Efficient transport of troops and materiel has been a crucial aspect of warfare for centuries, which is why it’s likely many will be surprised to learn that the United States Army did not establish the Transportation Corps until after the United States had entered World War II. That is not to say, however, there were not Army organizations responsible for transportation prior to that time. In World War I, the Motor Transport Corps was established with authority over all motorized transportation (with the exception of “artillery tractors”), providing not only vehicles but drivers, mechanics, and spare parts. In France, the Motor Transports Corps (it was also known as the Motor Transport Service) operated nearly 110,000 vehicles.
President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9082 of 28 February 1942 laid the foundation for the establishment of the Transportation by reorganizing the Army into three basic branches: Army, Army Air Force, and Services of Supply. A Transportation Service was established within the Services of Supply less than two weeks later (9 March 1942), and on 31 July 1942 the Service was redesignated as the Transportation Corps.
In 1986, the Corps was inducted into the U.S. Army Regimental System that had been crafted to replace the old Combat Arms Regimental System. For its Regimental Crest, or Regimental Distinctive Insignia, the Transportation Corps looked to it branch insignia, which included images taken from all modes of transportation—a ship’s helm, wings representing aerial transport, wheels for motor vehicle transportation, and a rail from a locomotive line. This insignia is superimposed over a large red arrowhead, emphasizing the Regimental motto: “SPEARHEAD OF LOGISTICS.” It’s based on the fact that the Transportation Corps is one of the three principle branches vital to logistics, the other two being the Quartermaster Corps and the Ordnance Corps.
Related Transportation Corps Items