103rd Infantry Division ( United States ) The 103d Infantry Division ( " Cactus Division " ) was a unit of the United States Army in World War II . World War II . Combat chronicle . The 103d Infantry Division was activated on 15 November 1942 , and after nearly two years of training , departed the United States for Europe on 11 September 1944 . The division arrived at Marseilles , France , 20 October 1944 . It relieved the 3d Division at Chevry on 8 November , and attacked west of St . Dié , 16 November , in its drive through the Vosges Mountains . Meeting heavy resistance all the way , it crossed the Meurthe River , took St . Dié , 23 November and captured Diefenbach on 29 November and Selestat on 4 December . The division crossed the Zintzel River at Griesbach , 10 December 1944 . Pushing through Climbach , the 103d crossed the Lauter River into Germany , 15 December , and assaulted the outer defenses of the Siegfried Line . On 22 December , the division moved west to the Sarreguemines area where an active defense was maintained . The enemy offensive did not develop in its sector and the 103d moved to Reichshofen , 14 January 1945 , to take up positions along the Sauer River . On 15 January , General Anthony " Nuts " McAuliffe was redeployed from the Battle of the Bulge and given command , which he retained until July 1945 . Defensive patrols were active and a limited attack on Soufflenheim on 19 January was repulsed by the enemy . On 20 January , the division withdrew to the Moder and repulsed German advances near Muehlhausen , 23 – 25 January . The 103d ' s offensive began , 15 March 1945 . Crossing the Moder and Zintzel Rivers and taking Muehlhausen against sharp opposition , the division moved over the Lauter River and penetrated the defenses of the Siegfried Line . As German resistance disintegrated , the 103d reached the Rhine Valley , 23 March , and engaged in mopping up operations in the plain west of the Rhine River . In April 1945 , it received occupational duties until 20 April when it resumed the offensive , pursuing a fleeing enemy through Stuttgart and taking Münsingen on 24 April . On 27 April , elements of the division entered Landsberg , where Kaufering concentration camp , a subcamp of Dachau , was liberated . The men of the division crossed the Danube River near Ulm on 26 April . On 3 May 1945 , division captured Innsbruck , Austria with little to no fighting . The 103d linked up with the 88th Infantry Division which had been fighting its way north , up the Italian peninsula at the Brenner Pass over the Italian / Austrian border . After Victory in Europe Day the division received occupational duties until it left for home and inactivation . It returned to the continental U . S on 10 September 1945 , and was inactivated on 22 September 1945 . Post war . The 103rd was activated as a reserve division on 7 May 1947 in Des Moines , Iowa and its combat elements were reorganized and redesignated as the 205th Infantry Brigade and the 103rd Operational Headquarters in February , 1963 . The 103rd Operational Headquarters was redesignated 103rd Command Headquarters ( Divisional ) in June 1963 . In December , 1965 the unit was reorganized as the 103rd Support Brigade . In September 1977 the unit was redesignated and reorganized as the 103rd Corps Support Command ( COSCOM ) , the first Corps Support Command in the US Army Reserve . On 15 September 1993 the 103rd COSCOM inactivated . The 103d COSCOM inactivation was followed by creation of two new reserve units : 19th Theater Army Area Command ( CONUS ) and 3d COSCOM ( CONUS ) . On 14 February 2006 the 103rd was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 103rd Sustainment Command . The 103rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command was activated as a reserve command effective 16 September 2006 . The division shoulder patch is worn by the United States Army Reserve 103rd Sustainment Command ( Expeditionary ) .