Active 1947–68 Branch United States Army Size Division | Country United States Type Infantry Nickname(s) "Ironfist Division" | |
The 46th Infantry Division was a formation of the Michigan Army National Guard active between 1947 and 1968. It was initially headquartered at Lansing. Many of its units had previously been part of the 32nd Infantry Division. It was converted to the Reorganization Objective Army Division (ROAD) structure in March 1963. The Division's 2nd Brigade was assigned to the Selected Reserve Force, a higher-readiness component of the ARNG, in 1965. Virtually the entire division was involved in responding to the 12th Street riot in Detroit in July–August 1967.
The 1968 reductions of the Army National Guard, initiated by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara who felt that fifteen divisions were too many, reduced the division to the 46th Infantry Brigade, which was allocated to the 38th Infantry Division. In 1985 the Brigade, headquartered at Wyoming, Michigan, consisted of the 1–125 Infantry Regiment, the 3-126 Infantry, and the 1–225 Infantry Regiment.