Ft. Lewis
Website: http://www.lewis.army.mil/
Fort Lewis is a census-designated place (CDP) and United States Army post inPierce County, Washington, United States. As of the 2000 census, the base had a total population of 19,089. The principal Fort Lewis maneuver units are U.S. I Corps, 3rd Brigade, 4th Brigade and 5th Brigade 2nd Infantry Division; all of which are constituted as Stryker brigades. It is also home to 17th Fires Brigade, 62nd Medical Brigade, the 593rd Sustainment Brigade, the 555th Engineer Brigade, the42nd Military Police Brigade, 11th Signal Brigade, the I Corps NCO Academy, Headquarters, Western Region Cadet Command, the 1st Personnel Support Group, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), 2d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, and Headquarters, 5th Army (West).
Fort Lewis has more than 25,000 soldiers and civilian workers. The post supports 120,000(+) retirees and more than 29,000 family members living both on and off post. Fort Lewis proper contains 86,000 acres (350 km²); the Yakima Training Center covers 324,000 acres (1,310 km²).
Part of Forces Command, Fort Lewis is the home of I Corps and has been since 1981. It is one of 15 US power projection platforms. The Corps’ primary focus isPacific Rim. As a result, I Corps has a close, ongoing relationship with Pacific Command.
History
Fort Lewis, named after Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition, is one of the largest and most modern military reservations in the United States. Consisting of 87,000 acres (350 km²) of prairie land cut from the glacier-flattened Nisqually Plain, it is the premier military installation in the northwest and is the most requested duty station in the army[1].
Fort Lewis began as Camp Lewis in 1917 when the citizens of Pierce County voted by an eight to one margin to bond themselves for $2 million to buy 68,721 acres (278 km²) of land. They donated the land to the federal government for military use. The only stipulation was that the tract be used as a permanent army post. Captain David L. Stone and his staff arrived at the camp site May 26, 1917, and a few days later the initial construction began. The entire camp was ready for occupancy a month ahead of schedule. In 90 days, Stone had supervised the construction of a “city” of 757 buildings and 422 other structures, all lighted and heated for 60,000 men. The first recruits moved into their new barracks on September 5, 1917, exactly two months after the post building plan had been handed to the contractors.
When they implemented auction of the new cantonment, workmen subscribed $4,000 to build the main gate – which is still standing. The arch was built offieldstone and squared logs resembling the old blockhouses which stood in the northwest as forts. Some 60,000 men,including the 91st Division, moved into the hastily constructed cantonment to train for World War I. Recruited largely from the northwest, the 91st was considered “Washington’s Own.” In 1917, Pierce County, through the process of condemnation proceedings (eminent domain), took 3,370 acres (13.6 km2) of the Nisqually Indian Reservation (14 km²) for the Fort Lewis Military Reserve.
The following two years saw tremendous activity at Camp Lewis as men mobilized and trained for war service. Thousands of the nation’s youth learned to know Camp Lewis and the state of Washington. With the conclusion of the war, activities at Lewis ground to a standstill. Camp Lewis passed from the hands of Pierce County and became the property of the federal government when the deed for 62,432 acres (253 km²) was recorded in the county auditor’s office in Tacoma.
Brigadier General David L. Stone, who had supervised the original construction of Fort Lewis as a captain, returned as its commanding general in 1936, serving until 1937. The project of constructing an army airfield, which later became McChord Air Force Base, directly north of the Fort Lewis installation, received approval as a WPA project in January 1938, and $61,730 was allocated for construction. The allocation provided for clearing, grading, and leveling a runway 6,000 feet (1,800 m) long by 600 feet (180 m) wide.
At the conclusion of World War II, the northwest staging area of Fort Lewis became a separation center and discharged its first soldiers in November 1945. With the departure of the 4th Infantry Division for Vietnam in 1966, Fort Lewis once again became a personnel transfer and training center. In 1972, the 9th Infantry was reactivated.
The Fort Lewis Military Museum was established in 1972 to preserve and document the post’s history.
The post hosts annually the Leader Development and Assessment Course; one of the army’s single largest training events.
