The VII Corps was constituted in the Organized Reserve on 29 July 1921, allotted to the Seventh Corps Area, and assigned to the Third Army. Per General Order #2, Headquarters, Seventh Corps Area, the corps headquarters was activated on 9 January 1922 at the Old Customhouse, 3rd and Olive Streets, St. Louis, Missouri, with Regular Army and Organized Reserve personnel. The corps headquarters was responsible for providing and planning administration, organization, supply, and training for army, corps, and other nondivisional Reserve units, less field and coast artillery, in the Seventh Corps Area. The headquarters was relieved from active duty on 27 January 1923 and all Regular Army personnel were reassigned to the Headquarters, Non-Divisional Group, Seventh Corps Area, which assumed the responsibilities previously held by the VII Corps. Both the corps headquarters and headquarters company remained active in the Organized Reserve.
The VII Corps headquarters was withdrawn from the Organized Reserve on 15 August 1927 and allotted to the Regular Army. As part of the four-army plan put into effect on 1 October 1933, the VII Corps was relieved from the Third Army and assigned to the Fourth Army. Concurrently, the VII Corps headquarters was partially activated at Omaha, Nebraska, with Regular Army personnel assigned to Headquarters, Seventh Corps Area, and Reserve personnel from the corps area at large. On the same date, the headquarters company, VII Corps, was withdrawn from the Organized Reserve and allotted to the Regular Army. As a "Regular Army Inactive" unit, the corps headquarters was organized provisionally for short periods using its assigned Reserve officers and staff officers from Headquarters, Seventh Corps Area. These periods included several Second Army command post exercises (CPXs) in the 1930s and that part of the Fourth Army maneuvers held at Camp Ripley, Minnesota, in August 1937. The designated mobilization station for the corps headquarters from 1927 to 1939 was Camp Pike, Arkansas, where it would assume command and control of its assigned subordinate corps troops, which would then be mobilizing primarily in the Seventh Corps Area. Although the 1939 Protective Mobilization Plan changed the mobilization station for the corps headquarters to Fort Snelling, Minnesota.[3]
World War II
The headquarters, VII Corps, was activated on 25 November 1940, less Reserve personnel, at Fort McClellan, Alabama; the headquarters company had been activated there two weeks before on 10 November. At Fort McClellan, the VII Corps assumed command and control of the 27th, 33rd, and 35th Divisions. The corps headquarters was transferred on 25 January 1941 to the Ramsey Building at 19th Street and North E Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama. The corps participated in the Tennessee Maneuvers in May–June 1941 and the Louisiana Maneuvers in September–October 1941 as part of the Second Army. After the Louisiana Maneuvers, the corps headquarters returned to Birmingham, where it was located on 7 December 1941. In late December 1941, VII Corps headquarters was moved to San Jose, California as part of the Western Defense Command and as it continued to train and prepare for deployment.[4]
VII Corps led the initial assault of Operation Cobra, the First Army-led offensive as part of the breakout of the Normandy area. Its success is credited with changing the war in France from high-intensity infantry combat to rapid maneuver warfare.
