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The Transportation Corps is a
combat service support The term combat service support (or CSS) is utilized by numerous military organizations throughout the world to describe entities that provide direct and indirect sustainment services to the groups that engage (or are potentially to be engaged) ...
branch of the
U.S. 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, cl ...
. It is responsible for the movement of personnel and material by truck, rail, air, and sea. It is one of three U.S. Army
logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...
branches, the others being the
Quartermaster Corps Following is a list of Quartermaster Corps, military units, active and defunct, with logistics duties: * Egyptian Army Quartermaster Corps - see Structure of the Egyptian Army * Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στ� ...
and the Ordnance Corps. The Corps was established in its current form on 31 July 1942, with predecessor services dating back to the American Civil War. Currently headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia, it is the second-largest branch of the Army.USATCFE Overview
The officer in charge of the branch for doctrine, training, and professional development purposes is the Chief of Transportation (COT), a position currently held by Brigadier General James M. Smith. The Corps's motto is "Nothing Happens Until Something Moves" (https://transportation.army.mil/).


History


Early history


Civil War

During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
, transportation proved to be an integral part of military logistics through the organization of railroads as a viable and efficient means of military transportation. The US Army centralized the management of rail into the
United States Military Railroad The U.S. Military Railroad (USMRR) was established by the United States War Department as a separate agency to operate any rail lines seized by the government during the American Civil War. An Act of Congress of 31 January 1862 authorized Presi ...
(USMRR). The Army Quartermaster purchased eight
City-class ironclad The Pook Turtles, or City-class gunboats to use their semi-official name, were war vessels intended for service on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. They were also sometimes referred to as "Eads gunboats." The labels are ap ...
s on the Mississippi River in February 1862, a full month before the ''USS Monitor'' and ''CSS Virginia'' set sail. City Point, Virginia in 1864 would become the largest port operation in the Western Hemisphere in 1864. By 1864, five of the nine divisions in the
Quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In ...
Department dealt exclusively with transportation. The
Army Transport Service The United States Army Transport Service (ATS) was established as a sea-going transport service that was independent of the Navy Department. ATS operated army transport ships for both troop transport and cargo service between United States ports ...
was one of the divisions that was responsible for land and water transport. A substantial number of battles were won because of the field commander's ability to swiftly and effectively move troops and supplies. Most wounded soldiers were carried away in a banana-shaped cart called a gondola.


Spanish–American War

During the
Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...
, the task of mobilizing and deploying a largely volunteer force to
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
and the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
magnified the need for a separate transportation service within the Quartermaster Department. Army transporters worked with both the civilian railroads and the maritime industry to pull together a successful intermodal operation.


World War I

The
American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought along ...
that deployed to France during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
emphasized the need for a single transportation manager. William W. Atterbury, a former railroad executive, was commissioned as a
brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...
and appointed as the Director-General of Transportation and a separate
Motor Transport Corps The Motor Transport Corps (M.T.C.) was formed out of the United States Army Quartermaster Corps on 15 August 1918, by General Order No. 75. Men needed to staff this new corps were recruited from the skilled tradesmen working for automotive man ...
of the National Army was established to manage trucks on 15 August 1918. Th
United States Army School for Truck Drivers
had been established by 9 July 1918; and the Transportation Corps of the AEF was abolished after the war, The M.T.C. subsequently conducted
Transcontinental Motor Convoy The Transcontinental Motor Convoys were early 20th century vehicle convoys, including three US Army truck trains, that crossed the United States (one was coast-to-coast) to the west coast. The 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy from Washington, ...
s in 1919 and 1920.


