Eighth Corps Area was a

military formation Military organization ( AE) or military organisation ( BE) is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. Formal military organization tends to use hierarc ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. Its headquarters was at

Fort Sam Houston Fort Sam Houston is a United States Army, U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas. "Fort Sam Houston, TX • About Fort Sam Houston" (overview), US Army, 2007, webpageSH-Army. Known colloquially as "Fort Sam", it is named for the first president o ...

, TX. It was established on 20 August 1920 with headquarters at Fort Sam Houston, TX, and organized from portions of the discontinued Southern Department. The Eighth Corps Area included the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. For administrative purposes and for tactical control in connection with border patrol field operations, that part of the state of Arizona that lies west of the 114 degree meridian and south of the 33 degree parallel was attached to the Ninth Corps Area. In March 1925, when

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who had a major role in the creation of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, ...

's term as Assistant Chief of the Air Service expired, he reverted to his permanent rank of colonel and was transferred to

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Texas, as air officer to the Eighth Corps Area.Colonel Phillip S. Meilinger, USAF
Maxwell AFB. American Airpower Biography: ''Billy Mitchell''
Although such demotions were not unusual in demobilizations (Patrick himself had gone from major general to colonel upon returning to the Army Corps of Engineers in 1919), the move was widely seen as punishment and exile, since Mitchell had petitioned to remain as Assistant Chief when his term expired, and his transfer to an assignment with no political influence at a relatively unimportant Army base had been directed by Secretary of War John W. Weeks. In May 1927, the Pole Mountain Reservation and the post of Fort D. A. Russell (later renamed Fort Francis E. Warren) in

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

came under the control of the Eighth Corps Area when the 4th Infantry Brigade was transferred to that post from Fort Sam Houston. The installations were returned to control of the Ninth Corps Area on 1 July 1939. At the end of General

Frank M. Andrews Frank Maxwell Andrews (February 3, 1884 – May 3, 1943) was a senior officer of the United States Army and one of the founders of the United States Army Air Forces, which was later to become the United States Air Force. In leadership posit ...

' four-year term as Commanding General of

GHQ Air Force The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

on March 1, 1939, he was not reappointed, reverted to his permanent rank of colonel, and was reassigned as air officer for the Eighth Corps Area in San Antonio, the same exile to which

had been sent. Possibly expected to retire, he instead was recalled to Washington just four months later by Marshall after President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

named

George C. Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (31 December 1880 – 16 October 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army under presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. ...

to serve as

Chief of Staff of the United States Army The chief of staff of the Army (CSA) is a statutory position in the United States Army held by a general officer. As the highest-ranking officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army, the chief is the principal military advisor and a ...

following

Malin Craig Malin Craig (5 August 1875 – 25 July 1945) was a general in the United States Army who served as the 14th Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1935 to 1939. He served in World War I and was recalled to active duty during World War II ...

's retirement. HQ, Eighth Corps Area was responsible for the mobilization, administration, and training of units of the Second and Fifth Armies, VIII and XVIII Army Corps, select GHQ Reserve units, and the Zone of the Interior (ZI) support units of the Eighth Corps Area Service Command. Mobile units of the corps area, except for GHQ Reserve and ZI units, were assigned to the Third and Sixth Armies from 1921 to 1933. Major commands in the corps area included Third Army (1933–36 and 1940–41);

VIII Corps 8th Corps, Eighth Corps, or VIII Corps may refer to: * VIII Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VIII Army Corps (German Confederation) * VIII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Arm ...

: 2d Division with 3rd and 4th Infantry Brigades; 36th Division, 45th Division; XVIII Corps: 90th Division, 95th Division, 103d Division; the 1st Cavalry Division; the

3d Wing The 3rd Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Eleventh Air Force. It is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The Wing is the largest and principal unit within 11th Air Fo ...

(1932–35); the

24th School Wing The 24th School Wing was a training unit of the United States Army Air Corps. It was last assigned to the Air Corps Advanced Flying School, and was disbanded on 1 October 1931 at Kelly Field, Texas. While active, the wing served as the headqua ...

(1927–31); and the Eighth Corps Area Service Command. From 1922-27 the 44th Observation Squadron was attached to the Field Artillery School, initially at Post Field, Oklahoma. The

154th Observation Squadron The 154th Training Squadron (154th TRS) is a unit of the Arkansas Air National Guard 189th Airlift Wing. It is assigned to Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas and is equipped with the C-130H Hercules aircraft. The squadron is a descendant orga ...

was assigned to the Eighth Corps Area on 16 September 1940, but was later reassigned to Third Army.

Commanders

*Maj. Gen. Joseph T. Dickman 1 September 1920–6 October 1921 *Maj. Gen. John L. Hines 7 October 1921–20 November 1922 *Maj. Gen. Edward M. Lewis 20 November 1922–11 October 1924 *Maj. Gen. Charles P. Summerall 12 October 1924–15 January 1925 *Maj. Gen.

Ernest Hinds Ernest Hinds (August 18, 1864 – June 17, 1941) was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the Spanish–American War, Philippine–American War, and World War I, he attained the rank of major general and was notable for his s ...

16 January 1925–3 January 1928 *Maj. Gen. Thomas Q. Donaldson 4 January 1928–28 April 1928 *Maj. Gen. Albert J. Bowley 29 April 1928–24 December 1928 *Maj. Gen.

William Lassiter William Lassiter (September 29, 1867 – March 29, 1959) was a career officer in the United States Army. He was a veteran of the Spanish–American War, occupation of Veracruz, World War I, and the occupation of the Rhineland and attained the rank ...

24 December 1928–27 July 1930 *Brig. Gen. Halstead Dorey 27 July 1930–21 November 1930 *Maj. Gen. Edwin B. Winans 22 November 1930–30 September 1933 *Maj. Gen.

Johnson Hagood Johnson Hagood may refer to: *Johnson Hagood (governor) (1828–1898), American Civil War soldier and Governor of South Carolina, 1880–1882 * Johnson Hagood (1873–1948), American World War I general See also *Johnson Hagood Stadium Johnson ...

3 October 1933–27 February 1936 *Maj. Gen.

Henry W. Butner Henry Wolfe Butner (April 6, 1875 – March 13, 1937) was a United States Army general (United States), general in World War I and onetime commanding officer of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Fort Bragg (1928–29). A native of North Carolina, Butn ...

27 February 1936–19 March 1936 *Brig. Gen. Hamilton S. Hawkins III 19 March 1936–4 April 1936 *Maj. Gen. Frank Parker 4 April 1936–30 September 1936 *Maj. Gen. Herbert J. Brees 1 October 1936–9 November 1940 *Maj. Gen. Richard Donovan 10 November 1940–August 1942 Lieutenant General

Walton Walker Walton Harris Walker (3 December 1889 – 23 December 1950) was a United States Army four-star rank, four-star General (United States), general who served with distinction in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War, where he commanded the ...

was given command of the succeeding Eighth Service Command, headquartered in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, from May 1945 to May 1946.

References

*{{PD-notice (page 65) 8 Military units and formations established in the 1920s