The Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose
Armed Forces Reserve Center is Dedicated
Over 300 attend ceremony on December 10, 2011,
in Middletown, Connecticut

See TV News Video
Additional video coming soon.

More about the Center & Maj. Gen. Rose

Above: 3AD WWII Association Secretary, Rev. Walter Stitt, speaks to the crowd about Maj. Gen. Rose's accomplishments and legacy.

Where is the November, 2011, WWII Newsletter?

Our next WWII Newsletter, originally planned for last November, will instead be published and mailed by March 5, 2012. It will also be available as a free PDF download from our home page. Our apologies for this delay, which is the result of two factors: (1) the need to include information on the long-delayed dedication of the Maj. Gen. Rose Reserve Center, and (2) our webmaster & editor being temporarily "out of action" from mid-December through January due to lung surgery and a period of rehab. (He's doing fine.)

Available as a download:  May 2011 WWII Newsletter
NOTE: This is a 44-page 16MB PDF download that can take between
30 secs. to 6 min., depending on your computer and Internet connection.

Special Note: As of January 2, 2012, there had been
3,858 downloads of this May 2011 Newsletter.

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Remarkable News & a Tribute to Spearhead:
The Army's top three ranked Generals today
are former 3rd Armored Division officers.

Enlarge above photos with text

4-Star Generals, left to right: Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was Executive Officer (XO) of 3AD's 3rd Brigade in Operation Desert Storm; Gen. Raymond Odierno, Chief of Staff of the Army, served as XO of 3AD's 2nd Bn, 3rd Field Artillery in late Cold War, then as XO of Division Artillery in Operation Desert Storm; Gen. Peter Chiarelli, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, served in the 3AD during 1985-88, including 1/33 Armor and as Bn S-3 of the 4-8 Cav where he was considered the behind-the-scene "brains" of Spearhead's historic victory (by D-4-8 Cav) at NATO's 1987 CAT tank gunnery competition. (Photo montage by 3AD.com)

3AD VIDEO SECTIONS - a collection of 103 Spearhead-related films with more coming -

World War II

Operation Desert Storm

Cold War

Interviews of WWII Vets

>>  NEW: 3AD Gulf War Videos by Bud Onstad  <<

Now available as free downloads:
"The Last Push" & "The Last Request"

Two books compiled by Bill and Lale Ruth of the fascinating details of 3rd Armored Div. WWII veterans returning to their old European battlegrounds in 1992 & 1994. Full of great text and photos! NOTE: Patience please. These are 68-page & 219-page PDF's respectively, and each about 60MB in size. Downloading can take between 1 min. and 8 min., depending on your computer and Internet connection.

DIVISION TRIBUTE
by 3AD.com Web Staff
To Print

After fifty years of honored service to the nation, beginning in 1941, the 3rd Armored Division (3AD) was inactivated, or retired, in 1992 following the end of the Cold War. Budget cuts by the U.S. Defense Department did what no armed enemy could ever do. The 3AD, of course, was not the primary reason for the U.S. victory in WWII in Europe, or in the Cold War, or in Gulf War I. In each case, the 3AD was a single cog in a vast and complex U.S. military machine. But one tough and most special cog it was. Of the fifteen U.S. armored divisions in Europe in World War II, the 3AD saw the most combat, inflicted the most damage, and took the most casualties. Under legendary commander Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose, it became known as the "Spearhead" Division of the American First Army. During four decades of the Cold War, the Division was NATO's primary point-guard for the critical Fulda Gap in West Germany. As one historian wrote, the 3AD "stood eyeball-to-eyeball against the forces of the Soviet Union." And in 1990-91, the Division left its German bases for action in the Persian Gulf War, attacking deep into Iraq as a lead element of the U.S. 7th Corps. The 3AD was, at that time, and remains to this day, the largest U.S. division ever assembled. Yet is the Division really gone forever? Is the era permanently fading for the massive self-contained division with combined armor, infantry, artillery, and aviation? No one can say for sure. But, given the unexpected twists and turns of world geopolitics and as yet unpredictable new military challenges, the Spearhead colors stand ready to ride again -- in a leaner and even more powerful high-tech form. The 3AD may be retired, but its enduring legacy and long colorful history has few equals among all U.S. military units, past and present. This foundation and website is dedicated to that legacy and that history, and to the veterans who served with Spearhead -- over 40,000 soldiers in WWII & early occupation of Germany; 220,000 in the Cold War with the defense of Western Europe; and 22,533 in the Gulf War's Operation Desert Storm of 1991.