UNITED STATES ARMY

US III CORPS Cold War Organization  •  1988

In 1988 the US III Corps was headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas with the primary wartime mission of reinforcing of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) in Germany. III Corps' major combat units included the 1st Cavalry Division (Armored), the 2nd Armored Division, the 1st, 4th and 5th Infantry Divisions (Mechanized), and the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. The 1st and 4th Infantry Divisions were earmarked to reinforce US VII and US V Corps respectively and the former as well as the 2nd Armored Division had one brigade forward deployed in Germany. Besides these divisions, III Corps controlled a large number of field artillery, aviation, engineer and support units. Organizational flags for corps, divisions and brigades were 3 feet at the hoist by 4 feet on the fly with 2 1/2-inch yellow fringe. They were made of heavyweight rayon banner cloth with the insignia and numerals or monograms applied to appear properly on both sides of the flag. Campaign and unit decoration streamers awarded to divisions were always displayed with these flags. For corps, the flag was horizontally divided, national flag blue over white, with yellow fringe. The flag for corps artillery was scarlet with a horizontal yellow-red-yellow stripe and yellow fringe. Separate brigades had flags with vertical stripes in branch colors, e.g. green and yellow for Military Police, with yellow fringe. Support commands had a flag with a buff field and scarlet fringe, the distinctive colors for support units. All these organizational flags displayed the unit's shoulder sleeve insignia in proper colors. Separate armored cavalry regiments used the organizational color. Organizational flags and colors were always carried or displayed with a National Color of the same material and dimensions. Guidons for headquarters elements of these units were of the same design as the corresponding organizational flags. Dimensions were 20 inches at the hoist by 27 inches on the fly with a 10-inch fork. Older guidons made of cotton or wool bunting were still used if serviceable, but new ones were made of heavyweight rayon banner cloth. Note: Active links in descriptions point to pages depicting the organizational flags, organizational colors or guidons of subordinate units.