page_title: 50th Armored Division (United States)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: 50th Armored Division (United States) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: 50th Armored Division with Jersey Blues Tab. The 50th Armored Division inherited the "Jersey Blues" nickname from the 44th Infantry Division after World War II. The 50th Armored used the nickname until the 1960s, when it became a multi-state division.
context_page_description: The 50th Armored Division was a division of the Army National Guard from July 1946 until 1993.
context_section_description: 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 bi-state organization comprised:
  Headquarters, 50th Armored Division (Somerset, New Jersey)
  104th Engineer Battalion HQ & HQ, Co.A, Co.B, Co.C, Co.E (bridge) Teaneck, New Jersey. Co.D, Vermont
  5th Squadron, 117th Cavalry
  150th Aviation Battalion (UH-1 & AH-1 Hueys) (later 1st Battalion, 150th Aviation)
  1st Brigade (Woodbridge, New Jersey)
  2nd Brigade (Cherry Hill, New Jersey)
  86th Brigade (Montpelier, Vermont)
  Division Artillery (Trenton, New Jersey)
  Division Support Command
  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'. 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 got M60A3 medium tanks.
caption: 50th Armored Division with Jersey Blues Tab, used from the 1940s to the 1960s
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