Thread by @18airbornecorps

25 years ago today, April 26, 1996, at 9AM, the 24th Infantry Division, stationed on Fort Stewart, Georgia since 1975, cased its colors in a formal ceremony on Cottrell Field.

Minutes later, the division reflagged as the 3rd Infantry Division.

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3ID, initially formed for entry into WWI, served in West Germany throughout the Cold War. The Rock of the Marne had moved from Germany to Fort Stewart to start a new life.

The Clinton Administration's focus on force reduction in Germany brought about this action.

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In the 1990s, President Clinton looked to drastically cut the Army and reduce our military footprint in Germany.

Clinton was put in office on his domestic agenda and with the Cold War over, we no longer needed a massive, multi-division land force in Germany.

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So, 3ID would come to Ft Stewart and the 24th ID would go away. [In 1999, 24ID was briefly reactivated on Fort Riley, Kansas, to train Army National Guard units].

Here is the final formation of the 24th Infantry Division on Fort Stewart, April 26, 1996.

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While on Fort Stewart, 24th ID, the Victory Division, was the armored force of the XVIII Airborne Corps, a role 3ID would now assume.

That ceremony on Fort Stewart 25 years ago today was a critical moment in Army history.

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Here, in that ceremony, General Joseph DeFrancisco, the last commander of 24th ID at Fort Stewart, cases the colors for the final time....

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...moments later, General Jack Keane, XVIII Airborne Corps commander, hands DeFrancisco the 3rd Infantry Division colors. Joseph DeFrancisco becomes the first commander of the 3rd Infantry Division on Fort Stewart.

A new life begins for the Rock of the Marne.