Activated in World War I in France, III Corps oversaw US Army divisions as they repelled several major German offensives and led them into Germany.

Reactivated in the interwar years, III Corps trained US Army formations for combat before and during World War II, before itself being deployed to the European Theater where it participated in several key engagements, including the Battle of the Bulge where it relieved the surrounded 101st Airborne Division.

[4] It was designed as three of the four newly activated corps of the American Expeditionary Force, which at that time numbered over one million men in 23 divisions.

[5] In July, the corps was rushed to the Villers-Cotterêts area in preparation for the Third Battle of the Aisne, the first major Allied counteroffensive of the year.

On 18 July, the attack was launched, with the force spearheading the French Tenth Army's assault on the high ground south of Soissons.

[10] The offensive was slow and hampered by inexperience of many of the divisions under the Army's command, though III Corps was effective in protecting its sector.

[15] Following the end of World War I, III Corps remained in Europe for several months before it returned to the United States.

The corps also participated in the "Red Ball Express" by organizing 45 provisional truck companies to carry fuel and ammunition for the units on the front lines.

[15] The corps was assigned to Lieutenant General George S. Patton's Third Army on 10 October 1944, and moved to Etain, near Verdun, and into combat.

[20] III Corps was moved north to assist in the relief of Bastogne, Belgium, with the attack commencing at 04:00 on 22 December 1944.

[1] On 30 March, the Edersee Dam was captured intact by Task Force Wolfe of the 7th Armored Division, and the corps, now commanded by Major General James Van Fleet after Millikin's relief, continued the attack to seize the Ruhr Pocket on 5 April 1945.

[15] At the end of the war, III Corps had added campaign streamers for Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe, had taken more than 226,102 prisoners and had seized more than 4,500 square miles (12,000 km2) of German territory.

[15] After 13 months of occupation duty in Germany, the corps returned to Camp Polk, Louisiana, where it was inactivated on 10 October 1946.

[4] On 15 March 1951, during the height of the Korean War, III Corps was again called to active duty at Camp Roberts, California.

[4] In April 1954, III Corps moved to Fort Hood, Texas, where it participated in a number of important exercises, either as director headquarters or as a player unit.

[4] The Berlin crisis brought III Corps back to active duty for the fourth time on 1 September 1961.

[25] Throughout much of the 1960s, III Corps and its subordinate units trained for rapid deployment to Europe in the event of an outbreak of war there.

[26] During the Vietnam War era, the corps supervised the training and deployment of more than 137 units and detachments to Southeast Asia, including the I and II Field Force staffs.

[25] As the war in Southeast Asia ended, the corps received many units and individual soldiers for reassignment or inactivation.

It was also during this period that III Corps units participated in a number of key tests and evaluations that would help determine Army organization and equipment for the next 30 years.

[14] In July 1973, III Corps became part of the newly established Forces Command and its training, testing, and evaluation mission began to grow.

For the remainder of the decade, III Corps would take part in a number of Training and Doctrine Command tests of organizations and tactical concepts, and play a key role in the fielding of new equipment.

[15] In the summer of 1974, the Army decided to implement one of the recommendations of the Howze Board and created an air cavalry combat brigade.

In 1987, III Corps also conducted the largest deployment of forces to Germany since the Second World War, Exercise Reforger '87.

[30] III Corps has for many years participated in an exchange program which sees a Canadian Army officer appointed as a deputy commanding general.

The corps conducted a similar mission to its first deployment, focusing on providing personnel management, training, communications, convoy escort, and other duties to support the commanding elements of Multi-National Force Iraq.

These operations were designed to keep the corps familiar with commanding during large-scale conventional warfare, as opposed to counter-insurgency tactics it employed during its two tours in Iraq.

[33] On 5 November 2009, a gunman opened fire in the Soldier Readiness Center of Fort Hood, killing 13 people and wounding 30 others.

During the corps' deployment, IJC oversaw Milestone 13/Tranche 5 ceremony on 18 June 2013, which marked the official transition of full responsibility for nationwide security operations from ISAF to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

In November 2013, IJC forces provided technical support to the ANSF as it secured the Loya Jirga, a country-wide gathering of Afghan local leaders and officials, in Kabul.