As finally envisaged in the General Defense Plan circa 1989, the 1st Canadian Division with its main headquarters at Kingston, Ontario, would have been assigned to the Commander, Central Army Group's tactical reserve, fighting alongside either the German II Corps or VII Corps.[8]
After Saddam Hussein's troops invaded Kuwait in 1990, the corps was deployed to Saudi Arabia as part of the second major wave of deployments of American forces. Its presence took US forces in theatre from a force capable of defending Saudi Arabia to a force capable of ejecting Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
In the Gulf War, VII Corps was probably the most powerful formation of its type ever to take to the battlefield. Normally, a corps commands three divisions when at full strength, along with other units such as artillery of various types, corps-level engineers and support units. However, VII Corps had far more firepower under its command. It consisted of 1,487 tanks, 1,384 infantry fighting vehicles, 568 artillery pieces, 132 MLRS, 8 missile launchers, and 242 attack helicopters.[11] It had a total troop strength of 146,321 troops.[12]
VII Corps was originally deployed to provide an offensive option if needed. In the 100-hour war they were given a mission: To destroy the Iraqi Republican Guard's heavy divisions. That meant that the 1st Infantry Division had to make a forced entry to make room for the British attack on the right wing and to secure the main forces advance on the left. That attack force was led by the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment and Task Force 1-41 Infantry followed by the other two brigades of the 1st Infantry Division.[14] The 1st Armored Division would head north to engage the Iraqi Republican Guard in the Battle of Medina Ridge.[16] The 3rd Armored Division would protect the flank of the 1st Infantry Division. That gave VII Corps commander General Frederick M. Franks, Jr. a three division strike force to confront several Iraqi Armored Divisions. After the corps had turned 90 degrees east according to FRAGPLAN 7 and after the Cavalry Regiment had fought the single sided Battle of 73 Easting the three Divisions (plus the British on the right wing) fought one of the most one-sided battles in the history of the U.S. Army.[citation needed]
VII Corps cut a swath through Iraqi forces. It advanced with U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps on its left wing and Arab forces on its right wing. It pulverized all Iraqi forces that tried to stand and fight and destroyed a good proportion of the Iraqi Republican Guard divisions.[14] This confrontation was known as the Battle of Norfolk.[17]
VII Corps' attack destroyed several divisions including the Medina and the Tawakalna Republican Guards division along with support units. It also destroyed most of the Iraqi VII Corps that had guarded the frontline as well as other units. The Battle of 73 Easting was later studied as a textbook armored battle by U.S. staff colleges. The cost in lives was 36 US and UK dead; trifling, in terms of expected casualties, for the war the two armies had trained for against the Soviets.
Virtually every manoeuvre battalion in the 1st and 3rd Armored Divisions, 1st Inf Div (M), and 2 ACR received the Valorous Unit Award. In addition, six of the ten VII Corps manoeuvre brigade headquarters that saw substantial combat against the Republican Guard received the VUA in contravention of the spirit, if not the letter, of AR672-5-1's guidance that "[o]nly on rare occasions will a unit larger than a battalion qualify for award of the VUA."[18]
During the Gulf War VII Corps destroyed nearly 1,350 Iraqi tanks, 1,224 armored troop carriers, 285 artillery pieces, 105 air defense systems, 1,229 trucks, and lost nearly 36 armored vehicles. They suffered a total of 47 dead and 192 wounded.[19]
After the fighting was over, most VII Corps units were redeployed directly to the United States for reassignment or inactivation. VII Corps HQ returned to Germany and was disbanded as part of the post-Cold War American defense spending cuts. Some VII Corps units remained in Germany and were reassigned to V Corps or USAREUR. A farewell ceremony was held in downtown Stuttgart at Schlossplatz, where the VII Corps colors were retired on 18 March 1992.[26] The official inactivation was held at Fort McPherson, Ga., in April 1992.[27]
The 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) is a combined arms division of the United States Army based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. It is a subordinate unit of the XVIII Airborne Corps under U.S. Army Forces Command. Its current organization includes a division headquarters and headquarters battalion, two armored brigade combat teams, one aviation brigade, a division artillery, a sustainment brigade and a combat sustainment support battalion along with a maneuver enhancement brigade. The division has a distinguished history, having seen active service in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Global War on Terror. The Medal of Honor has been awarded to 61 members of the 3rd Infantry Division, making the division the most honored in the Army.
The 1st Infantry Division (1ID) is a combined arms division of the United States Army, and is the oldest continuously serving division in the Regular Army. It has seen continuous service since its organization in 1917 during World War I. It was officially nicknamed "The Big Red One" after its shoulder patch and is also nicknamed "The Fighting First." The division has also received troop monikers of "The Big Dead One" and "The Bloody First" as puns on the respective officially sanctioned nicknames. It is currently based at Fort Riley, Kansas.
The 4th Infantry Division is a division of the United States Army based at Fort Carson, Colorado. It is composed of a division headquarters battalion, three brigade combat teams, a combat aviation brigade, a division sustainment brigade, and a division artillery.
The 9th Infantry Division is an inactive infantry division of the United States Army. It was formed as the 9th Division during World War I, but never deployed overseas. In later years it was an important unit of the U.S. Army during World War II and the Vietnam War. It was also activated as a peacetime readiness unit from 1947 to 1962 at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and Fort Carson, Colorado, and from 1972 to 1991 as an active-duty infantry division at Fort Lewis, Washington. The division was inactivated in December 1991.
The 34th Infantry Division is an infantry division of the United States Army, part of the National Guard, that participated in World War I, World War II and multiple current conflicts. It was the first American division deployed to Europe in World War II, where it fought with great distinction in the Italian Campaign.