World War II

On 9 March 1942 the Transportation Service was established as part of the Services of Supply. In March 1942, the transportation functions were consolidated into the Transportation Division of the newly created Services of Supply. On 31 July 1942, the Transportation Service became the Transportation Corps. By the end of the war the Transportation Corps had moved more than 30 million soldiers within the continental United States; and 7 million soldiers plus 126 million tons of supplies overseas. From the beginning in England in late May 1942, the Transportation Corps operations in the ETO were directed by Major General Frank S. Ross who had been selected by Maj. Gen.
John C. H. Lee John Clifford Hodges Lee (1 August 1887 – 30 August 1958) was a career US Army engineer, who rose to the rank of lieutenant general and commanded the Communications Zone (ComZ) in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. A gra ...
, Commanding General, Services of Supply (after the D-Day Invasion called the Communications Zone, or Com-Z), European Theater of Operations. One of the greatest feats of the Transportation Corps, via the Military Railway Service, was the rebuilding of France's shattered railroad network after D-Day and the transportation of 1,500
locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...
s and 20,000
railway cars A railroad car, railcar ( American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is ...
specially built for the lighter French track system starting With D-Day +38. To speed the process, and avoid delays caused by French channel ports and docks destroyed by the retreating Germans, the Transportation Corps brought the heavy railroad stock across the channel and across the beaches in specially built LSTs. As allied forces rapidly advanced across France in the summer of 1944, a special transportation operation nicknamed the
Red Ball Express The Red Ball Express was a famed truck convoy system that supplied Allied forces moving quickly through Europe after breaking out from the D-Day beaches in Normandy in 1944. To expedite cargo shipment to the front, trucks emblazoned with red ...
was carried out. The Red Ball Express provided around the clock truck convoys from allied held ports to supply troops on the front in a giant, one-way loop. There were other lesser known truck-route express operations: the Green Diamond Express operated out of Cherbourg due south, to serve the forces advancing on Brittany and Brest. Later the White Ball Highway Express operated out of Le Havre to the same depots served by the Red Ball. Later still, the A B C Highway moved men and supplies from the Belgian port of Antwerp to the front. The story of the Red Ball Express was told in the 1950s movie ''Red Ball Express''. There was a short lived television series in the early 1970s named '' Roll Out'' which focused on the experiences of a fictional African American motor transportation unit involved with the Red Ball Express.


Cold War

The Cold War between the United States and the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
extended from 1945 into 1991, spanning the Gulf War. When the Soviet Union cordoned off the city of Berlin in 1948, the Transportation Corps played a vital role in sustaining the city. Two years later, on 28 June 1950, President Harry S. Truman established the Transportation Corps as a permanent branch of the Army.


Korean War

During the
Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...
, the Transportation Corps kept the UN Forces supplied through three winters. By the time the
armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...
was signed, the Transportation Corps had moved more than 3 million soldiers and 7 million tons of cargo.


Vietnam War

The
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
saw the most diversified assortment of transportation units ever assembled. For over a decade the Transportation Corps provided continuous support for American and allied forces through an unimproved tropical environment using watercraft, amphibians, motor trucks and Transportation Corps aircraft. The enemy threat to convoys required a unique solution - gun trucks. On 31 July 1986, the Transportation Corps was inducted into the U.S. Army Regimental System.


Gulf War

In 1990 the Transportation Corps faced one of its greatest challenges with the onset of the
Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
. During
Operation Desert Shield The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
and
Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...
, the Transportation Corps working out of ports on three continents demonstrating its ability to deploy and sustain massive forces.


Post Cold War

Operations in
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...
, Rwanda,
Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...
,
Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...
, and
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
have also seen the deployment of large numbers of transportation units.


Operation Enduring Freedom

When the coalition forces invaded Afghanistan, the Transportation Corps opened up the air line of communication into the country and until 2008, a single movement control battalion managed all logistics in Regional Command-East. As the number of brigade combat teams increased in Afghanistan in 2006, the Transportation Corps began ground convoy operations.


