The Transportation Engineering Agency (TEA) can trace its beginnings back to 1955 when the Office of the Army Chief of Transportation established the Office of the Special Assistant for Transportation Engineering (SATE) in Washington, DC to provide consultant services for existing and proposed Army installations worldwide. Department of Defense (DOD) Instruction 3224.1, DOD Engineering for Transportability Program, was implemented in 1958, directing the establishment of the DOD Engineering for Transportability Program. This resulted in the formation of the Transportation Engineering Office (TEO) aligned under the US Army Transportation Research and Engineering Command (USATRECOM) in Fort Eustis, VA.
In 1959, the Army Chief of Transportation authorized the establishment of the Transportability Field Evaluation Center under the TEO. This field support element was co-located at Fort Eustis and Camp Wallace. The U.S. Army later agreed to an exchange of the Camp Wallace property with Anheuser-Busch in return for a larger parcel which is located directly across Skiffe's Creek from Fort Eustis. Camp Wallace then became the southern portion of a well known theme park, Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
The US Army Transportation Engineering Agency (TEA) was established under the Chief of Transportation in 1962 and in 1966 was transferred to the Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service (MTMTS). Eight years later, MTMTS was re-designated as Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC).
The United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) began official operations in 1987 and MTMC became the Army component command of USTRANSCOM in 1988. MTMC was re-named the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) in 2004. As such, TEA became SDDCTEA.
The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission recommended relocating TEA’s Newport News, VA facility to Scott Air Force Base. In the summer of 2007, TEA moved to Scott AFB, IL. With this move, the Joint Distribution Process Analysis Center (JDPAC) was created in the winter of 2007 as a directorate under USTRANSCOM. JDPAC is comprised of TEA, AMC A9, and a portion of USTRANSCOM J5/4. Its mission is to provide analysis and engineering support to improve the nation's ability to move and sustain the Joint Force and operate the Joint Deployment and Distribution Enterprise (JDDE).