First United States Army

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First United States Army
1st USA Color
Active	August 10, 1918 - April 20, 1919; October 1, 1933 - Present.
Country	United States
Branch	Regular Army
Type	Field Army
Garrison/HQ	Fort Gillem
Motto	"First In Deed"
Colors	Red and White
Anniversaries	August 10, 1918
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Commanders
Current commander	Russel L. Honoré since 2004
Notable commanders	John J. Pershing 1918 Hunter Liggett 1918-1919 Dennis E. Nolan 1933-1936 Fox Conner 1936-1938 Hugh A. Drum 1938-1943 George Grunert 1943-1944 Omar N. Bradley 1944 Courtney H. Hodges 1944-1949 Roscoe B. Woodruff 1949 Walter Bedell Smith 1949-1950 Roscoe B. Woodruff 1950 Willis D. Crittenberger 1950-1952 Withers A. Burress 1953-1954 Thomas W. Herren 1954-1957 Blackshear M. Bryan 1957-1960 Edward J. O’Neill 1960-1962 Garrison H. Davidson 1962-1964 Robert W. Porter Jr. 1964-1965 Thomas W. Dunn 1965 William F. Train 1966-1967 Jonathan O. Seaman 1967-1971 Claire W. Hutchin, Jr. 1971-1973 Glenn D. Walker 1973-1974 James G. Kalergis 1974-1975 Jeffery G. Smith 1975-1979 John F. Forrest 1979-

The First United States Army is a field army of the United States Army.

1 History
2 Lineage
3 First U.S. Army Honors
- 3.1 Campaign Participation credit
- 3.2 Decorations
4 Units of the First Army^[1]
5 Bibliography
6 External links
7 References

First Army was first activated in August 1918. It saw action in the American Expeditionary Force in the latter stages of World War I and included many figures who were later to become very famous, such as Douglas MacArthur. First Army was inactivated after WWI in 1919.

First Army Distinctive Unit Insignia.

In 1933, First Army was reactivated. It had the mission of training Army formations at the time, as did all the other field armies.

After the US entered World War II, the army moved overseas, to the United Kingdom, in order to prepare for D-Day, the invasion of Normandy.

Upon going ashore on D-Day, First Army came under 21st Army Group and commanded all American ground forces. Three American divisions were landed by sea at the Western end of the beaches, and two more were landed by air. On Utah Beach the assault troops had a relatively easy time, but Omaha Beach came nearest of all of the five landing areas to disaster. The two American airborne divisions that landed were scattered all over the landscape, and caused considerable confusion amongst the German soldiers, as well as largely securing their objectives, albeit it with units completely mixed up with each other. First Army captured much of the early gains of the Allied forces in Normandy. Once the beachheads were joined up, its troops struck west and isolated the Cotentin Peninsula, and then captured Cherbourg. When the American Mulberry harbour was wrecked by a storm, Cherbourg became much more vital than it had been thought it would be.

After the capture of Cherbourg, First Army struck south. In Operation Cobra, its forces finally managed to break through the German lines. The newly arrived Third Army was then fed through the gap and raced across France. The Army then passed from the control of 21st Army Group to the newly arrived 12th Army Group. First Army followed Third Army and helped to surround the Falaise pocket. After capturing Paris, First Army headed towards the south of the Netherlands.

When the Germans attacked during the Battle of the Bulge, First Army found itself on the north side of the salient, and thus isolated from 12th Army Group, its commanding authority. It was thus transferred back to 21st Army Group. The salient was reduced by early February 1945. Following the Battle of the Bulge, the Rhineland Campaign began, and First Army was transferred back to 12th Army Group. In Operation Lumberjack, First Army closed up to the lower Rhine by 5 March, and the higher parts of the river five days later.

On 7 March, in one of the great strokes of luck of war, First Army found an intact bridge across the Rhine at Remagen. It crossed the river in force quickly. By 4 April, an enormous pocket had been created by First Army and Ninth Army, which contained the German Army Group B under Field Marshal Model, the last significant combat force in the north west of Germany. Whilst some elements of First Army concentrated upon reducing the Ruhr pocket, others headed further east, creating another pocket containing the German Eleventh Army. First Army reached the Elbe by 18 April. There the advance halted, as that was the agreed demarcation zone between the American and Soviet forces. First Army and Soviet forces met on 25 April. First Army was slated to deploy to the far east to take part in Operation Coronet, the second phase of the invasion of Japan, but the Japanese surrender in August caused those plans to be cancelled.

After the war, First Army returned to the United States relatively quickly. Since then, during its active periods, it has controlled training formations in the United States itself. Immediately after the war, First Army had its headquarters at Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York. Twenty years later, in 1966, First Army and Second Army were merged and relocated to Fort Meade, Maryland. In 1973, First Army's mission changed from training and preparation of active units to Army Reserve units. In 1995, Headquarters First Army relocated to Fort Gillem, near Atlanta, Georgia.

Currently, First Army is responsible for the training and mobilization of all Army Reserve and National Guard units in the United States. First Army has two sub commands, First Army, Division East, headquarterd at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, and First Army, Division West, headquartered at Fort Carson, Colorado. Division East oversees First Army's responsibilities in all states east of the Missippi River while Division West oversees units in all states west of the Missippi River.

The First United States Army was organized on August 10, 1918 in the Regular Army in France as Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, First Army.

Headquarters Troop was reorganized and redesignated in September 1918 as Troop A, Headquarters Battalion, First Army. It saw action in the American Expeditionary Force in the latter stages of World War I and included many figures who were later to become very famous, such as Douglas MacArthur.

Troop A, Headquarters Battalion, First Army was redesignated on March 1, 1919, as Headquarters Troop, First Army, and Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, First Army, demobilized on April 20, 1919 in France.

First Army was Constituted August 15, 1927 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Seventh Army, but was Redesignated October 13, 1927 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, First Army.

Headquarters, First Army activated October 1, 1933 at Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York. It had the mission of training Army formations at the time, as did all the other field armies.

Headquarters Company activated November 18, 1940 at Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York.

October 1943, Headquarters First Army relocated from Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York to Bristol, England in anticipation of Normandy invasion.

A separate First Army was Reconstituted on June 27, 1944 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, First Army; concurrently consolidated with the original Headquarters and Headquarters Company, First Army. The consolidated unit designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, First Army.

First Army Headquarters returns to Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York in 1946.

First Army was Redesignated January 1, 1957 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, First United States Army.

Merger of First and Second Army, relocation of headquarters to Fort Meade and closure of Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York announced November 20, 1964.

January 1, 1966, the First and Second U.S. Armies merged and First Army headquarters moved to Fort Meade, Maryland.

Headquarters Company inactivated June 5, 1970 at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, while Headquarters, First U.S. Army continued to function.

In 1973 the First Army again changed its orientation to improving the readiness of the Reserve Components.

In 1995, First Army headquarters was moved to Fort Gillem, Georgia (the former Atlanta Army Depot).

In 2006, subject to Base Realingment and Closure Act, Fort Gillem to be closed and First Army headquarters relocated to Rock Island Arsenal Illinois.

World War I

St. Mihiel
Meuse-Argonne
Lorraine 1918

World War II

Normandy (with arrowhead)
Northern France
Rhineland
Ardennes-Alsace
Central Europe

Joint Meritorious Unit Award for leading the Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina 2005

75th Division, Houston, TX (Training Support)(USAR)