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.
Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
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The Distinguished Service Cross is equivalent to the Navy Cross, the Air Force Cross, and the Coast Guard Cross. The Distinguished Service Cross was first awarded during World War I, in addition, a number of awards were made for actions before World War I. Others were belated recognition of actions in the Philippines, on the Mexican Border, the Distinguished Service Cross is only awarded for actions in combat, while the Distinguished Service Medal has no such restriction. A cross of bronze,2 inches in height and 1 13⁄16 inches in width with an eagle on the center, on the reverse side, the center of the cross is circled by a wreath with a space for engraving the name of the recipient. The act or acts of heroism must have been so notable and have involved risk of life so extraordinary as to set the individual apart from his or her comrades, the following are authorized components of the Distinguished Service Cross, Decoration, MIL-D-3943/4. NSN 8455-00-246-3827 for individual replacement medal, additional awards of the Armys Distinguished Service Cross are denoted with oak leaf clusters. The Distinguished Service Cross was established by President Woodrow Wilson on January 2,1918, the request for establishment of the medal was forwarded from the Secretary of War to the President in a letter dated December 28,1917. The Act of Congress establishing this award, dated July 9,1918, is contained in 10 U. S. C, the establishment of the Distinguished Service Cross was promulgated in War Department General Order No. The Distinguished Service Cross was originally designed by J. Andre Smith, the Distinguished Service Cross was first cast and manufactured by the United States Mint at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The die was cast from the design prepared by Captain Aymar E. Embury II. Upon examination of the first medals struck at the Mint, it was considered advisable to make minor changes to add to the beauty. Due to the importance of the element involved in furnishing the decorations to General Pershing. These medals were furnished with the provision that these crosses be replaced when the supply of the design was accomplished. 10 U. S. C. §3991 provides for a 10% increase in retired pay for enlisted personnel who have retired more than 20 years of service if they have been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Order of precedence and wear of decorations is contained in Army Regulation 670-1, Policy for awards, approving authority, supply, and issue of decorations is contained in AR 600-8-22. During World War I,6,309 awards of the Distinguished Service Cross were made to 6,185 recipients, several dozen Army soldiers, as well as eight Marines and two French Army officers, received two Distinguished Service Crosses. A handful, mostly aviators, were decorated three or more times, fellow aviators Douglas Campbell, also of the 94th, and Frank ODriscoll Monk Hunter of the 103rd Aero Squadron each received five. Another 94th aviator, Reed McKinley Chambers, was awarded four Distinguished Service Crosses, Edward Peck Curtis, also of the 95th Aero Squadron received the Distinguished Service Cross as a First Lieutenant
3.
9th Engineer Battalion (United States)
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The 9th Engineer Battalion is a unit of the United States Army that deploys to designated contingency areas and conducts combat and/or stability operations in support of a brigade combat team. It is a mechanized combat engineer unit, composed of three line companies and a headquarters company. Its mission is to provide assured mobility, counter-mobility, general engineering and it is most famous for the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge across the Rhine River. As of 18 May 2015, the battalion exists as the 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion in Fort Stewart, GA under 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, the crest was approved by the Department of the Army and the 9th Engineer Battalion on 27 July 1967. All the symbols reflect the initial service in the southwest United States. The wreath under the Gila monster is the Corps of Engineer wreath, the Gila monster represents service along the Gila River and the southwest desert from 1917-1920. The ship anchor and oars are the Coat of Arms from 9Es original parent unit, the horse head represents service as Mounted Engineers and Armored Engineers. The wavy chevron running across the shield represents service along the Rio Grande from 1917-1920, the lone star on the bottom represents service in Texas from 1917-1921. The motto Asistiremos was added in 1925, meaning We Will Assist in Spanish, the battalion was constituted 15 May 1917 in the Regular Army as the 2nd Battalion Mounted Engineers. They were organized 21 May 1917 at Camp Newton D. Baker, El Paso, Texas, the 9th spent its first years in El Paso while serving at Camp Stewart, Texas. After World War I, the battalion was declared inactive except for A Company, from 1923 to 1936, A Company provided vital training and infrastructure support to the Cavalry School first as a unit of the 2nd Cavalry Division and later as Troop A, 9th Engineer Squadron. The performance of Troop A during this period established a tradition of excellence for the 9th Engineer Squadron as a cavalry unit. The platoon leader during a significant portion of that period was 1LT Samuel D. Sturgis, following the outbreak of World War II, the battalion was activated as the 9th Armored Engineer Battalion, part of the 9th Armored Division. The battalion fought in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, in the battle, B Company operated under Combat Command B of the 9th Armored Division and figured prominently in the Battle of St. Vith. B Company prepared three bridges for demolitions, one in Steinbruck and two in and around Galhausen, of the 3, only one required demolition. The B Company Commander was captured on 22 December 1944 when the 27th AIB CP Aid Station was overrun, the Company suffered 10 casualties during the Battle of the Bulge, five men missing in action, and five men wounded in action. The Company lost one half track, seven 2 ½ ton trucks, one ¾ ton weapons carrier, C Company figuring prominently in the defense of Bastogne, for which the company was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. They are credited with blocking six roads from the south and east of Bastogne from 20–27 December, in the Battle of the Bulge, they suffered three KIA, three died of wounds,11 missing in action,12 wounded in action
4.
