The Hawaiian Division was constituted in the Regular Army on 1 February 1921 and activated at Schofield Barracks, Territory of Hawaii, on 1 March 1921.

In April of that year, the Hawaiian Division participated in large-scale joint Army–Navy maneuvers, which included protecting the islands from an invasion force provided by the U.S. Marine Corps.

The Hawaiian Division was known as a “spit and polish” outfit in the interwar Army, and there was a lot of time to conduct drill and ceremonies.

The most well-known honoree at a Hawaiian Division review, however, was President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he visited Schofield Barracks on 26 July 1934.

By the late 1930s, the idyllic existence of the Hawaiian Division was fast coming to an end as tensions increased between the United States and Japan.

The Divisions were on Oahu, with headquarters at Schofield Barracks, and suffered minor casualties when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.