1947 - 1954 (list is complete)

• Maj Gen Bryant E. Moore (May 1947 – June 1948)
• Maj Gen William M. Hoge (June 1948 – March 1951)
• Maj Gen Edmund Sebree (March 1951 – July 1952) (1)
• Maj Gen William B. Bradford (July 1952 – February 1953)
• Maj Gen Bernice M. McFayden (February 1953 – July 1954) (2)
• Maj Gen John A. Dabney (July 1954– September 1954) (2)

Thus, the TRUST garrison and its British counterpart, whose strength had been limited by treaty to 5,000 troops each and usually numbered about 4,000, had a primary mission of supporting the military government in Zone A. This proved to be no small task, since a determined minority of Yugoslav Communists in Trieste continually agitated and created unrest with the ultimate aim of annexing the entire territory to Yugoslavia. Demonstrations were frequent, and at times dangerous incidents occurred along the line separating the two zones.

The 351st Infantry Regiment made up the bulk of the TRUST garrison, but there were also a field artillery battalion, an armored reconnaissance company, a military government detachment, and several support units. The infantrymen occupied three casernes in the hills and on the outskirts of Trleste, while personnel of the smaller units lived in requisitioned buildings in the city. TRUST headquarters was located in the Miramare Castle just outside Trieste.

The US troops were supplied directly from the United States, but USAREUR was responsible for certain support functions, such as the rehabilitation of unserviceable vehicles. For this purpose USAREUR placed, funded, and administered contracts with Italian enterprises responsible for rehabilitating vehicles delivered to Leghorn. Moreover, since the occupied zone was small and predominantly rocky and barren, the infantry units stationed there frequently used training areas in West Germany. Small-scale maneuvers were conducted in the hills around Trieste, on the beaches of Venezia Giulia, and in Austria, but large-scale training was accomplished through participation in Seventh Army exercises.

Eventually, after several years of futile negotiations to establish a free administration in the territory and after some serious incidents, all parties agreed that Trieste's independence probably never could be guaranteed. In October 1954, therefore, an agreement was signed nullifying the applicable portions of the Italian Treaty, returning Zone A to Italy, and ceding Zone B to Yugoslavia. A few weeks later, TRUST was inactivated and its personnel either reassigned to USFA and USAREUR or returned to the US.

Set up in January by the U.S. Forces in Austria to shorten the freight haul of food relief goods arriving from the U.S., previously unloaded at Bremerhaven, Trieste today is doing double duty. First, it is affording a substantial saving in freight rates for hauling relief commodities; and, secondly, it is aiding in the economic recovery of Trieste and the Italian state railroad.

Rounding out nine months of operations, the port agency has handled 652,435 metric tons of aid commodities destined for Austrian consumption, according to latest USFA figures.

Col Thomas H. Nixon, of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, chief of USFA's logistics division, points out that there is a differential favor to Trieste of about $4.00 per metric ton of supplies. This, he says, is due to the shorter freight haul to Austria. In addition, there is a substantial saving in rail car use because of quicker turn-around time. For example, one car on the Trieste run can do the work of 2.4 cars on the Bremerhaven run, and thus free freight cars for use in hauling Ruhr coal, vitally needed in Austria to keep industry and power plants in operation.

USFA is aiding in the rehabilitation and in the economic recovery of the Port of Trieste and Italy.

USFA dollar contracts in Trieste and with the railroads enables Trieste and Italy to use the hard currency for their economic recovery and, at the same time, it is expediting American-pledged relief to Austria at a substantial saving.

From Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, a total of 138 American ships with aid goods for Austria docked at the Port of Trieste. USFA used more than 96,790 freight cars to move the supplies from the ships to all parts of Austria.

On an average monthly basis, between 16 and 18 American ships arrive. They carry a total of about 80,000 metric tons of ECA supplies for Austria. Approximately 4,300 railroad cars are required each month to transport these supplies from Trieste to Austria.

Up to the time USFA established a port agency in Trieste, only 15 per cent of the dock facilities were being utilized. Now, one half of the discharge capacity of the port is in full swing. Peak month was in April when 107,000 tons of agricultural supplies, food, medical supplies, fatty acids, flour, sugar, cereals, pulses, canned meat, fats and other supplies were off-loaded onto freight cars.

The Port of Trieste, situated at the deepest point at which the Adriatic Sea penetrates into Central Europe, offers the most rapid means of dispatch of relief supplies to Austria, according to Lt Col Harry E. Brown, Jr., of Long Beach, Calif., USFA transportation officer. The Port of Trieste is equipped to handle about 300,000 tons per month through the use of all facilities.

Existing rail facilities provide a track clearance of 10,000 tons per day. Rail car supply is adequate with approximately 65 per cent of the cars being furnished by the Austrian government. "The remainder is supplied by the Italian state railway under reciprocal agreement," Brown said.

Port facilities at Trieste include 14 deep-water berths, 16 berths to handle vessels of from 1,000 to 5,000 tons, 32 modern concrete sheds with a combined storage of 140,000 tons capacity, 53 large warehouses with 234,962 meters of space available, floating and self-propelled cranes, from 25 to 200 tons capacity, a 30,000-ton capacity grain silo, and 140 electric and hydraulic cranes up to five tons capacity for working the quays.

Cargo discharge is simplified since all operations are at quayside, either directly into freight cars, transit sheds, warehouses, or granaries, thereby avoiding extra handling and moving. An interesting note is that the majority of the stevedores employed in the handling of USFA relief supplies are Yugoslavs, who work in complete harmony with Italian dockers.

Existing contracts covering rail tariffs are very favorable. They provide for the shipment of some commodities over the electrified rail lines from Trieste to the Tarvisio Pass on the Austro-Italian border. Other clauses in the agreement provide for movement of supplies through the Brenner Pass to the West should a washout or mountain slide render the Trieste-Tarvisio line inoperative for an extended period.

In such an emergency, the Brenner run would insure.the uninterrupted flow of relief supplies to Austria, although the heavy rail traffic on the Brenner artery would limit the movement to 2,200 tons of U.S. aid per day.

At Arnoldstein, the trains of relief goods are met by Lt John Cevaal, of Sheboygan, Wis., USFA quartermaster officer. He turns them over to Joseph Koch, Austrian government representative, of the Import Union. As per release issued by the civilian supply section, USACA. Koch, after checking the contents, signs a quantitative receipt for the supplies and reconsigns them to all sections of Austria.

The USFA Port Agency at Trieste, under the direction of Lt Col Donald I. Pattison, of Corpus Christi, Tex., administers the shipments from Trieste to Arnoldstein, Austria, a distance of 188 kilometers. Pattison has a staff of six officers, 13 enlisted men and 50 Italian indigenous workers to assist him.

The USFA Port Agency has a crucial role in the aid-to-the-Austrian program. Key men in the group, headed by Col Pattison, are: Maj John M. Dearing, of Chicago, operations officer; Maj Marich D. Chapman, quartermaster officer, Trieste; Lt Felix Hanfin of Corpus Christi, Tex., port fiscal officer and Austrian liaison official.

Behind this group, and giving it impetus, are Col Fenton A. Wood, Oklahoma City USFA quartermaster in charge of storage, warehousing, receiving and reconsigning of civilian supplies; Col Myles J. Connor, of Boston, deputy quartermaster at USFA, and Lt Col Brown.