Ludendorff Bridge
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At the end of Operation Lumberjack, the troops of the American 1st Army approached Remagen and were surprised to find that the bridge was still standing. Its capture enabled the U. S. Army to establish a bridgehead on the side of the Rhine. After the U. S. forces captured the bridge, German forces tried to destroy it multiple times until it collapsed on March 17,1945, ten days after it was captured, killing 28 U. S. Army Engineers. While it stood, the bridge enabled the U. S. Army to deploy 25,000 troops, six Army divisions, with tanks, artillery pieces and trucks. The towers on the west bank were converted into a museum, Remagen is located close to and south of the city of Bonn. The town of Remagen had been founded by the Romans about 2,000 years earlier, the town had been destroyed multiple times and rebuilt each time. Under the Schlieffen Plan, a bridge was planned to be there in 1912, as well as bridges in Engers. German General Erich Ludendorff was a key advocate for building this bridge during World War I and it was designed to connect the Right Rhine Railway, the Left Rhine Railway and the Ahr Valley Railway and carry troops and supplies to the Western Front. It was designed by Karl Wiener and it was constructed between 1916 and 1919, using Russian prisoners of war as labor, and carried two railway lines and two pedestrian catwalks on either side. Work on the pillars and arches was done by leading construction companies Grün & Bilfinger with the steel bridge built by MAN-Werk Gustavsburg. The railway bridge had three spans, two on either side 85 metres long and an arch span of 156 metres. It had dual tracks that could be covered with planks to allow vehicular traffic, the steel section was 325 metres long, and it had an overall length of 398 metres. On the eastern bank the railway passed through Erpeler Ley, a rising hill over 500 feet high. The tunnel was 383 metres long, the arch at its highest measured 28.5 metres above the water. It was normally about 48 feet above the Rhine, the 4,640 tonnes structure cost about 2.1 million marks when it was built during World War I. The towers were designed with fighting loopholes for troops, from the flat roof of the towers troops had a good view of the valley. To protect the bridge, both a unit and a military police unit were assigned to the site. The designers had also built cavities into the piers where demolition charges could be placed
5.
Battle of Remagen
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The Battle of Remagen during the Allied invasion of Germany resulted in the unexpected capture of the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine and possibly shortened World War II in Europe. After capturing the Siegfried Line, the 9th Armored Division of the U. S, First Army had advanced unexpectedly quickly towards the Rhine. They were very surprised to see one of the last bridges across the Rhine still standing, the Germans had wired the bridge with about 2,800 kilograms of demolition charges. When they tried to blow it up, only a portion of the explosives detonated, U. S. forces captured the bridge and rapidly expanded their first bridgehead across the Rhine, two weeks before Operation Plunder. The GIs actions prevented the Germans from regrouping east of the Rhine, the battle for control of the bridge caused both the American and German forces to employ new weapons and tactics in combat for the first time. Over the next 10 days, the Germans used virtually every weapon at their disposal to try to destroy the bridge and this included infantry and armor, howitzers, mortars, floating mines, mined boats, a railroad gun, and a giant 540 mm super-heavy mortar. They also attacked the bridge using the newly developed Arado Ar 234 B-2 turbojet bombers, the Americans counted 367 different German Luftwaffe aircraft attacking the bridge over the next 10 days. The Americans claimed to have shot down nearly 30% of the aircraft dispatched against them, on 14 March, German Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler ordered Schutzstaffel General Hans Kammler to fire V2 rockets to destroy the bridge. This marked the first time the missiles had been used against a tactical objective, the 11 missiles launched killed six Americans and a number of German citizens in nearby towns, but failed to damage the bridge. When the Germans sent a squad of seven naval demolition swimmers wearing Italian underwater breathing apparatus, for the first time in combat, they had deployed the top-secret Canal Defence Lights which successfully detected the frogmen in the dark, and they were all killed or captured. The sudden capture of a bridge across the Rhine was front page news in American newspapers, the Allies were able to rapidly transport five divisions across the Rhine into the Ruhr, Germanys industrial heartland. The bridge had endured months of bombing, direct artillery hits, near misses. It finally collapsed at 3,00 PM on 17 March, twenty-eight American Engineers were killed and 63 were wounded. But by then U. S. Army combat engineers had finished building a tactical steel treadway bridge, over 25,000 troops crossed into Germany before the Americans broke out of the bridgehead on 25 March 1945. This was 18 days after the bridge had been captured, German and American military authorities agreed that capturing the bridge shortened the war. The Ludendorff Bridge was not rebuilt following World War II, romans originally built a settlement at Remagen in the first century AD. Over that long period of time, it had been destroyed multiple times by invading armies from several nations, the town was rebuilt each time. In March,1945 about 5,000 people lived in the resort town
6.
