US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Stewart, GA)

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HEADQUARTERS a I FORT STEWART AA ARTILLERY AND TANK TRAINING CENTER OFFICE OF THE COMMANDING GENERAL FoR'r STEWART. GEORGIA . 31 Dhy 1956 T0 THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF FCRT STEWART: In the ,three years that I have commanded Fort Stewart, I have seen it grow and develop as it has served an increas- ingly important role in our nation's defense structure. In this period, Fort Stewart has become a tank training center while retaining its initial mission as a site for antiair- craft artillery training. Each year, Fort Stewart's reputa- tion as a training site for Regular Arm' and civilian component units has grown, and mny commanders of these units have commended our facilities, operations, and the support they received here. ' In recognition of Fort Stewart's importance and fine reputation, the Department of the' Army in March designated this post as a permanent military installation, assuring it a continuing opportxmity to serve the nation. This recogni- tion could never have come without the effort, industry, and attention to duty of all personnel of this command. ly active Army career which began when I enlisted in 1920 will probably end after 32 years of military service this 31 July, when I expect to retire. I would, therefore, like to take this opportunity of expressing W fullest appreciation for your loyal support, outstanding effort, and record of accomplishment in this, lv last active irq command. I consider it to have been the greatest privilege of my military career to have been associated with you at Fort Stewart. I hope this Historical and Pictorial Book will serve to remind you in future years, as it will me, of your ser- vice at Fort Stewart and the achievements of this post. s RICHARD W.. IIAYO Brigadier General USA Commanding N

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Commanding General Brigadier General RICHARD WALDEN MAYO came to Fort Stewart on March I2, l953. The general wears the following awards and decorations: the Legion of Merit with cluster, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation with cluster. He also wears the following service medals: the American Defense Medal with star, American Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Cam- paign Medal with star, World War II Victory Medal, Korean Service Medal with three stars and the United Nations Service Medal. He has been decorated with the Korean Taeguk, which is Korea's highest award, the Korean Ulchi, that country's second highest medal, and the Greek Commander of the Order of Phoenix. General Mayo enlisted in the Army in I920 and served as an enlisted man until June of H22 when he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, He was commissioned a second lieutenant in l926. Since that time he has served at various places in the United States, Hawaii, Panama, British West Indies, the European Theater EL Operations during World War ll and most recently in the Far st. General Mayo was a member of the I9ZB and I932 Olympic pen- tathlon teams and coached and captained the I936 Olympic pen- tathlon team. He placed third in fencing with dueling swords in the I928 U. S. National Championships and won a place on the i928 Olympic fencing team but declined in favor of the pentathlon. He placed third in the pentathlon in the H32 games. The general's top sports are the five which comprise the pentathlon: riding, track, fencing, swimming and shooting. For the first tive months of his service in Korea, General Mayo served as chief of staff of the Korean Military Advisory Group, which advised the Republic of Korea Army in its operations. For I3 months he was commanding officer of the Sth Field Artillery Group and served as the artillery officer of the ll Republic of Korea Corps. As such, he had operational control of three U. S. field artillery battalions and I2 ROK field artillery battalions on the central front. lt was during this time that he trained, under combat conditions, 26 ROK field artillery battalions and nine ROK division artillery headquarters units. He returned to the United States February 3 after serving I8 months in Korea. Between I947 and l950, General Mayo was in the plans and operations division of the Department of the Army, during' which time he was chief of operation: for Europe and the Middle East. He commanded the l7th Field Artillery Group at Fort Sill, Okla., from August, l950, to August, l95l, and as such commanded school troops there. During the last war he served in the European Theater of Operations as chief of the Troops and Redeployment Branch, the group which had charge of re- deploying troops from Europe at the end of the war. An artillery officer, General Mayo graduated from the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill in l933, the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth. Kans., in l942, and the educational equivalent of the Armed Forces Staff College in I947. On April 7, l956, General Mayo for three years commander of Camp Stewart, assumed command of the newly redesignated Fort Stewart AAA and Tank Training Center. RICH RD . AYO Brigadier General

