The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), headquartered at Fort Drum, New York, is a U.S. Army light infantry unit with roots in mountain warfare. Originally trained for combat in rugged, high-altitude environments, it remains the only U.S. division of its size to have received specialized mountain training. In recent years, it has supported operations in Iraq and Syria, working alongside Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish fighters.
The division was first activated in 1943 as the 10th Light Division (Alpine) and redesignated a year later as the 10th Mountain Division. During World War II, it fought in the Italian Alps, pushing through difficult terrain before reaching Austria in May 1945, where it linked up with other Allied units at the war’s end.
After the war, the unit was disbanded, reactivated as the 10th Infantry Division in 1948, and later shifted to Germany as a combat division before another deactivation in 1958. It was brought back again in 1985 under its current name, connecting it to its World War II legacy while reflecting its modern light infantry role.
Since then, the division has deployed worldwide for both combat and humanitarian missions, including Desert Storm, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, the Sinai, and disaster relief in Florida. Since 2002, it has been the most frequently deployed active-duty Army division, with its brigades conducting more than 20 rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan in support of the wars there.