The 44th Medical Brigade is one of the largest and most diverse Medical Brigades in today’s Army. This deployable brigade has a rich heritage of providing medical support to the combat Soldier, since it was constituted in the Regular Army on 30 December 1965. The brigade was activated on 1 January 1966 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the home of the Army Medical Department. In April 1966, the Brigade
moved to Vietnam where it participated in 12 of the 17 campaigns in which U.S. During this tour the brigade was awarded 2 Meritorious Unit commendation streamers by the government of the Republic of Vietnam. In March of 1970 the personnel at the brigade headquarters were consolidates with those of the U.S. Army Vietnam Surgeons Office to form the Medical Command Vietnam and the brigade colors returned to the Continental United States in December 1970. The 44th Medical Brigade was inactivated at Fort Meade, Maryland, on March 19, 1973 and was reactivated on 21 September 1974 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the center of the military Universe. The unit was converted to a Medical Command on August 6, 2001 and later re-designated as the 44th Medical Brigade on April 21, 2010. The 44th Medical Brigade has participated in numerous war time operations as well as campaigns and operations other than war. Elements of the Brigade participated in Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, Operation Just Cause in Panama, Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia and Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti. Elements of the brigade also deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan in support of the Global War on Terrorism. The Brigade’s numerous humanitarian interventions and hurricane relief efforts include assistance to the US Virgin Islands following Hurricane Marilyn, Hurricane Mitchell Disaster Relief in Central America, Hurricane Andrew relief, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita support, and Operation Unified Response in Haiti. On 7 March 2011, the Brigade headquarters deployed to the Afghanistan Theater of Operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom where they assumed the role of Task Force Medical-Afghanistan (TF MED-A). The 44th Medical Brigade Team is comprised of 2 combat support hospitals, 1 Area Medical Laboratories, 1 Multifunctional Medical Battalion, 4 Forward Surgical Teams, Medical Detachments, and Dental Companies spread across the eastern portion of the United States.