Operation Iraqi Freedom

The 143rd Transportation Command opened the port and supported the push to Baghdad in March 2003. After Baghdad fell in April, the maneuver operation matured into a sustainment operation with a hub and spoke supply line. Once the enemy began attacking convoys, the truck drivers responded with an age old solution of hardening trucks with steel and adding machine guns thus making gun trucks and convoy security a permanent part of Transportation doctrine. No matter how great the threat, the Transportation Corps delivered the goods. During Operation New Dawn, the Transportation Corps was responsible for retrograding all the equipment out of Iraq by the December 2012 deadline.


Bases of operations

When it was established in 1942, it was based at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Headquarters were moved to Fort Lee starting in 2010. At the time, only seven
Military Occupational Specialty A United States military occupation code, or a military occupational specialty code (MOS code), is a nine-character code used in the United States Army and United States Marine Corps to identify a specific job. In the United States Air Force, a sy ...
(MOS) courses were being taught at the new Fort Lee Transportation School. For example, Cargo Specialist (MOS 88H), Watercraft Operator (MOS 88K) and Watercraft Engineer (MOS 88L) training remained at Fort Eustis, which is the main housing of the Army's Watercraft. Railway training for Army Reserve soldiers (MOSs 88P, 88T, and 88U) and Army civilian employees also remained at Fort Eustis, as there are only warehouse tracks and no railway system available for training at Fort Lee. Motor Transportation Operator (truck driver, MOS 88M) training is conducted at
Fort Leonard Wood Fort Leonard Wood is a U.S. Army training installation located in the Missouri Ozarks. The main gate is located on the southern boundary of The City of St. Robert. The post was created in December 1940 and named in honor of General Leonard W ...
, Missouri.


Transportation battalions


See also

*
List of ships of the United States Army During World War II the U.S. Army operated approximately 127,800 watercraft of various types.) Those included large troop and cargo transport ships that were Army-owned hulls, vessels allocated by the War Shipping Administration, bareboat cha ...
* United States Transportation Command *
List of transportation units of the United States Army This is a List of transportation units of the United States Army from the Transportation Corps. Brigades Battalions Transportation Motor Transport Battalion The transportation motor transport battalion is designed to support the movement of pe ...
* Fort Story *
Fort Eustis Military Railroad The Fort Eustis Military Railroad is an intra-plant United States Army rail transportation system existing entirely within the post boundaries of the United States Army Transportation Center and Fort Eustis (USATCFE), Fort Eustis, Virginia. It ...
*
Logistics Proponency Office The Logistics Proponency Office (formerly the Office of the Chief of Transportation) is the personnel office for the Transportation Corps, the combat service support of the United States Army. Located at Fort Eustis in Virginia, the Office is ...
* :United States Army locomotives *Transportation Corps insigni


References


External links


Destination Berlin: The Transportation Corps
(World War II history booklet) *
70 Years of the Transportation Corps
Richard E. Killblane Richard Eldon Killblane (born April 15, 1955) is an American military historian, author and martial arts instructor. A West Point grad in 1979 and a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School. He has served in the U. S. Army and became an Intelligen ...

The Institute of Heraldry: 385th Transportation BattalionThe Transportation Corps


Further reading

*Durie, William. ''The United States Garrison Berlin 1945-1994 (Mission Accomplished)''. (Amazon.com)published 2014.A chronicle of the US military presence in Berlin. *Bykofsky, Joseph and Harold Larson. ''The Transportation Corps: Operations overseas'' (covers WW2) Center of Military History, United States Army, 2003 671 page
Google link
*Grover, David H. ''US Army Ships and Watercraft of World War II''. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis Maryland, 1987 *King, Benjamin, Richard C. Biggs, and Eric R. Criner. ''Spearhead of Logistics, a History of the United States Transportation Corps.'' Fort Eustis, Virginia: US Transportation Center (1994). *Waddell, Steve R. ''United States Army Logistics: From the American Revolution to 9/11'' (ABC-CLIO, 2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Transportation Corps 1942 establishments in the United States Transport ships of the United States Army Military logistics of the United States Branches of the United States Army Military railways Transportation units and formations of the United States Army