U.S. Army Reserve soldiers of the 652nd Engineer Company (Multi-Role Bridge), from Ellsworth, Wis., launch and position bridge bay sections during River Assault 2011 at Fort Chaffee, Ark. River Assault 2011.
Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center, also known as Fort Chaffee, is an Arkansas Army National Guardinstallation located in western Arkansas, adjacent to the city of Fort Smith. Established as Camp Chaffee in 1941, renamed to Fort Chaffee in 1956, it has served as a U.S. Army base, training camp, prisoner-of-war camp, and refugee camp. The fort was realigned following the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission round. Since that time, the Arkansas National Guard has been using 66,000 acres (270km2) as a training facility. The State of Arkansas received 6,000 acres (24km2), about half of which have been redeveloped as of 2014. The main environmental concern has been asbestos, released during various fires.
Fort Chaffee was originally named Camp Chaffee. The camp was named after Major General Adna R. Chaffee Jr., an artillery officer who, in Europe during World War I, determined that the cavalry was outmoded and, unlike other cavalry officers, advocated for the use of tanks.
The groundbreaking of Camp Chaffee was held on 20 September 1941, as part of the Department of War's preparations to double the size of the U.S. Army in the face of World War II. That month, the U.S. government paid $1,350,000(equivalent to $26,859,502 in 2022) to acquire 15,163 acres (61.36km2) from 712 property owners, including families, farms, businesses, churches, schools, and other government agencies. It took only sixteen months to build the entire base.[1] The first soldiers arrived on 7 December 1941, the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The installation was activated on March 27, 1942 and from 1942 to 1946, the 6th, 14th and 16th Armored Divisions trained there. The creation of the camp caused the nearby town of Barling to experience a tremendous boom in housing and businesses. Fort Chaffee also served as a prisoner-of-war-camp during World War II, housing 3,000 German prisoners of war.[1]
From 1948 to 1957, Chaffee was the home of the 5th Armored Division. On March 21, 1956, the name of Camp Chaffee was officially changed to Fort Chaffee in recognition of the permanent nature of the base. For four days in 1958, Chaffee was home to Elvis Presley, who as part of his induction into the Army received his first military haircut in Building 803. In 1959, the "Home of the U.S. Army Training Center, Field Artillery" moved from Fort Chaffee to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where it remains to this day.
The Berlin Crises of the early 1960's resulted in Fort Chaffee being opened as a Basic training facility for Army recruits. The 100th Kentucky Division of WW II was activated and moved to Fort Chaffee where they ran a complete eight week basic training operation for thousands of Army recruits during the early 60's including an Advanced Infantry Training (AIT) course for those recruits assigned to combat infantry units throughout the Army.
This sign, titled "New Horizon" in front of Fort Chaffee showed the number of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees who had lived at the camp and had been subsequently resettled, as well as the number still living there.
Fort Chaffee served as a primary center for housing refugees three times; from 1975 to 1976 it was a processing center for refugees from Southeast Asia and held Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees after the Vietnam and Cambodia wars. The facility processed 50,809 refugees of the Vietnam War, giving them medical screenings, matching them with sponsors, and arranging for their resettlement in the United States.
In 1980, Fort Chaffee became a Cuban refugee resettlement center, holding 19,000 Cubans after the Mariel boatlift and briefly making the camp the 11th largest city in Arkansas. The Cubans were brought to the fort in early May, and there were delays in processing and resettlement caused by "bureaucratic setbacks and rumors (later proven true) that Chaffee was full of Cuban criminals released from prison by Fidel Castro."[2] On June 1, the detainees rioted, destroying four barracks and fighting with State Police officers and National Guardsmen.[2] 62 refugees were injured and 46 others were arrested.[2] After the riots, the previously unsecured facility was turned into a prison, encircled with miles of concertina wire and 2,000 heavily-armed federal troops.[2] The riot was a major issue in Frank D. White's victory over GovernorBill Clinton in the November 1980 gubernatorial election.[2] Over two years, Fort Chaffee processed 25,390 Cuban refugees.[3]
In 1987, the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) began training soldiers at Chaffee. In 1993 the JRTC was transferred to Fort Polk, Louisiana and in 1995, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the closure of Fort Chaffee. The recommendation was approved with the condition that minimum essential ranges, facilities, and training areas were maintained as a Reserve component training enclave. On September 28, 1995, Fort Chaffee became a subinstallation of Fort Sill. In late 1995, the federal government declared 7,192 acres (29.10km2) of Fort Chaffee's 76,075 acres (307.86km2) to be surplus and turned the land over to the state, while the remaining 66,000 acres (270km2) were turned over to the Arkansas National Guard for use as a training facility.
