Fort Polk
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| Fort Polk & The Joint Readiness Training Center | |
|---|---|
 Joint Readiness Training Center Patch |
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| Active | 1941 - Present |
| Country | USA |
| Branch | Regular Army |
| Type | Training Post |
| Role | Joint Readiness Training Center |
Fort Polk is a United States Army base located near Leesville, Louisiana. It was named in honor of the Right Reverend Leonidas Polk, the first Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana, and a Confederate general. Fort Polk serves primarily as a training post for units preparing to deploy to fight the nation’s wars. The main post consists of about 100,000 acres, mostly in the Kisatchie National Forest. Fort Polk is the only Combat Training Center that also trains and deploys combat units.
Fort Polk began as a base for the Louisiana Maneuvers in the 1940s. It became a basic training post during Vietnam, was home to the 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) in the 1980s, and is now home of the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC); the 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division; and the 162nd Infantry Brigade.
Fort Polk is also home to 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, which contains several combat support units. Medical, dental and military police commands also support the installation. It is also home to Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital.
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[edit] History
[edit] World War II
Construction of Camp Polk began in 1941. Thousands of wooden barracks sprang up quickly to support an Army preparing to do battle on the North African, European and Pacific fronts. Soldiers at Polk participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers, which were designed to test U.S. troops preparing for World War II.
Until 1939, the Army had mostly been an infantry force with supporting artillery, engineer, and cavalry units. Few units had been motorized or mechanized. As U.S. involvement in World War II became more likely, the Army recognized the need to modernize the service. But it also needed large-scale maneuvers to test a fast-growing, inexperienced force. That is where Fort Polk and the Louisiana Maneuvers came in.
The Maneuvers involved half a million soldiers in 19 Army Divisions, and took place over 3,400 square miles in August and September 1941.
The troops were divided equal armies of two notional countries: Kotmk (Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Kentucky) and Almat (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee). These countries were fighting over navigation rights for the Mississippi River.
The Maneuvers gave Army leadership the chance to test a new doctrine that stressed the need for both mass and mobility. Sixteen armored divisions sprang up during World War II after the lessons learned during the Louisiana Maneuvers were considered. These divisions specialized in moving huge combined-arms mechanized units long distances in combat.
On the defensive front, U.S. doctrine was based on two needs: the ability to defeat Blitzkrieg tactics; and how to deal with large numbers of German tanks attacking relatively narrow areas. As such, the Maneuvers also tested the concept of the tank destroyer.
In this concept, highly mobile guns were held in reserve until friendly forces were attacked by enemy tanks. Then, the tank destroyers would be rapidly deploy to the flanks of the penetration. Tank destroyers employed aggressive, high-speed hit-and-run tactics. The conclusion drawn was that tank destroyer battalions should be raised. Immediately after the war, the battalions were disbanded and the anti-tank role was taken over by the Infantry, Engineer and Armor branches.
From the end of World War II until the early 1960s, the post was closed and reopened numerous times. During much of this time, it was open only in the summers to support reserve component training. Soldiers were stationed there temporarily during the Korean War and the Berlin Crisis.
[edit] Vietnam
In 1962, Fort Polk began converting to an infantry training center. A small portion of Fort Polk is filled with dense, jungle-like vegetation, and this helped commanders prepare their units for battle in Southeast Asia.
For the next 12 years, more soldiers were shipped to Vietnam from Fort Polk than from any other American training base. As hostilities in Southeast Asia drew to a close, Fort Polk was chosen as the new home of the 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized). The division was re-organized at Fort Polk in 1976. From 1989 through 1992, the division was attached to III Corps and shared the Allied Forces Central Europe reinforcement mission.
[edit] JRTC moves to Polk
In 1991, the Joint Readiness Training Center moved from Fort Chaffee, Ark., to Fort Polk, and once again, the post was called on to prepare soldiers for conflict. Each year, JRTC conducts several rotations for units about to deploy. Since 1991, Soldiers have deployed from Fort Polk to Haiti, Southwest Asia, Suriname, Panama, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations.
JRTC is focused on improving unit readiness by providing highly realistic, stressful, joint and combined arms training.
With a strong emphasis on realism, JRTC provides rotating units with the opportunity to conduct joint operations. The exercise scenarios replicate many of the situations and challenges a unit will face. These include meetings with government officials, compensating citizens for destroyed property, battling insurgents, handling media requests, and working with non-governmental organizations.
The rotating units are watched by trainer/mentors, who play a key role at JRTC. The trainer/mentors observe unit performance, control engagements, teach doctrine, coach, monitor safety, and conduct After Action Reviews. Trainer/mentors are required to have successfully performed the duties of their counterpart. They are expected by be well-versed in current operational doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures.
The scenarios used in these rotations are continually adapting to the realities of the changing battlefield. Role-players, most of them from the Middle East, act as Afghan or Iraqi citizens, and rotating units face both simulated attacks and non-kinetic issues such as trying to bring electricity to a village. Even goats are used to bring a sense of realism to the surroundings.
[edit] Today
Currently Fort Polk is providing contingency training for the Army's light infantry and special operations forces and is deploying soldiers in support of Operations Joint Endeavor, Enduring Freedom, Noble Eagle, and Iraqi Freedom. Fort Polk is currently in the process of nearly doubling the size of its training area. This will be done by buying land from willing sellers with land adjacent to Fort Polk. The goal is to have training on the new land by the end of 2011.
[edit] External links
- Fort Polk is at coordinates 31°04′21″N 93°04′50″W / 31.072638°N 93.080635°WCoordinates: 31°04′21″N 93°04′50″W / 31.072638°N 93.080635°W
