniting with the Ninth Army, taking part in the Ruhr pocket fighting. On 21 April, the division moved to Ansbach and continued to advance, taking Eichstätt on the 25th, crossing the Danube at Ingolstadt on the 27th, securing the bridge over the Amper Canal, 29 April, crossing the Isar and reaching Mittel Isar Canal by the end of the month. The division was ordered to take Wasserburg, 1 May, and leading elements had reached the outskirts of the city when they were ordered to withdraw, 2 May, and to move east to Salzburg.
On 4 May, the division captured the crown jewels of Hungary in Mattsee, Austria. At the end of the war, the division was securing the left flank of the XV Corps. After processing German prisoners of war, it was redeployed to the United States, the 14,289 officers and men arriving in New York aboard four Navy transports 17 June 1945. The division trained briefly at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma, 21 June – 11 August 1945; and then left San Francisco, 24 August 1945, for the Philippines. The 86th Division was aboard ship in Leyte harbor when the Japanese surrendered. After landing on Luzon the unit was dispersed throughout the Island, some to Marikina, some to other locations. A few were assigned to Corregidor Island to guard Japanese prisoners of war. While Japan formally had surrendered on 2 September 1945, division soldiers still sometimes had to face Japanese soldiers who had refused to surrender as well as Huks (Hukbalahap guerrillas). According to one account, as late as October 1946 the "straggler menace was still there" as 77 Japanese prisoners were captured. A division officer (Lt. Col. A. L. Hugins) also "was fired on while in convoy near Angeles" in the same month.
Nickname and legacy.
The division was nicknamed the "Black Hawk Division," named after the Sauk Leader Chief Black Hawk. Frederic McLaughlin, was a commander with the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division during World War I. In 1926, McLaughlin would be granted a franchise by the National Hockey League, which he would put in his home town of Chicago. He named the team the Chicago Blackhawks after the unit.
Present day.
The 86th was redesignated HQ 86th Training Brigade on 11 Feb 2009 and activated at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin on 16 September 2010. Shortly after its reactivation, on 18 September 2010, it was redesignated as Headquarters 86th Training Division.
Subordinate units.
As of 2019 the following units are subordinated to the 86th Training Division (Decisive Action):