The 68th Theater Medical Command (68 TMC) was constituted on 18 October 1927 in the Regular Army as the 18th Medical Regiment. Redesignated as the 68th Medical Regiment and reorganized as the 68th Medical Group, the organization served in combat in Europe in World War II and in the Republic of Vietnam. During the Cold War, it was stationed at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland from 1954 until its deployment to Vietnam and was reactivated again in Germany, where it served from 1978 into the 1990s. On 21 September 2023, it was redesignated as the 68th Theater Medical Command and activated at Sembach, Germany.
Lineage
Constituted on 18 October 1927 in the Regular Army as the 18th Medical Regiment.Department of The Army, Office of the Adjutant General Memorandum, 14 October 1954 to Commanding Officer, 68th Medical Group, Subject: Official Statement of Lineage and Battle Honors. National Archives II at College Park, Maryland, Record Group 472, Entry A1 1658, Box 75, Folder 3 Activated (less Company A) on 1 June 1941 at Camp Forrest, Tennessee. Company A activated on 3 June 1941 Re-designated on 3 June 1941 as the 68th Medical Regiment. Regiment broken up 15 September 1943 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as follows: Headquarters and Headquarters and Service Company as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 68th Medical Group. Company A as the 449th Medical Collecting Company - hereafter separate lineage. Company B as the 450th Medical Collecting Company - hereafter separate lineage. Company C as the 451st Medical Collecting Company - hereafter separate lineage. Company D as the 617th Medical Clearing Company - hereafter separate lineage. Company E as the 452d Medical Collecting Company - hereafter separate lineage. Company F as the 453d Medical Collecting Company - hereafter separate lineage. Company G as the 454th Medical Collecting Company - hereafter separate lineage. Company H as the 618th Medical Clearing Company - hereafter separate lineage. Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 68th Medical Group Inactivated 27 June 1946, in Germany. Headquarters Detachment redesignated Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 68th Medical Group, 17 June 1954. Activated 27 July 1954 at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. Inactivated 30 June 1972 at Fort Lewis, Washington. Activated 21 October 1978 in the Federal Republic of Germany. Inactivated 15 December 1994 in Germany Redesignated 21 September 2023 as 68th Theater Medical Command and activated in Germany
Honors
Campaign participation credit
World War II Normandy Northern France Rhineland Ardennes-Alsace Central Europe Vietnam Counteroffensive Counteroffensive, Phase II Counteroffensive, Phase III Tet Counteroffensive Counteroffensive, Phase IV Counteroffensive, Phase V Counteroffensive, Phase VI Tet 69/Counteroffensive Summer-Fall 1969 Winter-Spring 1970 Sanctuary Counteroffensive Vietnam Counteroffensive Phase VII Consolidation I Consolidation II Vietnam Cease-fire
Decorations
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for: VIETNAM 1966-1967 VIETNAM 1967-1968 VIETNAM 1968-1970 VIETNAM 1970-1971
History The Organized Reserves
The 18th Medical Regiment was constituted, or added to the roles of the Regular Army, on 18 October 1927. It was allotted to the Second Corps Area and assigned to the II Corps. It was organized as a Regular Army Inactive unit with members of the Organized Reserve Corps on 9 September 1930 with its headquarters in Rochester, New York. Reserve personnel were assigned from New York and New Jersey, and the unit's designated mobilization training station was the Syracuse Mobilization Camp. New York City elements of the regiment typically conducted their Inactive Training Period meetings at 641 Washington Street in New York City, and the regiment conducted summer training at Carlisle Barracks with the 1st Medical Regiment. On 1 June 1941 the regiment would be organized as an Active Army Regiment and redesignated as the 68th Medical Regiment on 3 June 1941. The regiment was assigned to the Second Army on 24 September 1941. The regiment participated in the Second Army/VII Corps maneuvers in Camp Robinson/Arkadelphia, Arkansas from 11–30 August 1941 and the Second Army-Third Army GHQ Maneuvers during the Louisiana Maneuvers from 15–28 September 1941.
World War II
1941
1942
1943 Following the overseas voyage, the 68th Medical Group was completely reunited on 17 December 1943 at Camp Kingwood Common, Oxfordshire, England. The Camp was a 750-bed hospital plant with Nissen-hut construction of stucco and beaverboard, located a few miles from Henley on Thames (Oxfordshire) and Reading, Berks, and formerly occupied for a brief period by troops of a British Armored Division.
