Fort Devens, Massachusetts

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Old postcard of Army cantonment at Camp Devens

Fort Devens (also referred to as Devens) is an unincorporated village, census-designated place and former United States military installation the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It was a former army post named after jurist and Civil War general Charles Devens. The nearby Devens Reserve Forces Training Area is located in Lancaster. The population was 1017 at the 2000 census. While currently being considered for reactivation, no official word has yet been given.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] History

The area known as Devens today was originally called Camp Devens, established on September 5, 1917 as a temporary cantonment for training soldiers during World War I. It was a reception center for war selectees and became a demobilization center after the war. Two divisions (the 76th and the 12th) were activated and trained at Devens during the war. Robert Goddard briefly used the post for his rocket operations in 1929. The camp became a permanent installation in 1931 and was named Fort Devens the following year.

In 1940, at the onset of World War II, Fort Devens was designated a reception center for all men in New England who would serve one year as draftee. A massive $25 million building project was begun, including more than 1200 wooden buildings and an airfield. The 1st, 32nd, and 45th Divisions trained at Devens during the war. Devens also housed a prisoner of war camp for German and Italian prisoners from 1944 to 1946.

The U.S. Army post which resided at Fort Devens was officially closed in 1996 after 79 years of service. The process for land distribution for all parcels on the former Fort Devens allowed the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Shriver Job Corps, Massachusetts National Guard, Massachusetts Veterans and MassDevelopment^[1] to acquire the land. The bulk of the land was purchased by MassDevelopment for $17 million dollars. MassDevelopment is a semi-private development authority that has been given the task of turning Devens into a residential and business community. Since the closing of the military base, many of the existing buildings have been renovated or reconstructed; housing developments now exist, along with a growing business park, a new hotel, restaurants, a disc golf course, and a golf course. Veterans of the Army Security Agency have also expressed interest in building a museum there as Fort Devens was their principal training facility for nearly twenty-five years.

On the political side, a comprehensive disposition process has been ongoing since 2003, charged with determining the future governance of Devens. During 2005 and 2006 it was determined that the governance scenario best suited for the regional stakeholders was to create a new independent town. On October 24, 2006, a vote to confirm the disposition recommendation for future governance was voted down by 2 of the 6 stakeholders, the adjoining towns of Harvard and Ayer (residents of Shirley, the Devens residents, MassDevelopment and the Devens Enterprise Commission supported the resolution). On November 7, 2006 during the State elections the second opportunity to vote on Devens disposition had only Harvard voting against the scenario with the towns of Ayer and Shirley supporting Devens as a town. Devens's disposition will now be determined by another disposition process or by the State legislature. Residents of Devens vote in either Harvard or Ayer but still have no elected representatives that have municipal authority on Devens. MassDevelopment maintains the utilities such as gas, electric, and water; and contracts out public safety services such as firefighting and police.

Devens residents are represented by an elected committee, the Devens Committee,^[2] that is an advisory committee to MassDevelopment.

Devens is a non-operating school district. It currently contracts with the town of Harvard for educating children from 6th grade to 12th grade and the town of Shirley to educate children from pre-kindergarten to the 6th grade. However Devens is the home of the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School. Parker is a public charter school with students from about 30 towns in the central Massachusetts area.

Although no longer an active military installation, Devens is still used by the Army Reserve Command and Marine corps reserve. It also consists of Moore Army Air Field. The base is currently home to the headquarters of the 94th Regional Readiness Command, which is responsible for the command and control of Army Reserve units throughout New England, as well as providing Army Reserve support for Federal Emergency Management Agency operations in the New England region. It was the home of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), minus its 1st Battalion (based in Germany), from 1968 until the Group's move to Fort Carson, Colorado in 1995.

The Army recently announced that it would build a new training center in the area. The three buildings will total 280,000 square feet (26,000 m²) and be on about 57 acres (230,000 m²). It will also staff 650 soldiers and Marines and include space to store nearly 800 military vehicles. It is projected to cost $100 million.^[3]

[edit] Units

The following military units are based at this location:^[4]

94th Regional Readiness Command
3411st Military Intelligence Detachment
3417th Military Intelligence Detachment
3437th Military Intelligence Detachment
366th Military Police Detachment (CID)
1st Battalion, 25th Marines
3rd BN 313th (Logistical Support Battalion) 174th Infantry Brigade, FIRST ARMY EAST
2nd BN 310th (Training Support Battalion) 174th Infantry Brigade, FIRST ARMY EAST

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Fort Devens: Official Web Page of Fort Devens
devenscommunity.com: information about the current status of redevelopment in Devens
devenscommittee.org: information for Devens residents