It was activated in 1942 at
Carlisle Barracks in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, which is now the site of the
U.S. Army War College. At its founding, it was originally known as the Medical Field Service School Band until 1944 when it was designated the 323rd Army Service Forces Band. Two years later, the took part in a large move along two
medical schools to
Texas where it founded and was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, which the army designated as the principal military medical training facility, earning it the nickname of the "Home of Army Medicine". In 1975, the band was redesignated as the 5th Army Band and on 22 July 2004, was renamed to the
United States Army Medical Command Band (MEDCOM Band). Its final performance as the Medical Command Band took place on 13 October 2011 at San Antonio's Blesse Auditorium, before being officially reorganized as "Fort Sam's Own" 6 days later. In the summer of 2016, the
United States Department of the Army listed Fort Sam's Band as one of the bands that will be dissolved due to a reorganization of
army bands in the
Armed Forces. In April 2018, Lieutenant General Jeffrey Buchanan of U.S. Army North, said that the order to dissolve the band was reversed by the
Department of Defense after a rise in dissenting voices opposed to the decision. By mid-May, the band was confirmed to have been removed from the list of bands being dissolved and continued its activities with the previous orders to dissolve it still in effect, which as a result, caused the personnel count to go down to 16. ==Activities and performances==