7th Infantry Division (Light)
"Bayonets"
The 7th Infantry Division (Light) has provided training assistance and support for subordinate units in preparation for Operation Southern Watch and Stabilization Force 8, 9, and 10.
The 7th ID also provides training assistance in preparation for Small Scale Contingency Operations (SSCO) rotations, Joint Readiness Training Center rotations, Brigade Command and Battle Staff Training rotations and annual training (AT).
The 7th ID deploys a Division Tactical Command Post (DTAC) to serve as higher headquarters for AT and field exercises. In addition, 7th ID conducts synchronization conferences with eSBs, State Area Commands, the numbered armies in the continental United States and the National Guard Bureau to ensure training support for AT, Opposition Force, and evaluations.
The 7th ID also conducts quarterly Unit Status Report (USR) Briefs with the three eSBs to discuss readiness and resource issues affecting those units.
The Bayonet was forged in the fields of France, tempered on the frozen tundra and mountains of the Aleutians, the coral atolls and islands of the South Pacific, and then honed razor sharp in the mountains and rice paddies of Korea. The BAYONET -- or 7th Infantry Division, as it is officially known -- continued to stand guard in Korea, manning its outpost line in strife-ridden Korean until 1971, when the Division returned to U.S. soil for the first time since 1943.
The Division was assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington, and deactivated for a brief period of time.
In October 1985, the Division was resurrected as the 7th Infantry Division (Light) at its old post, Fort Ord, CA. The Lightfighters of the Bayonet Division were called to Honduras in 1988 for "Operation Golden Pheasant" and to Panama in 1989-90 for "Operation Just Cause". In August 1993, part of the Division was reassigned to Fort Lewis and subsequently deactivated in June 1994 at Fort Ord.
The 7th Infantry Division was reactivated on June 4, 1999, at Fort Carson, Colorado, as the first Active Component/Reserve Component division. The Reserve units that make up the 7th Infantry Division are the 39th Enhanced Separate Brigade of the Arkansas National Guard, the 41st Enhanced Separate Brigade of the Oregon National Guard and the 45th Enhanced Separate Brigade of the Oklahoma National Guard.
Fort Carson is the headquarters for the Division.
