Fort Jackson quarters in the winter.Camp Jackson, Columbia, SC, 1917– World War I.ARNG recruits arriving at Fort Jackson for BCT[3]
Reception battalion barracks after being renovated in 2020
Reception battalion barracks latrines and showers
Fort Jackson was created in 1917 at Camp Jackson as the U.S. entered World War I. At the conclusion of World War I, Camp Jackson was shut down and the Camp was abandoned 25 April 1922, pursuant to General Orders No. 33, War Department, 27 July 1921. Camp Jackson was reactivated for World War II, where Franklin D. Roosevelt and George C. Marshall hosted a demonstration of the combat-readiness of several divisions for Winston Churchill and Alan Brooke in preparation of the abandoned Operation Roundup.[4] At the conclusion of World War II, the post was to have been deactivated by 1950; however, the outbreak of the Korean War caused the post to remain active and it is still functioning in the early 21st Century.
Fort Jackson is the largest and most active initial entry training center in the U.S. Army, training 50 percent of all soldiers entering the Army each year.[5] Providing the Army with new soldiers is the post's primary mission. 35,000 potential soldiers attend basic training and 8,000 advanced individual training soldiers train at Fort Jackson annually.[6] The training is provided by the 165th and 193rd Infantry Brigades Monday through Sunday for a ten-week period.[7]
The post has other missions as well. While some military installations have experienced downsizing and closure in past years, Fort Jackson has added several new schools and training institutions since 1995, including the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, the Department of Defense Chaplain Center and School, and the National Center for Credibility Assessment, part of the Defense Intelligence Agency.[8] In 2007, the Army consolidated all of its training facilities for drill sergeants at Fort Jackson, and in 2009, Command Sergeant Major Teresa King became the first woman to head what is now the sole drill sergeant school for the U.S. Army.[9]
Fort Jackson encompasses more than 52,000 acres (210 km2) of land, including 100 ranges and field training sites and more than 1,000 buildings.[10] Soldiers, civilians, retirees and family members make up the Fort Jackson community that continues to grow in numbers and facilities. An additional 10,000 soldiers attend courses at the Soldier Support Institute, Chaplain Center and School, and Drill Sergeant School annually.[8] An estimated 3,500 active duty personnel and their 12,000 military family members make the Fort Jackson area their home with about one-third of that total population residing on-post.[11] Close to 3,500 civilians are employed at Fort Jackson and 46,000-plus retirees and their families receive services from this base.[10]
On base, visitors can visit the U.S. Army Basic Combat Training Museum, previously known as the Fort Jackson Museum when it opened in 1974. The museum helps visitors learn the history of Fort Jackson since it was created in 1917. Admission into the Basic Combat Training Museum is open Monday through Friday, except for federal holidays, and admission is free.[12]
Located in the heart of the Midlands of South Carolina, Fort Jackson was incorporated into the city of Columbia in October 1968 and is midway between New York and Miami. Columbia has direct access to three interstate highways, I-20, I-26 and I-77, and indirect access to two additional interstates within 100 miles (160 km), I-95 and I-85.[13] Average temperatures in the region range from a high of 90+ °F (32 °C) in July to a low of 34 °F (1 °C) in January. Annual rainfall averages around 48 inches (1,200 mm).
The fort has a significant economic impact on the local area. Annual expenditures by Fort Jackson exceed $716.9 million for salaries, utilities, contracts and other services. In addition, over 100,000 family members visit the Midlands area each year to attend basic training graduation activities, using local hotels, restaurants and shopping areas.[14]
In 2020, the reception battalion barracks were renovated.[16]
On 6 May 2021, 23-year-old Jovan Collazo who was three weeks into United States Army Basic Training, fled his basic training dorm in an attempt to make it back to his home state of New Jersey.[17] Authorities would later say he slipped away after a morning exercise session had ended. While his fellow trainees were showering, he had taken his army-issued M4 carbine[18] and fled. He eventually made his way onto a school bus carrying 18 children and threatened the driver at gunpoint. He instructed the driver to take him to the nearest town and that he did not want to hurt anyone. After a short while, Collazo became flustered with both the driver and children and allowed everyone to exit the bus unharmed. He then attempted to drive the bus himself but stopped after driving roughly a mile. He then abandoned the bus, the rifle, and proceeded to try and make it on foot. He was apprehended by South Carolina police shortly after. Brigadier General Milford Beagle, the installation commander for Fort Jackson, later put out a statement saying that Collazo did not possess any ammunition for the M4 he was carrying, but both the bus driver and children on board would not be aware of that. Collazo is now facing multiple charges, including 19 federal counts of kidnapping, armed robbery, and carjacking. In the aftermath of the incident, Collazo has attempted to escape jail twice. Once while at the Richland County Jail, and a second attempt at a hospital where he was recovering from his previous attempt.[19] In addition, as of 14 May 2021,[update] Fort Jackson has "paused weapons immersion training" for soldiers in training "unless they are needed for a specific training event".[18]
^Lemos, Gregory (6 May 2021). "A Fort Jackson trainee is in custody after a school bus full of students was hijacked in South Carolina, sheriff says". CNN. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021. [Sheriff Leon] Lott said that at around 7 a.m., a trainee dressed in physical training clothes left the Army post with a rifle. According to Lott, the 23-year-old was in his third week of training. ... [Brig. Gen. Milford] Beagle described the trainee as "very quiet," and said he was from New Jersey. Beagle said he believes he was trying to get home.
^ abRempfer, Kyle (14 May 2021). "No guns for Fort Jackson trainees after school bus hijacking". Army Times. ISSN0004-2595. OCLC1097094871. The Army's largest basic training post paused weapons immersion training after one trainee escaped May 6 and hijacked a school bus with an unloaded M4 carbine, officials at Fort Jackson, in South Carolina, said Thursday evening. The pause "means simply that weapons are kept in the arms room unless they are needed for a specific training event," such as going to the range or practicing aiming techniques, post spokesman Patrick J. Jones told Army Times. The pause applies to all personnel in basic training, he added.
^"Sheriff Lott: Fort Jackson trainee who hijacked bus tried to escape jail, hospital". Columbia, South Carolina: WCBD-TV. Associated Press. 21 May 2021. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Authorities say a South Carolina Army trainee charged with hijacking a school bus full of children will likely face new charges after failed escape attempts. Sheriff Leon Lott told The State newspaper Jovan Collazo assaulted a Richland County jail guard while he was being moved to a restraint chair and tried to escape. The sheriff says Collazo broke his ankle and was taken to a hospital, from which he also tried to escape.
^ abcdef"165TH INFANTRY BRIGADE". U.S. Army Training Center & Fort Jackson. 13 December 2021. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
^ abcdef"193RD INFANTRY BRIGADE". U.S. Army Training Center & Fort Jackson. 14 December 2021. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
Clayton, K. B. History, Annual Supplement: Headquarters, United States Army Training Center and Fort Jackson. Office of the Director of Plans and Training. OCLC8771088.
Department of Defense. 21st Century U.S. Military: U.S. Army Adjutant General School (AG School) at Fort Jackson, plus Army Background Material CD-ROM . Progressive Management, 2005. ISBN1-4220-0006-0.
Myers, Andrew H. Black, White, & Olive Drab: Racial Integration at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and the Civil Rights Movement (University of Virginia Press, 2006).
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