Several events are planned around San Antonio today to mark today's 75th birthday of Army North, one of the most storied units in the history of the U.S. Army, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Army North, which was then called Fifth Army, was stood up on January 5, 1943 in Morocco, which is the origin of the famous 'blue mosque' shoulder patch.
The first commander of Army North was legendary World War II infantry commander Gen. Mark Clark, but it was under equally respected Gen. Lucian Truscott that Fifth Army achieved its greatest battlefield successes.
In 1944, Fifth Army marched into Rome, becoming the first U.S. Army to liberate a European capital from Fascist control.
Fifth Army endured 602 days of steady battlefield combat between early 1943 and May of 1942, when it stood down with the surrender of Nazi Germany. Fifth Army was inactivated in October 1945.
But that inactivation didn't last long. The demands of the Cold War, Korea, and Vietnam prompted the need for military training, and Fifth Army was reactivated in 1946. That was when Fifth Army also began its civil defense mission which continues today, serving as a force provider in response to natural disasters.
In the early 1970s, Fifth Army moved to Ft. Sam Houston, where it's training and civil defense missions continued.
In 2004, Fifth Army became Army North, giving up its training mission and focused primarily on civil defense.
Today's 75th anniversary will be marked by the opening of the new Vogel Resiliency Center, which will serve the entire Joint Base San Antonio. The center will 'sustain individual and unit readiness for service members, families, retirees, and DoD civilians.'
It will be home to the Army Wellness Center, including public health nursing, chaplain services, the military family and readiness center, Army substance abuse program, and comprehensive soldier and family fitness.