The Panama Canal Division was a unit of the United States Army, established in order to ensure the United States could adequately defend the Canal Zone in Panama. When it was authorized in 1920, similar divisions were organized to defend Hawaii and the Philippines.
History
10th Division
Shoulder sleeve insignia of the World War I 10th Division
On July 9, 1918, the 10th Division was activated for World War I.[1] It was organized in August, and mobilized and trained at Camp Funston, Kansas.[1] The 10th Division completed training in October and moved to Camp Mills, New York to await transport to France.[1] Advance units of the division had departed Camp Mills by early November, but the Armistice of November 11, 1918 ended the need for the division to serve overseas.[1] Most units had been demobilized by early 1919, and the 10th Division was inactivated in March.[1]
Organization
The organization of the 10th Division included:[1]
Major General Leonard Wood, January 17, 1919 - February 18, 1919
Panama Canal Division
The Panama Canal Division was organized in 1921 and included units of the 10th Division that had not been inactivated after World War I. The Panama Canal Division was active until 1932.[2][3] Its initial composition included the 19th Infantry Brigade commanding the (14th and 65th Infantry Regiments, of which the 65th was stationed in Puerto Rico) and the 20th Infantry Brigade commanding the (33rd and 42nd Infantry Regiments).[2] The two brigades appear to have been active until 1927.[4]
The commander of the Panama Canal Department, Major General Preston Brown, later determined that the defense of Panama would be better served by command groups representing the Atlantic and the Pacific. In 1932, the Army inactivated the division, keeping its Tables of Organization on file should the need arise to reactivate it. It never has.[2]
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