The Fifth Corps Area was a military district of the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
from 1920-21 to the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The Fifth Corps Area included the states of Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Eventually it became Fifth Service Command on 22 July 1942, and then Fifth Service Command was disestablished in 1946.
Fifth Corps Area was established on 20 August 1920 with headquarters at
Fort Benjamin Harrison
Fort Benjamin Harrison was a U.S. Army post located in suburban Lawrence Township, Marion County, Indiana, northeast of Indianapolis, between 1906 and 1991. It is named for the 23rd United States president, Benjamin Harrison.
History
In 1901, ...
, Indiana, and organized from parts of the discontinued
Central Department
Central () is a department in Paraguay. The capital is Areguá. With 2,243,792 inhabitants, it is the most populated and the smallest of the 17 departments of Paraguay.
Boundaries
*North: the departments of Cordillera and Presidente Hayes
*Wes ...
. The headquarters was transferred to
Fort Hayes
Fort Hayes is a military post in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Created by an act of the United States Congress on July 11, 1862, the site was also known as the Columbus Arsenal until 1922, when the site was renamed after former Ohio Governor ...
,
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, on 20 June 1922.
The headquarters was responsible for the units of the
Second
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
and
Fifth Armies, the
V Army Corps (5th,
37th, and
38th Divisions) and
XV Army Corps (83rd, 84th,
100th Infantry Divisions), select General Headquarters (GHQ) Reserve units, and Zone of the Interior support units of the Fifth Corps Area Support Command.
In 1925 Air Service elements included the Air Service Officer,
Fort Benjamin Harrison
Fort Benjamin Harrison was a U.S. Army post located in suburban Lawrence Township, Marion County, Indiana, northeast of Indianapolis, between 1906 and 1991. It is named for the 23rd United States president, Benjamin Harrison.
History
In 1901, ...
, Indiana; the Divisional Air Service,
5th Division with the
88th Observation Squadron
The 436th Training Squadron is a non-flying training squadron of the United States Air Force. The 436th Training Squadron, located at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, is a geographically separated unit (GSU) within Air Combat Command’s 552nd Air ...
at
Wilbur Wright Field
Wilbur Wright Field was a military installation and an airfield used as a World War I pilot, mechanic, and armorer training facility and, under different designations, conducted United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces flight testing. Loc ...
, Ohio (Major
Hugh J. Knerr), and the associated 7th Photo Section.
["United States Army Air Service Posts," ''U.S. Army Recruiting News, A Bulletin of Recruiting Information Issued by the Direction of the Adjutant General of the Army'', February 15, 1925]
Mobile units of the corps area, less GHQ Reserve and Z.I. units, were assigned to the Second and Fifth Armies from 1921 to 1933. With the adoption of the four field army plan on 1 October 1933, the units of the Fifth Corps Area were reassigned to the Second Army, GHQ Reserve, or demobilized.
Headquarters Company, V Corps was withdrawn from the Organized Reserve on 1 October 1933 and allotted to the Regular Army. At the same time, the Corps HQ was partially activated at
Fort Hayes
Fort Hayes is a military post in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Created by an act of the United States Congress on July 11, 1862, the site was also known as the Columbus Arsenal until 1922, when the site was renamed after former Ohio Governor ...
, OH, with Regular personnel from HQ, Fifth Corps Area, and Reserve personnel from the corps area at large. Though an Regular Army, Inactive, unit from 1927 to 1940, the Corps HQ was organized provisionally for short periods using its assigned Reserve officers and staff officers from HQ, Fifth Corps Area. These periods of provisional Active Duty were generally for command post exercises and major maneuvers. HQ, V Corps was fully activated on 20 October 1940, less Reserve personnel, at
Camp Beauregard, LA, and thus passed outside the Fifth Corps Area.
The Fifth Corps Area Training Center was established in 1921, originally at Camp Knox, KY (redesignated Fort Knox
Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository, which is used to house a large portion of the United States' official gold res ...
in 1932), to train R.A. and O.R. units of all arms and services, as well as ROTC
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces.
