The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground Forces (AGF), United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), and Army Service Forces (ASF) operations north of Italy and the Mediterranean coast. It was bordered to the south by the North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA), which later became the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army (MTOUSA).
The 13th Airborne Division was an airborne forces formation of division-size of the United States Army that was active during World War II. The division was commanded for most of its existence by Major General Elbridge G. Chapman. It was officially activated in the United States in August 1943 at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, remaining active until February 1946, however it never saw combat.
The Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army (MTOUSA), originally called the North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA), was a military formation of the United States Army that supervised all U.S. Army forces which fought in North Africa and Italy during World War II.
The Transportation Corps is a combat service support branch of the U.S. Army. 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 branches, the others being the Quartermaster Corps 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. The Transportation Corps is currently headquartered at Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia. The officer in charge of the branch for doctrine, training, and professional development purposes is the Chief of Transportation (CoT) and Commandant of the US Army Transportation School, currently held by BG Beth A. Behn. The Corps's motto is "Nothing Happens Until Something Moves".
The U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM) is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) and is located at Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia. Subordinate to CASCOM is the Sustainment Center of Excellence (SCoE), which oversees and coordinates the five sustainment branches of the Army and the Army Sustainment University. The commander of CASCOM is dual-hatted as the head of SCoE. The CASCOM commander also serves as the commander of Fort Gregg-Adams.
John Clifford Hodges Lee 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.
The Services of Supply or "SOS" branch of the Army of the USA was created on 28 February 1942 by Executive Order Number 9082 "Reorganizing the Army and the War Department" and War Department Circular No. 59, dated 2 March 1942. Services of Supply became one of the three autonomous components of the Army of the United States on 9 March 1942. It was renamed the Army Service Forces on 12 March 1943, as it was felt that the term "supply" did not accurately describe its broad range of activities. From the day of inception in 1942 through the end of WWII, the SOS/ASF was commanded by Lieutenant General Brehon B. Somervell.
In the United States Army, the term combat support refers to units that provide fire support and operational assistance to combat elements. Combat support units provide specialized support functions to combat units in the following areas
Communications Zone is a US Army and NATO term which describes a part of the theater of war operations.
The 70th Fighter Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe, based at Neubiberg Air Base, Germany. It was inactivated on 25 September 1947.
The 71st Fighter Wing is a disbanded unit of the United States Air Force, last stationed at Lambert Field, St. Louis, Missouri. It was withdrawn from the Missouri Air National Guard and inactivated on 31 October 1950.
Lieutenant General Henry Spiese Aurand was a United States Army career officer. He was a veteran of World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, Aurand was ranked 20th in the class of 1915, known as "the class the stars fell on" because no fewer than 59 of the 164 members of the class who graduated became generals. His classmates included Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley, both of whom later achieved five-star rank. He was commissioned in the Coast Artillery Corps, but later transferred to the Ordnance Department.
The 101st Division Sustainment Brigade is a sustainment brigade of the United States Army based at Fort Campbell providing logistical support to the 101st Airborne Division. Formerly a separate unit under the command of United States Army Forces Command, it became a division sustainment brigade in 2015 and adopted the wear of the division SSI.
Colombey-les-Belles Aerodrome, was a temporary World War I airfield in France used by the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force. It was located near Colombey-les-Belles, in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.
American logistics played a key role in the success of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of northwest Europe during World War II. The campaign officially commenced on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and ended on 24 July, the day before the launch of Operation Cobra. The Services of Supply (SOS) was formed under the command of Major General John C. H. Lee in May 1942 to provide logistical support to the European Theater of Operations, United States Army. From February 1944 on, the SOS was increasingly referred to as the Communications Zone (COMZ). Between May 1942 and May 1944, Operation Bolero, the buildup of American troops and supplies in the UK, proceeded fitfully and by June 1944 1,526,965 US troops were in the UK, of whom 459,511 were part of the COMZ.
Major General Ewart Gladstone Plank was a United States Army career officer who was a veteran of World War I and World War II. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, he was ranked 44th in the class of 1920. He was commissioned in the Coast Artillery Corps, but later transferred to the Corps of Engineers. During World War II he commanded the Advance Section, Communications Zone (ADSEC).
American logistics in the Northern France campaign played a key role in the Allied invasion of northwest Europe during World War II. In the first seven weeks after D-Day, the Allied advance was slower than anticipated in the Operation Overlord plan because the well-handled and determined German opposition exploited the defensive value of the Normandy bocage country. The Northern France campaign officially commenced on 25 July, the day First United States Army began Operation Cobra, which saw the breakout from the Normandy lodgment, and ended on 14 September.
American transportation played a crucial part in the military logistics of the World War II Siegfried Line campaign, which ran from the end of the expulsion of the German armies from Normandy in mid-September 1944 until December 1944, when the American Army was engulfed by the German Ardennes offensive. In August 1944, the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, elected to continue the pursuit of the retreating German forces beyond the Seine instead of pausing to build up supplies and establish the lines of communication as called for in the original Operation Overlord plan. The subsequent advance to the German border stretched the American logistical system to its breaking point, and the advance came to a halt in mid-September.
American services and supply played a crucial part in the World War II Siegfried Line campaign, which ran from the end of the pursuit of the German armies from Normandy in mid-September 1944 until December 1944, when the American forces were engulfed by the German Ardennes offensive. In August 1944, the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, elected to continue the pursuit of the retreating German forces beyond the Seine and across France and Belgium to the German border instead of pausing to build up supplies and establish the line of communications as called for in the original Operation Overlord plan. The subsequent advance to the German border stretched the American logistical system to breaking point, and the advance came to a halt in mid-September.
American logistics in the Western Allied invasion of Germany supported the American and French operations in Northwest Europe during the Second World War from 26 January 1945 until the end of World War II in Europe on 8 May 1945.
