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On 25 June 1950 the 3rd Infantry Division was split between Fort Benning, Georgia, and Fort Devens, Massachusetts. The division had its headquarters plus the 15th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning while 7th Infantry Regiment was at Fort Devens. There was a third regiment, the 30th Infantry Regiment, but this unit was a zero strength and existed only on paper because at that time, due to downsizing and funding, most Army divisions had only two active regiments with each regiment having only two active battalions instead the three the Table of Organization and Equipment (TO&E) specified. This also extended down to the battalions who would often have only two infantry companies instead of the specified three plus a heavy weapons company.
The 3rd Infantry Divisions situation became even worse when within days of the Korean War’s beginning, a battalion from both the 7th Infantry Regiment and the 15th Infantry Regiment were taken from the division and sent to South Korea to become part of the 1st Cavalry Division as was the division’s 73rd Tank Battalion and 41st Field Artillery Battalion. Be this as it was, the 3rd Infantry Division received deployment orders for the Far East Command in early July. At this time, the 65th Infantry Regiment from Puerto Rico was added to the division and sent directly to Korea while the rest of the under-strength division left for Japan on 20 August 1950 where it was built up to full strength.
It deployed to South Korea on 10 November 1950 to link up the 65th Infantry Regiment who was already there. Once on the ground in Korea it became part of U.S. X-Corps.
The division returned to the United States in October 1954.
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