1944 From 1 January to 1 March 1944, the following changes in organization of units took place: Attachments:Kinz, Francis P. "Annual Report of the 68th Medical Group, 1944." Copy from the files of the AMEDD Center for History and Heritage, Fort Sam Houston, Texas Unit Date HHD, 57th Medical Battalion14 January 1944575th Medical Company (Ambulance)7 February 1944576th Medical Company (Ambulance)7 February 1944577th Medical Company (Ambulance)1 March 1944578th Medical Company (Ambulance)7 February 1944
Relieved from Attachment: Unit Date 453d Medical Company (Collecting)15 February 1944617th Medical Company (Clearing)1 March 1944618th Medical Company (Clearing)1 March 1944662d Medical Company (Clearing)1 March 1944
After several minor inter-Battalion changes of attached units, the group organization as of 11 March 1944, was:
HHD, 68th Medical Group 57th Medical Battalion HHD, 57th Medical Battalion 575th Medical Company (Ambulance) 576th Medical Company (Ambulance) 577th Medical Company (Ambulance) 578th Medical Company (Ambulance) 175th Medical Battalion HHD, 175th Medical Battalion 449th Medical Company (Collecting) 450th Medical Company (Collecting) 451st Medical Company (Collecting) 176th Medical Battalion HHD, 176th Medical Battalion 452d Medical Company (Collecting) 454th Medical Company (Collecting)
In accordance with Training Circular #1, Headquarters First United States Army, 24 November 1943, intensive training with emphasis on physical conditioning and small unit training began on 1 January 1944 in preparation for the forthcoming channel crossing and military operations in France.
Exercises with the 44th and 45th Evacuation Hospitals utilized collecting and ambulance companies and stressed the methods of transportation of patients to and from the evacuation hospitals and the reinforcement of the hospitals with litter bearer and technical personnel.
School for drivers, assistant drivers, and motor officers and non-commissioned officers was conducted in both the practical and theoretical aspects of waterproofing and during the Normandy landings, no vehicle of the group had engine failures.
With the aid of personnel of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, and selected personnel of the 68th Medical Group, all personnel of the 451st and 452nd Medical Companies (Collecting) were trained in the care of the M-1903 rifle, marksmanship, and manual of arms. The purpose of this training was to provide a reserve of trained medical troops for guarding medical installations from marauders. Response to this training was very enthusiastic, and results could be adjudged from the fact that 93% of personnel qualified at 200 yards with 20 inch bullseye after two weeks of training.
Allotments to schools were liberally distributed, with personnel attending the European Theater of Operations' Medical Field Service School, Army School of Hygiene, Transport Quartermaster School, Medical and Surgical Technicians School, Cooks and Bakers School, and schools providing instructions in Neuropsychiatry, mines and booby traps, bomb disposal, camouflage, chemical warfare, advances in medicine, plaster techniques, enemy documents and military intelligence.
In addition to housing the entire personnel of the group, the camp also quartered the personnel of the 177th Medical Battalion (134th Medical Group), the 962nd Engineer Company, the 989th Engineer Company and 1091st Engineer Detachment. The 68th Medical Group Headquarters was designated the Camp Headquarters with the Commanding Officer of the group, Colonel Francis P. Kintz, MC, functioning as Camp Commander and the group staff sections functioning in similar capacities. Not the least of the problems encountered was that of the conversion of the camp buildings into hospital structures suitable for the use of the hospital units which were to occupy the area subsequent to the departure of the group and the invasion of France. This work was carried out by British civilian companies and required close contact between the group staff and American and British (military and civilian) engineers of all echelons and necessitated frequent changes in billeting plans for the Camp.
Units of the group arranged for the reception, billeting and indoctrination of various organizations in and around Kingwood Common, and the group Operations Section, from ll-16 April conducted a course in waterproofing of vehicles for selected officers and enlisted personnel of all army medical units. In addition to academic instruction, the course included practical demonstrations involving the immersion and operation of all types of government vehicles in both fresh and salt water to a depth of feet.
During the stay at this location, many constructive changes in the physical makeup of the Camp were undertaken. Concrete walks were built, landscaping and beautification projects were initiated, and a quadrangle was filled in and constructed, in the middle of which was erected a flagpole, the latter requiring later re-erection following its destruction by a low-flying transport plane.
All units of the 68th Medical Group arrived in England without TO&E equipment. Immediately upon arrival, units received releases for items of Basic Equipment. Approximately five months passed before all units of the group became totally equipped. One problem that presented difficulties was the excessive travel and time consumed in order to pick up released items. Many of the group's units traveled over a hundred miles to general depots to pick up items that could have been shipped to or released from general depots that were only ten or fifteen miles from the group's location. Messing facilities, equipment, and rations were adequate while in England.
During the stay in England, a camp Post Exchange, first opened on 24 December 1943, was operated for all units stationed at Kingwood Common which included as many as 1800 officers and enlisted men. Facilities and supplies, including rationed items, were excellent. The volume of sales was large, and personnel also availed themselves of the opportunity to purchase mail-order gifts thru the Army Exchange Service for delivery in the United States.
Special Service activities included bi-weekly movies, bi-monthly USO shows; distribution of Army publications; competitive athletic programs of baseball and volleyball; distribution of radios, athletic equipment, and supplies; tours to historic places of interest; training of discussion leaders and organization of an orientation program; publicity for the Armed Forces Institute; language courses in French, Spanish, and German; operation of an Enlisted Men's club, and Officers• Club, and a library of all types of literature; and organization of weekly dances for Enlisted Men.
Relations between military personnel and civilians in the neighborhood of Kingwood Common were most cordial, and officers and enlisted men frequently accepted English hospitality and the opportunity to further Anglo-American relations and enhance the understanding between themselves and their English allies.