page_title: 10th Mountain Division
section_title: Operation Restore Hope
hierarchical_section_title: 10th Mountain Division / History / Contingencies / Operation Restore Hope
caption_attribution_description: English: Members of 10th Mtn. Div, with President George Bush in Somalia, 1993.
context_page_description: The 10th Mountain Division is a light infantry division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division is the only one of its size in the US military to receive intense specialized training for fighting in mountainous and arctic conditions. More recently, the 10th Mountain has been conducting operations in Iraq, advising and assisting Iraqi Security Forces.
  Originally activated as the 10th Light Division in 1943, the division was redesignated the 10th Mountain Division in 1944 and fought in the mountains of Italy in some of the roughest terrain in World War II. On 5 May 1945 the Division reached Nauders, Austria, beyond the Resia Pass, where it made contact with German forces being pushed south by the U.S. Seventh Army. A status quo was maintained until the enemy headquarters involved had completed their surrender to the Seventh. On the 6th, 10th Mountain troops met the 44th Infantry Division of Seventh Army.
  Following the war, the division was deactivated, only to be reactivated and redesignated as the 10th Infantry Division in 1948.
context_section_description: On 3 December 1992, the division headquarters was designated as the headquarters for all Army Forces (ARFOR) of the Unified Task Force (UNITAF) for Operation Restore Hope. Major General Steven L. Arnold, the division Commander, was named Army Forces commander. The 10th Mountain Division's mission was to secure major cities and roads to provide safe passage of relief supplies to the Somali population suffering from the effects of the Somali Civil War.
  Due to 10th Mountain Division efforts, humanitarian agencies declared an end to the food emergency and factional fighting decreased. When Task Force Ranger and the SAR team were pinned down during a raid in what later became known as the Battle of Mogadishu, the 10th Mountain Division provided infantry for the UN quick reaction force sent to rescue them. The 10th Mountain Division had two soldiers killed in the fighting, which was the longest sustained firefight by regular US Army forces since the Vietnam War. The division began a gradual reduction of forces in Somalia in February 1994, until the last soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry returned to the United States in March 1994.
caption: Members of the 10th Mountain Division with President George H. W. Bush, January 1993.
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