Honored Division Week #1: Army West Point Football wears 10th Mountain Division patch on helmet to open 2026 season

As Army West Point Football opens its 2026 season against Bryant Sept. 5 at Michie Stadium, the Black Knights will honor the 10th Mountain Division as the season’s first Honored Division.

Throughout the season, Army players will wear division patches on the backs of their helmets to recognize the history, accomplishments and continued service of Army divisions. This week, players will wear the 10th Mountain Division patch, representing the Fort Drum, New York-based division and its generations of Soldiers.

10th Mountain Division History When Army hits the field Saturday with the 10th Mountain Division patch on the back of their helmets, it will respect a division that was activated in July 1943 as the Alpine Division, which was the only division with a mountain focus in the U.S. Army.

During World War II, the division fought in Italy and Austria. Years later, the division has served in Somalia, Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2001, units from the 10th Mountain Division have deployed more than 30 times in support of the Global War on Terrorism.

Following the Russo-Finnish War of 1939-1940, where Finnish Soldiers on skis used the terrain and weather to their advantage to defeat the better-armed Soviet troops, Charles “Minnie” Dole, the President of the National Ski Patrol advocated for the creation of a U.S. ski and mountain unit.

The first exclusively trained mountain battalion in the Army was the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment. As the battalion formed, it attracted the best skiers in the country.

The division comprised of the 85th, 86th and 87th Infantry Regiments during World War II. They were fielded with special gear to include skis, winter camouflage and winter equipment as well as vehicles designed for operating in snowy conditions. The Soldiers trained for skiing and mountain climbing.

After a period of activation and then deactivation, the division was activated again on Feb. 13, 1985, at Fort Drum as the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) with the 1st Brigade. The 2nd Brigade was originally activated at Fort Benning, Georgia, and then moved to Fort Drum in 1988.

Notable members of the division throughout the years include George Price Hays, a World War I Medal of Honor recipient, who commanded the division in Europe during World War II, after the division’s first commander, Lloyd E. Jones, who supervised the organization and training, fell ill.

Famed Army West Point Football player, Bill Carpenter, who was known as “The Lonesome End,” commanded the 10th Mountain Division from February 1985 to April 1988.

The 2004 Thayer Award recipient Bob Dole served in the 10th Mountain during World War II where he was severely wounded. Former West Point Commandant of Cadets, retired Maj. Gen. Diana Holland, served as the division’s deputy commanding general of support, and former West Point Superintendent, retired Lt. Gen. Franklin “Buster” Hagenbeck, served as the commanding general of the 10th Mountain Division from 2001-03.

Bill Bowerman, the renowned University of Oregon track and field coach who later co-founded Nike with Phil Knight, also served with the 10th Mountain Division in Italy during World War II, earning a Silver Star and four Bronze Stars.

From the 10th Mountain Division to West Point Lt. Col. Paul Belmont, assistant professor and personnel officer in the Department of History and War Studies at West Point, spent much of his career with the 10th Mountain Division. He served as the Forward Support Company commander for 2nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment; the division commander’s Aide-De-Camp; the 3rd Brigade Spartans Brigade Logistics Team chief; and 1st Brigade Warriors Brigade S-4.

Belmont chose to serve in the 10th Mountain Division because it offered him a chance to command and he found out it was an excellent unit for its connectedness.

“The winter bonds everyone into an experience that is unique and singular, and anyone who has lived in the North Country is bonded by going to the range and digging out a place to shoot,” Belmont stated. “I’ve got to know the (10th Mountain) Association well as I did the reunions up at Whiteface Mountain. I make pilgrimages to the many hills. It’s a community that has existed beyond World War II, beyond the existence of the division and thrives within its reinstatement.”

Belmont said he can’t fully articulate in a few words what the 10th Mountain Division has meant to his career.

“I stood up a company from nothing during the Brigade transformation, built it, trained it and deployed with it to Afghanistan,” Belmont said.

He returned to Fort Drum after a tour at West Point to do his key development time as a major with 1st and 3rd Brigades, and it is truly what he calls ‘home.’

“I have owned two homes in Watertown, I love North Country,” said Belmont, who has rented those homes to many 10th Mountain Soldiers. “I loved being a Knight Hawk, a Spartan and a Warrior. I went back to Iraq with my GO and back to Afghanistan as an Iron Major.”

