Quartermaster Corps (United States Army)

The United States Army Quartermaster Corps is a combat service support (CSS) branch of the United States Army. It is also one of three U.S. Army logistics branches, the others being the Transportation Corps and the Ordnance Corps.

History

The Quartermaster Corps is the U.S. Army's oldest logistics branch, established 16 June 1775. On that date the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution providing for "one Quartermaster General of the grand army and a deputy, under him, for the separate army." From 1775 to 1912 this organization was known as the Quartermaster Department. In 1912, Congress consolidated the former Subsistence, Pay, and Quartermaster Departments to create the Quartermaster Corps. Quartermaster units and soldiers have served in every U.S. military operation from the Revolutionary War to current operations in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) and Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom).

Functions

The function of the Quartermaster Corps is to provide the following support to the Army:

* general supply (except for ammunition and medical supplies)
* mortuary affairs (formerly graves registration)
* subsistence (food service)
* petroleum & water
* field services
** aerial delivery (parachute packing, air item maintenance, aerial delivery, rigging and sling loading.)
** shower, laundry, fabric/light textile repair
* materiel and distribution management

Former Functions

Former functions and missions of the Quartermaster Corps were:

* military transportation (given to the newly established Transportation Corps in 1942) [http://www.qmfound.com/former_missions.htm]
* military construction (given to the Engineer Corps in the early 1940s) [http://www.qmfound.com/former_missions.htm]
* military heraldry (given to the Adjutant General's Corps in 1962) [http://www.qmfound.com/army_heraldry.htm]
* remount / war dogs [http://www.qmfound.com/remount1.htm]
* clothing [http://www.qmfound.com/army_clothing_history.htm]

Quartermaster Units

Quartermaster detachments, companies and battalions are normally assigned to corps or higher level commands. Divisions and smaller units have multifunctional support battalions which combine functional areas from the Army Transportation Corps, Army Quartermaster Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, and the Army Medical Service Department.

Quartermaster organizations include field service, general supply, petroleum supply and petroleum pipeline, aerial delivery (rigger), water, and mortuary affairs units. Most are company level except petroleum & water which have battalion and group level units.

Quartermaster Military Occupational Specialties

There are nine Quartermaster Enlisted Military Occupational Specialties (MOSs):

* 92A - Automated Logistical Specialist
* 92F - Petroleum Supply Specialist
* 92G - Food Service Operations
* 92L - Petroleum Laboratory Specialist
* 92M - Mortuary Affairs Specialist
* 92R - Parachute Rigger
* 92S - Shower/Laundry and Clothing Repair Specialist
* 92W - Water Treatment Specialist
* 92Y - Unit Supply Specialist

There are five Quartermaster Warrant Officer Military Occupational Specialties (MOSs):

* 920A - Property Accounting Technician
* 920B - Supply Systems Technician
* 921A - Airdrop Systems Technician
* 922A - Food Service Technician
* 923A - Petroleum Technician

There are three Quartermaster Officer Areas of Concentration (AOCs):

* 92A - Quartermaster, General
* 92D - Aerial Delivery and Materiel
* 92F - Petroleum and Water

Quartermaster General / School

The officer in charge of the branch for doctrine, training and professional development purposes is the Quartermaster General. The current Quartermaster General is Brigadier General Jesse Cross, although the position is usually filled by a Major General. The Quartermaster General does not have command authority over Quartermaster units, but instead commands the United States Army Quartermaster Center and School, located at Fort Lee, Virginia, near Petersburg. This school provides enlisted advanced individual training (AIT) and leader training for Quartermaster officers, warrant officers and non-commissioned officers.

Quartermaster Generals have been: [http://www.qmfound.com/qmg.html]
*Major General Thomas Mifflin, 14 August 1775-16 May 1776
*Colonel Stephen Moylan, 5 June 1776-27 September 1776
*Major General Thomas Mifflin, 1 October 1776-17 November 1777
*Major General Nathanael Greene,2 March 1778-5 August 1780
*Colonel Timothy Pickering, 5 August 1780-25 July 1785
*Samuel Hodgdon, 4 March 1791-19 April 1792
*James O'Hara, 19 April 1792-1 May 1796
*Major General John Wilkins, Jr., 1 June 1796-1 June 1802
*Brigadier General Morgan Lewis, 3 April 1812-2 March 1813
*Brigadier General Robert Swartwout, 21 March 1813-5 June 1816
*Colonel James Mullany, 29 April 1816-14 April 1818
*Colonel George Gibson, 29 April 1816-14 April 1818
*Brigadier General Thomas S. Jesup, 8 May 1818-10 June 1860
*Brigadier General Joseph E. Johnston, 20 June 1860-22 April 1861
*Brigadier General Montgomery C. Meigs, 15 May 1861-6 February 1882
*Brigadier General Daniel H. Rucker, 13 February 1882-23 February 1882
*Brigadier General Rufus Ingalls, 23 February 1882-1 July 1883
*Brigadier General Samuel B. Holabird, 1 July 1883-16 June 1890
*Brigadier General Richard Batchelder, 26 June 1890-27 July 1896
*Brigadier General Charles G. Sawtelle, 19 August 1896-16 February 1897
*Brigadier General George H. Weeks, 16 February 1897-3 February 1898
*Brigadier General Marshall I. Ludington, 3 February 1898-12 April 1903
*Brigadier General Charles F. Humphrey, 12 April 1903-1 July 1907
*Major General James B. Aleshire, 1 July 1907-12 September 1916
*Major General Henry G. Sharpe, 16 September 1916-21 July 1918
*Major General Harry L. Rogers, 22 July 1918-27 August 1922
*Major General William H. Hart, 28 August 1922-2 January 1926
*Major General B. Frank Cheatham, 3 January 1926-17 January 1930
*Major General John L. DeWitt, 3 February 1930-3 February 1934
*Major General Louis H. Bash, 3 February 1934-31 March 1936
*Major General Henry Gibbins, 1 April 1936-31 March 1940
*Lieutenant General Edmund Gregory, 1 April 1940-31 Jaunary 1946
*Major General Thomas B. Larkin, 1 February 1946-21 March 1949
*Major General Herman Feldman, 21 March 1949-28 September 1951
*Major General George A. Horkan, 5 October 1951-31 January 1954
*Major General Kester L. Hastings, 5 February 1954-31 March 1957
*Major General Andrew T. McNamara, 12 June 1957-12 June 1961
*Major General Webster Anderson, 12 June 1961-31 July 1962
*Major General Harry L. Dukes, Jr., 15 July 1981-29 March 1984
*Major General Eugene L. Stillions, Jr., 29 March 1984-4 June 1987
*Major General William T. McLean, 15 June 1987-14 July 1989
*Major General Paul J. Vanderploog, 14 July 1989-3 June 1991
*Brigadier General John J. Cusick, 24 July 1991-3 August 1993
*Major General Robert K. Guest, 3 August 1993-21 June 1996
*Major General Henry T. Glisson, 21 June 1996-10 June 1997
*Major General James M. Wright, 10 June 1997-30 July 1999
*Major General Hawthorne L. Proctor, 30 July 1999-11 July 2001
*Major General Terry E. Juskowiak, 11 July 2001-16 May 2003
*Brigadier General Scott G. West, 16 May 2003-11 August 2005
*Brigadier General Mark A. Bellini, 11 August 2005-26 October 2007
*Brigadier General Jesse Cross, 26 October 2007-Present

