1.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
2.
United States Army Europe
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United States Army Europe is an Army Service Component Command of the United States Army. It is responsible for directing US Army operations throughout the United States European Command Area of Responsibility, during the Cold War, HQ USAREUR supervised ground formations primarily focused upon the Warsaw Pact militaries to the east as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisations Central Army Group. Since the Revolutions of 1989, USAREUR has greatly reduced its size, dispatched US forces to Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and increased security cooperation with other NATO land forces. Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed U. S. Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and it was bordered to the south by the North African Theater of Operations, US Army, which later became the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. As the armies advanced, both these zones and the areas into which they were divided would shift forward to new areas of control. The Seventh Army landed on beaches in southern Sicily and captured the city of Palermo on 22 July. During the fighting, the elements of the Seventh Army killed or captured over 113,000 enemy soldiers, the invasion was originally given the code name of Operation ANVIL but was changed to Operation DRAGOON before the landing. In March 1944, Lt. General Alexander Patch was assigned to command the Army which moved to Naples, Italy, on 15 August 1944, Seventh Army units assaulted the beaches of southern France in the St. Tropez and Saint-Raphaël area. Within one month, the Army employing three American Divisions, five French Divisions, and the First Airborne Task Force had advanced 400 miles and had joined with the Normandy forces. In the process, the Seventh Army had liberated Marseilles, Lyon, Toulon, Seventh Army then assaulted the German forces in the Vosges Mountains, broke into the Alsatian Plain, and reached the Rhine River after capturing the city of Strasbourg. During the Battle of the Bulge, the Seventh Army extended its flanks to take much of the Third Army area which allowed the Third to relieve surrounded U. S. forces at Bastogne. Along with the First French Army, the Seventh went on the offensive in February 1945 and eliminated the enemy pocket in the Colmar area. The Seventh then went into the Saar River valley, crossed the Rhine, captured Nuremberg and Munich, crossed the Brenner Pass, when the war ended in Europe on 8 May 1945, the ETOUSA headquarters was located in Versailles, France, just outside Paris. ETOUSA was redesignated Headquarters, United States Forces European Theater on 1 July 1945, within a year rapid redeployments had brought the occupation forces down to fewer than 290,000 personnel, and many of the larger formations had departed or been inactivated. Seventh Army headquarters remained in control of the portion of the American zone. In November 1945, the two army commanders organized district constabularies based on cavalry groups, and on 1 May 1946. Seventh Army was inactivated in March 1946, in Germany, reactivated for a time at Atlanta, Georgia
3.
Kaiserslautern
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Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century and it is 459 kilometres from Paris,117 km from Frankfurt am Main, and 159 km from Luxembourg. Kaiserslautern is home to 98,166 people, additionally, approximately 45,000 NATO military personnel inhabit the city and its surrounding district, and contribute approximately US$1 billion annually to the local economy. The city is home to football club 1. FC Kaiserslautern that has won the German championship four times, prehistoric settlement in the area of what is now Kaiserslautern has been traced to at least 800 BC. Some 2, 500-year-old Celtic tombs were uncovered at Miesau, a town about 29 kilometres west of Kaiserslautern, the recovered relics are now in the Museum for Palatinate History at Speyer. Kaiserslautern received its name from the hunting retreat of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa who ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1155 until 1190. The small river Lauter made the old section of Kaiserslautern an island in medieval times, ruins of Fredericks original castle, built 1152–1160, can still be seen in front of the Rathaus. A second castle, Nanstein Castle, was built at Landstuhl to guard the approach to the city. Barbarossas influence on Kaiserslautern remains today, both in its nickname as a Barbarossa city and the open-mouthed pike on the coat of arms. The Stiftkirche, Kaiserslauterns oldest church, was constructed in 1250–1350, as the population of Kaiserslautern grew, King Rudolf von Habsburg chartered the town in 1276. St. Martins Kirche was built from 1300–1350 for an order of monks, today a section of the original city wall still stands in the courtyard of the church. In 1375, the city of Kaiserslautern was pledged to Electoral Palatinate, in 1519, Franz von Sickingen became the owner of Nanstein Castle. He became a Protestant, and in 1522 Nanstein was a stronghold for local nobles favouring the Reformation, Sickingen and the local nobles began their battle against the Archbishop of Trier, but the attack was unsuccessful, and they retreated to Nanstein. Nanstein was then besieged by cannon-armed German Catholic princes, Sickingen died after the castle surrendered, and the Protestant nobility of the Electoral Palatinate were subdued by the Catholic princes. Count of the Electoral Palatinate Johann Casimir, came to Kaiserslautern during the Thirty Years War, spanish occupation in 1621–1632 ended when Protestant Swedish armies liberated the area. In 1635, however, Croatian troops of the Austrian emperors army entered Kaiserslautern, Landstuhl was saved from a similar fate by surrendering without a fight. It took Kaiserslautern about 160 years to repopulate itself, conflict did not end with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648
4.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
5.