He is proud to be a part of the most deployed division in the Army, which is also the only light infantry division, while also seeing the growth of Watertown and living with the legacy of skiing, which is hugely important to his family.

As the football team wears the division patch on Saturday, Belmont is reminded of being at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Dec. 9, 2017, for the Army-Navy Game where Army wore white uniforms honoring the 10th Mountain Division’s history. Army won in dramatic fashion as the Black Knights scored late to take a 14-13 lead, and then Navy’s kicker missed the possible game-winning field goal on the last play of the game.

“Standing in the Linc in Philadelphia and feeling it bounce under my feet with a bunch of guys who had just got back from a tour in Afghanistan with 3rd Brigade, and watch Army beat Navy in the 10th Mountain white uniforms in the snow was one of the best sporting experiences I have ever witnessed,” Belmont articulated. “Football is fun. I love the sport. However, I don’t know that I could have easily forgiven the team if they lost that game.”

Belmont is a youth ski racing coach at Victor Constant Ski Slope at West Point, and the roots of that love go back to his time at Fort Drum.

“I think there is still an incredible sense of love of the winter and the cold, and being out in it could only seem like heaven,” Belmont said.

Belmont recently hosted his former first sergeant, now a retired command sergeant major, and his daughter, who now commands an infantry company. Spending time with them, along with his own sons who are pursuing careers as Army officers, reinforced the lasting relationships he built during his time at Fort Drum.

“It’s a unit, it’s a mission, but it’s also a family and a lifestyle,” Belmont concluded.

Class of 2029 Cadet Osberto Gomez-Santana served for three years as a combat medic with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum before coming to West Point. He reached the rank of sergeant and served in several roles, including ambulance driver, line medic and health care sergeant. His experiences as a medic inspired him to major in biology and continue pursuing his medical education.

In his time in the division, wearing the 10th Mountain patch meant “honoring and continuing the traditions of the most deployed division of the 21st century.”

“One of the first things I learned after receiving orders to Fort Drum was the division’s high OPTEMPO,” Gomez-Santana said. “I came prepared to spend nights and months away from the comfort of my room and to improve my skills whenever possible. It felt cathartic during my patching ceremony to finally have the privilege of wearing the patch on my right shoulder.”

His fondest memories of his time in the division came during his deployment to Syria in 2025. His artillery platoon was attached to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, and during that time he was able to care for the Soldiers and educate them on its support site.

“I was working with hundreds of people, and that experience gave me a much greater sense of responsibility and gave me an appreciation to get the little things right,” Gomez-Santana explained. “The experience also formed lasting relationships that I’ve kept to this day.”

Gomez-Santana said his most rewarding experience at Fort Drum was serving as a team leader, where he had the opportunity to mentor and develop the Soldiers in his unit.

“I was able to guide my Soldier, Pvt. Castillo, throughout Expert Field Medical Badge (EFMB) as soon as he got to the unit,” Gomez-Santana stated. “I believed in him through the entire process and was able to guide him through our rigorous course of instruction. He surprised me not only with his dedication to improve, but his reluctance to accept anything less than being perfect.”

Castillo passed all three testing days with perfect scores and was one of the fastest medics during the ruck march. He earned the title of “Top Doc” out of 150 other candidates.

“It was a privilege to be there for every step of that journey,” Gomez-Santana expressed. “I am currently a team leader to a plebe here and I’m relishing the fact that I get to be in this position again. My time with the 10th Mountain has molded me into the leader I would want to have.”

Gomez-Santana will be sitting in the stands Saturday cheering on his fellow cadets who are trying to earn their first win of the season. With that, he will also be filled with a sense of pride that they will represent a division on their helmets that he proudly served as a prior-enlisted Soldier.

“Having Army Football honor the 10th Mountain Division is meaningful because the patch represents both the Soldiers who built the division’s history and the Soldiers who are serving under it today,” Gomez-Santana said. “The currently deployed Soldiers and those preparing to deploy deserve the recognition for the sacrifices they are making for this country. Honoring the patch on gameday also exposes the division to the Corps of Cadets and allows them to see the ranks they may one day join.”

(Editor’s note: 10th Mountain Division historical knowledge was provided by Dave Siry, the Director for the Center of Oral History at the U.S. Military Academy.)

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