Contact: Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs Office

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CAMP DOUGLAS, Wis. — The 32nd “Red Arrow” Infantry Brigade Combat Team will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Red Arrow’s formation during a ceremony July 18 in Camp Douglas, Wisconsin.

The iconic 32nd Division formed from National Guard Soldiers from Wisconsin and Michigan July 18, 1917, and the division’s lineage carries on in the form of today’s 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat team, headquartered at Camp Williams in Camp Douglas.

The centennial commemoration will occur at the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team headquarters, 1 Williams Street, Camp Douglas. Doors open at 10 a.m. for an open house, followed by a historical panel discussion beginning at 10:30 a.m. A formal ceremony begins at 12:30 p.m.

The 32nd Division formed after the United States entered World War I in 1917. The division earned its “Red Arrow” moniker after piercing the famed Hindenburg Line during the First World War, and it played a major role in the Aisne-Marne, Oise-Aisne, and Meusse-Argonne campaigns during the war.

The Red Arrow distinguished itself again in World War fighting in the Pacific Theater in New Guinea and the Philippines.

In 1961, the Red Arrow mobilized to Fort Lewis, Washington, amid simmering tensions with the Soviet Union during the Berlin Crisis.

And in the years following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, the 32nd Infantry Brigade was called upon numerous times to support the global war on terror. Many battalions deployed to Iraq between 2004 and 2007, and the entire brigade deployed to Iraq in 2009. More recently, two detachments of brigade Soldiers deployed to Kuwait in 2014 for base defense operations and cooperative military engagement with regional coalition partners.

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