Corps Area - Corps Area and Army Area Organizations, 1921-1932

Corps Area and Army Area Organizations, 1921-1932

An army area included three corps areas, and in the early years was concurrently staffed and headquartered with one of the corps areas. For example, First Army Area headquarters staff was also the Second Corps Area headquarters staff based at Fort Jay at Governors Island in New York, New York.

First Army Area included:

First Army (Active) and Fourth Army (Reserve on paper)

• First Corps Area replaced the Northeastern Department and was headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, encompassing Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Connecticut.

• Second Corps Area replaced the Eastern Department, headquartered at Fort Jay on Governors Island in New York City and encompassed New York, New Jersey, Delaware and at various times, Puerto Rico. 1st Infantry Division was the only active division in the area, alongside the 27th Infantry Division of the New York National Guard; the 44th Infantry Division of the New Jersey, New York, and Delaware National Guards; the 21st Cavalry Division of the New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and New Jersey National Guards; and the 77th, 78th, and 98th Infantry Divisions and the 61st Cavalry Division of the Organized Reserves. This was the organization that existed in the Second Corps Area for the duration of the peace period.

• Third Corps Area variously headquartered at Fort McHenry and Fort Howard in Baltimore, Maryland and included Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia. From 1921 to 1927, Washington, D.C. was withdrawn from Third Corps Area and established as the District of Washington.

Second Army Area included:

Second Army (Active) and Fifth Army (Reserve on paper)

• Fourth Corps Area replaced the Southeastern Department based in Charleston, South Carolina and was originally headquartered there then transferred to Atlanta Georgia, and encompassed the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

• Fifth Corps Area was variously headquartered at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana and Fort Hays in Columbus, Ohio and encompassed Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia.

• Sixth Corps Area was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, then Fort Sheridan, Illinois and covered the states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois.

Third Army Area included:

Third Army (Active) and Sixth Army (Reserve on paper)

• Seventh Corps Area was headquartered at the Omaha Army Depot and Fort Crook in Omaha, Nebraska and included Arkansas, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska.

• Eighth Corps Area, variously headquartered in Dallas and Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio Texas, replaced the Southern Department and included Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

• Ninth Corps Area, headquartered at the Presidio of San Francisco, California, replaced the Western Department and included Alaska, Idaho, Montana, California, Wyoming, Washington, Utah, Nevada and Oregon.

The Civilian Conservation Corps were organized roughly along army corps area boundaries since most of the logistical administration and support (food, housing, uniforms, transportation) for this 1930s Great Depression-era emergency work program was provided by the U.S. Army. The corps areas provided Regular Army officers to oversee these tasks. In time, they were replaced by officers of the Army Reserve, freeing Regular Army officers to return to their assigned duties and providing practical experience to the Reserve officers.