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United States Army Forces Command

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United States Army Forces Command
FORSCOM shoulder sleeve insignia
Active1973–present
Country United States
Branch United States Army
TypeArmy Command
RoleProvide combat-ready army forces to unified combatant commands[1]
Garrison/HQFort Liberty
Motto(s)Freedom's Guardian
WebsiteArmy Forces Command
Commanders
Commanding GeneralGeneral Andrew P. Poppas
Notable
commanders
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia

The United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) is the largest United States Army command. It provides land forces to the Department of Defense's (DOD) unified combatant commands. Headquartered at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, FORSCOM consists of more than 750,000 active Army, U.S. Army Reserve, and Army National Guard soldiers. It was created on 1 July 1973 from the former Continental Army Command, which in turn supplanted Army Field Forces and Army Ground Forces.

The command has formations and units located at 15 installations, including the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California and the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson, Louisiana (the former Fort Polk).

History

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In 1942 the Army was divided between Army Ground Forces; Army Service Forces; and the Services of Supply.

On 30 August 1945, Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall created a board headed by Lieutenant General Alexander M. Patch to review the organization of the War Department. The board submitted its recommendations to the Chief of Staff on 18 October. These were that the technical services be continued, with the Transportation Corps made permanent, and that the Finance Department becoming an eighth technical service. The service commands would be abolished, and their functions transferred to the Armies. The ASF would also be abolished, and its staff sections transferred to the War Department General Staff.[2]

In accordance with these recommendations, on 11 June 1946, Army Service Forces and the nine service commands areas were abolished. The service commands were replaced by six field armies. These six army areas, though similar in name, operated on a functional rather than geographic basis but roughly followed along the old corps area boundaries. Army Ground Forces moved from Washington, D.C. to Fort Monroe.

In March 1948, a thorough reorganization of the Department of the Army created the Office of the Chief of Army Field Forces (OCAFF) at Fort Monroe and placed the armies and installations in the continental United States directly under departmental control.[4] Seven years later, the recommendations of the Davis Committee were implemented, establishing Continental Army Command (CONARC) to carry out both training and operations.

Forces in the United States were split between two new commands, Forces Command and Training and Doctrine Command, in 1973. FORSCOM assumed CONARC's responsibility for the command and collective training of all divisions and corps in the continental U.S. and for the installations where they were based. To do this it had the help of various regional numbered army headquarters, First Army, Fourth Army, Fifth Army, and Sixth Army, at various times. In 1987 FORSCOM was also given the status of a "specified command", almost equal to a unified combatant command, with a broad and continuing mission, but composed solely of Army forces. Like the unified commands, the specified commands reported directly to the JCS instead of their respective service chiefs.[5] Fourth Army cased its colors and was inactivated for the last time in 1991. FORSCOM lost its specified status in 1993.

Sixth Army was headquartered at the Presidio of San Francisco. It was eventually inactivated in June 1995.[6]

In 2004, Fifth Army transferred its Reserve Component preparation obligations to First Army, and became responsible for homeland defense and Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) as United States Army North, the Army Service Component Command of United States Northern Command.

Following the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, FORSCOM Headquarters moved from Fort McPherson, Georgia to a building at what was then Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in June 2011. The Command hosted a "Casing of the Colors" ceremony on 24 June 2011 at Fort McPherson, and an "Uncasing of Colors" on 1 Aug. 2011 at Fort Bragg.

The new[when?] brigade-level formations – armour, infantry, airborne, air assault and Stryker - are more capable.

Active Army and Army Reserve

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FORSCOM currently commands U.S. Army Reserve Command, and First Army, and three Active Army corps.

The United States Army Reserve Command (USARC) is a major subordinate command of FORSCOM. It is headquartered in the same building as FORSCOM at Fort Liberty, N.C.[7] It commands all United States Army Reserve units in the continental United States, except those assigned to Special Operations Command.

First United States Army at Rock Island Army Arsenal, Ill., is responsible for training, mobilization and deployment support to Army Reserve and National Guard units in FORSCOM. It executes missions within the continental United States and Puerto Rico.

FORSCOM also commands three Army corps: V Corps at Fort Knox; III Corps at Fort Cavazos, Texas; and XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. Together the three corps include nine divisions, one cavalry regiment, 37 support brigades of various types, and a range of other corps combat, combat support and combat service support units.

Army National Guard

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The Army National Guard provides Forces Command eight National Guard combat divisions, 15 brigades, and extensive combat support and combat service support units[when?].

The current FORSCOM Army National Guard strength is approximately 351,000 soldiers[when?]. Mobilizing the Army National Guard into active federal service would bring the total strength of FORSCOM to nearly two-thirds of the Army's combat ground forces.[citation needed]

Subordinate units

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Commanders

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Main article: Commanding General, United States Army Forces Command

The current Commanding General is GEN Andrew P. Poppas, who assumed the role in July 2022. The Deputy Commanding General is LTG Paul T. Calvert (since December 2021) and the Command Sergeant Major CSM Todd Sims.

See also

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U.S. Armed Forces operations commands

References

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  1. ^ "About - FORSCOM". Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  2. ^ Millett 1954, pp. 421–425.
  3. ^ Shalett 1946.
  4. ^ Jean R. Moenk, Operation STEADFAST Historical Summary: A History of the Reorganization of the U.S. Continental Army Command (1972-L973), Historical Offices of FORSCOM and TRADOC, Fort MacPherson, GA, 1 October 1974, 1.
  5. ^ JCS (1977), p. 4
  6. ^ Carl Nolte (24 June 1995). "PAGE ONE -- Troops March From Presidio into History". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  7. ^ "FORSCOM Command Team Visits Fort Bragg, New Headquarters Site". army.mil. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  8. ^ Williams 360.
  9. ^ "Air Traffic Services Command". home.army.mil. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
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