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A . fsp- g, ,- 1,-g,gt.'ff. pq-,--54 fa 9- gs 3 3 . , - - - wg., - -1 ,,.,f .f ' - f , .M V. -a '- --- 'li .Q v Y - r -- rw- -, .1 A , Camp Stewart, Georgia, named for General Daniel Stewart, Revolutionary War hero, was created as an antiaircraft training center in June, l940, by an Act of Congress. The Post, which is presently commanded by Brigadier General Richard W. Mayo, was redesignated Fort Stewart, and made a permanent Army installation by the Department of the Army on March 22, I956. The reservation contains 280,000 acres of land located in five Georgia counties-Bryan, Evans, Liberty, Long and Tattnall. lt covers a rough quad- rilateral area of about 20 by 35 miles. The post is among the largest of the country's military installations. Actual construction of the camp began in September, l940, and the basic cantonment area was completed six months later. Troops arrived at Stewart in mid-September, I940, and Brigadier General Richard F. Cox arrived in November to assume command of the newly activated 38th Coast Artillery Brigade fAntiaircrattl. He also became .the first post commander. By February, l74l, about l4,000 soldiers were located at Camp Stewart, mostly National Guard Coast Artillery units. ' When World War ll began in December, l94l, the camp settled down to the iob of training thousands of antiaircraft men. ln February, l942, Brigadier General Earl H, Metzger arrived as com- manding general of the Antiaircraft Training Center and Camp Stewart. Under his command, the system of training newly activated units with the assistance of older, fully trained units was initiated and became standard practice. On June l5, l942, there were at Stewart, in addition to post complement and service units, the following troops: two brigades, tive regiments of three battalions each and six separate battalions-2l battalions in all. Before l942, the gun units used the island of Fernandina, Florida, iust below the Georgia state line, for range tiring. However, during I942 im- provements in ranges on the reservation made this practice unnecessary. Camp and range facilities were continually enlarged during l942, magni- fying the past's housekeeping and maintenance problems. The necessity of performing such duties interfered with the primary mission of training the antiaircratt battalions, so the functions of Commanding General of the AATC and Post Commander were separated in August, I942, and the station complement was increased. ln late l942, to supervise the training of a large number of new units, tvlo new group headquarters were organized, and in the late fall, a new brigade was formed. By December, although certain units had been shipped out, Camp Stewart still had 25 battalions in training. The post had a troop strength of over 40,000 men during the winter and spring of I943 and new battalions constantly were arriving to replace those shipping out for overseas duty. During the build-up in England for D-Day. two more brigades and two new groups were stationed at Stewart. lt was during this period that an airborne antiaircraft battalion being prepared for the coming Allied offensive was trained at Stewart. Two other July sae Aeaesffaifrvui. ceased to function except 'tpr a and the two Italian units. F l945, the camp camp on the war, Stewart was used as a separation center for redeployed troops and then ceased operations. Camp Stewart was inactivated on July Visiting tankers and AAA men come to Fort Stewart throughout the year to train on the Poat's ranges. Tankers tire the weapons on their qiantjll-IB General Patton Medium Tanks. , 'fe 24, I946, and only a small detachment of two officers and ten enlisted men, plus a skeleton civilian force of about 50, remained on the post. Facilities tell into disuse, with the camp utilized only for National Guard summer encampments. On August l0, l950, the Korean emergency necessitated the reopening ot Camp Stewart as the Third Army Antiaircraft Artillery Training Center, com- manded by Colonel Kenneth M. Barager, who was succeeded in September, l950, by Brigadier General Charles G. Curtis. ln December, l950, Brigadier General Clare H. Armstrong assumed command of Camp Stewart, a position he held until his retirement in February, l953. The first units to be trained at Camp Stewart following its reactivation were National Guard units brought into active federal military service be- ginning in August, l?50, Training of these Antiaircraft Artillery units, which came from states in the eastern part of the United States, continued through l953. Numerous Regular Army antiaircraft artillery units also were activated at this station and received their training here. On March l2, l95Z, Fort Stewart's present commander, Brigadier General Richard W. Mayo, arrived to assume command of the post. General Mayo, who had seen extensive service in Europe during World War ll, had recently returned from duty in Korea as Chief of Staff for the Korean Military Ad- visory Group. For I3 months in Korea he had also commanded the Fifth Field Artillery Group. ln the fall of l953, it was determined that Camp Stewart, in addition to its mission of training AAA units, could also be utilized for the training t tank units. Early in l954, therefore, construction of tank tiring ranges and maneuver areas began. Subsequent training of tank units conclusively rl Mai. Theodore Stadnick. Adiutunt General. reads General Order des: nating this Post a permanent military installation during ceremonies 4 'I April 1956. while Gen. Mayo waits to sign the Order assuming cox 5 mand ol Fort Stewart. 5-os, S