Army history in November

Beyond its role in defense of the nation, the Army and its Soldiers have contributed to medicine, technology, exploration, engineering and science. The milestones listed in this monthly chronology offer only a small glimpse of that proud story of selfless service. It is also your story.

1700s

1752

Twenty-one-year-old George Washington is commissioned a major in the provincial militia regiment of Virginia.

1775--Congress reorganizes the Continental Army into 26 regiments with separate artillery units, and GEN George Washington prescribes the first Army standard uniform--brown coats with different regimental cuts and facings.

1775--On Nov. 17 COL Henry Knox is appointed the first commander of the Continental Army's newly organized Regiment of Artillery. This becomes the birth date of the field artillery and air-defense artillery.

1800s

1805--The 27 Soldiers and three civilians of the Corps of Discovery reach the Pacific Ocean.

1811--In the Rattle of Tippecanoe, Ind., on Nov. 7, the 4th Infantry Regiment and Kentucky militia defeat Shawnee warriors led by the Prophet, Tecumseh's brother.

1863--Soldiers of the Army of the Ohio under MG George Thomas push past their objectives on Missionary Ridge, and rout Confederate troops from Lookout Mountain, Tenn.

1865

On Nov. 16 MG William T. Sherman leads his men south out of Atlanta, beginning a month-long "march to the sea" that ends with the capture of Fort McAllister.

1900s

1912--On Nov. 12 the Signal Corps Aviation Section obtains its first flying boat, a two-seat Curtis-F airplane.

1914--The Army Air Service conducts its first cross-country flight, Nov. 19 to 26, a distance of 429 miles from Fort Sill, Okla., to Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

1918--At 1100 hours on Nov. 11 an armistice goes into effect, ending World War I.

1936--Army pilots set a new highaltitude record of 14 miles in the balloon "Explorer."

1942--Operation Torch, the first American amphibious and airborne assault against the Axis, takes place. Three Army task forces commanded by LTG Dwight D. Eisenhower land Nov. 8 in North Africa.

1943--On Nov. 5 the Army approves the adoption of its first combat boot, to replace the service shoe for field wear.

1943--A task force from the 165th Inf. lands on Makin Island and fights in support of the Marine attack on nearby Tarawa, Nov. 20 through 23.

1948--An unmanned Signal Corps balloon sets a new altitude record of 26.5 miles on Nov. 20.

1950--On Nov. 2 the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cav., is overrun by Chinese troops after crossing into North Korea.

1955--The U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group is established in South Vietnam Nov. 1.

1965--For two days, Nov. 14 and 15, units of the 1st Cav. Div. fight three North Vietnamese Army regiments during desperate battles at landing zone X-Ray and LZ Albany in South Vietnam's la Drang Valley.

1967--For three weeks, beginning Nov. 1, the 173rd Airborne Brigade and units of the 1st Cav. Div. battle a large North Vietnamese force entrenched in the mountains above Dak To, South Vietnam.

1970--On Nov. 21 a special-forces team assaults a North Vietnamese prison at Son Tay to rescue Americans thought to be held there. The prison is empty of U.S. troops and the team fights its way out without a casualty.

1977--Delta Force is organized at Fort Bragg, N.C., and officially titled the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta.

1979--The Army adopts the camouflage pattern Battle Dress Uniform to replace the solid-green fatigues.

1981--The Vietnam Memorial is dedicated on Nov. 13.

1998--Operation Desert Thunder. On Nov. 11 the 1st Bde., 3rd Inf. Div., is rushed to Kuwait in response to a renewed threat of an Iraqi invasion.

2000s

2000--The last of the Army's chemical weapons stored on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean are destroyed on Nov. 29. In the previous 10 years more than 400,000 chemical weapons had been eliminated at Johnston Atoll.

2001--Elements of the 10th Mountain Div. arrive at Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, on Nov 28. They are the first conventional troops deployed by the United States into that troubled nation.

2003

The first Army unit equipped with the new Stryker armored wheeled vehicles, the 3rd Bde., 2nd Inf. Div., arrives in Kuwait on Nov. 15 en route to Iraq.

2003--On Nov. 27 President George W. Bush makes a secret trip to Iraq, where he shares Thanksgiving dinner with troops of the 1st Armored and 82nd Abn. divisions.

COL Raymond K. Bluhm Jr. (Ret.) An officer of the Army History Foundation and co-author of "The Soldier's Guide" and "The Army."

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