The 30th Armored Division was a Tennessee-based unit of the Army National Guard from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Activation and service
In 1954 the 30th Infantry Division was reorganized, with units in North Carolina and South Carolina constituting the 30th Infantry Division, and units in Tennessee forming the nucleus of the new 30th Armored Division.
Though never federalized during wartime, the 30th Armored Division (called "Volunteers," for Tennessee's "Volunteer State" nickname) was activated for support to law enforcement, including responses to civil disturbances in Memphis and Nashville after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
In 1968 the headquarters of the Mississippi Army National Guard's 108th Armored Cavalry Regiment was reorganized as 1st Brigade, 30th Armored Division. (The brigade was subsequently designated the 155th Separate Armored Brigade.) In addition, in 1968, units from the Florida Army National Guard and Alabama Army National Guard formerly part of the 31st Infantry Division also became part of the 30th Armored Division.
The 30th Armored Division was inactivated in December, 1973.
Commanders
The following officers served as commander of the 30th Armored Division:
- MG Paul H. Jordan, 1954-1957
- MG Robert E. Frankland, 1957-1959
- MG Warren C. Giles, 1959-1962
- MG Clarence B. Johnson, 1962-1963
- MG William R. Douglas, 1963-1966
- MG Thomas G. Wells Jr., 1966-1968
- MG Hugh B. Mott, 1968-1969
- MG Glynn C. Ellison, 1969-1971
- MG Carl M. Lay, 1971-1973
- MG John M. Calhoun, 1973
Lineage
During its existence the 30th Armored Division was never deployed as an organization, and received no combat honors. Several members volunteered individually to join regular Army units during the Vietnam War.
The 30th Armored Division's lineage was carried by the Tennessee Army National Guard's 30th Armored Brigade until the brigade's inactivation in 1996.
References
