Fort Benning

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Fort Benning
eponym: BG Henry L. Benning, CSA, of Columbus GA
Part of Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)
Forces Command (FORSCOM)
Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)
Columbus, Georgia, Metropolitan Statistical Area
Chattahoochee County, Georgia (93%) & Russell County, Alabama (7%)
≈182,000 acres (737 km²)
The Chattahoochee River runs through Fort Benning.
MCoE flag.jpg
Maneuver Center of Excellence
Type Army post
Site information
Controlled by  United States Army
Site history
Built 1918; 106 years ago (1918)
In use 1918–present
Garrison information
Garrison Units and tenant units
Location of Fort Benning in Georgia.

Fort Benning is a United States Army base straddling the Alabama-Georgia border next to Columbus, Georgia. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees, and civilian employees on a daily basis. It is a power projection platform, and possesses the capability to deploy combat-ready forces by air, rail, and highway. Fort Benning is the home of the United States Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, the United States Army Armor School, United States Army Infantry School, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly known as the School of the Americas), elements of the 75th Ranger Regiment, 3rd Brigade – 3rd Infantry Division, and many other additional tenant units. Military personnel in Fort Benning have been taught Choi Kwang Do under grandmaster Kwang Jo Choi for purposes in military combat.

It is named after Henry L. Benning, a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War.[1][2]

Since 1918, Fort Benning has served as the Home of the Infantry. Since 2005, Fort Benning has been transformed into the Maneuver Center of Excellence, as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission's decision to consolidate a number of schools and installations to create various "centers of excellence." Included in this transformation was the move of the Armor School from Fort Knox to Fort Benning.[3]

History

    Camp Benning was established in October 1918, after President Woodrow Wilson called for a special session of Congress, culminating Congressional work in the creation of the Revenue Act of 1913, reintroducing an income tax which lowered tariffs, (tariffs-a schedule of rates or charges of a business or a public utility) assigning permanent status in 1918. Initially providing basic training for World War I units, post-war Dwight D. Eisenhower served at Benning from December 24, 1918,[4] until March 15, 1919[5] with about 250 of his Camp Colt, Pennsylvania, tankers who transferred to Benning after the armistice.[6]:72 On December 26, 1918, a portion of the Camp Polk (near Raleigh, North Carolina) tank school was transferred to Camp Benning "to work in conjunction with the Infantry school".[7] Camp Benning tank troops were moved to Camp Meade from February 19–21, 1919.[7]

    In February 1920, Congress voted to declare Camp Benning a permanent military post and appropriated more than $1 million of additional building funds for the Infantry School of Arms, which later became the Infantry School.[8] By the fall of 1920, more than 350 officers, 7,000 troops and 650 student officers lived at Camp Benning.[8] The post was renamed to Fort Benning in 1922, after Henry L. Benning, a general in the army of the Confederate States of America.[1][9] In 1924, Brig. Gen. Briant Wells became the fourth commandant of the Infantry School and established the Wells Plan for permanent construction on the installation, emphasizing the importance of the outdoor environment and recreation opportunities for military personnel. During Wells' tenure, the post developed recreational facilities such as Doughboy Stadium, Gowdy Field, the post theater and Russ swimming pool. Doughboy Stadium was erected as a memorial by soldiers to their fallen comrades of WWI. One of the Doughboys' original coaches was a young captain named Dwight D. Eisenhower.[10][11][12]

    Lt. Col George C. Marshall was appointed assistant commandant of the post in 1927 and initiated major changes. Marshall, who later became the Army Chief of Staff during World War II, was appalled by the high casualties of World War I caused, he thought, by insufficient training. He was determined to prevent a lack of preparation from costing more lives in future conflicts. He and his subordinates revamped the education system at Fort Benning. The changes he fostered are still known as the Benning Revolution. Later in his life, Marshall went on to author the Marshall Plan for reviving postwar Europe and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.[12]

    World War II

    During World War II Fort Benning had 197,159 acres (797.87 km²) with billeting space for 3,970 officers and 94,873 enlisted persons. Among many other units, Fort Benning was the home of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (United States), their training began in December 1943 and was an important milestone for black Americans, as was explored in the first narrative history of the installation, Home of the Infantry.[13][14] The battalion, later expanded to become the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, was trained at Fort Benning but did not deploy overseas and never saw combat during World War II. During this period, the specialized duties of the Triple Nickel were primarily in a firefighting role, with over one thousand parachute jumps as smoke jumpers. The 555th was deployed to the Pacific Northwest of the United States in response to the concern that forest fires were being set by the Japanese military using long-range incendiary balloons. The 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion was activated July 15, 1940 and trained at the Fort.[15][16][17][18] The 17th Armored Engineer Battalion became active and started training July 15, 1940.[19]

    The 4th Infantry Division, first of four divisions committed by the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, reorganized and completed its basic training at Fort Benning (Sand Hill and Harmony Church areas) from October 1950 to May 1951, when it deployed to Germany for five years.

