Transportation Corps

The Transportation Corps was established 31 July 1942 by Executive Order 9082. The Transportation Corps is a combat service support branch of the U.S. Army, and was headquartered at Fort Eustis, Virginia, but moved to Fort Lee, Virginia in 2010. It is also one of three U.S. Army logistics branches, the others being the Quartermaster Corps and the Ordnance Corps. The Transportation Corps is responsible for the movement of personnel and material by truck, rail, air, and sea. Its motto is "Spearhead of Logistics," and it is currently the third smallest branch of the Army.

The officer in charge of the branch for doctrine, training, and professional development purposes is the Chief of Transportation (COT). The current Chief of Transportation is Brigadier General Jeffrey W. Drushal.

During the American Civil War, transportation proved to be an integral part of military logistics through the organization of railroads as a viable and efficient means of military transportation. The US Army centralized the management of rail into the US Military Railroad (USMRR). The Army Quartermaster purchased eight city class iron clads on the Mississippi River in February 1862, a full month before the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia set sail. City Point, Virginia in 1864 would become the largest port operation in the Western Hemisphere in 1864. By 1864, five of the nine divisions in the Quartermaster Department dealt exclusively with transportation. A substantial number of battles were won because of the field commander's ability to swiftly and effectively move troops and supplies. Most wounded soldiers were carried away in a banana-shaped cart called a gondola. See also United States Military Railroad.

During the Spanish–American War, the task of mobilizing and deploying a largely volunteer force to Cuba and the Philippines magnified the need for a separate transportation service within the Quartermaster Department. Army transporters worked with both the civilian railroads and the maritime industry to pull together a successful intermodal operation.

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