United States Army Training and Doctrine Command

Mission

The official mission statement for TRADOC stated:

Training and Doctrine Command develops, educates and trains Soldiers, civilians, and leaders; supports unit training; and designs, builds and integrates a versatile mix of capabilities, formations, and equipment to strengthen the U.S. Army as America's Force of Decisive Action.

History

General Creighton Abrams, Chief of Staff of the US Army, identified that the Army needed to be reoriented and retrained to counter the conventional threat of the Soviets and ordered the establishment of Training and Doctrine Command. TRADOC was established as a major U.S. Army command on 1 July 1973; its first chief was William DePuy.

The new command, along with the United States Army Forces Command, was created from the Continental Army Command (CONARC) located at Fort Monroe, Virginia. That action was the major innovation in the Army's post-Vietnam reorganization, in the face of realization that CONARC's obligations and span of control were too broad for efficient focus. The new organization functionally realigned the major Army commands in the continental United States. CONARC, and Headquarters, U.S. Army Combat Developments Command (CDC), situated at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, were discontinued, with TRADOC and FORSCOM at Fort Belvoir assuming the realigned missions. TRADOC assumed the combat developments mission from CDC, took over the individual training mission formerly the responsibility of CONARC, and assumed command from CONARC of the major Army installations in the United States housing Army training center and Army branch schools.

Joined under TRADOC, the major Army missions of individual training and combat developments each had its own lineage. The individual training responsibility had belonged, during World War II, to Headquarters Army Ground Forces (AGF). In 1946, numbered army areas were established in the U.S. under AGF command. At that time, the AGF moved from Washington, D.C. to Fort Monroe. In March 1948, the AGF was replaced at Fort Monroe with the new Office, Chief of Army Field Forces (OCAFF). OCAFF, however, did not command the training establishment. That function was exercised by Headquarters, Department of the Army through the numbered armies to the corps, division, and Army Training Centers.

In February 1955, HQ Continental Army Command (CONARC) replaced OCAFF, assuming its missions as well as the training missions from DA (the Department of Army). In January, HQ CONARC was redesignated U.S. Continental Army Command.

Combat developments emerged as a formal Army mission in the early 1950s, and OCAFF assumed that role in 1952. In 1955, CONARC assumed the mission. In 1962, the Army Combat Development Command (CDC) was established to bring combat development functions under one roof.

In May 2025, the Army announced it would combine the Training and Doctrine Command with Army Futures Command, forming the "Army Transformation and Training Command". Under the merger, TRADOC headquarters personnel would relocate to Austin, Texas. In July, the Army announced the merger was set for October.

On 26 September 2025, the Training and Doctrine Command was ceremonially deactivated at Fort Eustis, Virginia. On 2 October 2025, TRADOC fully deactivated, in-step with the Transformation and Training Command, or T2COM, activation on 2 October.

Sub-organizations

Core function leads

• Combined Arms Center (USACAC)
  • Army University
• Center for Initial Military Training
  • Basic Combat Training
    • Fort Benning
    • Fort Jackson
    • Fort Leonard Wood
    • Fort Sill
• Officer Candidate School
• United States Army Center of Military History, except the Institute of Heraldry, which remains within the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army (OAA)

Centers of excellence

• Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE)
• Cyber Center of Excellence (CCoE)
  • Cyber School
  • Signal School
• Fires Center of Excellence (FCoE)
  • Field Artillery School
  • Air Defense Artillery School
• Intelligence Center of Excellence (USAICoE)
• Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE)
  • Armor School
  • Infantry School
• Maneuver Support Center of Excellence (MSCoE)
  • Engineer School
  • Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) School
  • Military Police School
• Medical Department Center and School (MEDCoE)
• Mission Command Center of Excellence (MCCoE)
• NCO Leadership Center of Excellence (NCOLCoE)
  • Sergeants Major Academy
  • Fort Bliss NCO Academy
• Sustainment Center of Excellence (SCoE) (Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM))
  • Adjutant General School
  • Army Sustainment University
    • Logistics Leader College
    • College of Professional and Continuing Education
    • Army Sustainment (professional publication)
    • NCO Academy
      • Transportation
      • Ordnance
      • Quartermaster
  • Financial Management School
  • Ordnance School
  • Quartermaster School
    • Joint Culinary Center of Excellence
  • Soldier Support Institute
  • Transportation School

Former

• United States Army Capabilities Integration Center
  • Joint Modernization Command

Commanders

Main article: Commanding General, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command

The final Commanding General was GEN Gary Brito. The final Command Sergeant Major was CSM Raymond S. Harris.

References

1. Fact Sheet
2. Organization Chart
3. TRADOC Website
4. Joint Base Langley - Eustis

References

1. Borgeson, Nina. (2025-09-26). "Turning the Page: TRADOC inactivation marks new chapter in Army transformation".
2. usnavalwarcollege. (2 November 2015). "Lecture of Opportunity – Gen. David G. Perkins: The Army Operating Concept".
3. [[David G. Perkins]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20161019233652/http://www.tradoc.army.mil/SitewideContent_TRADOC/Docs/TRADOC_Priorities.pdf TRADOC Priorities]
4. US Army TRADOC. (17 March 2016). "Perkins reviews AOC, Big 8 from TRADOC's perspective".
5. (2012). "Command overview brief". U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
6. (23 May 2019). "An Examination of Force Ratios". US Army Command and General Staff College.
7. (6 May 2021). "Donn Starry, Active Defense, and AirLand Battle". The Dole Institute of Politics.
8. [https://web.archive.org/web/20040113093426/http://www.tradoc.army.mil/historian/faqs.htm TRADOC Military History – FAQs]. Tradoc.army.mil. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
9. Judson, Jen. (8 May 2025). "Army names newly combined futures and training command".
10. Thayer, Rose L.. (19 May 2025). "Army will expand presence in Austin under command merger plans".
11. Thayer, Rose L.. (10 July 2025). "Army moves forward with October merger of Futures Command and TRADOC".
12. Thayer, Rose L.. (26 September 2025). "Army closes Training and Doctrine Command to make way for merger with Futures Command".
13. "Homepage {{!}} TRADOC website".
14. Borgeson, Nina. (26 September 2025). "Turning the Page: TRADOC inactivation marks new chapter in Army transformation".