US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Bragg, NC)

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From September 16, 1918 Muy16, 1919 . . July 1, 1919 . August 16, 1919 . October 10, 1919 . February 5, 1920 . April 20, 1920 . August 16, 1920 . October 4, 1920 . November 25, 1920 February 2, 1921 . - February 16, 1921 July 5, 1921 . March 28, 1928 . July 4, 1928 . August 20, 1929 . October 5, 1930 . .January 2, 1931 . April 29, 1931 . June 3, 1931 . May 1, 1938 . May 11, 1938 . April 10, 1940 . June 15, 1940 . . September 13, 1940 September 20, 1940 November 4, 1940 July 4, 1941 . . September 29, 1941 December 2, 1941 PUST EUMMA IJERS COLONEL MAXWELL MURRAY .... BRIGADIER GENERAL LUCIUS R. HOLBROOK COLONEL GEORGE R. GREEN . COLONEL FRANK E. HOPKINS . . . MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM S. MCNAIR . COLONEL LEE J. AHERN . . COLONEL WILLIAM S. MCNAIR . . . LIEUTENANT COLONEL CHARLES R. LLOYD . COLONEL ALBERT U. FAULKNER . . . COLONEL ALBERT J. BOWLEY . MAJOR E. L. GRUBER .... LIEUTENANT COLONEL ROBERT C. FOY . . BRIGADIER GENERAL ALBERT J. BOWLEY . COLONEL THOMAS E. MERRILL . . . COLONEL HENRY W. BUTNER .... BRIGADIE-R GENERAL LUCIUS R. HOLBROOK . COLONEL ALBERT U. FAULKNER . . . BRIGADIER GENERAL HERBERT J. BREES . COLONEL ALBERT U. FAULKNER . . BRIGADIER GENERAL MANUS MCCLOSKEY . COLONEL GEORGE R. ALLIN . . . BRIGADIER GENERAL WILLIAM BRYDEN . . LIEUTENANT COLONEL MILTON H. TAULBEE COLONEL JOHN P. STARKEY .... BRIGADIER GENERAL FRANCIS E. HONNEYCUTT . . BRIGADIER GENERAL RENE E. D. HOYLE . MAJOR GENERAL JACOB L. DEVERS . . COLONEL CHARLES B. ELLIOT . . COLONEL EDWIN P. PARKER, JR. . . BRIGADIER GENERAL JOHN T. KENNEDY . 14 To . May . July . August October February . April . August October November February February . July . March . July . August October Januiafy . April .A June . April . May . April . June September September November . July September December 15, 1919 11, 1919 15, 1919 9, 1919 4, 1920 19, 1920 15, 1920 3, 1920 24, 1920 1, 1921 15, 1921 4, 1921 27, 1928 3, 1928 19, 1929 4, 1930 1, 1931 28, 1931 2, 1931 30, 1938 10, 1938 9, 1940 14, 1940 12, 1940 19, 1940 3, 1940 3, 1941 28, 1941 1, 1941 Present