On September 27, 1997 command of Fort Chaffee was transferred from the U.S. Army to the Arkansas Army National Guard when the U.S. Army garrison was deactivated, with Fort Chaffee subsequently becoming the Chaffee Maneuver Training Center for Light Combat Forces, and later simply Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center. The Arkansas Air National Guard stationed at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith has used the fort's Razorback Range for target practice with their A-10s until January 2014 when their mission changed, but Razorback Range remained under the control of the 188th Wing.[4]
On April 15, 2014 the Arkansas National Guard's new Fort Chaffee Combined Arms Collective Training Facility opened; the $26 million training center consisting of 18 buildings is meant to recreate a small city and includes 189 cameras.[5]
In September 2017, the Arkansas Air National Guard at Ebbing Air National Guard Base transferred Razorback Range back to the control of Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center.[6]
Redevelopment
In 1997 the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority was established to redevelop the 7,000 acres (28km2) acres that were turned over to the state.[7] This included demolishing more than 700 buildings and rezoning land. Redevelopment of the base began shortly after land was turned over, and the redevelopment authority is overseeing a number of residential, commercial, and industrial projects in what is known as 'Chaffee Crossing'.
After property transfers were complete and with minimal military staff permanently stationed, the Chaffee Maneuver Training Center was declared an open post. The gatehouses were abandoned, and most of the fencing was removed. Military police patrols were discontinued, and emergency services turned over to the city of Barling, the Arkansas State Police, and Arkansas Highway Patrol Troop H. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks all Army installations in the U.S. were declared closed posts, and the center again took over emergency services.
Busses loaded with Hurricane Katrina refugees arrive at Fort Chaffee
On January 6, 2005, ground was broken for the 170 acres (0.69km2) Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center. In September 2005 Fort Chaffee housed evacuees after Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana. The empty barracks were converted into temporary housing for more than 10,000 refugees from Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and other areas affected by the hurricane. Many of the evacuees that were sponsored or temporarily housed at Fort Chaffee have since decided to make Fort Smith their new home, which has brought a slight increase to the city's economy.[citation needed]
In September 2011, a rectangular block of the base, containing 44 World War II-era barracks buildings, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Bounded by Terry and Ellis Streets and Darby and Ward Avenues, these barracks were built 1941-42 to house two tank destroyer battalions.[8] The district was slightly enlarged in 2015.
During 2013, Chaffee has seen a mix of developments, with the announcement of a new 70 store shopping center along Arkansas Highways 22 and 59, the creation of the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, an expansion of Umarex and the construction of several large housing developments.[7] The area is also home to manufacturing facilities operated by Graphic Packaging and Mars Petcare. A wind turbine manufacturing building owned by Mitsubishi was never utilized and the more than 400 jobs planned faded when economics changed within the wind energy industry.[7]
In May 2014 ArcBest Corp announced construction of an office building and data center to add an estimated 975 corporate jobs by 2021.[9]
As of 2014[update] FCRA is down to about 3,000 acres (12km2) remaining for development, of which about 25% is intended for residential development, roughly 40% to 50% is targeted for commercial and retail development, while the remaining land is intended for industrial development.[7]
In September 2017, the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority bought back the land for the shopping center at Hwy 59 and Hwy 22 as the developer had already received 5 time extensions, and no construction had yet started.[10]
Environmental contamination
The 2008 fire uncovered the only environmental contamination to date: asbestos.[11]
Fires
During the morning hours of January 29, 2008, a mixture of high winds and fire, which local authorities determined later an electrical brush fire, burned approximately 100 acres (0.40km2) and damaged or destroyed 150 abandoned buildings at Fort Chaffee.[12]
On the night of August 3, 2011, a fire broke out on the 90 acre former medical complex, destroying the hospital and nearly 120 buildings in the area. This was, according to the National Weather Service, the hottest day in Fort Chaffee history at 115 degrees Fahrenheit. The fire's cause was ruled accidental[13][14][15] before it became known that a cigarette dropped by a Kentucky National Guardsman of the 138th Fires Brigade was the culprit.[16]
A fire destroyed an office building on June 20, 2014.[17]
It is a training station for the Department of Energy (DOE) for which their federal agents are trained at. The Office of Secure Transport (OST) at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) maintains the OST Transportation Safeguards Training Site at Fort Chaffee, where the 18-week-long Nuclear Material Courier Basic Academy for new federal agents is conducted. New OST agents are taught specialized skills from a wide range of areas, including general law enforcement tactics, physical security, firearms training and qualification, convoy operations, physical fitness, tractor-trailer driving skills, and legal issues around nuclear materials transport.[18][19]
Fort Smith is the 3rd most populous city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents that encompasses the Arkansas counties of Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian, and the Oklahoma counties of LeFlore and Sequoyah.
Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso, Pueblo, Fremont, and Huerfano counties, Colorado, United States. The developed portion of Fort Carson is located near the City of Colorado Springs in El Paso County.
Fort Stewart is a United States Army post in the U.S. state of Georgia. It lies primarily in Liberty and Bryan counties, but also extends into smaller portions of Evans, Long and Tattnall counties. The nearby city of Hinesville, along with Ft. Stewart and the rest of Liberty and Long Counties, comprise the Hinesville metropolitan area. Many of Fort Stewart's residents are members of the 3rd Infantry Division.
Fort Lewis is a United States Army base located 9.1 miles (14.6 km) south-southwest of Tacoma, Washington. Fort Lewis was merged with McChord Air Force Base on February 1, 2010, to form Joint Base Lewis–McChord.
Fort Devens is a United States Army Reserve military installation in the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Due to extensive environmental contamination it was listed as a superfund site in 1989. Most of the fort's land was sold off in 1996, but the cantonment area of the post was retained by the Army as the Devens Reserve Forces Training Area (RFTA). Fort Devens was reactivated in May 2007, though no units of active Army have been located there. The Devens Range Complex operates on property in Lancaster, south of Route 2, for live-fire training with small arms, machine guns, grenades, and rockets.
Camp Ripley is a 53,000-acre (210 km2) military and civilian training facility operated by the Minnesota National Guard near the city of Little Falls in the central part of the state. The location of the camp was selected in 1929 by Ellard A. Walsh, Adjutant General of the State of Minnesota. The site's winter warfare training course is the primary facility used by the National Guard for winter combat exercises. Camp Ripley also hosts the training academy for the Minnesota State Patrol and is a popular site for athletes training to compete in winter biathlons. Most Minnesota Guard soldiers train at Camp Ripley during two-week annual training periods.
Fort Johnson, formerly Fort Polk, is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, about 10 miles (15 km) east of Leesville and 30 miles (50 km) north of DeRidder in Beauregard Parish.
Louisiana National Guard Training Center Pineville is a Louisiana National Guard installation located northeast of Pineville, Louisiana, primarily in Rapides Parish, but also extending northward into Grant Parish. It is operated and owned by the Louisiana National Guard as one of their main training areas.
Fort Barfoot, formerly Fort Pickett, is a Virginia Army National Guard installation, located near the town of Blackstone, Virginia. Home of the Army National Guard Maneuver Training Center, Fort Barfoot was originally named for the United States Army officer and Confederate General George Pickett. It was one of the U.S. Army installations named for Confederate soldiers that has been renamed by The Naming Commission. Their recommendation was for the post to be renamed Fort Barfoot, in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Van T. Barfoot. On 5 January 2023, William A. LaPlante, US Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, directed the full implementation of the recommendations of the Naming Commission, DoD-wide. The redesignation ceremony occurred on 24 March 2023.
The Arkansas National Guard (ARNG), commonly known as the Arkansas Guard, is a component of the Government of Arkansas and the National Guard of the United States. It is composed of Army and Air National Guard units. The adjutant general's office is located at Camp Robinson MTC, North Little Rock.
Fort McClellan, originally Camp McClellan, is a decommissioned United States Army post located adjacent to the city of Anniston, Alabama. During World War II, it was one of the largest U.S. Army installations, training an estimated half-million troops. After the war it became the home of the Military Police Corps, the Chemical Corps and the Women's Army Corps. From 1975 and until it was closed in 1999, Fort McClellan was home of the Military Police Corps and the One Station Unit Training (OSUT) Military Police School. Also after World War II and until it was closed in 1999, it was home of the Chemical Corps School, which trained soldiers in chemical warfare. In 1988, Fort McClellan was used as an alternate training academy for the United States Border Patrol. Before its closure by the Base Realignment and Closure commission (BRAC), the post employed about 10,000 military personnel and about 1,500 civilians. It underwent unexploded ordnance (UXO) clean up from 2003 to 2014. Since 2010, about 3,000 acres of the post's brownfield land have been redeveloped as a mixed-use community. The portion of the post which has not been redeveloped is currently owned by the Alabama Army National Guard and is used as a training facility for units from all across the state. Fort McClellan also still houses an operational OCS, Officer Candidate School, for enlisted soldiers looking to earn their commission.