The Battle of 73 Easting was fought on 26 February 1991, during the Gulf War, between Coalition armored forces and Iraqi armored forces. It was named for a UTM north–south coordinate line that was used as a phase line by Coalition forces to measure their progress through the desert. The battle was later described by Lt. John Mecca, a participant, as "the last great tank battle of the 20th century." This battle took place several hours after another, smaller, tank battle at Al Busayyah.
The United States Cavalry, or U.S. Cavalry, was the designation of the mounted force of the United States Army. The United States Cavalry was formally created by an act of Congress on 3 August 1861 and ceased as a distinct Army branch in 1942. The name "cavalry" continues to be used as a designation for various specific United States Army formations and functions.
This is the order of battle for both the Russian and German armies at the Battle of Tannenberg, August 17 to September 2, 1914.
The United States Army Regimental System (USARS) is an organizational and classification system used by the United States Army. It was established in 1981 to replace the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) to provide each soldier with continuous identification with a single regiment, and to increase a soldier's probability of serving recurring assignments with their regiment. The USARS was intended to enhance combat effectiveness by providing the opportunity for a regimental affiliation, thus obtaining some of the benefits of the traditional regimental system.
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The Battle of Xuzhou was fought in May 1938 as part of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
This is an order of battle of the French and German Armies at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.
The U.S. 41st Infantry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army. Its 1st Battalion is currently assigned to the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Its 3rd Battalion was assigned to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, which was replaced in 2018 by 4th Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division.
The 67th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade is a maneuver enhancement brigade (MEB) of the Nebraska Army National Guard. It derives its lineage from the 67th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized), previously a component of the 35th Infantry Division (Mechanized). The brigade has also been organized as an area support group from 2003–2008, and as a battlefield surveillance brigade from 2008–2016.
The 5th Field Artillery Regiment was constituted as part of the Regular Army in January 1907. Individual battalions have lineages which date back further. Currently, it is a parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System, with a single active battalion, the 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery, which is assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas.
This is the order of battle for the ground campaign in the Gulf War between U.S. and Coalition Forces and the Iraqi Armed Forces between February 24–28, 1991. The order that they are listed in are from west to east. Iraqi units that were not in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations are excluded from this list. Some Iraqi divisions remained un-identified by Department of Defense intelligence and a number of the details of the Iraqi order of battle are in dispute among various authoritative sources.
This is the order of battle for the invasion of Iraq during the Iraq War between coalition forces and the Iraqi Armed Forces; Fedayeen Saddam irregulars; and others between March 19 and May 1, 2003.
The 303rd Cavalry Regiment is a United States cavalry regiment, currently represented in the Washington Army National Guard by the 1st Squadron, 303rd Cavalry, headquartered at Vancouver, Washington, part of the 96th Troop Command. It incorporates the lineage of the 303rd Cavalry, 303rd Armor, and 803rd Armor Regiments of the Washington Army National Guard.
↑ See Sean M. Maloney, War Without Battles: Canada's NATO Brigade in Germany 1951–1993, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd, (Toronto, Montreal, and others) 1997.
↑ Army - The Magazine of Landpower - October 1989 (1989). "Command and Staff". Association of the US Army. Retrieved 26 June 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Bourque, Stephen A. (2002). Jayhawk! The VII Corps in the Persian Gulf War. Washington, DC: Center of Military History Publication. 70-73-1.
Bourque, Stephen A.; Burdan, John (2007). The road to Safwan the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press. ISBN9781574412321.
Casey, Melanie (13 July 2004), "From Helenen Kaserne to Kelley Barracks", Stuttgart Citizen (Stuttgart, Germany): P 10
Dinackus, Thomas D. (2000). Order of Battle: Allied Ground Forces of Operation Desert Storm. Central Point, Oregon: Hellgate Press. ISBN1-55571-493-5.
Draft Report The Battle of 73 Easting, 26 February 1991, a historical introduction to a simulation. Krause, Col Michael, US Army Center of Military History, 2 May 1991.
Ryan, John (May 1998). Battle Command in the Storm: Lieutenant General Franks and VII Corps. School of Advanced Military Studies United States Army Command and General Staff College.
Gavin, James M. (1978). On To Berlin. New York, NY: Viking Press/Penguin Books Canada Limited. ISBN0-670-52517-0.
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