The Department of the Army announced Tuesday the selection of an additional corps headquarters, called Fifth Corps (V Corps), which will be located at Fort Knox.
The new corps headquarters will bring about 635 additional soldiers to Kentucky. The Army plans to activate V Corps Headquarters by the fall of 2020.
“The activation of an additional corps headquarters provides the needed level of command and control focused on synchronizing U.S. Army, allied, and partner nation tactical formations operating in Europe,” said Gen. James McConville, Chief of Staff of the Army, in a release. “It will enhance U.S. Army Europe and U.S. European Command as they work alongside allies and partners to promote regional stability and security.”
Currently, the Army has three corps headquarters: I Corps, located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; III Corps, located at Fort Hood, Texas; and XVIII Airborne Corps, located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. V Corps will be the Army’s fourth headquarters.
Earlier this month, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., led Kentucky’s Congressional representatives in urging Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy and Chief of Staff of the Army General James McConville to choose Fort Knox as the fourth corps headquarters location.
“Fort Knox has proven itself as a leader in our nation’s armed forces time and again, and I’m delighted to announce Secretary McCarthy and General McConville answered my call to station V Corps headquarters in Kentucky,” McConnell said in a release. “As the Army continues modernizing its force structure to counter evolving global threats, Fort Knox is (the) best choice to meet our urgent national defense needs. With its unmatched level of community support, Fort Knox will offer V Corps a warm welcome.”
Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he was thrilled to announce the selection and looks forward to welcoming the troops to the commonwealth
“From working to protect Fort Knox’s energy independence capabilities to advocating for service members at all of our military bases to be counted correctly by the census, I’m proud to be a voice for Kentucky’s soldiers, their families and their communities,” he said in a release.
The V Corps’ history dates back to 1918, when the unit was activated during World War I during combat in France. Later, it took part in the World War II D-Day invasion and liberation of Europe.
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