Happy 77th birthday to the U.S. Army Transportation Corps. The branch was founded on July 31, 1942 during World War II. Below is a great posting from the U.S. Army Center of Military History that explains the origins of the Transportation Corps:
The historical background of the Transportation Corps started with the Services of Supply, American Expeditionary Forces, during World War I. Prior to that time, transportation operations were chiefly the responsibility of the Quartermaster General. The Transportation Corps, in its present form, was organized on 31 July 1942.
The Quartermaster Department coordinated transportation support for the Army until World War I. The Army’s experience in that conflict revealed the need for a corps of dedicated specialists and units. The newly established Transportation Corps, however, lasted for only a few years. The need and significant utility for coordinating military transportation again became apparent during World War II, and the Army reestablished the corps in mid-1942 to meet the unparalleled logistical demands of fighting in multiple distant theaters of a global conflict.
The famed “Red Ball Express” of World War II was a monumental operation largely executed by transportation truck companies. When the rapid advance of combat maneuver forces out paced the ability to keep them supplied by rail from the Normandy beaches, the assignment fell to Advance Section, Communications Zone. The Motor Transport Services provided direction and coordination while the Motor Transport Brigade handled the actual movement of vehicles. Until the flow of supplies by other modes improved, Transportation Corps soldiers insured the maneuver forces maintained the advance.
The Transportation Corps became a permanent branch in 1950. The Transportation Corps continued to demonstrate its capability of rapidly supporting U.S. Army operations in global theaters over the past seventy-seven years. [U.S. Army Center of Military History]
The Eastern Washington University (EWU) Army ROTC program has a long history of producing Transportation Corps officers for the Army. For example we currently have two Second Lieutenants that commissioned in 2019 attending the Transportation Corps Basic Officer Leadership Course at Ft. Lee, Virginia. Once again happy birthday to all of our great Transportation Corps servicemembers.
Former EWU Army ROTC Cadets Tyler Roylance and John Howard prepare to have their Transportation Corps insignia pinned on by First Lieutenant Thomas Burdick from the 1041st Transportation Company and former Transportation officer and retired Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Mellick from the EWU ROTC class of 1967.
