Jump to content

Fort Walker

Edit links
Coordinates: 38°07′04″N 77°16′35″W / 38.11778°N 77.27639°W / 38.11778; -77.27639
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 2601:5c0:4202:770::1c95 (talk) at 01:22, 16 October 2022. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Fort A.P. Hill
Caroline County, Virginia
Photo of the U.S. Army Garrison Fort A.P. Hill front sign on Route 301, in Virginia in the spring.
Fort A.P. Hill is located in Virginia
Fort A.P. Hill
Fort A.P. Hill
Location of Fort A.P. Hill
Fort A.P. Hill is located in the United States
Fort A.P. Hill
Fort A.P. Hill
Fort A.P. Hill (the United States)
Coordinates38°07′04″N 77°16′35″W / 38.11778°N 77.27639°W / 38.11778; -77.27639
TypeMilitary base
Site information
Controlled byUnited States United States Army
Websitehome.army.mil/aphill/
Site history
BuiltJune 11, 1941[1]
In use1941—present
Garrison information
Current
commander		Lieutenant Colonel Jason P. Duffy [2]
Past
commanders		Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Q. Jordan[3]
Lieutenant Colonel David A. Meyer[4]
Lieutenant Colonel Peter E. Dargle[5]
Lieutenant Colonel John W. Haefner[6]
Lieutenant Colonel Michael S. Graese[7]
Lieutenant Colonel James M. Mis
Lieutenant Colonel James B. Balocki
Lieutenant Colonel Michael E. Gates[8]
Lieutenant Colonel Andrew P. Aswell

Fort A.P. Hill is a training and maneuver center belonging to the United States Army located near the town of Bowling Green, Virginia. The center focuses on arms training and is used by all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is named for Virginia native and Confederate Lieutenant General A. P. Hill.[9] Fort A.P. Hill is one of the U.S. Army installations named for Confederate soldiers to be renamed by The Naming Commission.[10] Their recommendation is that the post be renamed Fort Walker.[11]

History

General A. P. Hill, after whom the fort is named

In the spring of 1940, the War Plans Division of the Army General Staff developed a plan to raise a national army of four million men that would allow it to conduct simultaneous operations in both the Pacific and European theaters. In July 1940, a movement began to locate an area of approximately 60,000 acres (240 km2), independent of any post, and lying somewhere between the Potomac River and the upper Chesapeake Bay.[9]

Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Marston, an artillery officer stationed in Richmond, Virginia and acting as an agent of the Third Corps Area commander, made a detailed investigation of the Bowling Green, Virginia area in September 1940. He enthusiastically recommended that the War Department procure the Caroline County site.[9] The result was a maneuver area that contained 77,332 acres (312.95 km2) and billeting space for 74 officers and 858 enlisted personnel.

Fort A.P. Hill was established as an army training facility on June 11, 1941, pursuant to War Department General Order No. 5. In its first year, the installation was used as a maneuver area for the II Corps and for three activated National Guard divisions from the Mid-Atlantic states. In the autumn of 1942, Fort A.P. Hill was the staging area for the headquarters and corps troops of Major General George S. Patton’s Task Force A, which was part of the Western Task Force of the Allied invasion of French North Africa. During the early years of World War II, the post continued to be a training site for corps and division-sized units. Commencing in 1944, field training for Officer Candidate School and enlisted replacements from nearby Forts Lee, Eustis, and Belvoir was conducted.[9]

In 1952, during the Korean War, Fort A.P. Hill was designated as Camp A.P. Hill and was a major staging area for units deploying to Europe, including the VII Corps Headquarters and the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. The fort was the major center for the Engineer Officer Candidate School, training students from Fort Belvoir during the Vietnam War.[9]

Construction of the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps[12] Explosive Ordnance Disposal training center was completed in July 2011, with the first day of class being October 17, 2011. It is named after Captain Jason McMahon, who died in Afghanistan in 2010.[13] The center provides explosive ordnance disposal advanced technical training and tactical skills education for both officer and enlisted.

The U.S. Army Asymmetric Warfare Group[14] officially opened its $90.1 million Asymmetric Warfare Training Center on January 24, 2014. The 300-acre (120 ha) training complex includes a headquarters, barracks, administrative, training and maintenance facilities, an urban training area, a 12-mile (19 km) mobility range, an 800-metre (2,600 ft) known distance range, a light demolitions range and an indoor shooting range.[15] This center focuses on providing joint and combined arms training. All branches of the U.S. Armed Forces train at Fort A.P. Hill, and the installation has also hosted training of foreign allies, ranging from providing support for mobilizations to helping units train for deployment.[9]

Organization

The fort's garrison currently includes;[16]

  • Directorate of Emergency Services
  • Directorate of Family and MWR
  • Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security
  • Regional Training Support Center
  • Plans, Analysis and Integration Office
  • Directorate of Public Works
  • Direcorate of Resource Management
  • Installation Safety Office
  • Sustainable Range Program

Training

Soldiers participate in a road march at the fort in 2013.

It is used year-round for military training of both active and reserve troops of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Air Force, as well as Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets and other government agencies including the Departments of State and Interior, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and federal, state, and local security and law enforcement agencies.[9]

Boy Scouts of America National Jamborees

Fort A.P Hill during 2010 Boy Scout Jamboree
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates addresses the 2010 National Scout Jamboree at the fort

The installation hosted the Boy Scouts of America National Scout Jamboree in 1981, 1985, 1989, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005, and 2010.[9] The number of participants each time included approximately 35,000 Boy Scouts and some 250,000 visitors. In 2013, the Boy Scouts moved the Jamboree to its new permanent home at Summit Bechtel Reserve high adventure camp in Fayette County, West Virginia.

References

  1. ^ "Fort AP Hill, Va • History". Fort A.P. Hill. U.S. Army Installation Management Command. Archived from the original on April 9, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2007.
  2. ^ "New Command team at Fort A.P. Hill". www.army.mil.
  3. ^ "Jordan takes command of U.S. Army Garrison, Fort A.P. Hill". www.army.mil.
  4. ^ "New command team takes over at Fort A.P. Hill". www.army.mil.
  5. ^ "Fort A.P. Hill welcomes new garrison commander". www.army.mil.
  6. ^ "Area I has a new garrison commander". www.army.mil.
  7. ^ "Army Announces Communities of Excellence Winners". www.army.mil.
  8. ^ "New Command team at Fort A.P. Hill". www.army.mil.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h "Fort A.P. Hill History". U.S. Army. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  10. ^ Levenson, Michael (June 11, 2020). "These Are the 10 U.S. Army Installations Named for Confederates". New York Times. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  11. ^ The Naming Commission (Aug 2022) Recommendation
  12. ^ "U.S. Army Ordnance Corps and School". goordnance.army.mil.
  13. ^ "Fort A.P. Hill Explosive Ordnance Disposal Training Center honors a fallen hero". U.S. Army. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  14. ^ "Army Asymmetric Warfare Group". www.awg.army.mil.
  15. ^ "Asymmetric Warfare Training Center Opens at Fort A.P. Hill". U.S. Army. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  16. ^ "U.S. Army Fort A.P. Hill". www.army.mil. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort A.P. Hill.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fort_Walker&oldid=1116331454"