87th Division (Training Support)
"Golden Acorn"
The 87th Division (Training Support) is a U.S Army Reserve Division headquarted in Birmingham, Alabama. The Division hase subordinate units located in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Puerto Rico.
The 87th Division plans, conducts and evaluates training exercises for Army Reserve and National Guard units. The primary mission requirements include LANES Training for Combat Support and Combat Service Support units and Battle Command Staff Training for unit staffs and command elements. The 87th Division also provides training and mobilization support to Reserve Component units upon their mobilization. The Division's Training Support Brigades also serve to support Military Assistance to Civilian Authorities (MSCA) missions in response to natural disasters or emergencies.
The 87th Division conducts Lane training for National Guard and USAR company level units, and Battle Command Staff Training, or BCST exercises for all Reserve Component CA, CS and CSS units at battalion and brigade level. Priority is given to Force Support Package or FSP units, enhanced Brigades, LAD<30, Round Out Units and, then any other units throughout the Southeastern United States and Puerto Rico.
In the event of mobilization, the division provides assistance to designated mobilization station commanders, by conducting Post-Mobilization training of units prior to their deployment to the theater of operations.
The Division's 1st Brigade (BCST), also located in Birmingham, provides planning, execution, and evaluation for units participating in Combat Support Simulation Exercises and Brigade Battle Staff Training.
The 87th Training Support Division (US Army Reserve) traces its lineage back to the 87th Infantry Division, activated and organized at Camp Pike, Arkansas, on 15 August 1917. The Division served as part of the American Expeditionary Force in France during the First World War. The Division entered the combat zone late in the war and primarily conducted Combat Support missions including: construction projects;performing guard duty; military police operations; convoy escort; and many miscellaneous logistics and supply details. The Division was moving to the front lines in November of 1918, the war ended and the Division returned home for deactivation in July 1919. In 1921, the Division reconstituted as part of the Organized Reserves.
The Division's World War II service began with reactivation at Camp McCain, Mississippi, on 15 December 1942. The first elements of the Division departed the United States on 4 October 1944 and the final elements arrived in England on 13 November 1944. The Division then departed England for France on 24 November 1944 and on the 28th, the Division began its trek across France, through Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany, ultimately linking up with Russian forces at the Czechoslovakian border on 21 May 1945.
The Division distinguished itself as an outstanding unit, being assigned to General George S. Patton's famous 3rd Army, and served in campaigns in the Ardennes, the break-through of the Siegfried Line, the Kyll, the Moselle, Koblentz, the Rhine, Plauen, and the Mulde. The Division's most significant accomplishment after storming across the Siegfried Line was the capture of the strategic city of Koblentz. The "Golden Acorn Division" became known as the "Liberators of Koblentz".
Deactivated at the end of the war, the 87th Infantry Division was reactivated in Birmingham, Alabama as a Reserve Division in November 1946.
Following The Korean War, the Department of the Army conducted a post evaluation of reserve component unit training. This led to the conclusion that a new organization was needed with the exclusive mission of conducting training exercises for the Reserve Components. Thus, on 7 February 1957, the 87th Maneuver Area Command (MAC) came into existence. The 87th MAC wore the original "Golden Acorn" patch of the 87th Infantry Division, carrying on the heritage of the unit for over thirty-six years.
The post Desert Shield/Storm analysis of Army training led to the conclusion that new methods and organizations were needed to improve the combat readiness of the Reserve Components. The new focus is on Automated Battle Simulations for Commanders and Battle Staffs, and on Small Unit Collective Training for Squads, Platoons and Companies. The Maneuver Exercise Command concept was developed in 1990, which, in turn evolved into the Infantry Division (Exercise) concept in 1992. The 87th MAC was deactivated and the 87th Division (Exercise) was activated on 1 October 1993.
In October 1999, the Division once again re-flagged as the 87th Training Support Division. With this reorganization came closer integration of Active Component and National Guard units and resources, and an increase in the importance of the 87th Division's training and support missions . While the 87th Division is still considered a Direct Reporting Command to the US Army Reserve Command (USARC), the Division's new parent unit is now the First Continental US Army (CONUSA), located in Georgia.
