51st Infantry Division (United States)

51st Infantry Division
51st Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia
Active	1946–63
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Nickname(s)	Rattlesnake Division

The 51st Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army, composed of units from the Florida National Guard and the South Carolina National Guard.

History

Original Organization Date: 11 September 1946 with headquarters at Tampa, Florida. In the post-World War II restructuring of the National Guard a number of new divisions were organized. Among these was the 51st Infantry Division, composed of National Guardsmen from Florida and South Carolina.

Organization on September 11th, 1946

Unit	Headquartered	Commander
Division Headquarters	Tampa, Florida	Maj. Gen. Sumter L. Lowry
211th Infantry Regiment	Miami, Florida	Col. Robert A. Ballard
116th Field Artillery Battalion	Tampa, Florida	Lt. Col. George N. Sagin
Band	Florida

Following WWII, a massive reorganization of the Army National Guard took place. As part of this reorganization, the 51st Infantry Division, a completely new division, was allocated to the states of Florida and South Carolina. The division was activated on 5 July 1946 as a standard triangular division. Old and new units were assigned and activated during 1946-47.

In 1949, the 107th AAA Bn and the 263rd Tank Bn were assigned to the division. The Division remained in a normal National Guard training status, being reorganized periodically as the Army applied lessons learned in WWII and Korea. The 51st Infantry Division never served on active federal duty.

In 1959, the division was reorganized as a pentomic division.

As a result of a major reorganization of the National Guard, the division was inactivated on 1 April 1963. Subordinate units were reorganized and reassigned. Division HHC was redesignated as HQs, 51st Command HQs (Divisional), South Carolina National Guard.

Source: Wilson, John B. (1997). Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades. Washington, DC: Center of Military History.

Source: Greene, James F., Jr. (1984). 51st Infantry Division, Trading Post (American Society of Military Insignia Collectors), July-September 1984 issue, pages 14-19.