Elements of the 28th Infantry Division trace their lineage back to 1747, when Benjamin Franklin organized his battalion of Associators in Philadelphia - one of the earliest citizen-soldier formations in American history. Today, that proud lineage continues through the 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment, a Stryker-equipped unit of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, carrying forward more than two and a half centuries of service.

Other units within the division originated during the American Revolutionary War, including Troop A, 1st Squadron, 104th Cavalry, organized on November 17, 1774, and the 109th Artillery Regiment, formed on October 17, 1775, as the 24th Connecticut Militia. These formations served as part of George Washington's Continental Army, helping secure the nation's independence.