Fort Benning, Georgia has always been, at least since the place was built in 1918, the Home of the U.S. Army Infantry. The property for the post includes 182,000 acres of real-estate. The installation is situated in Chattahooche County, Georgia, by 93 percent, and Russell County, Alabama, by 7 percent. Right outside the front gate for the post is Columbus, Georgia, and a host of ways for young men to get in trouble, as I recall from younger days.
Untold hundreds of thousands of soldiers began their military careers right there amongst the red clay and sweltering summers of Benning. Today, it continues as the Home to the U.S. Army Armor School, as well as Airborne School, Ranger School, Officers Candidate School, the Henry Caro Non-Commissioned Officer Academy, and I am sure that I am leaving quite a bit out...but there is a lot of training happening at Ft. Benning.
Reportedly, today, the fort is the garrison for the 198th and 199th Infantry brigades, respectively; the 194th Armored Brigade; 316th Cavalry Brigade; 14th Combat Support Hospital; 44th Medical Brigade; Task Force 1-28; the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team; the 75th Ranger Regiment; Army Marksmanship Unit; 17th Air Support Operations Squadron; the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation; and, of course, Martin Army Community Hospital.
I will never forget my first introduction to Benning. I was all of 17 years old in June, 1983. I had joined the Army as an infantry private and mortarman. Back then, Benning did not have a reception center, so myself and the rest of the young men going to the school there were first processed into the Army at Fort Jackson, in South Carolina, and then transported via bus to Benning.
We were wearing our new, heavy BDUs, which were not made with the summer time in mind and had not even put the first good coat of polish on our boots when we made the sojourn to Benning. All of us were brought directly to the Sand Hill barracks, where we were received by a swarm of barking drill sergeants. It was a surreal event. People were being dropped for push-ups randomly, drill sergeants letting them know that everything from the way they were wearing their uniform to their parentage was absolutely wrong. I must have sweated two full buckets worth by the time 20 minutes had gone by.
The Army changes over time, though. No one gets received to training at Benning with a swarm of drill sergeants barking at them anymore. It is one of many things that is a memory but no longer a reality there. In '83, I didn't enlist into the 'brown shoe' Army of my father during World War II, just as he didn't enlist in the World War I Army of his Dad. Like everything else, the Army transitions in various ways. I do not believe that because one way of doing things is discarded over time that it means it was not successful. Rather, the Army is a reflection of the society we live in. Over time, societies change, and with them the armies that serve them.
Before it was a "fort," Benning was a camp. Camp Benning opened up for business in October, 1918. President Woodrow Wilson was a great advocate for Benning. In 1913, President Wilson called a special session of the Congress, which culminated in the creation of the Revenue Act of that year. The Revenue Act of 1913 did several things, such as re-introduced the income tax (well, they could have left that one out in hindsight), created tariffs-a schedule of rates or charges of a business or a public utility, and raised revenue to create a permanent base to train and house Regular Army units...and Camp Benning was born.
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| A familiar scene at the Sand Hill barracks on Ft. Benning, GA |
In February or 1920, the U.S. Congress saw fit to recognize Benning as a permanent military post. Sometimes, camps were abandoned by the military service. This was not going to be the case with Benning, though. In fact, the Congress appropriated an additional $1 million for building the structures and training areas that would be so essential for the newly christened Infantry School.
The Army, wasting no time in the matter, had 350 officers, 7,000 soldiers and 650 officer candidates living on the post by 1920.
The fort is named for a Confederate general during the Civil War, Henry L. Benning. In 1924, the fourth commandant of the Infantry School, Brigadier General Btriant H. Wells, was charged with the mission of make the temporary accommodations on Ft. Benning permanent and created the "Wells Plan" to construct permanent structures throughout the post.
Everyone who graduated from Basic Training or AIT at Ft. Benning, or any one of the other courses offered there, can tell you the tradition of excellence that resides at the post and the deep-seated sense of mission that is brought into every detail of life there.
For so many of us, Benning is a fond memory of a time long ago. Yet, it continues to play a vital role in the defense of our nation. And, that tradition began with the firm commitment of President Wilson.
I followed in your footsteps 2 years later. I arrived at Sand Hill, also referred to as Sand Hilton by the soldiers across the way in Harmony Barracks. I also spent time in Harmony Barracks while going thru 11M training. Arrived to basic training there in March 1985.
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