Camp Atterbury-Muscatatuck is a federally owned military post, licensed to and operated by the Indiana National Guard, located in south-central Indiana, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Edinburgh, Indiana and U.S. Route 31. The camp's mission is to provide full logistical and training support for up to two brigade-sized elements simultaneously. The Camp offers a variety of training ranges, live-fire venues, managed airspace with air-to-ground fighting capabilities and an LVC simulation and exercise center. It is also the normal Annual Training location for National Guard and Reserve forces located in Indiana.
Fort Indiantown Gap, also referred to as "The Gap" or "FIG", is a census-designated place and National Guard Training Center primarily located in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. A portion of the installation is located in eastern Dauphin County. It is located adjacent to Interstate 81, 23 miles (37 km) northeast of Harrisburg, just north of the northern terminus of Pennsylvania Route 934 at I-81's Exit 85.
The Arkansas Army National Guard (ARARNG) is a component of the Arkansas National Guard and the United States National Guard. National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau.
Camp Bullis Military Training Reservation is a U.S. Army training camp comprising 27,990 acres (113.3 km2) in Bexar County, Texas, USA, just northwest of San Antonio. Camp Bullis provides base operations support and training support to Joint Base San Antonio. The camp is named for Brigadier General John L. Bullis.
Fort Custer Training Center, often known simply as Fort Custer, is a federally owned and state-operated Michigan Army National Guard training facility, but is also used by other branches of the armed forces and armed forces from Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. It is one of the most heavily used Midwest training facilities and is used mainly for company level small arms and maintenance training.
The Yakima Training Center (YTC) is a United States Army training center, used for maneuver training, Land Warrior system testing and as a live fire exercise area. It is located in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Washington, bounded on the west by Interstate 82, on the south by the city of Yakima, on the north by the city of Ellensburg and Interstate 90, and on the east by the Columbia River. It is a part of Joint Base Lewis-McChord. It comprises 327,000 acres of land, most of which consists of shrub-steppe, making it one of the largest areas of shrub-steppe habitat remaining in Washington state. The terrain is undulating and dominated by three east-west parallel ridges, the Saddle Mountains, Manastash Ridge, and Umtanum Ridge anticlines, which are part of the Yakima Fold Belt near the western edge of the Columbia River Plateau. Vegetation consists of sagebrush, bitterbrush, and bunch grass. Vagabond Army Airfield and Selah Airstrip are located on the Yakima Training Center. The training center is also used by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force for exercises.
Camp Gruber is an Oklahoma Army National Guard (OKARNG) training facility. It covers a total of 87 square miles (230 km2).
The Fort Chaffee crisis occurred during the Mariel boatlift in 1980 when over 19,000 Cuban refugees were detained at Fort Chaffee. They could not be released into the public because they were not United States citizens. After a promise of quick release many processing setbacks occurred and many refugees remained still detained at the center. Frustrated with the conditions at the facility and the slow processing many refugees rioted, 62 refugees were injured and 46 others were arrested. Refugees at the center would go on to refer to the riot as El Domingo. After the riots Governor Bill Clinton put heavy fortifications at the center. Clinton would lose the later Arkansas election after his opponent would use the incident against him.
Robinson Maneuver Training Center, also known as Camp Joseph T. Robinson, is a 32,000 acres (13,000 ha) Arkansas Army National Guard installation located in North Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas. It hosts the Joint Force Headquarters of the Arkansas National Guard, the Headquarters of the Arkansas Air National Guard, the Headquarters of the 77th Combat Aviation Brigade, the Headquarters of the 87th Troop Command, and the Camp Pike U.S. Armed Forces Reserve Complex. The installation is also home to three National Guard training centers: The National Guard Professional Education Center (PEC), the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center (NGMTC), and the 233d Regiment.
References
1 2 Radcliffe, Maranda (September 10, 2012). "Fort Chaffee". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
↑ Department of Energy Staff. "Despite Pandemic, Arkansas Personnel of NNSA's Office of Secure Transportation Remain Focused on Training Its Future Federal Agents." Energy.gov, 22 Mar. 2021, www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/despite-pandemic-arkansas-personnel-nnsas-office-secure-transportation-remain-focused.
↑ Clark, Carol A. "NNSA: Office of Secure Transportation Graduates Largest Group of Federal Agents in Eight Years." Los Alamos Daily Post, 3 Aug. 2018, ladailypost.com/nnsa-office-of-secure-transportation-graduates-largest-group-of-federal-agents-in-eight-years/.
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