Immediately following the Armistice in November 1918, the U.S. Army experienced its first significant victory on the world stage. Yet despite the peace declared in Europe, thousands of American soldiers remained deployed in far-flung and challenging environments. In northern Russia, for example, soldiers found themselves fighting in the bitter coldContinue Reading
The development of the U.S. Army into a formidable expeditionary force reflects the challenges and adaptations it encountered during key conflicts from 1846 to 1898. The Mexican-American War, the American Civil War, and the Spanish-American War collectively tested the Army’s ability to extend its reach into new territories and manageContinue Reading
“We [are] facing a great trouble.” These were the words purportedly spoken by President John F. Kennedy to his brother, Robert F. Kennedy on the morning of Tuesday, 16 OCT 1962. It has widely been popularized as the closest the world had ever been to destruction, or as Arthur Schlesigner,Continue Reading
In June 1944, all eyes were on Europe as the Allies executed one of the most brilliant landings in France, signaling the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. However, the end of the war was far from certain in the Pacific. By 1945, preparations had begun for an operationContinue Reading
The Cold War was fraught with wonder, ingenuity, and a certain sense of mysterious danger as the two superpowers entered a stalemate of weapon development competition and stockpiling. Advancement in nuclear power, propulsion systems, and so much more led its development to the Cold War. It was within this periodContinue Reading
In 1996, the Army War Reserve Support Command (AWRSPTCMD) was created under the Industrial Operations Command (IOC). The primary mission of the AWRSPTCMD was to unify the field support and reserve components controlled by IOC under a single command structure. This gave control of the Combat Equipment Groups (CEGs) toContinue Reading
The modern incarnation of Army War Reserves (AWR) traces its history to the former Army War Reserve Support Command (AWRSPTCMD). More than just a jumbling of letters in an acronym, the AWRSPTCMD is the forerunner to one of the current core missions of the modern Army Sustainment Command (ASC). AWRSPTCMDContinue Reading
In the days leading up to February of 1991, the U.S. military was posturing itself with Allies in the Persian Gulf to sustain and support a peacekeeping operation and the liberation of Kuwait. By 8 AUG 1990, U.S. forces were already in the region ready to offload materiel into portsContinue Reading
We have all heard the saying before: “No plan ever survives the first contact.” Sometimes that plan goes so awry that it no longer maintains its operational integrity. Unfortunately—or fortunately—for the German forces invading France in 1914, their operational plans worked only in theory. Much like the American Rainbow PlansContinue Reading
Following the defeat of the Axis Powers in World War II, the Allies established their own occupational jurisdictions within Germany. There were six jurisdictions for the old German territory, but four made up the core of Germany. The United Kingdom occupied the northwest quarter, the French a sliver of theContinue Reading
