Units - Army and Air Force
I CORPS
I Corps commands most Army units at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and conducts planning and liaison with other assigned active and Reserve component units located in the continental United States. It is one of four corps headquarters in the active Army, and one of three based in the continental United States.
Today, I Corps has been designated as one of the active Army's contingency corps. I Corps stays prepared to deploy on short notice worldwide to command up to five divisions or a joint task force.
Since I Corps was assigned to Fort Lewis in 1981, Soldiers from its units have participated in Operation Just Cause in Panama, Desert Shield and Desert Storm during the Persian Gulf War, Operation Provide Comfort for Kurdish Refugees, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. They helped with the restoration of order following the riots in Los Angeles, participated in Operation Safe Harbor in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for Haitian migrants, supported relief efforts following Hurricane Andrew in Florida and Hurricane Iniki in Hawaii, and played a significant role in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and in restoring peace in Kosovo.
I Corps also contributed to the command structure of Operation Desert Storm with the I Corps commander, Lt. Gen. Calvin A.H. Waller, and the Deputy I Corps commander, Maj. Gen. Paul Schwartz, assisting General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the commander of American forces. January 15, 2003, marked the 85th anniversary of the activation of the First American Army Corps in Neufchateau, France. The corps assumed tactical responsibility for troops fighting on the western front July 4, 1918. Corps Soldiers participated in battles during the Aisne- Marne Offensive, the St. Mihiel Offensive and the Battle of Meuse-Argonne. After World War I, I Corps was disbanded at Tonnerre, France, in 1919.
I Corps was reactivated at Fort Jackson, S.C., in 1940. In 1942, the corps was assigned to U.S. Army Forces, Southwest Pacific Area under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. I Corps' first major World War II combat assignment was the taking of Buna, New Guinea, the first allied victory over the Japanese. Corps Soldiers then won battles at Hollandia and Biak, New Guinea. Later, I Corps took part in the invasion of the Philippines.
Following the war, I Corps was assigned to occupation duty in Japan until 1950. It was briefly inactivated, then reactivated at Fort Bragg, N.C., and sent to Korea, fighting on the Pusan Perimeter, near Seoul and elsewhere on the peninsula for two years. When the fighting ended, I Corps was given tactical control of U.S., United Nations and Republic of Korea forces along the western third of the Eighth Army area. The corps continued to play an active role in Korea along the DMZ until 1971, when it was reduced to zero strength.
In 1981, I Corps was reactivated at Fort Lewis.
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