Fort Leonard Wood
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Fort Leonard Wood is a United States Army installation located in the Missouri Ozarks. The main gate is located on the boundary of St. Robert. The post was created in December 1940 and named in honor of General Leonard Wood in January 1941, originally intended to train infantry troops, in 1941 it became an engineer training post with the creation of the Engineer Replacement Training Center. During World War II Italian and German POWs were interned at the fort, in 1984, as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, most of the U. S. Army Engineer Schools operations were consolidated at Fort Leonard Wood. Before that, officer training was conducted at Fort Belvoir Virginia, the current commanding general is Major General Kent D. Savre and the command sergeant major is Command Sergeant Major Roy Ward. However, after a time the change of name was successfully challenged by US legislators from Pennsylvania where George G. Meade hero of Gettysburg was from. This left the name Leonard Wood unused and available for when the current base was built in 1941, the installation has historically had a training role under TRADOC rather than a FORSCOM role dating back to its origins in World War II as an engineer replacement training post. During the Gulf War, the 5th Engineer Battalion from the fort saw action in the Middle East, the 4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade was activated at the fort on 2 October 2008 and was inactivated June 17,2015. The Maneuver Support Center of Excellence offers Basic Combat Training for most non-combat arms soldiers and it also provides non-combat engineer MOS training, OSUT for combat engineers and bridging engineers, and AIT for military police. All training is gender integrated as is Fort Jackson, newly commissioned second lieutenants in the CBRN, Engineer, and Military Police branches attend the Basic Officer Leader Course Phase B at the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence. Waynesville Regional Airport at Forney Field serves the community with air service, even though it is on Fort Leonard Wood, it is jointly run by the cities of Waynesville and St. Robert, and is available for civilian use by private pilots and scheduled commercial passenger service. Names for U. S. Route 66 vary – at different places, it is called Teardrop Road, Highway Z, Old Route 66, Historic Route 66, state-posted signs mark most of the alignment of the road. Route 7 runs north from Interstate 44 exit 150 about three miles west of Buckhorn to Richland, then out of the county toward the Lake of the Ozarks region. Route 17 crosses Interstate 44 at exit 153 at Buckhorn, runs east through Waynesville, turns north to Crocker, Highway T runs north from Highway 17 at Waynesville to Swedeborg, where it meets and ends at Highway 133 about halfway between Richland and Crocker. Route 28 crosses Interstate 44 at exit 163 at the edge of St. Robert, runs north through Dixon. It was used as a Civil War hospital for Union troops who were garrisoned above the city in Fort Wayne, the Old Courthouse Museum in downtown Waynesville is near the Old Stagecoach Stop. The Elbow Inn is a bar that is a frequent stop on the original U. S. Route 66 alignment. Fort Leonard Wood also has its own post utility railway connecting to the railway system
7.
