Summary History of the 44th Medical Brigade
- Jun 9, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
The 44th Medical Brigade "Ready, Reliable, and Relevant" - A Summary History
(Original Article written 5-17-08)
The job of the 44th Medical Brigade, now the 44th Medical Command, is to organize, train, deploy, command, and control their subordinate medical units to provide corps-level combat medical, and community health support, across all levels of conflict and in a peacetime garrison environment. The 44th Medical Command is currently stationed at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. Fort Bragg subordinate units include the HHC 44th MEDCOM, the 28th Combat Support Hospital, the 261st Medical Battalion (Multifunctional), the 51st MED (VS), The 248th MED (VS) and the 257th MED (DS). The 44th Medical Command also controls the 86th Combat Support Hospital at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, the 14th Combat Support Hospital at Ft. Benning, Georgia, the 6th Medical Logistics Management Center (MLMC) at Ft. Detrick, Maryland, and the 1st Area Medical Laboratory (AML) and the 9th AML at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland.
The 44th Medical Brigade was formed on 30 December 1965 and was activated on 1 January 1966 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the home of the Army Medical Branch. The Brigade deployed to Vietnam, where it participated in 12 of the 17 campaigns, including Counteroffensive, Counteroffensive Phases II through VII, Tet Counteroffensive; Summer-Fall 1969; Winter-Spring 1970, and the Sanctuary Counteroffensive.
In March 1970, the 44th Medical Brigade Headquarters was merged with the United States Army, Vietnam Surgeon's Office to form the Medical Command, Vietnam (Provisional). The 44th Medical Brigade's colors were returned to the United States in December of 1970. During the Brigade's service in Vietnam, it was awarded two Meritorious Unit Commendation Streamers. The streamers are embroidered "Vietnam 1969-1970" by the government of the Republic of Vietnam.
On March 19, 1973, the 44th Medical Brigade was inactivated at Fort Meade, Maryland. The Brigade was reactivated on September 21, 1974, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. On July 16, 1993, the 44th Medical Brigade became a separate major subordinate command reporting directly to the XVIII Airborne Corps with a general officer commanding.
Since moving to Ft. Bragg, elements of the 44th Medical Brigade have participated in Operation URGENT FURY in Grenada (October 1983), Operation JUST CAUSE in Panama (December 1989), Operations DESERT SHIELD (August 1990), and DESERT STORM (February 1991) in Saudi Arabia, and Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY in Haiti (September 1994). The Brigade has also participated in humanitarian relief missions. Of note are the hurricane relief efforts in the United States, including those following Hurricanes Andrew (1992), Katrina (2005), and Rita (2005).
The Brigade was converted to a Medical Command on 16 October 2001 and became a multi-component unit. While at Fort Bragg the 44th Medical Brigade had become an airborne unit, but as part of its conversion the 44th Medical Command lost this designation. Elements of the 44th Medical Brigade have deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan in support of the Global War on Terrorism. During 2006 the 14th Combat Support Hospital deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The 28th Combat Support Hospital and the 86th Combat Support Hospital have both deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 04-06. These two units served as the "Baghdad ER," which was highlighted by the 86th CSH in the HBO documentary of the same name.
The 44th Medical Command transferred their responsibilities as the commanding medical unit in Multinational Corps-Iraq to the 30th Medical Brigade from Heidelberg, Germany on October 18, 2005. During their tour, the 44th Medical Command conducted more than 400 brain surgeries, nearly 7,000 general surgery procedures, 6,000 orthopedic procedures, and close to 1,500 subspecialty surgical procedures.
The 44th MEDCOM's stated mission is to "Organize, resource, train, sustain, deploy, command, control, and support assigned and attached healthcare capabilities to provide flexible, responsive and effective health service support and force health protection to supported forces conducting joint and simultaneous full spectrum operations." The professionals who are assigned to this command perform this mission superbly, proving their motto, that they are "Ready, Relevant, and Reliable."
Books by Jim Travis Broumley
The Boldest Plan is the Best
In the fall of 1941, as the U.S. Army scrambled to prepare for the war they knew was coming, a new kind of soldier was training with a new way of getting to the battlefield – the paratrooper. The first to deploy to England and the first to jump into combat, while their more celebrated airborne brothers were still training in the States. This is the story of the 509th PIB
The Bridge at El Djem
Tunisia, 1942
Paratroopers Lieutenant Jack Bell and lead scout Corporal Roland “Rube” Roubideaux might be the only survivors out of their platoon after a failed mission to blow up a bridge behind enemy lines. Now they're going back to finish the job, tagging along with a detachment of British SAS desert commandos.
The Avellino Jump
Avellino Province, Italy, 1943 Paratroopers Lt Jack Bell and Sgt Rube Roubideaux, jumped with their battalion behind German lines in Italy to take pressure off the Allies’ tenuous hold on the Salerno beachhead. But they are given an additional mission by Col Addington, the mysterious OSS officer. They need to complete their battalion’s mission while also getting an Italian scientist safely to American lines. But first they need to outwit a fanatic Nazi officer and an Italian playing both sides.
The War in Venafro
Naples, Italy 1943 Lt Jack Bell is reunited with his cousin Nadia. The only problem: she is now the head of an organized crime family, and threatens to pull Jack and his friend Captain “Doc” Allen into her world to stop an American deserter from taking over. Meanwhile, friction grows between the veteran paratroopers and some of the new men, will everyone be able to work together to fight the Germans?
Anzio
Anzio Italy, 1944 - 1LT Jack Bell and his fellow paratroopers prepare to make a beach landing in Italy. The problem is that the civilians in Naples know where they’re going before they do. Along with everything else, Jack is put in the position of escorting OSS officer Boyd Carter on a raid of a German held blockhouse to “capture” an old friend. Now Carter is wounded and Jack is a prisoner. Can Jack’s friends and their green platoon leader mount an unauthorized rescue?
Operation Dragoon
Cpt Jack Bell and the rest of the 509th PIB jumped into Southern France as part of Operation Dragoon. Before the battalion can move out to attack the Germans in Le Muy, Maj Boyd Carter shows up with a mission for Jack. Rescue an Air Corps major, nine miles behind the lines and hidden by a group of French Resistance fighters. The Geronimos are outnumbered, but "Rube" Roubideaux has a plan to even the odds.
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