US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Polk, LA)

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Upon graduation from the Armed Forces Staff College in 1960, he reported to the United States Military Academy as Senior Infantry Instructor. ln June 1963, General Spragins reported to the Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, and upon graduation was assigned to the Republic of Vietnam where he served as Deputy Commander of the 5th Special Forces Group for a year. After serving as an action officer for a year in International Plans and Policy Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations, Department of the Army, he was reassigned to the Office of the Chief of Staff as Deputy Secretary of the General Staff where he served for two years more in the Pentagon. In August 1968 he assumed command of the 2d Brigade, 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He left his command on 16 October 1969 to become the Assistant Division Commander for Support, 82d Airborne Division. In December 1969, he assumed command of the newly activated 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. A year later, the unit was redesignated the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division when the colors of that brigade were returned to Hawaii from Vietnam. In July 1971, he was assigned to Headquarters, US Army, Pacific at Fort Shafter to become Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. General Spragins departed Hawaii in February 1973 and assumed com- mand of the US Army Training Center, Infantry and Fort Polk, Louisiana, 1 March 1973. Major General Spragins has been awarded the Legion of Merit with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic- Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupa- tion Medal, National Defense Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Korean Service Medal with three Bronze Stars, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with two Bronze Stars. United Nations Service Medal, Armed Forces Honor Medal lst Class Cvietnaml Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon and five Overseas Bars. He has also earned the Combat Infantryman's BadgeC2nd Awardj, Senior Parachutist Badge, Glider Badge, Vietnam Parachutist Badge as well as the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm. Major General Spragins is married to the former Joyce Dingley and they have five children, Mrs. Elizabeth S. Russell, Cwife of CPT. J. J. Russell, lnf.l, Ellen E. Spragins, Charles E. Spragins, Jr., Joyce D. Spragins ll, Catherine L. Spragins.

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CHARLES E. SPRAGINS Major General, US Army Commanding General Charles E. Spragins was born 11 April 1923 in Colon, Panama. He attended Tome School, Port Deposit, Maryland, and received his com- mission from the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, in 1945. His initial assignment was with the 19th Infantry Regi- ment, 24th Infantry Division, first as platoon leader, then as company executive officer. and later commanded several companies during the Army of Occupation in Beppu, Japan. He also served as regimental adiutant for a year before transferring to the 101st Airborne Division CTrainingJatCamp Breckenridge, Kentucky, in 1948. A year later, he was assigned to Birmingham, Alabama, as Assistant Professor of Military Science and Training at Woodlawn and Ramsey l-ligh Schools. I-le took command of the 10th Ranger Company at Fort Benning, Georgia. in November 1950, and moved the unit to Camp Carson, Colorado, before the unit finally joined the 45th Infantry Division in Hokkaido, Japan. Upon the deactivation of all Ranger com- panies in September 1951, he became a company commander in the 23d Infantry, 2d Infantry Division, Republic of Korea, and later served as the Regimental S-3 until July 1952. Upon completion of the Infantry Officers Advanced Course in May 1953, he was assigned as a personnel staff officer of the Infantry Branch, Career Management Division in the Pentagon. After serving three years in this assignment, he attended the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth. Kansas, graduating in June 1957, Moving to Headquarters, US Army Europe, he served as personnel staff officer and in August 1958 was reassigned as a battalion Execu- tive officer of an Armored Rifle Battalion in the 3d Armored Division. From May to December 1959 he served as Assistant G-3 of that division in Frankfurt, Germany.

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FORT POLK, the largest military installation in Louisiana, is located in the western part of the state, near the bur- geoning communities of DeRidder and Leesville. The training center covers more than 199,000 acres 4311 square milesj in picturesque Kisatchie National Forest. The Arrny post, originally called Camp Polk, was establish- ed in 1941 and named in honor of the Right Reverend Leonidas Polk, the first Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana, known as the Fighting Bishop. He was killed while serving as a Confederate lieutenant general in 1864 in Marietta, Georgia. During World War ll, former President Dwight D. Eisen- hower, Generals Mark Clark, Omar Bradley, Alfred Gruen- ther, George S. Patton, Jr., and Walter Krueger were among the famous leaders who directed the training of soldiers at Fort Polk. The units receiving training included the 3rd, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th Armored Divisions, the 95th Infantry Division and the 11th Airborne Division, After the war, Camp Polk was deactivated and put on a stand-by basis, but the summers National Guardsmen and Reservists kept it partially open for two-week training periods. The Korean War brought Camp Polk back to life in Sep- tember 1950 when the 45th Infantry Division, Oklahoma National Guard, was activated and trained for duty, leaving for Japan in 1951. The camp has also served as headquarters for the XV Corps and later the 37th Infantry Division from Ohio and the 1st Armored Division. The post closed in 1954 and was reopened and designated a Fort in 1955 with headquarters for Operation Sage Brush in which over 85,000 troops took part. Exercise King Cole was subsequently held at Polk before the post was deacti- vated in June 1959. Summer encampments were the only military activity until September 1961, when Polk facilities were again required to support another national emergency -the Berlin Crisis, POST HEADQUARTERS