Tennessee Army National Guard
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The Tennessee Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Armys available combat forces, National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau. Tennessee Army National Guard units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army, the same ranks and insignia are used and National Guardsmen are eligible to receive all United States military awards. The Tennessee Guard also bestows a number of awards for local services rendered in or to the state of Tennessee. State lawmakers set up the conditions under which the force would operate. Tennessee was among the first states to offer her full quota of soldiers for the Spanish–American War, the equipped Tennessee Guard units were mobilized. Four regiments were created, but only the 1st and 4th Regiments deployed overseas, in World War I, the 30th Infantry Division was deployed overseas. Tennessee personnel made up the 117th Infantry Regiment, the 114th and 115th Artillery, when the 30th Infantry Division reorganized on 11 September 1947 it was composed of Guard units from North Carolina and Tennessee. In 1954 it was reorganized as a North‑South Carolina division with the Tennessee portion reorganized and redesignated as the 30th Armored Division, the 30th Armored Division was inactivated on 1 December 1973, with its lineage carried by the 30th Armored Brigade and the 30th Support Group, TN ARNG. The 194th Engineer Brigade was activated as an entity of the Tennessee Army National Guard on 1 November 1973 and this occurred as a result of the major reorganization of the Tennessee ARNG which deactivated the 30th Armored Division. The numerical designation was derived from a former Engineer unit of the Tennessee Army National Guard, more than 3,600 Tennessee Guardsmen responded to Operations Desert Shield and Storm. The 196th Field Artillery Brigade was one of only two Army Guard combat units to see actual combat, the Tennessee Army deployed 17 units during the conflict. A few days prior to G-Day, Tennessee’s 212th Engineer Company, attached to the 101st Airborne Division, broke through the border berm into enemy territory, building a six-lane road. The unit traversed six miles before the war began, becoming the first unit of the 101st into Iraq. 30th Armored Brigade furled its colors in Jackson, Tennessee in the early 1990s, the colors were passed to the 230th Area Support Group in Dyersburg, TN. The 230th has been deactivated since their return from Camp Arifjan, volume 1 By Francis Bernard Heitman Encyclopedia of United States Army insignia and uniforms By William K. Emerson. US Army Lineage And Honors Information Bibliography of Tennessee Army National Guard History compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History Tennessee Military Department Official Site
8.
Major general (United States)
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In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general, a major general typically commands division-sized units of 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers. Major general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy. The United States Code explicitly limits the number of general officers that may be on active duty at any given time. The total number of active duty general officers is capped at 231 for the Army,61 for the Marine Corps, some of these slots are reserved or finitely set by statute. This promotion board then generates a list of officers it recommends for promotion to general rank and this list is then sent to the service secretary and the Joint Chiefs of Staff for review before it can be sent to the President, through the Secretary of Defense for consideration. The President nominates officers to be promoted from this list with the advice of the Secretary of Defense, the secretary, and if applicable. The President may nominate any eligible officer who is not on the recommended list if it serves in the interest of the nation, the Senate must then confirm the nominee by a majority vote before the officer can be promoted. Once confirmed, the nominee is promoted to rank on assuming a position of office that requires an officer to hold the rank. For positions of office that are reserved by statute, the President nominates an officer for appointment to fill that position, since the grade of major general is permanent, the rank does not expire when the officer vacates a two-star position. Tour length varies depending on the position, by statute, and/or when the officer receives a new assignment or a promotion, in the case of the Air National Guard, they may also serve as The Adjutant General for their state, commonwealth or territory. Other than voluntary retirement, statute sets a number of mandates for retirement of general officers, all major generals must retire after five years in grade or 35 years of service, whichever is later, unless appointed for promotion or reappointed to grade to serve longer. Otherwise, all officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday. However, the Secretary of Defense may defer a general officers retirement until the officers 66th birthday, because there are a finite number of General Officer positions, one officer must retire before another can be promoted. As a result, general officers typically retire well in advance of the age and service limits. The rank of general was abolished in the U. S. Army by the Act of March 16,1802. Major general has been a rank in the U. S. Army ever since, to address this anomaly, Washington was posthumously promoted by Congress to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States in 1976. The position of Major General Commanding the Army was entitled to three stars according to General Order No.6 of March 13,1861
9.
30th Armored Division (United States)
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The 30th Armored Division was a Tennessee-based unit of the Army National Guard from the 1950s to the 1970s. In 1968 the Mississippi Army National Guards 108th Armored Cavalry Regiment was reorganized as 1st Brigade, in addition, in 1968 units from the Florida Army National Guard and Alabama Army National Guard also became part of the 30th Armored Division. The 30th Armored Division was inactivated in December,1973, the following officers served as commander of the 30th Armored Division, MG Paul H. Jordan, 1954-1957 MG Robert E. Frankland, 1957-1959 MG Warren C. Johnson, 1962-1963 MG William R. Douglas, 1963-1966 MG Thomas G. Wells, Jr. 1966-1968 MG Hugh B. Ellison, 1969-1971 MG Carl M. Lay, 1971-1973 MG John M. Calhoun,1973 During its existence the 30th Armored Division was never deployed as an organization, several members volunteered individually to join regular Army units during the Vietnam War. The 30th Armored Divisions lineage was carried by the Tennessee Army National Guards 30th Armored Brigade until the brigades inactivation in 1996