10th Coast Artillery (United States)
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The 10th Coast Artillery Regiment was a Coast Artillery regiment in the United States Army. It primarily served as the Regular Army coast artillery component of the Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Constituted 27 February 1924 as 10th Coast Artillery, and organized 1 July 1924 at Fort Adams from the following Companies- 173rd, 52nd, 97th, 102nd, 110th, 129th, 147th, only Headquarters and Headquarters Battery activated. Batteries C, D, E, and F activated 10 February 1941 at Fort Adams, Battery C assigned to Fort Greene. Batteries D, E, and F assigned to Fort Church, 1st and 2nd Battalions and HHB activated on 25 April 1941. Battery G activated 6 January 1941 at Fort Adams, as searchlight battery, symbolism The blue cross indicates the Civil War service of Battery B, 5th Coast Artillery. It served in the 3rd Division, 6th Army Corps during this conflict, the triton with bow and arrow symbolizes danger rising from the sea, against which the Coast Artillery in its forts must guard. Background The distinctive unit insignia was approved for the 10th Coast Artillery Regiment on 27 February 1926. It was redesignated for the 10th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion on 13 June 1952, crest On a wreath Or and Gules, a triton torque drawing a bow and arrow aimed bendwise Or, above a sea wave Vert in front of a Latin cross couped Azure. Shield The red of the shield signifies Artillery, the anchor is taken from the coat of arms of the old Coast Defenses of Narragansett Bay. Battery D, 10th Coast Artillery claims parentage from Batter C, the latter has no coat of arms but the addition of a canton is made to indicate this parentage, but divided since one battery can claim this parentage. Crest The blue cross indicates the Civil War service of Battery B and it served in the 3rd Division, 6th Army Corps during this conflict. The triton with bow and arrow symbolizes danger rising from the sea, the coat of arms was originally approved for the 10th Coast Artillery on 27 February 1926. It was redesignated for the 10th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion on 13 June 1952, none none Coats of arms of U. S. Air Defense Artillery Regiments Coats of arms of U. S. Historical register and dictionary of the United States Army, from, volume 1 By Francis Bernard Heitman Encyclopedia of United States Army insignia and uniforms By William K. Emerson. Lineage page 123 http, //fortwiki. com/Battery_212 Coast Artillery Journal January 1927 Page 73 Stanton, world War II Order of Battle
6.
Fort Adams
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Its first commander was Captain John Henry, who was later instrumental in starting the War of 1812. The current Fort Adams was built 1824–1857 under the Third System of coastal forts, today, the fort is part of Fort Adams State Park. The first Fort Adams was designed by Major Louis de Tousard of the Army Corps of Engineers as part of the first system of US fortifications. After some additions in 1809, this fort mounted 17 cannon and was garrisoned during the War of 1812 by Woods State Corps of Rhode Island militiamen. The Secretary of Wars report for December 1811 describes the fort as a star fort of masonry, with an irregular indented work of masonry adjoining it. The barracks are of wood and bricks, for one company, after the War of 1812, there was a thorough review of the nations fortification needs and it was decided to replace the older Fort Adams with a newer and much larger fort. This was part of what became known as the system of US fortifications. The new fort was designed by Brigadier General Simon Bernard, a Frenchman who had served as an engineer under Napoleon. Bernard designed the new Fort Adams in the style and it became the most complex fortification in the Western Hemisphere. It included a tenaille and crownwork, an outer work on the southern side, designed to break up. In the US, it is rivaled in size only by Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia, construction of the new fort began in 1824 and continued at irregular intervals until 1857. From 1825 to 1838 construction was overseen by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Gilbert Totten, in 1838 Totten became Chief of Engineers and served until his death in 1864. The new Fort Adams was first garrisoned in August 1841, functioning as an active Army post until 1950, during this time the fort was active in five major wars but never fired a shot in anger. At the start of the Mexican–American War the post was commanded by Benjamin Kendrick Pierce, the forts redoubt, about 1/4 mile south of the main fort, was built during this war. From 1848 to 1853, Fort Adams was commanded by Colonel William Gates, a long serving veteran of both the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. The forts garrison was ordered to California and many of the soldiers lost their lives when the steamer SS San Francisco was wrecked, in a report of 1854 Fort Adams was armed with 100 32-pounder seacoast guns,57 24-pounder seacoast guns, and 43 24-pounder flank howitzers. The flank howitzers were short-barreled guns deployed in casemates in the tenaille to protect the fort against a landward assault, in September 1861, the academy moved to the Atlantic House Hotel in Newport and remained there for the rest of the war. Among the midshipmen assigned to the Naval Academy while it was at Fort Adams was Robley D, in 1862 Fort Adams became the headquarters and recruit depot for the 15th Infantry Regiment
7.
