305th Infantry Regiment (United States)

305th Infantry Regiment
Regimental Coat of Arms
Active	1917–1919 1921–1946 1946–1965 1999-present
Country	USA
Branch	U.S. Army
Role	Infantry
Size	Regiment
Part of	177th Armored Brigade
Garrison/HQ	Camp Shelby, Mississippi
Motto(s)	"Second to None"
Anniversaries	Constituted 5 August 1917 in the National Army
Engagements	Oise-Aisne Meuse-Argonne Champagne 1918 Lorraine 1918 Western Pacific Leyte Ryukyus
Decorations	Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Presidential Unit Citation Army Superior Unit Award
Battle honours	World War I World War II

The 305th Infantry Regiment was a National Army unit first organized for service in World War I as part of the 77th Infantry Division in Europe. It later served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Since then it has served as a training Regiment. In 1999, it was withdrawn from the Combat Arms Regimental System and redesignated as a non-branch regiment. The regiment's 1st and 2nd battalions are stationed at Camp Shelby under the command of the 177th Armored Brigade. The regiment's 3rd battalion is inactive.

History

World War I

The regiment was constituted 5 August 1917 in the National Army as the 306th Infantry and assigned to the 153rd Infantry Brigade of the 77th Division. The 305th Infantry was commanded by William Renwick Smedberg Jr., who later commanded the 153rd Brigade,^[1] It was organized at Camp Upton, New York on 29 August 1917. The regiment participated in the following campaigns: Oise-Aisne, Meuse-Argonne, Champagne, and Lorraine. The regiment demobilized at Camp Upton on 9 May 1919.^[2][3][4]

Between the Wars

The 305th Infantry was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921, assigned to the 77th Division, and allotted to the Second Corps Area. It was initiated on 5 August 1921 with the regimental headquarters, 1st Battalion, and 2nd Battalion at Brooklyn, and the 3rd Battalion at Manhattan. The regiment conducted summer training most years with the 1st Division's 16th Infantry Regiment at Camp Dix, New Jersey, and some years at Plattsburg Barracks or Fort Slocum, New York. An alternate form of summer training was conducting the infantry Citizens Military Training Camps at Camp Dix or Plattsburg Barracks. The primary ROTC "feeder" schools for new Reserve lieutenants for the regiment were the College of the City of New York and New York University. Designated mobilization training station was Camp Dix.^[2]

World War II

Ordered into active military service 25 March 1942 and reorganized at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. The regiment participated in the January 1943 Louisiana Maneuvers. In July 1943, the regiment was organized with 3,256 officers and enlisted men:^[5]

• Headquarters & Headquarters Company- 111
  • Service Company- 114
  • Anti-Tank Company- 165 (M1 gun)
  • Cannon Company- 118 (M3 howitzer)
  • Medical Detachment- 135
• Infantry Battalion (x3)- 871
  • Headquarters & Headquarters Company- 126
  • Rifle Company (x3)- 193 (M1 carbine, M1 Garand, M1903 Springfield, M3 submachine gun, M1919 Browning machine gun, M9 Rocket Launcher, M2 mortar)
  • Weapons Company- 156 (M1 mortar, M2 machine gun)

The regiment departed San Francisco on 23 March 1944 and arrived in Hawaii on 1 April. The 306th first saw combat during the liberation of Guam in July, 1944. The 306th served in the liberation of the Philippines, arriving on 23 November 1944. The regiment fought on Okinawa from 27 April though 27 June.^[6][7]

Post War Service

Activated 17 December 1946 in the Organized Reserves with headquarters in New York City. In May 1959 the regiment was reorganized as a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System to consist of the 1st Battle Group, an element of the 77th Infantry Division under the Pentomic division design.^[8] After adoption of the ROAD program,^[8] the regiment was reorganized on 26 March 1963 to consist of the 1st and 2d Battalions, subordinate elements of the 77th Infantry Division. The 1st and 2d Battalions were inactivated 30 December 1965 and relieved from assignment to the 77th Infantry Division.^[8]

Under the 87th Training Division

The 305th Infantry was withdrawn 17 October 1999 from the Combat Arms Regimental System, redesignated as the 305th Regiment, and reorganized to consist of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd battalions, elements of the 87th Division (Training Support).^[9] The 1st, 2nd and 3rd battalions were concurrently allotted to the Regular Army.

Transfer to First Army

On 15 December 2007, the battalions were relieved from their assignment to the 87th Division and reassigned to First Army’s 177th Armored Brigade. In October 2012, 3rd Battalion was inactivated.

Lineage and honors

Lineage

Campaign participation credit

Conflict	Streamer	Year(s)
World War I	Oise-Aisne	1917
	Meuse-Argonne	1917
	Champagne	1918
	Lorraine	1918
World War II	Western Pacific
	Leyte (with Arrowhead)	1944
	Ryukyus(with Arrowhead)	1945

^[10]

Decorations

Ribbon	Award	Element	Inscription	Orders
	Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation	Entire Regiment	17 October 1944 to 4 July 1945	War Department General Orders
	Presidential Unit Citation	1st Battalion	Okinawa	War Department General Orders
	Army Superior Unit Award	1st & 2nd Battalions	2008-2011	Permanent Orders 332-07 announcing award of the Army Superior Unit award
	Presidential Unit Citation	3rd Battalion	Shuri defense line	War Department General Orders

References

1. Davis, Henry Blaine Jr. (1998). Generals in Khaki. Raleigh, NC: Pentland Press. pp. 337–338. ISBN 978-1-5719-7088-6 – via Google Books.
2. Clay, Steven E. (2010). US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 (PDF). Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center. p. 454. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
3. Historical Division, Dept of the Army (1992). "US Forces in Meuse-Argonne Offensive 29 September – 11 November 1918" (PDF). Fort Leavenworth, KS: U.S. Army Combined Arms Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
4. "Order of Battle (Unit Structure) – American Forces – World War I". www.newrivernotes.com. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
5. Wilson, John B. (1998). Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades | U.S. Army Center of Military History (PDF). U.S. Army Center for Military History. p. 183. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
6. "Component Elements of the Infantry Divisions in World War II - U.S. Army Center of Military History". history.army.mil. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Center for Military History. 1950. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
7. Stanton, Shelby L. (2006). World War II order of battle, U.S. Army (ground force units). Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books. ISBN 9780811701570.
8. Wilson, John B. (1998). Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades | U.S. Army Center of Military History (PDF). U.S. Army Center for Military History. p. 270. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
9. Wilson, John B. (1998). Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades | U.S. Army Center of Military History (PDF). U.S. Army Center for Military History. p. 424. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
10. Bowery, Charles R. Jr. (8 July 2019). "305th Regiment | Lineage and Honors | U.S. Army Center of Military History". history.army.mil. U.S. Army Center for Military History. Retrieved 9 May 2021.

External links

• "1st Battalion 305th Infantry, 177th Armored Brigade". www.first.army.mil/diveast. U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
• "2nd Battalion 305th Field Artillery, 177th Armored Brigade". www.first.army.mil/diveast. U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
• Tiebout, Frank (1919). History of the 305th Infantry. Retrieved 9 May 2021 – via longwood.k12.ny.us.
• Division, 77th, United States Army Infantry (1947). Ours to Hold it High: The History of the 77th Infantry Division in World War II. Infantry Journal Press. Retrieved 9 May 2021.