10th Mountain Division (Military Power)

First activated as the 10th Light Division (Alpine) in 1943 and most recently deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 10th Mountain Division has more than half-a-century’s service as an elite force fighting for its country.  10th Mountain Division takes us through this military combat unit’s history and its most recent missions, personnel, and equipment.  Military historian and journalist Fred J. Pushies follows the 10th Mountain Division from its first action in Italy in late 1944 (when Bob Dole served in its ranks) to its return to service training soldiers for the Korean War and work on NATO defense bases throughout Germany; from its reactivation during the Reagan military build-up of the 1980s to its deployment for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm; from its role in disaster relief in Florida after Hurricane Andrew and during the famine in Somalia to its current service in Afghanistan and Iraq.  More than any ever written, his book provides a true sense of what it means to be a part of this elite division.