5th Battalion 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment
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The 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an air defense unit of the United States Army. It is currently a unit of the 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command. The 5th Battalion, 7th ADA is headquartered at Smith Barracks in Baumholder, the 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery was originally constituted on 8 March 1898 in the Regular Army as Battery E, 7th Regiment of Artillery. It organized on 31 March 1898 at Fort Slocum, NY and it was reorganized and redesignated on 13 February 1901 as the 75th Company, Coast Artillery, Artillery Corps. It was reorganized and re-designated on 1 July 1924 as Battery E and it inactivated on 1 February 1940 at Fort Dupont, DE. It reactivated on 13 February 1941 at Fort Hancock, New Jersey and it was disbanded on 14 June 1944. That unit was later re-designated on 30 April 1943 as Battery A, 784th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, the consolidated unit was designated as Battery A, 26th Anti-aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, an element of the 24th Infantry Division. It was re-designated on 1 January 1953 as Battery A, 26th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion, the 26th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion meanwhile was relieved on 5 June 1958 from assignment to the 24th Infantry Division. The battalion was activated on 1 September 1958 at Tappan, NY and it was re-designated on 20 December 1965 as the 5th Battalion, 7th Artillery. It inactivated on 30 November 1968 at Tappan, NY and it was re-designated on 1 September 1971 as the 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery. It reactivated on 17 December 1988 at Fort Bliss, TX, on 21 December 1998 Headquarters U. S. Army Europe announced plans to realign its air defense artillery units to comply with the Army’s Patriot Standardization Plan. A Battery, 1st Battalion, 7th ADA was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 7th ADA in Hanau and moved from Rhine Ordnance Barracks to Babenhausen, Germany. F Battery, 6th Battalion, 52nd ADA, located at Ansbach, was assigned to the 5–7th ADA. These units were re-flagged as D Battery and E Battery, 5th Bn, now the battalion is stationed in Kaiserslautern, Germany subordinate to the 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command with five batteries and a maintenance company. Air Defense Artillery Branch U. S. Army Coast Artillery Corps Coats of arms of U. S, Artillery Regiments 357th AMD-D Kaiserslautern Garrison http, //www. history. army. mil/html/forcestruc/lineages/branches/ada/default. htm
8.
United States Army Center of Military History
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The United States Army Center of Military History is a directorate within the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. The center is responsible for the use of history and military records throughout the United States Army. Traditionally, this mission has meant recording the history of the army in both peace and war, while advising the army staff on historical matters. CMH is the organization leading the Army Historical Program. The center traces its lineage back to historians under the Secretary of War who compiled the Official Records of the Rebellion, a similar work on World War I was prepared by the Historical Section of the Army War College. They began publication of the United States Army in World War II series, since then, the Center has produced detailed series on the Armys role in the Korean and Vietnam Wars and has begun a series on the U. S. Army in the Cold War. These works are supplemented by monographs and other publications on a mix of topics and it has expanded its role in the areas of military history education, the management of the armys museum system, and the introduction of automated data-retrieval systems. The centers work with army schools ensures that the study of history is a part of the training of officers, much of this educational work is performed at field historical offices and in army museums. Under the direction of the chief of military history and his principal adviser and those works under way and projected are described in the Army Historical Program, an annual report to the Chief of Staff on the Army’s historical activities. All center publications are listed in the catalog Publications of the United States Army Center of Military History, CMH also serves as a clearinghouse for the oral history programs in the army at all levels of command. It also conducts and preserves its own oral history collections, including those from the Vietnam War, Desert Storm, in addition, the center’s end-of-tour interviews within the Army Secretariat and Staff provide a basis for its annual histories of the Department of the Army. As tangible representations of the mission, military artifacts and art enhance the soldier’s understanding of the profession of arms. CMH manages a system of more than 120 army museums and their holdings, current projects include the establishment of a National Army Museum at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and a complementary Army Heritage and Educational Center at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The Chief of Military History is responsible for ensuring the use of military history in the teaching of strategy, tactics, logistics. This mission includes a requirement that military leaders at all levels be aware of the value of history in advancing military professionalism, in this effort, the chief of military history is assisted by a historical advisory committee that includes leading academic historians and representatives of the army school system. Staff rides enable military leaders to retrace the course of a battle on the ground, as one of the army’s major teaching devices, staff rides are particularly dependent on a careful knowledge of military history. Center historians lead rides directed by the Secretary of the Army and it administers the army’s Command History Program, to provide historical support to army organizations worldwide. To stimulate interest in history in the army and the nation
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army Center of Military History document "10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command Lineage".