    The Airborne School on Main Post has three 249-foot (76 m) drop towers called "Free Towers." They are used to train paratroopers. The towers were modeled after the parachute towers at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. Only three towers stand today; the fourth tower was toppled by a tornado on March 14, 1954.

    During the spring of 1962 General Herbert B. Powell, Commanding General, U.S. Continental Army Command, directed that all instruction at the Infantry School after July 1 reflect Reorganization Objective Army Division structures.[20] Therefore, the Infantry School asked for permission to reorganize the 1st Infantry Brigade under a ROAD structure. Instead, the Army Staff decided to inactivate the Pentomic-structured brigade and replace it with a new ROAD unit, the 197th Infantry Brigade, which resolved a unit designation issue. With the designation 1st Infantry Brigade slated to return to the 1st Infantry Division when it converted to ROAD, the existing unit at Fort Benning required a new title. The staff selected an infantry brigade number that had been associated with an Organized Reserve division that was no longer in the force. For the new ROAD brigade at Fort Benning, Georgia, the adjutant general on August 1, 1962 restored elements of the 99th Reconnaissance Troop, which thirty years earlier had been organized by consolidating infantry brigade headquarters and headquarters companies of the 99th Infantry Division, as Headquarters and Headquarters Companies, 197th and 198th Infantry Brigades.

    Fort Benning was the site of the Scout dog school of the United States during the Vietnam War, where the dogs trained to detect ambushes in enemy terrain got their initial training, before being transferred to Vietnam for further advanced courses.[21]

    Commanding Generals of Fort Benning, GA

    • MG Austin S Miller July 2014 – present
    • MG H.R. McMaster Jun 2012 – July 2014
    • MG Robert B. Brown Nov 2010 – Jun 2012
    • MG Michael Ferriter Jun 2009 – Nov 2010
    • MG Michael Barbero Nov 2008 – Jun 2009
    • MG Walter Wojdakowski Aug 2005 – Nov 2008
    • MG Benjamin C. Freakley Jul 2003 – Aug 2005
    • MG Paul D. Eaton Oct 2001 – Jun 2003
    • MG John M. Le Moyne Sep 1999 – Oct 2001
    • MG Carl F. Ernst Jul 1996 – Sep 1999
    • MG John W. Hendrik Sep 1994 – Jul 1996
    • MG Jerry A. White Oct 1991 – Sept 1994
    • MG Carmen J. Cavezza Jun 1990 – Oct 1991
    • MG Michael F. Spigelmire Sep 1988 – Jun 1990
    • MG Kenneth C. Leuer Jun 1987 – Sep 1988
    • MG Edwin H. Burba Jr. Jan 1986 – Jun 1987
    • MG John W. Foss Mar 1984 – Jan 1986
    • MG James J. Lindsay Jul 1983 – Mar 1984
    • MG RL "Sam" Wetzel Aug 1981 – Jul 1983
    • MG David E. Grange Jr. Jun 1979 – Aug 1981
    • MG William J. Livsey Jul 1977 – Apr 1979
    • MG Willard Latham Aug 1975 – Jul 1977
    • MG Thomas M. Tarpley Feb 1973 – Aug 1975
    • MG Orwin C. Talbott Sep 1969 – Feb 1973
    • MG George I. Forsythe May 1969 – Aug 1969
    • MG John M. Wright Jr. Jul 1967 – May 1969
    • MG Robert H. York Jul 1965 – Jul 1967
    • MG John Heintges Aug 1964 – Jul 1965
    • MG Charles W. G. Rich Feb 1963 – Aug 1964
    • MG Ben Harrell Aug 1961 – Feb 1963
    • MG Hugh P. Harris Apr 1960 – Jul 1961
    • MG Paul L. Freeman May 1958 – Apr 1960
    • MG Herbert B. Powell Aug 1956 – Apr 1958
    • MG George E. Lynch May 1956 – Aug 1956
    • MG Joseph H. Harper Jun 1954 – May 1956
    • MG Guy S. Meloy Jr. Jan 1953 – June 1954
    • MG Robert M. Young Jun 1952 – Jan 1953
    • MG John H. Church Mar 1951 – May 1952
    • MG Withers A. Burress Jul 1948 – Jan 1951
    • MG John W. O'Daniel Jul 1945 – June 1948
    • MG Fred L. Walker Jul 1944 – Jul 1945
    • MG Charles H. Bonesteel Sep 1943 – Jun 1944
    • MG Leven C. Allen Feb 1942 – Sep 1943
    • BG Omar N. Bradley Mar 1941 – Feb 1942
    • BG Courtney H. Hodges Oct 1940 – Mar 1941
    • BG Asa L. Singleton Oct 1936 – Aug 1940
    • BG George H. Estes Sep 1933 – Sep 1936
    • MG Campbell King May 1929 – May 1933
    • BG Edgar T. Collins Mar 1926 – May 1929
    • BG Briant H. Wells Nov 1923 – Mar 1926
    • MG Walter H. Gordon Sep 1920 – Nov 1923
    • MG Charles S. Farnsworth Apr 1919 – Jul 1920
    • COL Henry E. Eames Oct 1918 – Apr 1919[22]

