Ft. Benning is named for Brigadier General Henry L. Benning, a Confederate Army General and a native of Columbus. It was established in October 1918 as Camp Benning, and was assigned permanent status in 1918. The base covers 182,000 acres. During WWII, Ft. Benning included 197,159 acres and had billeting space for 3,970 officers and 94,873 enlisted persons. The Chattahoochee River runs through Ft. Benning, which straddles the Georgia/Alabama state line; 93 percent of Ft. Benning is located in Georgia and 7 percent in Alabama.
Ft. Benning's first mission was to provide basic training for units participating in WWI. With the end of that war, Benning was closed until the Army could find another use. The first tenant unit was the Infantry School, which General George Marshall commanded beginning in 1934. The Infantry School is still located at Ft. Benning, the wooden permanent buildings completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
In 1940, the 2nd Armored Division was formed at Ft. Benning; it first saw action in North Africa and the Pacific Theater of Operations.
During WWII, Ft. Benning became home to the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, known as the Triple Nickel. Their training began in December 1943 and was an important milestone for black Americans. The battalion, later expanded to become the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, was trained at Ft. Benning but did not deploy overseas. During this period, the specialized duties of the Triple Nickel were primarily in a firefighting role, with over one thousand parachute jumps as smoke jumpers. The 555th was secretly deployed to the Pacific Northwest of the United States in response to the concern that forest fires were being set by the Japanese military using long-range incendiary balloons.
The Airborne School on Main Post has three 249 foot drop towers called 'Free Towers'. They are used to train paratroopers. The towers were modeled after the parachute towers at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. Only three towers stand today; the fourth tower was toppled by a tornado in March 14, 1954.
The 4th Infantry Division, first of four divisions committed by the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, reorganized and completed its basic training at Ft. Benning from October 1950 to May 1951, when it deployed to Germany for five years.
Today, Ft. Benning is a self-sustaining military community, which supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees, and civilian employees on a daily basis. It is a power projection platform, and possesses the capability to deploy combat-ready forces by air, rail, and highway. Ft. Benning is the home of the United States Army Infantry Center and School, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, elements of the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, the 14th Combat Support Hospital and many other additional tenant units.
I was there on travel to be trained on the Claymore and get feedback on the positives and negatives of this item. The Claymore is a directional anti-personnel mine. It fires shrapnel, in the form of steel balls. It is used primarily in ambushes and as an anti-infiltration device against enemy infantry. It is also of some use against unarmored vehicles. Below is a photo from Wikipedia of the Claymore.
I had the opportunity to train as the soldiers would out on the range. They wanted us to see what has to be done in order to set up the Claymore and the time it takes to do so.
Here is the link for all my pictures from the training. There are other people from other locations that showed up, so they're in the photos as well. And you'll be able to spot me easily as I'm in the orange jacket. :)
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| Claymore |
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