US III Corps

III Corps
Shoulder sleeve insignia of III Corps
Active	1918–19 1927–46 1951–59 1961–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Part of	United States Army Forces Command
Garrison/HQ	Fort Hood, Texas
Nickname(s)	"Phantom Corps" or "America's Hammer"
Engagements	World War I World War II Iraq Campaign Operation Inherent Resolve
Commanders
Commander	Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk II
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia
Combat service identification badge

III Corps is a corps of the United States Army headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas. It is a major formation of the United States Army Forces Command.

Activated in World War I in France, III Corps oversaw US Army divisions as they repelled several major German offensives and led them into Germany. The corps was deactivated following the end of the war.

Reactivated in the interwar years, III Corps trained US Army formations for combat before and during World War II, before itself being deployed to the European Theater where it participated in several key engagements, including the Battle of the Bulge where it relieved the surrounded 101st Airborne Division.

For the next 50 years, the corps was a key training element for the US Army as it sent troops overseas in support of the Cold War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The corps saw no combat deployments, however, until Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004.

III Corps was first organized on 16 May 1918 in France. It was designed as three of the four newly activated corps of the American Expeditionary Force, which at that time number over 1,000,000 men in 23 divisions. The corps took command of US forces training with the French Seventh Army at the same time that IV Corps took command of US forces training with the French Eighth Army.

In July, the corps was rushed to the Villers-Cotterêts area in preparation for the Third Battle of the Aisne, the first major Allied counteroffensive of the year. There, it was put under the French Tenth Army and given administrative command of the 1st Division and the 2nd Division which were previously under command of the French XX Corps. However, the command group arrived in the area too late to exercise tactical command, and it was instead attached to the French XX Corps. On 18 July, the attack was launched, with the force spearheading the French Tenth Army's assault on the high ground south of Soissons. During this attack, the Corps also cut rail lines supplying the German Army.