50th Armored Division with Jersey Blues Tab, used from the 1940s to the 1960s
On 13 October 1945 the War Department published a postwar policy statement for the entire Army, calling for a 27-division Army National Guard structure with 25 infantry divisions and two armored divisions. Once the process of negotiation was complete, among the new formations formed were the 49th and 50th Armored Divisions, the first armored divisions in the Army National Guard. The 50th Armored Division replaced the 44th Infantry Division within the New Jersey Army National Guard, with the 50th Armored assuming the 44th Infantry's "Jersey Blues" nickname. Most 50th Armored Division units were legacy units of the 44th Infantry and inherited the lineage and history of those units.
In a 1968 reorganization, the 50th Armored was joined by the 27th Armored Brigade from New York, the legacy units left after the inactivation of the 27th Armored Division. Since the 50th Armored Division was no longer completely within New Jersey, it retired the "Jersey Blues" nickname. In 1968, the 50th Armored Division was reorganized to draw its units from New Jersey and the Vermont Army National Guard. Armor battalions in New Jersey and Vermont were upgraded to M48A1 and M48A3 Patton medium tanks.
Between 1975-76 Vermont and New Jersey armor battalions started turning in their M48A3 tanks and began receiving the M48A5 which had the same 105mm gun and fire control system as the M60A1 in use by the active Army. During this time, many Vermont tank crews competed in gunnery exercises held in West Germany and consistently brought back awards. The division's training was rigorous during the Soviet threat peak years of the late 1970s to mid 1980s. Germany was the primary area of operations for the division if it was to have been activated.
The Center of Military History notes that reorganizing the Army National Guard to meet the new 'Division 86' structures in the mid-1980s was a challenging process, and most Guard divisions expanded their recruiting areas. The 50th Armored Division did not, and instead had the allotment for one of its brigades moved to the Texas Army National Guard, making the future of the division within the force structure 'uncertain'.[2] During this time, both battalions of Vermont's 172nd Armor 86th Brigade began doing their annual training at Fort Hood, Texas, a change from their former armor deployment base of Fort Drum, New York. By October 1986, Vermont's 86th Brigade left the 50th Armor Division and became part of the 26th Infantry Division. A few years later the 86th went to the 42nd ID and received M60A3 medium tanks.
While under the 50th Armor Division, Vermont's 1st and 2d Battalion, 172nd Armor of the 86th Brigade excelled at tank gunnery and field exercises, making the 86th Brigade the only Army National Guard unit to ever consistently accomplish Tank Table XIII, an honor it continued to earn even after the 50th AD inactivated.[citation needed]
Inactivation
In the early 1990s further consolidation followed the fall of the Soviet Union, and the 26th Infantry Division inactivated, causing Vermont's 86th Brigade to join the 42nd Infantry Division.
The 86th Brigade soon received M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks.[citation needed]
On 1 September 1993, the 50th Armored Division was inactivated and its remaining brigades joined other divisions.[3] New Jersey's 50th Infantry Brigade, which took the Division's lineage, was made part of the 42nd Infantry Division. The 36th Infantry Brigade from Texas was reabsorbed into the 49th Armored Division.[citation needed]
Due to further military consolidations, the 86th Brigade turned in its Abrams tanks in 2006 and ended its Armor designation just short of 40 years.[citation needed]
The brigade's armor battalions were equipped with M60A3 TTSmain battle tanks. M48A5 Patton tanks had been replaced by M60A3 TTS tanks by May 1987 and by the end of 1989 the National Guard fielded 3,072 M60A3 TTS.[30][31][32] The 410 M1 Abrams[30] tanks of the National Guard were issued to round-out units of army divisions.[33] The division's infantry battalions were equipped with M113armored personnel carriers, of which the National Guard had 6,870 at the end of Fiscal Year 1987, with a further 1,411 due to be taken in service in 1988.[30] The standard helicopters of National Guard units were the AH-1S Cobra, of which the National Guard had approximately 350 by 1989,[34] the OH-58C Kiowa and the UH-1H Iroquois helicopters.[35] Cavalry Reconnaissance units fielded 19 × M60A3 TTS, 8 × AH-1S Cobra, 12 × OH-58C Kiowa and 1 × UH-1H Iroquois helicopters; attack battalions fielded 21 × AH-1S Cobra, 13 × OH-58C Kiowa and 3 × UH-1H Iroquois helicopters,[36] while the assault aviation company fielded 15 × UH-1H Iroquois helicopters and the command support aviation company UH-1 helicopters in various configurations.
Commanders of the 50th Armored Division
Major General Clifford R. Powell, July 1946 - November 1948[37]
^Mappen, Marc (30 August 2014). "Today in New Jersey History - August 30". H-New-Jersey: Today in New Jersey History - 30 August. East Lansing, MI: H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online, Michigan State University Department of History. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
^New Jersey Adjutant General (1988). Annual Report. Lawrenceville, NJ: New Jersey. Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs. pp. 71, 83 – via Google Books.
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