V Corps (United States)

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For the V Corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War, see V Corps (ACW).

V Corps
V Corps shoulder sleeve insignia
Active	1862–1865; 1898; 1918–1919; 1940–
Country	United States
Branch	Regular Army
Garrison/HQ	Heidelberg, Germany
Nickname	Victory Corps
Motto	It will be done
Engagements	World War I World War II, Iraq War
Commanders
Current commander	LTG Kenneth W. Hunzeker
Notable commanders	Leonard Gerow Ricardo S. Sanchez Charles P. Summerall
Insignia
Crest

The V Corps (Fifth Corps)—nicknamed the Victory Corps—is a corps of the United States Army. It is headquartered at Campbell Barracks in Heidelberg, Germany.

1 History
2 Command and Staff
3 Strength
4 Subordinate units
5 Commanders
6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Civil War

Main article: V Corps (ACW)

V Corps was organized May 18, 1862, while the Army of the Potomac, to which it belonged, was engaged on the Peninsular campaign. During the course of V Corps wartime service, the Corps took part in the battles of Hanover Court House; Mechanicsville; Gaines' Mill; Glendale; Malvern Hill; Manassas; Antietam; Shepherdstown Ford; Fredericksburg; Chancellorsville; Gettysburg; Rappahannock Station; Mine Run; Wilderness; Alsop's Farm; Laurel Hill; Spotsylvania; North Anna; Totopotomoy; Bethesda Church; Cold Harbor; Petersburg Assault; Siege Of Petersburg; Weldon Railroad; Poplar Spring Church; Hatcher's Run; Dabney's Mills; Gravelly Run; White Oak Road; Five Forks; and Appomattox. V Corps was demobilized on June 28, 1865.

[edit] Spanish-American War

V Corps was assembled at Tampa, Florida and sailed for Cuba on July 12, 1898 under the command of William R. Shafter. It was engaged in the battles of Las Guasimas, San Juan Hill, El Caney and the siege of Santiago. Due to sickness and disease the corps returned to New York and was officially disbanded in September 1898.

[edit] World War I

V Corps was re-established during World War I at Remiremont, France on July 7, 1918, initially organized by Maj.Gen. William M. Wright. Under the command of Maj. Gen. George H. Cameron it fought in the St. Mihiel offensive. By the end of the war, the Corps had participated in three campaigns and under the command of Maj. Gen. Charles P. Summerall, it carried the main attack in the decisive Meuse-Argonne offensive. Dubbed the "Victory Corps" in recognition of its rapid advance in the final phase of the war, V Corps returned to the United States in 1919.

[edit] World War II

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 Germany declared war on the United States, providing the first American soldiers and the first army headquarters deployed to the European theater in World War II.

V Corps was one of the formations that took part in the D-Day landings, on June 6, 1944. It landed on Omaha Beach, and many casualties were suffered there due to the strong German defenses. During the Battle of Normandy, and indeed for almost the whole campaign up to the surrender of Germany, V Corps was assigned to U.S. First Army. The only exceptions were a brief detachment to U.S. Seventh Army during the autumn of 1944 and being switched to U.S. Third Army during the very final days before the enemy surrender.

[edit] Cold War

After the war, V Corps remained in Germany until 1946 and then returned to South, then North, Carolina. V Corps returned to Germany in June 1951 as part of the American occupation forces and the activation of the two corps US Seventh Army in USAREUR. V Corps' role then evolved into that of countering Soviet forces. Along with VII Corps, it was one of the two main US combat formations in Germany. Specifically, it guarded the vital Fulda Gap against a possible Soviet attack.

With the end of the Cold War came the Gulf War. Although units from V Corps took part in the Persian Gulf War of 1991, the corps headquarters itself did not deploy. They came under the control of VII Corps or XVIII Airborne Corps.

[edit] Post-Cold War

After the Persian Gulf War, VII Corps was withdrawn back to the United States and disbanded, leaving V Corps as the only major US combat field headquarters in Europe. Various peacekeeping operations during the 1990s took V Corps units to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. However, as during the Gulf War, the headquarters itself did not deploy. In September 2000, V Corps participated in Operation Victory Strike I, one of the first times American units had ever deployed in Poland. In September 2002, Victory Strike II repeated the exercise. 4000 U.S., Polish, and Italian soldiers took part. The exercise tested a modular plug-in command post system which is expected to be used by U.S. forces in the future.

In March 2002, General Wallace traveled to U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to discuss contingency plans for deployment to the Middle East. A year later, for the first time since 1945, V Corps headquarters deployed for combat operations. It had many of the American forces committed to Operation Iraqi Freedom under its command. The main units under its command were the 3rd Infantry Division and 101st Airborne Division, along with a brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division. V Corps then handed control over Iraq to III Corps .

A significant portion of V Corps redeployed from Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as Task Force Victory under the command of Lieutenant General Peter W. Chiarelli on December 12, 2006.

In accordance with the US Army's modularization plan, V Corps will be eliminated, leaving I Corps, III Corps, and XVIII Corps.

The 1st Infantry Division returned to the United States in July 2006.