    Controversy

    Between 1963 and 1964, in Fort Benning, Luis Posada Carriles received CIA training in explosives and sabotage.[23][24]

    In 1984, following the signing of the Panama Canal Treaty, the School of the Americas relocated from Fort Gulick (Panama) to Fort Benning. After criticism concerning human rights violations committed by a number of graduates in Latin America, the school was renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.

    In 1988 Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier (the Oklahoma City bombing conspirators) met while in training at Fort Benning.[25]

    Mission

    MCoE DUI.jpg

    Fort Benning and The Maneuver Center provide Agile, Trained, Adaptive, and Ready Soldiers and Leaders for an Army at War, while developing Future requirements for the Individual Soldier and the Maneuver Force, and providing a World Class Quality of Life for our Soldiers and Army Families![26]

    The Infantry School transforms civilians into disciplined Infantrymen that possess the Army Values, fundamental Soldier skills, physical fitness, character, confidence, commitment, and the Warrior Ethos to become adaptive and flexible Infantrymen ready to accomplish the mission of the Infantry.[27]

    The Armor School educates, trains, and inspires America's Armored Soldiers and Leaders for a lifetime of service to the Nation; prepared to close with & destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver as part of a combined arms team.[28]

    Post Information

    There are four main cantonment areas on Fort Benning: Main Post, Kelley Hill, Sand Hill, and Harmony Church.

    Main Post

    Main Post houses various garrison and smaller FORSCOM units of Fort Benning such as 14th Combat Support Hospital and 11th Engineer Battalion FORSCOM as well as a number of TRADOC-related tenants, e.g. the Officer Candidate School, the Non-Commissioned Officers Academy, and the Airborne School. McGinnis-Wickham Hall (formerly known as Infantry Hall) is the post headquarters and Maneuver Center of Excellence. Adjacent is a monument, the Ranger Memorial.

    Kelley Hill

    Kelley Hill houses the 3d Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 3d Infantry Division (Mechanized), the parent unit of two combined armed battalions; 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 2d Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, as well as 3d Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment, and two support battalions; 3-3 BSTB, and 203d BSB.

    Sand Hill

    Sand Hill is the primary location of the 198th Infantry Brigade, responsible for training Infantry One Station Unit Training (OSUT), and the location of the 30th AG Reception Battalion at Fort Benning. Home of 1-19 Infantry Battalion 2-19 Infantry Battalion, 1-50 Infantry Battalion, 1-46 Infantry Battalion, 2-47 Infantry Battalion, 3-47 Infantry Battalion 2-58 Infantry Battalion, and 2-54 Infantry Battalion.

    Harmony Church

    Harmony Church area houses the 194th Armor Brigade, 316th Cavalry Brigade Armor School and the first phase of Ranger School, 4th Ranger Training Battalion (ARTB). After the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission's decision to create the Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE), Harmony Church is now the new home of the Armor School.

    Command group

    MCoE shoulder patch.jpg

    Current Command[29]

    • Post Commanding General, MCoE: Major General Austin S. Miller[30]
    • Post Command Sergeant Major, MCoE: CSM Timothy A. Guden[31]
    • Commandant, U.S. Army Infantry School: Brigadier General James E. Rainey[32]
    • Command Sergeant Major, U.S. Army Infantry School: CSM Wilbert E. Engram Jr.[33]
    • Commandant, U.S. Army Armor School: Brigadier General Scott McKean[34]
    • Command Sergeant Major, U.S. Army Armor School: CSM Michael S. Clemens[35]
    • Director of Capabilities Development and Integration, MCoE: Mr. Donald M. Sando[36]
    • Chief of Staff, MCoE: COL Patrick J. Donahoe[31]
    • Garrison Commander, MCoE: COL Michail S. Huerter[37]
    • Garrison Command Sergeant Major, MCoE: CSM Richard Sullivan III[38]
    • Deputy Garrison Commander, MCoE: Mr. George W. Steuber[39]

