The story
Founded in 1917, as the Wisconsin Duplex Auto Company, the company was created to build a severe-duty four-wheel-drive truck. After the first prototype was built, the company began to develop rapidly. This first four-wheel-drive truck, known today as "Old Betsy", is still owned by Oshkosh Corporation and housed in the new Global Headquarters building in Oshkosh. The vehicle still runs and is used frequently in demonstrations and parades. The first mass-produced truck was the 2-ton Model A, with seven produced in 1918. The 3.5-ton Model B and 5-ton Model F followed. The Model TR, introduced in 1933, was a diversification for the company and was the first rubber tired earthmover ever built.
The model 50-50, introduced in 1955, was the first truck created specifically for the hauling of concrete. The first aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) W2206 With rollover snow plows or snow blowers were delivered to all branches of US military for airfield snow removal. Oshkosh has also produced aircraft tow tractors, and in 1968 the company designed and built the U-30 tow tractor, 45 of which were built for the U.S. Air Force to tow the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft.
In 1976, the company won a U.S. Army contract to supply 744 M911 heavy equipment transporters, the first in a long line of U.S. Army contracts that now sees Oshkosh Defense as the sole supplier of medium and heavy tactical trucks to the U.S. Army and Marines.
On August 25, 2015, Oshkosh was awarded the U.S. military's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle contract. The initial JLTV award is valued at $6.75 billion for up to 16,901 vehicles. The procurement objective for JLTV stands at 49,099 Army and 9,091 Marines, with the Navy and Air Force also having smaller requirements. The estimated program cost is $47.6 billion. JLTV will partially replace the AM General Humvee.
On November 7, 2017, the Oshkosh Common Council approved a proposal to sell part of the century-old Lake Shore Golf Course along the shore of Lake Butte des Morts to Oshkosh Corp. for its new headquarters. On November 22, 2017, the Oshkosh Corporation announced it would build the new headquarters on the golf course. The city plans to redevelop the rest of the golf course into a new public space.
On February 7, 2018, the U.S. Army announced that the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles A2 (FMTV A2) contract had been awarded to Oshkosh Defense. Oshkosh was already building the FMTV A1P2, having been awarded this contract in August 2009. As of August 2021, Oshkosh has built around 40,000 FMTVs for the US military and others.
In February 2020, Oshkosh Corporation was named one of the 2020 World's Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere, a for-profit organization.
In February 2021, Oshkosh Defense was awarded the U.S. Postal Service's Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) mail truck contract for between 50,000 and 165,000 units over ten years, with production start targeted for 2023. The fleet will include low-emissions internal combustion engine vehicles as well as battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and could be worth over $6 billion.
From Wikipedia’s article on Oshkosh Corporation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8