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| United States Army Forces Command | |
|---|---|
 FORSCOMshoulder sleeve insignia | |
| Active | 1973–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Type | Army Command |
| Role | Provide combat-ready army forces tounified combatant commands[1] |
| Garrison/HQ | Fort Bragg |
| Motto | Freedom's Guardian |
| Website | Army Forces Command |
| Commanders | |
| Commanding General | GeneralAndrew P. Poppas |
| Deputy Commanding General | Lieutenant General Stephen G. Smith |
| Deputy Commanding General -ARNG | Major General Richard F. Johnson |
| Command Sergeant Major | Command Sergeant Major Nema Mobarakzadeh |
| Notable commanders | |
| Insignia | |
| Distinctive unit insignia |  |
TheUnited States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) is the largest command of theUnited States Army. It provides land forces to theDepartment of Defense'sunified combatant commands. FORSCOM is headquartered atFort Bragg,North Carolina, and consists of more than 750,000 active Army,U.S. Army Reserve, andArmy National Guard soldiers. It was created on 1 July 1973 from the former Continental Army Command (CONARC), which in turn supplanted Army Field Forces andArmy Ground Forces.
The command has formations and units located at 15 installations, including theNational Training Center atFort Irwin, California and theJoint Readiness Training Center atFort Polk, Louisiana.
In 1942, the Army was divided betweenArmy Ground Forces; Army Service Forces; and the Services of Supply.
On 30 August 1945, Army Chief of Staff GeneralGeorge Marshall created a board headed by Lieutenant GeneralAlexander M. Patch to review the organization of theWar Department. The board submitted its recommendations to the Chief of Staff on 18 October of the same year. These were that the technical services be continued, with theTransportation Corps made permanent, and that the Finance Department becoming an eighth technical service. The service commands would be abolished, and their functions transferred to the Armies. The Army Service Forces would also be abolished, and its staff sections transferred to the War Department General Staff.[2]
In accordance with these recommendations, on 11 June 1946, Army Service Forces and the nine service commands areas were abolished. The service commands were replaced by six field armies. These six army areas, though similar in name, operated on a functional rather than geographic basis but roughly followed along the oldcorps area boundaries. Army Ground Forces moved fromWashington, D.C. toFort Monroe.
In March 1948, a large-scale reorganization of theDepartment of the Army created the Office of the Chief of Army Field Forces (OCAFF) atFort Monroe and placed the armies and installations in the continental United States directly under departmental control.[4] Seven years later, the recommendations of the Davis Committee were implemented, establishingU.S. Continental Army Command (CONARC) to carry out both training and operations.
In 1973, forces in the United States were split between two new commands,U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) andU.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). FORSCOM assumed CONARC's responsibility for the command and collective training of all divisions and corps in the continental U.S. and for the installations where they were based. To do this it had the help of various regional numbered army headquarters,First Army, Third Army (until 1974)Fourth Army,Fifth Army, andSixth Army, at various times.
In 1987, FORSCOM was given the status of a "specified command", or almost equal to aunified combatant command, with a broad and continuing mission, but composed solely of Army forces. Like the unified commands, the specified commands reported directly to theJoint Chiefs of Staff, instead of their respective service chiefs.[5] Fourth Armycased its colors and was inactivated for the last time in 1991. FORSCOM lost its specified status in 1993.
In October 1994, theUnited States Army Aviation Center asked theUnited States Army Force Integration Support Agency (USAFISA) to review theU.S. Army Air Traffic Control Activity.[6] The Army Aviation Center wanted to make sure that its limitedair traffic control (ATC) resources were being properly used. USAFISA concluded that the planning of ATC in the mid-1980s, part of creating the then-newAviation Branch, had never been properly incorporated. ATC skills and services were eroding to the point of endangeringaviation safety. As a result, GeneralEric Shinseki, then theVice Chief of Staff, approved the concept of a separate command forair traffic services (ATS). On August 28, 2003, Army Traffic Services Command (ATSC) was formally activated and relocated fromFort McPherson toFort Rucker.[7]
Sixth Army was headquartered at thePresidio of San Francisco. It was eventually inactivated in June 1995.[8]
In 2004,Fifth Army transferred its Reserve Component preparation obligations toFirst Army, and became responsible for homeland defense andDefense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) asUnited States Army North, theArmy Service Component Command ofUnited States Northern Command.
Following the recommendations of the2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, FORSCOM Headquarters moved fromFort McPherson, Georgia to a building atFort Bragg, North Carolina, in June 2011. The Command hosted a "Casing of the Colors" ceremony on 24 June 2011 at Fort McPherson, and an "Uncasing of Colors" on 1 August 2011 at Fort Bragg.
The new[when?]brigade-level formations – armor, infantry, airborne, air assault andStryker – are more capable.[needs context]
FORSCOM currently commandsU.S. Army Reserve Command, andFirst Army, and three Active Army corps.
TheUnited States Army Reserve Command (USARC) is a major subordinate command of FORSCOM. It is headquartered in the same building as FORSCOM at Fort Bragg, N.C.[9] It commands allUnited States Army Reserve units in thecontinental United States, except those assigned toSpecial Operations Command (USSOCOM).
First United States Army atRock Island Arsenal,Illinois, is responsible for training, mobilization and deployment support to Army Reserve and National Guard units in FORSCOM. This mission covers both theContinental United States andPuerto Rico.
FORSCOM commands three Army corps. They areV Corps atFort Knox;III Corps atFort Hood, Texas; andXVIII Airborne Corps atFort Bragg, North Carolina. Together the three corps include nine divisions, one cavalry regiment, 37 support brigades of various types, and a range of other corps combat, combat support and combat service support units.
TheArmy National Guard provides Forces Command eight National Guard combat divisions, 15 brigades, and extensive combat support and combat service support units[when?].
The current FORSCOM Army National Guard strength is approximately 351,000 soldiers[when?]. Mobilizing the Army National Guard into active federal service would bring the total strength of FORSCOM to nearly two-thirds of the Army's combat ground forces.[citation needed]
United States Army Reserve Command,Fort Bragg, NC
First United States Army,Rock Island Arsenal, IL
III Armored Corps, Fort Hood, TX.svg)
1st Infantry Division,Fort Riley, KS.svg)
1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, TX
1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, TX
4th Infantry Division,Fort Carson, CO
V Corps (United States),Fort Knox, KY
XVIII Airborne Corps,Fort Bragg, NC.svg)
3rd Infantry Division,Fort Stewart, GA
10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, NY
82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, NC
101st Airborne Division,Fort Campbell, KYThe current Commanding General isGeneral (United States)Andrew P. Poppas, who assumed the role in July 2022. The Deputy Commanding General isLieutenant GeneralPaul T. Calvert (since December 2021) and theCommand Sergeant Major CSM Todd Sims.
Equivalent operations commands in the U.S. Armed Forces
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