1st Battalion - 87th Infantry Regiment
"To The Top"
As of late January 2002 soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, were deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan.
The 87th Infantry was constituted on 15th November 1941 a Fort Lewis, WA, and designated the 87th Infantry Mountain Regiment. The unit waas dubbed Minnie's Ski Troop" in honor of Charles Minot Dole, President of the National Ski Patrol. Wolunteers, many who were veteran skiers, mountaineers and woodsmen, arrived from Washington, Oregon, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. The 87th trained on Mount Rainier's 14,408 foot peak. The 1st of the 87th was teh first Mountain designated unit in the United States Army, predating the 10th Mountain Division.
On 12 May 1942, the regiment was reorgannized as teh 87th Moutain Infantry at Fort Lewis. The 87th Joined the 10th Mountain at Camp Hale, CO, and trained there during the 1942-43 on winter military operations and mountaineering.
On 29 July 1943, the regiment sailed to the Auletian Islands as part of the Amphibious Technical Force Nine. Also included in Technical Force Nine were the First Special Service and teh 13th Canadian Infantry. The Regiment conducted an amphibious assault along the Kiska coastline and quickly climbed the rock cliffs to obtain its initial objectives. During November and December 1943, the entire regiment moved to Camp Carson, CO and was then assigned to the 10th Division at Camp Hale to prepare for deployment to the European theater.
On 3 February 1945, the regiment deployed to Italy with the newly redesigned 10th Mountain Division and entered combat on 28 January 1945 as part of the 5th US Army. In February 1945, after 3 days of bitter fighting, the regiment helped capture Mount Belvedere and other key mountain peaks. On April 15, 1945 the y spearheaded the Northern Apennines offensive and cut the main route to the Brenner Pass. The regiment overcame every obstacle, including the Po River Valley, the old walled city of Verone and the pre-war frontier defenses of the Italian-Austrian border. German resistance in Italy ended on 2 May 1945. After the end of hostilities, the regiment performed occupation duty until its return to the US in August 1945. The unit was deactivated in November 1945 at Camp Hale, CO.
The 87th Infantry was again assigned to the 10th Infantry Division on 18 June 1948, reactivating at Fort Riley, KS. In preparation for the Korean War, 1-87 became part of three regiments that trained 123,000 men in basic training.
In January 1954, the Department of the Army announced that the 10th Division would become a combat infantry division, and be the first sent to Europe under a new rotation policy. In June 1958, the 87th Infantry Regiment was reassigned from the 10th Division to the 2nd Infantry Division as the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 87th Infantry. The battalions remained in the 2nd Infantry Division until 4 September 1963, when it was reassigned to the 8th Infantry Division in Germany. 1-87 was stationed in Jaeger Kaserne, Aschaffenburg, and was assigned to NATO land forces in central Europe. On June 14, 1958, the 10th Division was inactivated. However 1-87 and 2-87 remained on active duty in Germany until 1 October 1983 when they were inactivated.
On 22 May 1987, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry was reactivated and reunited with the 10th Mountain Division. It became part of the 1st Brigade that was activated one year earlier.
Since its reactivation in 1987, members of the 87th Infantry Regiment have deployed all over the world conducting a variety of missions. On 26 August 1992, two battalions of the regiment deployed to Homestead, FL, to conduct humanitarian relief operations following Hurricane Andrew. Soldiers from 1-87 were responsible for setting up tent city camps, distributing food, ice, water, clothing, and medical necessities.
Leading the 10th Mountain Division into Somalia, 87th Infantry regiment members conducted the first combat operations the regiment has seen since World War II. B Co. and C Co. were attached to 2-14 during Operation Restore Hope and Continue Hope. On 3 October 1993, 3C/1-87 was disbanded as a QRF to secure a crash site in a Somalian city that was a result of a daylight right conducted by Task Force Ranger in an attempt to seize a Somali Warlord.
In 1993, members of the regiment saw combat in Haiti, during operation Uphold democracy. At 0930 hours, on 19 September 19994, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry and 2nd Bn, 22nd Infantry, conducted the Army's first air assault from an aircraft carrier. They occupied the Port-Au-Prince International Airport and were the first US troops to set foot on Haitian soil. The Task Force's presence allowed the Haitian legislature to reopen on 28 September.
In the mid-nineties, the 87th Infantry Regiment has deployed soldiers to participate in several Multi-national Training events in places such as Pakistan, Panama, Kyrgystan and Uzbekistan. The 87th Infantry Regiment has also been active in keeping peace abroad by conducting the MFO mission in the Sinai. Members of the regiment also completed a deployment to Bosnia-Herzegovina, in support of Operation Joint Forge.
In 1997 Task Force 1-87 Infantry participated in an XVIII Airborne Corps emergency deployment readiness exercise to Camp Blanding, Florida. This exercise tested the deployment readiness of several divisional units and the installation, while validating the training readiness of Task Force 1-87 Infantry. Alerted for this exercise only one month following their return from a four month security mission in Panama, Task Force 1-87 executed this readiness exercise superbly. Task Force 1-87's success is directly linked to a demanding training program, the quality of leaders and soldiers, and the standard deployment procedures in place at Fort Drum.
1-87 IN deployed to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan in support of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM. Early on in their deployment they provided base camp and airfield security and quick-reaction forces, before fighting and destroying Taliban and Al'Qaeda fighters during Operation Anaconda.
