The U.S. Military Academy announced today, on the 3rd Infantry Division’s 106th birthday, it’s football team will don “Rock of the Marne” uniforms for the 124th Army-Navy Game. The game will take place Dec. 9, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

“The Rock of the Marne Division is thrilled to have been chosen as the honored division by West Point for this year’s Army-Navy game,” said Maj. Gen. Chris Norrie, the 3rd Infantry Division commanding general, “It is fitting that this news comes on this historic division’s birthday – as proud Dogface Soldiers we say; Go Army, Beat Navy!”

The football uniform visually tells the story of the soldiers of the 3rd ID during the opening phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and the Marne Division’s participation in the initiation of offensive operations in Iraq, the longest and most rapid armored advance since the Second World War.

The 3rd ID’s success hinged upon its ability to seize and maintain the initiative against a determined adversary in harsh and unforgiving terrain. The Dogface Soldiers of the 3rd ID accomplished this feat through the clear application of the U.S. Army’s characteristics of the offensive: surprise, concentration, audacity, and tempo.

This is the eighth season that Army Football and the USMA history department have collaborated with Nike on the specialty uniform for the Army-Navy Game.

The 3rd ID was organized at Camp Greene, North Carolina, Nov. 21, 1917. The division earned the designation “Rock of the Marne” at the Marne River near Chateau-Thierry on July 15, 1918.

When flanking units retreated, then division Commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Dickman, told our French Allies “Nous Resterons La” (we shall remain here). The 3rd ID has participated in every major conflict, thus becoming the most decorated division in the Army with a total of 62 Medal of Honor recipients.