Sixth United States Army

Sixth United States Army

Sixth United States Army shoulder sleeve insignia
Active January 1943 – June 1995
2008 – present
Country United States
Branch Regular Army
Type Field Army
Role Component Command
Nickname Alamo Force
Motto "Born Of War"
Engagements World War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Walter Krueger
Joseph Stilwell
Robert M. Cannon
Insignia
Flag of the Sixth United States Army
Distinctive Unit Insignia

The Sixth United States Army is a field army of the United States Army.

Contents

History

It was first activated in January 1943, commanded by Lieutenant General Walter Krueger.[1] Under the code name Alamo Force,[2] it assumed control of the majority of US Army units involved in Operation Cartwheel, the campaign to isolate and neutralize the Japanese base at Rabaul in New Britain. Following the completion of Cartwheel, Sixth Army joined Australian Army and other US forces on the north coast of New Guinea.[3] Similar in conception to the island hopping operations of the central Pacific, the object of the attacks was to land, establish a garrison and airfield which could support the next strike, and then move on.

In September 1944, Sixth Army was released from operations in New Guinea by the US Eighth Army. On 20 October 1944, X Corps and XXIV Corps, under Sixth Army, invaded Leyte in the Philippines. By December, Leyte was secured, and the Sixth Army was relieved again by Eighth Army to prepare for the invasion of Luzon.[4] As a prelude to that invasion, the island of Mindoro was invaded by the Western Visayan Task Force comprising the 19th and 503rd Regimental Combat Teams.[5] Sixth Army took part in the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf on 9 January 1945 with the subordinate units of I and XIV Corps.[6] Sixth Army units fought south until they met up those of Eighth Army advancing from around Manila. Sixth Army then continued to clear the north of Luzon until the end of the war. Sixth Army was to have provided the ground forces for the first phase of the invasion of Japan, but the surrender changed that.[7]

Occupation duty then followed for a short while until Sixth Army returned to the United States,[8] headquartered at the Presidio of San Francisco. Sixth Army then took responsibility for training of Army forces from part of the continental United States, until it was inactivated as part of force reductions in June 1995.[9]

Reactivation

In 2007 it was decided that US Army South will be redesignated as US Army South (Sixth Army) under the Army modularization program.[10][11] It is presently garrisoned at the Old BAMC building at Fort Sam Houston.[12]

References

  1. ^ "U.S. Army Campaigns: WWII - Asiatic-Pacific Theater". Center of Military History. United States Army. 19 November 2010. http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/army_flag/ww2_ap.html. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
  2. ^ Eustace E. Nabbie (22 September 1993). "The Alamo Scouts". Center for the study of intellegence. Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol3no4/pdf/v03i4a08p.pdf. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
  3. ^ Cooke, Tim; Adrian Gilbert, Tony Hall, Robert Jackson, Chris McNab, Donald Somerville, Robert Stewart, Ian Westwell (2004). History of World War II. Tarrytown, New York: Marshall Cavendish. p. 383. ISBN 9780761474821. http://books.google.com/books?id=oD9Z3omHy3IC&lpg=PA390&vq=Sixth%20Army%20Operation%20Cartwheel&dq=%22Sixth%20Army%22%20%22Operation%20Cartwheel%22&pg=PA383#v=snippet&q=Sixth%20Army%20Operation%20Cartwheel&f=false. Retrieved 11 June 2011. 
  4. ^ "Leyte". Center of Military History. United States Army. 3 October 2003. http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/leyte/leyte.htm. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
  5. ^ Smith, Robert Ross (1963). Triumph in the Philippines. Government Printing Office. p. 45. LCCN 62-60000. http://books.google.com/books?id=BSrFX51AGPMC&lpg=PA45&dq=19th%20Regimental%20Combat%20Team%20Mindoro&pg=PA45#v=onepage&q=19th%20Regimental%20Combat%20Team%20Mindoro&f=false. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
  6. ^ "Luzon 1944 - 1945". Center of Military History. United States Army. 3 October 2003. http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/luzon/72-28.htm. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
  7. ^ "CHAPTER XIII: "DOWNFALL" THE PLAN FOR THE INVASION OF JAPAN". Center of Military History. United States Army. 20 June 2006. http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/macarthur%20reports/macarthur%20v1/ch13.htm. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
  8. ^ "CHAPTER II: TROOP MOVEMENTS, DISPOSITIONS, AND LOCATIONS". Center of Military History. United States Army. 11 December 2006. http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V1%20Sup/ch2.htm. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
  9. ^ Carl Nolte (24 Juny 1995). "PAGE ONE -- Troops March From Presidio Into History". San Francisco Chronicle. http://articles.sfgate.com/1995-06-24/news/17808500_1_top-soldier-presidio-army-s-legacy. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
  10. ^ United States Army. Armies and Corps (Map). http://www.army.mil/publications/soldiersmagazine/pdfs/poster_PostureStatement.pdf. Retrieved 21 December 2008. 
  11. ^ Cavallaro, Gina (9 October 2007). "New name, same mission for U.S. Army South". Army Times (Army Times Publishing Company). http://www.armytimes.com/news/ausa/story.php?id=3098316. Retrieved 21 December 2008. 
  12. ^ "Fort Sam Houston, Texas". Base Realignment and Closure. United States ARmy. 6 March 2007. http://www.hqda.army.mil/acsim/brac/eis_docs/FortSamHoustonTX%20FEIS.pdf. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 

External links