U.S. First Army

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US 1st Army Flag.
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US 1st Army Flag.
US 1st Army Shoulder Sleeve Insignia.
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US 1st Army Shoulder Sleeve Insignia.
US 1st Army Distinctive Unit Insignia.
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US 1st Army Distinctive Unit Insignia.

Contents

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Lineage

  • The United States First 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 Company activated November 18, 1940 at Governors Island, New York.
  • A seperate 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.
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World War II Activity

  • Upon going ashore on D-Day, First Army came under 21st Army Group and commanded all American ground forces. Two 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 difficult 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.
  • First Army was Redesignated January 1, 1957 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, First United States Army.
  • In 1966, the U.S. First and Second Armies merged and First Army headquaters moved to Fort Meade, Maryland.
  • Headquarters Company inactivated June 5, 1970 at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, while Headquarters, First US Army continued to function.
  • In 1973 the First Army again changed its orientation to improving the readiness of the Reserve Components.
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First US Army Honors

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CAMPAIGN PARTICIPATION CREDIT

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World War I

  • St. Mihiel
  • Meuse-Argonne
  • Lorraine 1918
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World War II

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

  • None.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. After Action Report First US. Army, 1-3 December 1944. Fort Jackson, 1945.
  2. American Battle Monuments Commission. American Armies and Battlefields in Europe. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1938. Reprint. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1992.
  3. Blumenson, Martin. Breakout and Pursuit. United States Army in World War II. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1961.
  4. Borovatz, Frank M. "First United States Army: A Working Army." Army Digest 25 (February 1970): 4-8.
  5. A Brief History of the First United States Army From 1918 to 1946. Fayetteville, N. C.: Worth Publishing Co., 1947.
  6. Cole, Hugh M. The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge. United States Army in World War II. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1965.
  7. ______ . The Lorraine Campaign. United States Army in World War II. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1950.
  8. First Army, TI&E Section. History of the United States First Army. Fort Jay, 1953.
  9. First United States Army Combat Operations Data, Europe, 1944-45. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1948.
  10. First United States Army Report of Operations, 20 October 1943-1 August 1944. 7 vols. Paris, 1944.
  11. First United States Army Report of Operations, 1 August 1944 to 22 February 1945. 4 vols. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1946.
  12. First United States Army Report of Operations, 23 February-8 May 1945. 3 vols. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1946.
  13. Gabel, Christopher R. The US. Army GHQ Maneuvers of 1941. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1991.
  14. Hallas, James H. Squandered Victory: The American First Army at St. Mihiel. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Pubs., 1996.
  15. Harbord, James G. The American Army in France, 1917-1919. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1936.
  16. Harrison, Gordon A. Cross-Channel Attack. United States Army in World War II. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1951.
  17. Historical Section, Army War College. Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War; American Expeditionary Forces; General Headquarters, Armies, Army Corps, Services of Supply, and Separate Forces. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1937. Reprint. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1988.
  18. _______. The Genesis of the American First Army. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1929. 2d ed. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1938.
  19. Liggett, Hunter. Commanding an American Army, Recollections of the World War. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1925.
  20. MacDonald, Charles B. The Last Offensive. United States Army in World War II. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1973.
  21. _______. The Siegfried Line Campaign. United States Army in World War II. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1963.
  22. "Why Didn't They Let First Army Win the War?" Army 9 (April 1959):48-52.
  23. Pershing, John J. My Experiences in the World War. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1931.
  24. Pogue, Forrest C. The Supreme Command. United States Army in World War II. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1954.
  25. Report of the Commanding General, First Army, American Expeditionary Forces: Organizations and Operations, First Army, A.E.F. France, 1919.
  26. Report of the First Army, American Expeditionary Forces: Organization and Operations. Fort Leavenworth: General Service Schools Press, 1923.
  27. Report of the First Army, American Expeditionary Forces, Organization and Operations, General John J Pershing, Aug. 10, 1918; Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett, Oct. 16, 1918, Apr. 20, 1919. Fort Leavenworth, Kans.: General Service School Press, 1923.
  28. "Salute to the Numbered U.S. Armies." Army Information Digest 17 (October 1962):32-39.
  29. Walker, Glenn D. "First U.S. Army: A New Challenge." Army 23 (October 1973):72-76.
  30. Ziemke, Earl F. The US. Army in the Occupation of Germany 1944-1946. Army Historical Series. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1975.
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External links

First Army official site

Source: US Army Center for Military History

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._First_Army"
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