The 98th Training Division’s lineage reaches back to the constitution and organization of the 98th Division in July and October 1918, too late for the unit to see action in World War I. Called into active service as the 98th Infantry Division during World War II, the unit was assigned the defense of the Hawaiian Islands and was slated to take part in the planned invasion of Japan; following the Japanese surrender, it was deployed to Japan in late September 1945 and served occupation duty until it was inactivated on 16 February 1946.
It wasn’t until 2004 that the Division would again be deployed overseas, this time in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as part of the Foreign Army Training Assistance Command. For its role in training the new Iraqi Army and Iraqi Security Forces in 2004 and 2005, the 98th Division (Institutional Training) was honored with an Army Superior Unit Award. Today, the unit is designated the 98th Training Division (Initial Entry Training) and headquartered at Fort Moore (formerly known as Fort Benning) in Georgia.
The 98th Training Division Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, also called a unit patch, was approved on 24 April 1967 while the unit was designated the 98th Division (Training) and pays tribute to its roots in upstate New York. The shield mimics the one found on the Great Seal of the state of New York, and the colors of orange and blue are from the Dutch House of Nassau, a patron family that settle on the Hudson River in the colony of New Amsterdam (later New York). An Iroquois chief in profile wears five feathers, reflecting the five tribes of the Iroquois: Cayugas, Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, and Senecas).
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