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FROM CAMP TO FORT Une of the most important dates in the history of the reservation is September 30, 1922, for on that date it be- came Fort Bragg and the work of making it a permanent Army post got under way. Under the leadership of General Bowley, the development of the Post progressed rapidly. Parade grounds and training facilities were furnished. Baseball diamonds and other athletic facilities were con- structed. Thus the various features of the Fort developed and the fruits of this work are well in evidence today. Because Fort Bragg was the only reservation in the United States sufficiently large to test the latest in long range artil- lery weapons, the Field Artillery Board was transferred here from Fort Sill, Oklahoma on February 1, 1922. From 1923 to 1926 Field Artillery regiments at Fort Bragg were recruited up to peace time strength mainly from the ranks of men who had served in World War l. Motor- ized regiments of the Field Artillery made considerable progress in learning how to operate in deep sand, heavy mud, swamps, streams and forests. For each type of Field Artillery weapon there was an organization stationed at Fort Bragg armed with that particular weapon. This was done in order that the War Department might have within easy reach of Washirigtoii a practical Field Artillery Labo- ratory where every new item of Field Artillery equipment and each new procedure might be tested under actual service conditions. Thus Fort Bragg became an experimental laboratory as well as a training camp. The training was made even more thorough since the soldiers could obtain first hand knowledge of the latest weapons of war. By that time, 1923, buildings used in World War I were reduced to a state of decay and, as a result, permanent structures began to appear on the reservation. During the four-year period which followed, four of the permanent brick barracks buildings were constructed, as well as 53 offi- cers quarters, 40 non-commissioned officers quarters, maga- zines, motor and materiel sheds. All of the unoccupied tem- porary buildings of the early period were torn down. Streets and sidewalks were built. l.awns, shrubs, and trees were planted. Fort Bragg took on the appearance of one of the hnest of all Army posts. Realizing the value of friendly relations between the mili- tary personnel and the surrounding civilian population, a series of developments were started to build up the desired friendship between Fort Bragg and its neighbors. A new highway was built connecting the center of the Post with the limits of the reservation, making the Fort more acces- sible to the outside world. ln 1932 was erected the beautiful Post Hospital in the main area of the Post. Additional brick barracks were also built then as were most of the permanent buildings which are standing today. The number of troops at the Post was increased by the arrival of the 4-th Field Artillery from Camp Robinson, Arkansas, June 9, 1931. Units of the National Reserve Olli- cers Training Corps, Officers Reserve Corps and Citizens Military Training Corps of the state used the facilities of the Post for their annual encampments. Fort Bragg, as head- quarters for District A of the Civilian Conservation Corps, supervised the work and administration of approximately thirty camps in the two Carolinas. rv ,, -. . . .2 ?-Eggiai , ' gf? N, Pictures taken during construction period H940-4l

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By June, 1940, the population of the Post had increased to 5,400 men living a normal peacetime army life which was not to continue for long. Events in Europe, notably the defeat of France and the subjugation of most of Europe by the ,Germans led to measures to increase the security of our country and as a result the first peace-time conscrip- tion for military service was in effect in our nation. Even before the Selective Service Act became law, prepar- ations were under way throughout the nation and at Fort Bragg to house our expanding Army. Construction was under way on the new Recruit Reception Center that was to process the thousands of men to be called for service from this area. Begun on August 16, 1940, construction work on the Reception Center was completed in 75 days and by November 18, 1940, the Center was ready, to re- ceive the first men to be inducted thereat. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Earle C. Ewert, the center was ready to process 1,000 men daily. The completion of the Reception Center heralded the vast program of expansion which hit Fort Bragg like a tornado and which in nine months converted Fort Bragg into one of the largest military installations in America. The original plans were enlarged time after time and the pro- ject, one of twenty such, was easily the largest of its type. Notwithstanding, each phase was completed on, or ahead of, schedule. From a strength of 5,400 in June 1940, the num- ber of troops here increased to 67,000 by the summer of 1941. f Some idea of the size and speed of the project may be obtained from statistics gathered during the period. More than 31,544 men were employed on the project. More than 700 lumber mills throughout North and South Carolina were kept busy working overtime to furnish the more than one million board feet of lumber used daily. The payroll dur- ing this period averaged more than 35100,000.00 a day, the highest figure having been il5174,000.00 for a single day. The Finance Office at the Post paid out funds at the rate of 3140.00 per minute for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1941. The cost of the entire expansion project reached the sum of 344,681,309.00iin August, 1941, with the work practically completed. Seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, these thou- sands of men, most of whom lived within a radius of ninety miles, worked steadily at the big program. Day and night huge trucks laden with building material crept along the highways, which were already clogged by thousands of vehicles of every description. The two railroads that serv- iced the Post, the Cape Fear and the Atlantic Coast Line, delivered an average of 65 carloads of supplies daily. The timely procurement and delivering of building material con- tributed largely to the phenomenal speed with which the work was accomplished. For nine months the work of expanding Fort Braggis housing facilities had continued unabated. Everywhere workmen were pushing roads through pine forests and, at one period during the project, buildings were being erected at the rate of one building every 32 minutes. Sights of soldiers in training, carpenters working, guns and construc- tion equipment, crowds and general upheaval, all presented a crazy patch-work of pictures. But there was method in this madness, because, by August, 1941, 2,739 new buildings were in use and several field units had progressed rapidly with their mobilization training. 'f A WTS, Pictures taken during construction period H940-4lj