Quartermaster Corps in the Media

The Quartermaster Corps provides a host of vital services to the U.S. Army. But because these jobs are often not glamorous very little is mentioned about Quartermaster soldiers in the mainstream media. The Global War on Terrorism, the September 11th attack on the Pentagon as well as operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have brought several Quartermasters briefly into the spot light. Here are a few that have recently gained attention.

*MAJ Steve V. Long, a Quartermaster Officer who was serving as Secretary of the General Staff Office of the Commanding General US Total Army Personnel Command, was one of the casualties of the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon. [http://www.091101memorial.org/Pentagon/Long.html]

*Members of the 507th Maintenance Company which was ambushed at An Nasiriyah, Iraq on March 23, 2003, during Operation Iraqi Freedom:
**Sergeant (SGT) Donald Walters, Killed in action - Silver Star recipient
**Specialist (SPC) Edgar Hernandez, Captured
**Specialist (SPC) Shoshana Johnson, Captured
**Private First Class (PFC) Howard Johnson II, Killed in action
**Private First Class (PFC) Jessica Lynch, Captured
**Private First Class (PFC) Lori Piestewa, Killed in action
**Private (PVT) Brandon Sloan, Killed in action
**Private (PVT) Ruben Estrella-Soto, Jr, Killed in action

*During Operation Desert Storm the 14th Quartermaster Detachment, a U.S. Army Reserve unit from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, gained world wide media exposure. The 14th suffered the greatest number of casualties of any allied unit in the war due to a SCUD Missile attack on February 25, 1991.

Quartermaster Creed

I am Quartermaster. My story is enfolded in the history of this nation. Sustainer of Armies...

My forges burned at Valley Forge. Down frozen, rutted roads my oxen hauled the meager foods a bankrupt Congress sent me... Scant rations for the cold and starving troops, gunpowder, salt, and lead.

In 1812 we sailed to war in ships my boatwrights built. I fought beside you in the deserts of our great Southwest. My pack mules perished seeking water holes, and I went on with camels. I gave flags to serve. The medals and crest you wear are my design.

Since 1862, I have sought our fallen brothers from Private to President. In war or peace I bring them home and lay them gently down in fields of honor.

Provisioner, transporter. In 1898 I took you to Havana harbor and the Philippines. I brought you tents, your khaki cloth for uniforms. When yellow fever struck, I brought the mattresses you lay upon.

In 1918, soldier... like you. Pearl Harbor, too. Mine was the first blood spilled that day. I jumped in darkness into Normandy, D-Day plus 1. Bataan, North Africa, Sicily. I was there. The 'chutes that filled the gray Korean skies were mine; I lead the endless trains across the beach in Vietnam.

By air and sea I supported the fight for Grenada. Helicopters above the jungles of Panama carried my supplies. In Desert Storm, I was there when we crossed the border into Iraq...sustaining combat and paying the ultimate sacrifice as we liberated Kuwait.

I AM QUARTERMASTER.I can shape the course of combat, change the outcome of battle. Look to me: Sustainer of Armies...Since 1775.

I AM QUARTERMASTER. I AM PROUD.

Military Order of Saint Martin

The Quartermaster Corps established this military decoration on February 7, 1997. The emblematic figure is of Saint Martin of Tours. [ [http://www.qmfound.com/martin.htm The Order of Saint Martin] ] The medal, for Quartermasters either on Active Duty, in the Reserves, or Civilian status, is awarded in three grades:
*Ancient Order of Saint Martin (gold medallion)
*Distinguished Order of Saint Martin (silver medallion)
*Honorable Order of Saint Martin (bronze medallion)An updated list of recipients is maintained on the [http://www.associationofquartermasters.com/osm_recipients.htm Association of Quartermasters website] .

Notes

ee also

* Military supply

External links

* [http://www.quartermaster.army.mil/ Official web site]