Overview
While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...
cadets and CMTC candidates. With the inactivation of the Fifth Corps Area Training Center in October 1922, Camp Knox became the primary training center for corps area infantry, cavalry, and field artillery units.
When the V Corps was inactivated on 15 November 1924, a Headquarters, Non-Divisional Group, was established to direct the organization, training, and administration of all nondivisional units. The HQ, Artillery Group was established on 5 September 1925
at Cincinnati, OH, to direct the organization, training, and administration of all nondivisional field artillery and coast
artillery antiaircraft units. The corps area was further reorganized into four “military areas” on 28 September 1932. At that time, the Ohio Mil. Area assumed control of the 83d Div. area, the Indiana Mil. Area assumed control of the 84th Div. area, the West Virginia Mil. Area assumed control of the 100th Div. area less Kentucky, and the Kentucky Mil. Area assumed control of Kentucky elements of XV Corps, 100th Division, and the 64th Cavalry Division.
..HQ, Fifth Corps Area actually began functioning as a service command headquarters in October 1940 and was redesignated HQ, Fifth CASC in May 1941. It was further redesignated HQ, Fifth Service Command on 22 July 1942.[Clay 2010, Volume I, p.48.]
Commanders 1920−1934
*Maj. Gen.
George W. Read 20 August 1920–29 August 1922
*Brig. Gen.
Dwight E. Aultman 29 August 1922–4 October 1922
*Maj. Gen.
James H. McRae 4 October 1922–7 February 1924
*Brig. Gen. Dwight E. Aultman 8 February 1924–12 July 1924 (second appointment)
*Maj. Gen.
Omar Bundy
Major General Omar Bundy (June 17, 1861 – January 20, 1940) was a career United States Army officer who was a veteran of the American Indian Wars, Spanish–American War, Philippine–American War, Pancho Villa Expedition, and World War I.
A n ...
12 July 1924–17 June 1925
*Brig. Gen. Dwight E. Aultman 17 June 1925–16 July 1925 (third appointment)
*Maj. Gen.
Robert L. Howze 16 July 1925–19 September 1926
*Brig. Gen. Dwight E. Aultman 19 September 1926–10 June 1927 (fourth appointment)
*Maj. Gen.
Dennis E. Nolan 10 June 1927–30 November 1931
*Maj. Gen.
Hugh A. Drum
Hugh Aloysius Drum (September 19, 1879 – October 3, 1951) was a career United States Army officer who served in World War I and World War II and attained the rank of Lieutenant General (United States), lieutenant general. He was notable for hi ...
3 December 1931–22 February 1933
*Brig. Gen.
George H. Jamerson 22 February 1933–23 March 1933
*Maj. Gen.
George V. H. Moseley 26 March 1933–12 January 1934
The final commander was then Lieutenant General
Daniel Van Voorhis
Daniel Van Voorhis (October 24, 1878 – January 9, 1956) was a United States Army lieutenant general and was noteworthy for his assignments as commander of V Corps and the Caribbean Defense Command, as well as his efforts in creating the Army's ...
in 1941-42.
Source:
References
*
*{{cite book, first = Lt. Col. Steven E., last = Clay, title = US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 Vol. 3: The Services: Air Service, Engineers, and Special Troops Organizations, year = 2010c , location =
Command and General Staff College
The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...
, Kansas, publisher = Combat Studies Institute Press, url = http://www.cgsc.edu/carl/download/csipubs/Clay/Ord_Battle_Vol3.pdf, isbn = 978-0-9841901-4-0, accessdate = 2011-09-20, url-status = dead, archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110813095953/http://cgsc.edu/carl/download/csipubs/Clay/Ord_Battle_Vol3.pdf, archivedate = 2011-08-13
5
Military units and formations established in the 1920s
Military units and formations disestablished in 1941