History
The 44th Medical Brigade was formed on 30 December 1965 and was activated on 1 January 1966 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. 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 merged with the United States Army, Vietnam Surgeon’s Office to form the Medical Command, Vietnam (Provisional). The brigade's colors returned to the United States in December 1970. During the brigade’s Vietnam tour, it was awarded two Meritorious Unit Commendation Streamers embroidered “Vietnam 1969–1970” by the government of the Republic of Vietnam.
On 19 March 1973, the 44th Medical Brigade was inactivated at Fort Meade, Maryland. The brigade was reactivated on 21 September 1974 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps. The 44th Medical Brigade deployed in support of XVIII Airborne Corps operations in Grenada, Panama, and Iraq, the last of which earned the brigade a Meritorious Unit Commendation. On 16 July 1993, the brigade became a separate major subordinate command with a general officer commanding. Following the reorganization, the 44th Medical Brigade participated in Operation Uphold Democracy, Operation Enduring Freedom, and most recently, Operation Iraqi Freedom. The brigade has also participated in hurricane relief efforts, including those following Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Katrina, and Hurricane Rita. The brigade was converted to a Medical Command on 16 October 2001 and became a multi-component unit. While at Fort Bragg the brigade had become an Airborne unit, but as part of its conversion the 44th lost this designation. Only headquarters elements and a very limited number of its subordinate units had actually been on jump status, and the reorganization to a command removed headquarters elements from jump status. Currently the unit is redesignated as 44th Medical Brigade on 21 April 2010.
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