The 49th Quartermaster Group was formed in 1936 as HQ and HQ Detachment (HHD), 49th Quartermaster Regiment (Truck-Army) and underwent several minor redesignations before being designated as HHD, 49th Quartermaster Group (Colored) in 1943.
On 5 October 1943, while still designated as a Quartermaster Truck Regiment, the unit aided the Fifth Army’s advance in Italy by delivering 75,000 gallons of gasoline to the Army’s fuel dumps in less than twenty-four hours, despite the fact that organizationally this was not the unit’s responsibility. It was, however, in keeping with its motto of “Fueling The Force,” something it would continue to do throughout the rest of its deployment in Italy during the war. It would end the war with four campaign streamers and a Meritorious Unit Citation.
In its only other combat deployment, this time to Iraq in 2003 under the 49th Quartermaster Group designation, it would earn another MUC for serving as the Theater Bulk Petroleum and Water Group. The Group was inactivated in September 2012.
The 49th Quartermaster Group Combat Service ID Badge is metal version of the colored Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI). You can learn about the symbolism of the imagery by using the SSI link below.
Related Items
49th Quartermaster Group Patch (SSI)
49th Quartermaster Group Unit Crest (DUI)