In November 1939, two months after World War II broke out in Europe, during the Soviet Union's invasion of Finland, Red Army efforts were frustrated following the destruction of two armored divisions by Finnish soldiers on skis.

[4] The conflict caught global attention as the outnumbered and outgunned Finnish soldiers were able to use the difficult local terrain to their advantage,[5] severely hampering the Soviet attacks and embarrassing their military.

[24] It was equipped with vehicles specialized in snow operation, such as the M29 Weasel,[27] and winter weather gear, such as white camouflage and skis specifically designed for the division.

[1] Also in November, the division received a new commander, Brigadier General George Price Hays, a Medal of Honor recipient and a distinguished veteran of World War I.

[38] By 8 January, the 86th Infantry had moved to Bagni di Lucca near Mount Belvedere [it] in preparation for an offensive by the Fifth Army to capture the mountain along with surrounding high ground, which allowed the Axis to block advances to Po Valley.

[39] Preliminary defensive actions in mid-February were followed by Operation Encore, a series of attacks in conjunction with troops of the 1st Brazilian Infantry Division, to dislodge the Germans from their artillery positions in the Northern Apennines on the border between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna regions, in order to make possible the Allied advance over the Po Valley.

[42] On 5 March, while Brazilian units captured Castelnuovo, the 85th and the 87th Infantry took respectively Mount Della Spe and Castel D'Aiano, cutting the Axis routes of resupply and communication into the Po Valley, setting the stage for the next Fifth Army offensive.

[42] After an amphibious crossing of Lake Garda, it secured Gargnano and Porto di Tremosine, on 30 April, as German resistance in Italy ended.

[2] Between the 2nd and Victory in Europe Day on 8 May the 10th Mountain Division received the surrender of various German units and screened areas of occupation near Trieste, Kobarid, Bovec and Log pod Mangartom, Slovenia.

[42] The division moved to Udine on 20 May and joined the British Eighth Army in preventing further westward movement of ground forces from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

[46] In July, the Department of War assigned the 10th Mountain to the Pacific theater; after a month's furlough the men would assemble at Camp Carson, where they would train for Operation Downfall, the invasion of mainland Japan.

[51] Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida on 24 August 1992, killing 13 people, leaving another 250,000 homeless, and causing damages in excess of $20 billion.

[78] Division soldiers set up relief camps, distributed food, clothing, medical necessities, and building supplies, as well as helping to rebuild homes and clear debris.

[78] Due to 10th Mountain Division efforts, humanitarian agencies declared an end to the food emergency and factional fighting decreased.

The 10th Mountain Division had two soldiers killed in the fighting, which was the longest sustained firefight by regular U.S. Army forces since the Vietnam War.

[54] The division began a gradual reduction of forces in Somalia in February 1994, until the last soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry returned to the United States in March 1994.

[79] The division's mission was to create a secure and stable environment so the government of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide could be reestablished and democratic elections held.

[82] The Army responded that, though the 10th Mountain Division had been unprepared following its deployment as Task Force Eagle, that the unit was fully prepared for combat by late 2000 despite being undermanned.

The division headquarters arrived at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, under Major General Franklin L. Hagenbeck, on 12 December 2001 to function as the Combined Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) (Forward).

During that time, they operated in the frontier regions of the country such as Paktika Province, going to places previously untouched by the war in search of Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces.

The division and brigade served in the eastern region of the country, along the border with Pakistan, fulfilling a similar role as it did during its previous deployment.

In January 2009, the 3rd BCT instead deployed to Kunar, Logar and Wardak Provinces, eastern Afghanistan to relieve the 101st Airborne Division, as part of a new buildup of US forces in that country.

[100] The brigade was responsible for expanding forward operating bases and combat outposts (COPs) in the region, as well as strengthening US military presence in preparation for additional US forces to arrive.

Notably, elements of the regiment were responsible for numerous large-scale engagements, including The Battle of Shahabuddin[103] and securing a High-Value Target (HVT) after an air assault raid.

[citation needed] The 3rd Brigade Combat Team deployed to Kandahar Province, southern Afghanistan in March 2011, again relieving the 101st Airborne Division.

During this deployment, 3rd BCT mainly occupied forward operating bases (FOBs) and combat outposts (COPs) in the Maywand, Zhari, and Arghandab Districts of Kandahar Province.

[112] Between late summer and early fall 2015, as well as again in 2016, 1,250 soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team were deployed to Iraq to support Operation Inherent Resolve.

[122] As Maurice Isserman notes in his book The Winter Army, "The 10th Mountain Division was the only unit in the history of the US military to use wartime skills to promote a civilian pastime.

Among these are anthropologist Eric Wolf,[124] mathematician Franz Alt,[125] avalanche researcher and forecasting pioneer Montgomery Atwater,[126] Congressman Les AuCoin, mountaineer and teacher who helped develop equipment for the 10th Mountain Robert Bates, noted mountaineer Fred Beckey,[127] United States Ski Team member and Black Mountain of Maine resort co-founder Chummy Broomhall,[128] former American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc. Bill Bowerman,[129] former executive director and Sierra Club leader David R. Brower,[130] former United States Ski Team member World War II civilian mountaineer trainer H. Adams Carter, former Senate Majority Leader and Presidential candidate Bob Dole,[131] champion skier Dick Durrance, ski resort pioneer John Elvrum,[132] Norwegian-American skier Sverre Engen, fashion illustrator Joe Eula, Olympic equestrian Earl Foster Thomson, civilian founder of the National Ski Patrol Charles Minot Dole,[80] painter Gino Hollander, Paleoclimatologist John Imbrie,[133] theoretical physicist Francis E. Low,[134] US downhill ski champion Toni Matt,[135] falconer and educator Morley Nelson, comic book artist Earl Norem,[136] founder of National Outdoor Leadership School and The Wilderness Education Association Paul Petzoldt, world downhill ski champion Walter Prager, demolition derby driver Joshua Tagliaboschi, retired broadcasting executive William Lowell Putnam III, Massachusetts Governor Francis W. Sargent, World War II civilian ski instructor and division trainer Hannes Schneider, founder of Vail Ski Resort Pete Seibert, actor and Olympic medalist Floyd Simmons, historian and author Page Smith,[137] members of the famous von Trapp family singers Werner von Trapp and Rupert von Trapp,[138] Rawleigh Warner, Jr., chairman and CEO of Mobil, civilian technical adviser Fritz Wiessner,[139] William John Wolfgram,[140] Olympic Ski jumper Gordon Wren, Massachusetts Congressional candidate Nathan Bech,[141] leader of Chalk 4 during the Battle of Mogadishu Matt Eversmann,[142] Middle East analyst, blogger, and author Andrew Exum, and author Craig Mullaney.

[150] Among the division's other appearances are the Tom Clancy novel Clear and Present Danger,[151] the 2004, War Of The Worlds remake, the 2005 SCI FI film Manticore,[152] 2010 remake starring Keanu Reeves, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Sean Parnell's 2012 war memoir, Outlaw Platoon, about his platoon's experiences in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom,[153] the 2019 action adventure video game Days Gone, with the game's main protagonist, Deacon St. John, referencing his time spent with the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan.