88th RSC Crest	88th RSC Patch

The 88th U.S. Army Reserve Regional Support Command (88th RSC) was established in 1996 at Fort Snelling, St. Paul, Minnesota, as the command/control and support headquarters for all Reserve units in the six state region of the upper Midwest. The nine Major Subordinate Commands and Reserve combat support (CS) and combat service support (CSS) units in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio all call 88th RRC their higher headquarters. In 2003, the 88th RSC changed its designation to 88th Regional Readiness Command (RRC). On 19 September 2008, it was once again renamed 88th Regional Support Command (RSC) and moved from Fort Snelling to Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.

The mission of the 88th RSC is to exercise command and control of assigned units, ensure operational readiness, provide area support services and support emergency operations. This is accomplished through our goals in the areas of Readiness, Soldier and Civilian Care and Quality of Life, Dynamic and Challenging Training, Resource Management, Information Management, Safety and Environmental Stewardship and Community Relations, Domestic Operations and Emergency Support.

Through accomplishment of those seven goals by its Soldiers and civilians, units and commands, the 88th Regional Readiness Command expects to become the premier regional support command that is the model for others to follow by exceeding customer expectations.

The bulk of the Total Army’s CS and CSS (medical, area/corps support, transportation, quartermaster, signal, engineer, maintenance, military police, public affairs and port operations) units reside in the Army Reserve. In peacetime, unit members train for mobilization. They also participate in community projects and disaster relief operations in the communities where they live and work.

The history of the 88th begins with the 88th Infantry Division. The division was organized on August 25, 1917, at Camp Dodge, Iowa. In August 1918, the division arrived in France. During World War I, the men of the "Cloverleaf Division," as they were called, fought with distinction in the Alsace campaign. The division returned to Camp Dodge and was demobilized on June 10, 1919. Two years later, it was reconstituted in the organized reserves at Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In July 1942, the 88th Infantry Division was ordered to active service at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma. It went overseas in December 1943 and fought gallantly in the North Apennines, Po Valley and Rome-Arno campaigns. From the date of its landing in Naples until the end of hostilities, the 88th Infantry Division was one of the most battle-tested divisions, earning the nickname "Blue Devils" from the fearful Germans. The 88th remained in Italy as part of the Trieste Occupation Forces. It was inactivated at Leghorn, Italy, in October 1947.

The 88th RSC now proudly bears the numeric designation and wears the shoulder insignia of this historic combat division.

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Slogan

Veritas Caput (True Head)

The phrase "Veritas Caput" means "true head." Just as Lake Itasca (the name formed by the six middle letters: VerITAS CAput) is the "true head" of the Mississippi, so too, the 88th RSC Headquarters is the head of many Reserve units throughout our six-state region of the upper Midwest.

When the 88th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM, the 88th RSC’s predecessor) was activated on December 26, 1967, the Army Institute of Heraldry approved the silver colored metal and enamel unit crest as the command’s distinctive insignia.

The blue quatrefoil is suggestive of the shoulder sleeve insignia worn by the 88th Infantry Division. The demi-fleur-de-lis refers to the division’s service in France during World War I.

The colors green, white and red of the Italian flag together with the three-pronged halberd, a medieval infantry weapon, symbolize the three battle honors earned by the division in World War II. The red and green colors further allude to the division’s award of the French Croix de Guerre, with Palm, for action in central Italy.

The insignia is symbolic of the 88th RSC Headquarters in Minnesota. The blue quatrefoil simulates a lake and the fleur-de-lis is a compass symbol for north.