V Corps - "Victory Corps"
V Corps, operating as a Corps or a heavy Joint Task Force, rapidly deploys as a Contingency Force in support of EUCOM and CENTCOM regional military objectives or in support of NATO and UN military operations, to include Peace Operations. The Corps also provides trained and ready forces in support of CG, USAREUR / 7th Army validated operational requirements.
Under a new concept called "corps packaging," all of the National Guard's eight combat divisions and 15 enhanced separate brigades will be matched with active-component divisions at the corps level. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric K. Shinseki announced this expansion of teaming between active and Guard divisions 14 September 2000 in a speech to the National Guard Association annual conference in Atlantic City, NJ. Kansas' 35th Infantry Division would fall under V Corps in Heidelberg, Germany along with Louisiana's 256th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) and Tennessee's 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment.
Today, V Corps is the U.S. Army's only forward-deployed corps, consisting of two heavy divisions, a corps support command and nine separate brigades totaling approximately 41,000 soldiers, 800 civilian employees and over 57,000 family members. V Corps represents the bulk of U.S. Army Europe's combat power and is continuously engaged in the European Command's area of responsibility. On any given day, fully twenty five percent of V Corps is deployed, making it one of the busiest units in the Army.
Concurrent with nearly five years of Balkan operations, the Corps has remained committed to NATO. In 1994 it entered into an arrangement with the Federal Republic of Germany to create two bi-national corps. For NATO central region contingencies, V Corps would command the 5th Panzer Division, while the German II Korps would command the U.S. 1st Armored Division.
In looking to the future, V Corps has recently undertaken two key initiatives. First is the establishment of an Immediate Ready Force (IRF) consisting of a Heavy Immediate Ready Company (HIRC) and five complimenting Force Enhancement Modules (FEMs). The HIRC is deployable within 48 hours and provides the Corps a quick reaction force to assist early entry forces as a follow-on force multiplier providing the superior firepower and protection of Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. The five FEMs consist of a command and control package, an M113 infantry company, an HMMWV scout platoon, an engineer platoon and a military police platoon. In order to increase flexibility and reduce deployment times, all FEMs are designed to be deployable by C130 aircraft.
The second initiative is the complete redesign of the Corps main command post. The newly designed command post is tent-based and completely modular. It capitalizes on the latest technology to greatly improve the command post's efficiency while reducing the C17/C5 airlift requirement by over 80 percent. The Corps' goal is to make the command post entirely C130 deployable. Today's command post configuration is 80 percent C130 deployable. This new design makes it ideally suited to effectively perform the demanding command and control functions required for conventional corps operations or those of Joint/Combined operations.
Over its history, V Corps soldiers have distinguished themselves through two World Wars, the Cold War, Desert Storm and Balkan stability operations, as well as numerous humanitarian operations. V Corps was established in battle during World War I at Remiremont, France in July 1918. By the end of the War, the Corps had participated in three campaigns. Dubbed the "Victory Corps" in recognition of its rapid advance in the final phase of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, V Corps returned to the United States in 1919.
V Corps was reactivated at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana in October 1940 and took part, in the famous Louisiana Maneuvers of 1941. The organization deployed to Ireland after the United States declared war on Germany, providing the first American soldiers deployed to the European theater in World War II. On June 6, 1944, V Corps assaulted Omaha Beach, Normandy. Corps soldiers then helped break out from the beachhead, liberated Paris and Sedan, and raced to the German border by September of 1944. After liberating Luxembourg City, the Corps successively fought in the Battle of the Bulge, captured Leipzig, made first contact with the Soviets at Torgau, and liberated Pilzen by May of 1945.
In 1951, the Corps returned to Germany, where its forces planned and trained to defend the critical Fulda Gap during the Cold War. After the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, Victory Corps soldiers have deployed both units and individuals to Saudi Arabia for Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM; to Kuwait for Operation POSITIVE FORCE; to northern Iraq for Operation PROVIDE COMFORT; to Croatia for Operation PROVIDE PROMISE; to Somalia for Operation RESTORE HOPE; to Macedonia for Operation ABLE SENTRY; and to Rwanda and Zaire for Operation SUPPORT HOPE.
In December of 1994, as part of the ongoing drawdown and realignment of U.S. forces in Europe, the Corps moved its headquarters from the historic C. W. Abrams Building (the former I.G. Farben Building) to Campbell Barracks in Heidelberg, severing a forty-three year tie with Frankfurt am Main.
Recognizing the changing circumstances in Europe, V Corps reaches out to the armed forces of eastern Europe with assistance and international exercises - such as PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE - that foster closer ties and better understanding. Meanwhile, the Corps remains committed to NATO, and in 1994 entered into an arrangement with the Federal Republic of Germany to create two bi-national corps. For NATO central region contingency, V Corps would command the 5th Panzer Division, while the German II Korps would command the U.S. 1st Armored Division.
In December 1995, V Corps deployed its 1st Armored Division and major elements of six separate brigades for the NATO Implementation Force in support of the Dayton Peace Agreement for Bosnia. Furthermore, the Corps headquarters, the 3rd Corps Support Command, and the separate brigades helped form the USAREUR (Forward) and 21st TAACOM (Forward) headquarters in Hungary, which provided the National Support Element for U.S. forces in Bosnia. Moreover, V Corps Artillery provided the command and control element for Task Force Victory, which commanded rear detachments, non-deploying units, and supported forward operations. The Corps deployed portions of its 1st Infantry Division and 11th Aviation Brigade to serve in the NATO Stabilization Force in Bosnia.
Within hours of the June 1999 peace agreement, V Corps units deployed into Kosovo as part of a 1st Infantry Division lead initial entry force. Once in Kosovo, they ensured the safe return of Kosovar refugees while providing a buffer between retreating Serb forces and Kosovo Liberation Army rebels. Dubbed Task Force Falcon, the U.S. contribution to KFOR, has since transitioned to stability operations. From June 1999 to June of 2000, roughly 5,900 soldiers, mostly from the 1st Infantry Division, performed this complex and hazardous mission. Since assuming the mission in June of 2000, soldiers from the 1st Armored Division continue to materially improve the daily lives of Serb and Albanian Kosovars alike.
V Corps was not only heavily involved with the missions in the Balkans, but also deployed to conduct other out-of-sector missions, military-to-military exchange programs and Partnership for Peace (PFP) exercises. From Norway to Romania, V Corps units participated in seven PFP exercises during the FY 2000. From January to August of 1999, V Corps 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade provided Patriot air defense coverage to Turkey in support of European Command's continuing mission known as Operation Northern Watch. Over the year, additional 69th ADA Brigade Patriot units were called on to support Central Command's Operation Provide Cover in Kuwait.
In October 2002 the Heidelberg, Germany-based V Corps headquarters was on its way to Kuwait, along with a battalion of Apache helicopters and a corps-level Marine command post. But the 1st Infantry Division is faced six months of retraining before the first units would be available for combat deployment. That left the Germany-based 1st Armored Division and 173rd Infantry Brigade in Italy - as well as smaller units like 1/4 Cav and long-range surveillance paratroopers with Echo Company, 51st Infantry Regiment - as the only other ground combat units from among the Army's rosters in Europe available for any potential Gulf War II tasking.
