Shoulder sleeve insignia[1] On 20 August 1921, as a result of lessons learned from World War I, the US Army Adjutant General constituted the 1st and 2d Cavalry Divisions to meet future mobilization requirements.

As part of the Protective Mobilization Plan, the division was reserved for activation at Fort Riley, Kansas, but due to manpower constraints it never reached full strength.

The 2nd received the appropriate number of cavalry regiments, but units providing the organic support and service troops remained unfilled.

Split between Fort Riley and Camp Funston, Kansas, neither post having adequate facilities for the division's horse cavalry, personnel shortages continued, and divisional elements were activated using provisional assets.

The division, now organized with horses, scout cars, jeeps and motorcycles, spent most of the rest of the summer training with its new equipment.

At the close of these maneuvers the 2nd Cavalry Division returned to Kansas, having prevailed with Blue Forces still forty miles from the city.

The exercise ended when the divisional military police unit seized the governor who feigned a surrender of the state.

The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor triggered fears of assaults on the west coast and invasion threats from south of the border.

Constantly called on to provide cadres for new units, the 9th and 10th Cavalry routinely lost veteran personnel and received untrained recruits.

As the number of black personnel entering the Army rose, the need for segregated units for these soldiers to join also increased.

Black community leaders, reacting against the criticism of the performance of African Americans in combat units, protested the possible conversion of the division.

The division was never engaged in combat and was instead assigned to construct airfields for the Tuskegee Airmen in North Africa and perform garrison and supply duties there.