It is probably one of the busiest commands in the United States Army at this point in time.
U.S. Army Central (USARCENT) has a huge area of responsibility, but you can be sure they have the right people in charge of handling this huge area.
So in today’s post, we are going to take a look at U.S. Army Central.
I will give you 17 cool facts about USARCENT. Let’s get on with it!
1: 3rd
Have you ever heard of the 3rd Army or the Third United States Army? U.S. Army Central (USARCENT) was formerly known as the 3rd Army.
2: The Beginning
It was in France in November of 1918 when the Third United States Army was activated.
There mission was to occupy Germany which they did quite well.
With over 200,000 enlisted soldiers and over 9,000 officers, the Third United States Army was prepared in case Germany did not sign a peace treaty.
3: Disbanded
The Third United States Army was disbanded in July of 1919.
Some personnel were left in Germany, but were just designated American forces in Germany.
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4: Reactivated
With situations heating up around the world, the Army was reorganizing and decided to reactivate the 3rd Army.
This happened in August of 1932. At that time, 3rd Army was primarily a formation on paper.
But, when the draft was instituted just prior to U.S. entry into World War II, many recruits would be trained by the 3rd Army.
In 1943, the 3rd Army was deployed to the United Kingdom.
The Third United States Army saw a lot of action throughout World War II, after all, their commander was General George Patton.
After the War, the 3rd Army became a command and training force up until…
5: 1974
The Army made some huge changes in 1974. Forces Command (FORSCOM) took over the role that the 3rd Army played.
The Third United States Army was inactivated.
6: Becoming USARCENT
In December of 1982, the Third United States Army was again activated at Fort McPherson, Georgia.
Now the 3rd Army would have new responsibilities.
They would be the Army’s part in a joint unified command.
They would now be known as USARCENT.
7: CENTCOM
USARCENT is the Army component of CENTCOM. CENTCOM is a Department of Defense Command, and stands for United States Central Command.
8: Joint
USARCENT is the Army land component for CENTCOM. These are the others:
USNAVCENT is United States Naval Forces Central and is the maritime component.
USAFCENT is United States Air Forces Central and is the air component.
USMARCENT is United States Marine Forces Central and is the Marine Corps service component.
SOCCENT is United States Special Operations Central and is a subordinate unified command of CENTCOM.
U.S. allies are also in the mix.
9: Headquarters
The headquarters for U.S. Army Central are at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.
10: Forward Element
USARCENT has a forward element located at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
11: Area Of Responsibility
USARCENT has a monstrous area of responsibility which is Southwest Asia, and includes the Persian Gulf and 20 countries in Asia and Africa.
12: 20 Countries
The 20 countries USARCENT has responsibility in are:
- Afghanistan
- Yemen
- Bahrain
- Uzbekistan
- Egypt
- United Arab Emirates
- Iran
- Turkmenistan
- Iraq
- Tajikistan
- Jordan
- Syria
- Kazakhstan
- Saudi Arabia
- Kuwait
- Qatar
- Kyrgyzstan
- Pakistan
- Lebanon
- Oman
13: Nickname & Motto
While they are now known as USARCENT, they will always go back to the 3rd Army roots.
Their nickname is Patton’s Own, and their motto is: Tertia Semper Prima, which is Latin for Third Always First.
14: The Many Middle East Operations
USARCENT has been a primary player in a lot of operations all throughout the Middle East. These are some:
Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield in Iraq staring in 1990.
Operation Vigilant Warrior in Kuwait in 1994.
Operation Vigilant Sentinel in Kuwait in 1995.
Operation Desert Strike in Iraq in 1996.
Operations Desert Thunder I & II in Iraq in 1997.
Operation Desert Fox in Iraq in 1998.
Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Plus, they have done work in Afghanistan.
15: United States Troops In The Middle East
With the Middle East being a “hotbed,” we have to keep a certain level of troops in the region just in case. Some approximate figures are:
In Kuwait there are approximately 15,000 U.S. troops.
In Iraq, the approximate figures show 1,500 U.S. troops.
In the United Arab Emirates there are believed to be approximately 5,000 U.S. troops.
In Jordan there are approximately 1,500 U.S. troops temporarily based there.
In Oman there are around 200 U.S. military personnel.
In Qatar, there are many U.S. forces. It is believed there are 6,000+.
Bahrain has 7,000+ U.S. troops.
In Saudi Arabia, there are U.S. troops, but no accurate count.
All these figures are just known numbers. Top Secret operations are not counted.
16: Commanding Generals
Since the start of the 3rd Army, there have been some tremendous leaders. These are the Commanding Generals through the years:
1918-April 1919 – Major General Joseph Dickman
April 1919-July 1919 – Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett
1932-1933 – Major General Edwin Winans
1933-1936 – Major General Johnson Hagood
1936 – Major General Frank Parker
1936-1938 – Major General George Moseley
1938-1940 – Lieutenant General Stanley Embick
1940-1941 – Lieutenant General Herbert Brees
1941-1943 – General Walter Krueger
1943-1944 – General Courtney Hodges
1944-1945 – General George Patton Jr.
1945-1946 – General Lucian Truscott
1946-1947 – Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes
1947 – Major General Ernest Harmon
1947 – 1950 – Lieutenant General Alvan Gillem Jr.
1950 – 1952 – General John Hodge
1952-1955 – Lieutenant General Alexander Bolling
1955-1958 – Lieutenant General Thomas Hickey
1958-1960 – Lieutenant General Clark Ruffner
1960 and 1961-1962 – Lieutenant General Thomas Trapnell
1960-1961 – Lieutenant General Paul Adams
1963-1964 – Lieutenant General Albert Watson II
1964-1965 – Lieutenant General Charles Rich
1965-1967 – Lieutenant General Louis Truman
1967-1969 – Lieutenant General John Throckmorton
1969-1972 – Lieutenant General Albert Conner
1972-1973 – Lieutenant General Melvin Zais
1973 – Major General Warren Bennett
1982-1983 – Lieutenant General Marion Collier Ross
1983-1984 – Lieutenant General William Livsey
1984-1987 – Lieutenant General Theodore Jenes Jr.
1987-1989 – Lieutenant General Andrew Chambers
1989-1992 – Lieutenant General John Yeosock
1992-1994 – Lieutenant General James Ellis
1994-1997 – Lieutenant General Steven Arnold
1997 – Major General Robert Ivany
1997-2000 – Lieutenant General Tommy Franks
2000-2002 – Lieutenant General Paul Mikolashek
2002-2004 – Lieutenant General David McKiernan
2004-2007 – Lieutenant General R. Steven Whitcomb
2007-2009 – Lieutenant General James Lovelace
2009-2011 – Lieutenant General William Webster
2011-2013 – Lieutenant General Vincent Brooks
2013-2015 – Lieutenant General James Terry
17: Current Leadership
The current leadership of USARCENT is:
Commanding General – Lieutenant General Michael Garrett
Deputy Commanding General – Major General William Hickman
Deputy Commanding General – Major General Paul Hurley
Chief Of Staff – Brigadier General Viet X. Luong
Command Sergeant Major – CSM Eric Dostie
Final Thoughts
Well there you have some information on one of the top commands in the U.S. Army.
What are your thoughts?
Leave your questions and comments below. Thank you.

Chuck Holmes
Former Army Major (resigned)
Publisher, Part-Time-Commander.com
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
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