    Units and tenant units

    <templatestyles src="Template:Hidden begin/styles.css"/>

    Units and tenant units at Fort Benning
    MCoE Seal.jpg

    Future

    Fort Benning was selected by the Base Realignment and Closing Commission to be the home of the new Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE). This realignment co-located the United States Army Armor Center and School,[41] formerly located at Fort Knox, Kentucky, with the Infantry Center and School.[42] This transformation was completed September 2011.[43][44]

    In popular culture

    Movies

    Many movies and a number of documentary films have been filmed at Fort Benning. Among the notable ones:

    Television

    • In the pilot episode of M*A*S*H, it is revealed that Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan first met Brigadier General Hammond at Fort Benning; a flashback shows they had a physical relationship.
    • In summer 2008, chef Gordon Ramsay filmed a segment for his British magazine and cooking television series, The F Word, season 4, episode 6. He went wild boar hunting, cooked an entire pig, and served it to troops.
    • In the X-Files episode E.B.E., Mulder and Scully receive information from Deep Throat about a UFO that was shot down over Iraq and had been secretly transported to Fort Benning.
    • In a later episode of Stargate SG-1 (Babylon), Col. Cameron Mitchell comments that airborne training in Fort Benning is extremely difficult.
    • A Time to Triumph (1986), Television movie filmed at Fort Benning.[47]
    • During Day 2 of the television series 24, the special forces team, Coral Snake, was said to have been out of Fort Benning.
    • In AMC's zombie television series, The Walking Dead, Rick Grimes' group of survivors eventually decide to travel to Fort Benning through the ruins of Atlanta in the hopes of finding a safe haven there. However, they are waylaid by several events and end up giving up on the journey. In the fourth season, a character mentions escaping Fort Benning, implying it had been overrun.
    • In season one of ABC Family's Switched at Birth it is reveled that Bay's boyfriend Tye is being sent to Fort Benning for basic training.
    • In season two of Army Wives, Jeremy Sherwood goes through basic training at Fort Benning.
    • In the season three finale of the Fox hit Glee, Finn Hudson reveals he is heading to Fort Benning.
    • In Episode 8 of Lock N' Load with R. Lee Ermey, he fires the AT 4 rocket launcher at Fort Benning.

    Books

    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

    Video games

    • Part of America's Army (designed and distributed by the United States Army) takes place at Fort Benning.
    • In Clive Barker's Jericho, Lt. Abigail Black learns her rifle skills at Fort Benning's sniper school.

    Music

    Song: Fort Benning Blues
    Album: Steel Guitar Rag
    Artist: Jimmie Tarlton
    Year: 2009[48]

    See also

    17th Armored Engineer Battalion

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    3. ↑ Maneuver Center of Excellence
    4. ↑ http://www.presidentialtimeline.org/html/timeline.php?id=34
    5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    18. ↑ militaryvetshop.com "Hell On Wheels"
    19. ↑ cgsc.edu American Armored Divisions 1941–1945
    20. ↑ Maneuver and Firepower, Chapter 11
    21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    22. ↑ Maneuver Center Of Excellence Hall of Portraits, Fort Benning, GA
    23. ↑ House Select Committee on Assassinations, LUIS POSADA CARRILES, ca. 1978
    24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    27. ↑ Infantry School Mission
    28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    29. ↑ https://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/leaders/
    30. ↑ http://www.benning.army.mil/common/leaders/Bio/pdf/MG%20Miller%20Bio.pdf
    31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    32. ↑ http://www.benning.army.mil/common/leaders/bio/pdf/BG%20Rainey%20Bio.pdf
    33. ↑ http://www.benning.army.mil/common/leaders/Bio/pdf/CSM%20Enrgam%20Bio.pdf
    34. ↑ http://www.benning.army.mil/common/leaders/bio/pdf/McKeanBio.pdf
    35. ↑ http://www.benning.army.mil/common/leaders/Bio/pdf/CSM%20Clemens%20Bio.pdf
    36. ↑ http://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/leaders/Biographies/Mr.%20Donald%20M.%20Sando.pdf
    37. ↑ http://www.benning.army.mil/common/leaders/Bio/pdf/COL%20Michail%20S%20%20Huerter%20BIO.pdf
    38. ↑ http://www.benning.army.mil/common/leaders/Bio/pdf/BIO%20-%20CSM%20Sullivan.pdf
    39. ↑ https://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/leaders/Biographies/DGC%20Bio%20IMCOM%20Mr%20%20George%20Steuber.pdf Mr. George W. Steuber
    40. ↑ https://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/199th/airborne/pathfinder.htm
    41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    43. ↑ Fort Benning BRAC-related Growth Update
    44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    45. ↑ http://research.archives.gov/description/43329
    46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    48. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002NRXMK8

    External links

    Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

    Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Fort_Benning&oldid=494721"