US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Carson, CO)

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H' f lstory 0 ln lanuary 1942, one month after Pearl broken for the site Harbor, the ground was Fort Carson. The that was soon to become ' 16 miles long, north and south, en reservation. and varying in width from two to sev miles east and west, consisted of rolling Colorado prairie hugging the Rocky Moun- ' s The ground was originally pur- 1 ado Springs tain . chased by the city of Co or h overnment for 51.00. ln and sold to t e g honor of the region's almost legendary hero, the camp was named after Brig. Gen. Christopher Carson, better known as Kit Carson. . . t , ln May 1942, Col. Wilfird Nl. Blun h ad uarters and accepted a group of e q service buildings and Fort Carson was officfdfywm the map as an Army installa- t r Maj. Gen.W.l-1. Gill tion-. A few days la e , 'T f officers who set up Fort Carson E rl ed at' Fort Carson. a y as have been train . aration Center w in luly 1951. a Sep . established at the post and an estimated 000 enlisted reservists, national guards- en separated 30, men and draftees have be from the service in addition to 3.000 rotated from the combat zone and re-assigned 1 . hrough the Center ' d 1953 major units sta- Dunng 1952 an tioned at Fort Carson included the 5022 ASU Special Troops, 40th Field Artillery llth Armored Cavalry, 313th ' U. S. Army Group, Engineer Construction Group, 'n and Cold Weather Hospital, Mountai Training Command. and the Army Dog 1 in 1954 the llth Training Center. Ear y d ed to move to Armored Cavalry was or er ' tucky, along with the 547th Ft. Knox, Ken Field Artillery Battalion which went to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma of Camp Atterbury arriv with a group o the or anization and, on 15 luly 1942, :activated the 89th Division. l O T ginally chosen by the Army be- ' ' tion due to lags! of its ideal training loca nd weather, Fort Carson the topography a was to serve as training headquarters for two more divisions, the 71st and the l04th, in addition to such units as mule packers, engineers, WAC's, tank battalions, decon- tamination units, airborne engineers and mountain troops. During the World War ll - period 104,165 men trained- at the camp. After the war, the post became the . summer home for mountain troops who wintered near the ski slopes at Camp Hale, ' located 150 a sub-unit of Fort Carson, ' , near Leadville, high in the ' l miles away Rockies. The 39th and the 14th Begimenta Combat Teams took over during that per- iod. At the same time the 4th Field Artillery Battalion CPackl continued its training with mules. saw hundreds V The invasion of Korea of soldiers leave for the Far East, while d in for basic training. thousands poure Since the Korean War started 37,222 men With the closing lndiana, due to an economy move, the 31st ' ' ' ' ' was transferred lnfantry Dixie Division by rail, truck. and private auto to Fort ' Gen. Harry 1. Collins, com- Carson. Mai. 1 t, was made commander ' mander ofthe 3 s 1 in Brig. Gen. Key of Fort Carson, rep ac g ser, who retired. Be-designation ceremonies on 15 lune rted the 31st Division to the 8th Th 1954 conve lnfantry Golden Arrow Division. e ved to Carson from its 8th's colors were mo k on, South Carolina, former home, Ft. Iac s as returned to and those of the 31st w National Guard status in Mississippi and Alabama. ' lt was announced on 22 luly 1954 that ld retire in August, to General Collins wou SM '. Gen. Thomas L. be succeeded by at d, commanding general, Ft. Riley, 1-larrol Kansas. . - 'Carson was designated a permanent military installation on 15 August 1954 and officially became Fort Carson, retroactive to 1 Iuiy 1954.