[1][2]: 374  As originally conceived, the division was to consist of National Guard units from the States of Delaware, New Jersey and New York, and was to form part of the Second Corps Area.

The division was assembled for the first time in August 1935 when it participated in the First and Second Corps Area phase of the First Army Maneuvers at Pine Camp, New York.

The 44th Division’s last major training event before induction was the First Army maneuver involving the provisional I, II, and III Corps near Canton, New York, in August 1940.

[6] The division was en route to New Jersey on 7 December 1941, returning to Fort Dix when news was heard of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

[7]: 131 [9] The division moved by railroad to Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts, arriving on 24–27 August 1944;[10] departing the United States via the Boston Port of Embarkation on 5 September 1944.

[7]: 131 The 44th Infantry Division landed in France via Cherbourg Naval Base, 15 September 1944, and trained for a month before entering combat, 18 October 1944, when it relieved the 79th Division in the vicinity of Foret de Parroy, east of Lunéville, France, to take part in the Seventh Army drive to secure several passes in the Vosges Mountains.

[11] Displacing to defensive positions east of Sarreguemines, 21–23 December, the 44th threw back three attempted crossings by the enemy of the Blies River.

Shifting to the west bank of the Main, the division crossed that river at Gross-Auheim in early April, and engaged in a 3-week training period.

After a short period of occupation duty, the division returned to the United States in July 1945 for retraining prior to redeployment, but the end of the Pacific war resulted in inactivation in November 1945 at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas.