The regiment was constituted 5 August 1917 in the National Army as the 338th Infantry and assigned to the 169th Infantry Brigade of the 85th Division. It was organized at Camp Custer, Michigan, on 30 August 1917. In August 1917, the regiment was organized with 3,755 officers and enlisted men:
The Doughboys of the regiment deployed to France as part of the American Expeditionary Forces and were billeted in the cities of Nevers and Cosne. The regiment didn't participate in any named campaigns during the war; its Infantrymen were used as individual replacements to the fighting Divisions.[5][6][7] After completing its war service in France it was demobilized at Camp Custer on 14 April 1919.[8][9]
The 338th Infantry was ordered into active military service 15 May 1942 and reorganized at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. In July 1943, the regiment was organized with 3,256 officers and enlisted men:[11]
The 338th Infantry was reconstituted 6 November 1946 in the Organized Reserves and assigned to the 85th Infantry Division with headquarters at Peoria, Illinois. On 9 July 1952, the Organized Reserve was redesignated the Army Reserve. On 1 April 1952, the headquarters was relocated to Danville, Illinois. On 1 June 1959 the 338th Infantry was reorganized as a training unit and was redesignated as the 338th Regiment, an element of the 85th Division (Training), with headquarters at Chicago, Illinois.[1]
Current assignment
As part of Operation Bold Shift, the 338th mission is to train Army Reserve and Army National Guard Soldiers for war service before dispatch to the War in Afghanistan, the Iraq War, or elsewhere.[18][19] All three battalions are elements of the 85th Support Command under the operational control of First Army. As of 2018[update], the 1st Battalion is stationed at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, with the 181st Infantry Brigade,[20] while the 2nd and 3rd Battalions are stationed at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, with the 157th Infantry Brigade. Each battalion provides Observer/Controllers to the NTC and JRTC to train units conducting rotations as well as conducting exercises at their home stations.[21]
Camp Custer, Michigan
Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation
USS General W. A. Mann
Welcome Home, Camp Patrick Henry
Spring Offensive, Italy 1945
IV Corps operations, Italy April 1945
1st Battalion training deploying soldiers from the 101st Engineer Battalion September, 2009
^Mahon, John K.; Danysh, Romana (1972). Infantry Part I: Regular Army(PDF). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
^Clay, Steven E. (2010). U.S. Army Order of Battle, 1919-1941, Volume 1. The Arms: Major Commands and Infantry Organizations, 1919-41. Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press. p. 469. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.