United States Army Transportation Command

The command traces its organizational lineage to the Army's former Office of the Chief of Transportation, established 31 July 1942. Fourteen years later, the Defense Department established a separate agency to carry out traffic management functions. On 1 May 1956, ARTRANS's original mandate began when the secretary of defense designated the secretary of the Army as the single manager for military traffic within the United States. Military Traffic Management Agency/US Army Transportation Terminal Command On 1 July 1956, the Army established the Military Traffic Management Agency (MTMA) to carry out those single-manager functions. Originally, MTMA did not operate military ocean terminals, a function held by the U.S. Army Transportation Terminal Command (a Transportation Corps component). The original MTMA did not feature port commands but did include five regional offices: eastern (Pittsburgh, PA), western (Oakland, CA), central (St. Louis, MO), southwestern (Dallas, TX), and southeastern (Atlanta, GA). This arrangement essentially lasted until 1965. Only the Oakland headquarters remained the same after that time. MTMA and then DTMS called the field offices "traffic regions". Defense Traffic Management Service MTMA lasted only five and one half years. Then, as part of his overall DOD restructuring, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara transferred the organization to the newly established Defense Supply Agency (DSA). On 1 January 1962, he re-designated MTMA as the Defense Traffic Management Service (DTMS). The United States Army Materiel Command then took over the military ocean terminals. However, DOD and congressional concerns over duplication in military logistics soon led to further reorganizations. After a detailed reexamination of the Defense Transportation System, McNamara designated the Secretary of the Army as the single manager for military traffic, land transportation, and common-user ocean terminals on 19 November 1964. Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service To execute this centralized management concept, a joint service planning staff formed up to establish an agency, the Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service (MTMTS). DOD then formally activated MTMTS as a jointly staffed Army major command on 15 February 1965. MTMTS assumed all responsibilities assigned to the Defense Traffic Management Service and the terminal operations functions of the U.S. Army Supply and Maintenance Command (a component of the Army Materiel Command). With the approval and publication of its single-manager charter on 24 June 1965, MTMTS joined the Military Air Transport Service and the Military Sea Transport Service (now Military Sealift Command) in providing complete transportation services to the Department of Defense. The formation of the Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service resulted in tremendous change in the command's organization. Since MTMTS now operated military ocean terminals, it focused its area command structure on ports. Upon the command's formation the former eastern traffic region headquarters moved to Brooklyn Army Terminal in Brooklyn, New York, and became Eastern Area. Western Area (formerly a traffic region) headquarters remained at Oakland, CA. MTMTS abolished the southwestern and southeastern field offices. For two years, however, MTMTS retained its central area command in St. Louis, MO. To streamline operations further, the command then disestablished that headquarters in early 1967 and transferred its functions to Eastern Area. MTMS maintained its Eastern Area Headquarters at Brooklyn, N.Y. until September 1975 when it moved to Bayonne N.J. In 1966 the Transportation Engineering Agency, Fort Eustis, VA, the Army's only activity with traffic and transportability engineering expertise became a major component of MTMTS. MTMTS moved cargo for the Vietnam War at Military Ocean Terminal Bay Area (MOTBA) at Oakland CA, Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne, New Jersey (MOTBY) and Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, NC (MOTSU) as well as commercial ports. In the earlier years of the war MTMTS shipped soldiers by surface from its Western Area (primarily Oakland)/Oakland Army Terminal. By 1967 as troops rotated to Vietnam in small groups or individually, fewer soldiers went by surface; most were airlifted to the theater. As a means of easing serious congestion and ship delay, MTMTS in 1966 initiated a practice of sending full shiploads to single ports of debarkation in theater whenever possible. It continued this practice throughout the war. Between 1965 and 1969 MTMS in conjunction with the Military Sealift Command transported over of dry cargo and over of bulk petroleum to Vietnam. Military Traffic Management Command On 31 July 1974, MTMTS was re-designated as the Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC) to make its title more readily identifiable with its mission. United States Transportation Command On 1 October 1988, MTMC, along with the Military Sealift Command and the Military Airlift Command officially became components of the United States Transportation Command (TRANSCOM). Created on 18 April 1987, TRANSCOM began official operations on 1 October 1987, as DOD's single unified transportation command. TRANSCOM's mission was to integrate global air, land and sea transportation in support of national security objectives. MTMC, MSC and MAC remained as major commands of their parent services and have continued to perform service-unique missions under the direction of their military departments. On 1992-02-14 DOD gave TRANSCOM control of service-operated transportation in both peace and war. ==The first Gulf war==