13 minute read
Christopher Templeman Mark Bayonne
from Relocation Guide
from other operations are provided support in personal reconstruction, family reunion, and personal readiness.
Soldier and Family Readiness is inextricably linked to Mission Readiness. Because of the high value the Army places on both military and personal readiness, programs like Operation READY (Resources for Educating About Deployment and You) have been initiated. The Fort Sam Houston Mobilization and Deployment Office maintains a library of Operation READY materials, as well as offering workshops and briefings on all of the Operation READY training modules. All Operation READY materials can be found in the Mobilizations and Deployment Office in the Military Family Readiness Center or can be viewed or downloaded from the ARMY MFR website www.fortsammwr.com.
Advertisement
Relocation Readiness
3060 Stanley Road, Bldg 2797 Phone: (210) 221-9698
The Relocation Readiness Program is a congressionally mandated program designed to eliminate or diminish the personal and family stress that military families experience with a permanent change of station by providing assistance, counseling, education and training throughout all phases of the relocation process. This program is the first point of contact for relocation information and assistance. You can get up-to-date information about your new base and community before you move. Learn how to prepare for your move and get help in planning your moving cost, check out the job market and learn new skills to reduce the stress of moving. The following programs and events can be found through the Relocation Assistance Program:
Spouse Information Fair
This program helps integrate Military Spouses quickly and efficiently into the community. The Fair provides information and face to face contact giving the spouse an opportunity to ask questions with a real person concerning the services that are offered here on Fort Sam Houston. The Spouse Information Fair takes place on the second Thursday of each month 9:00 AM until 12:00PM. Children are allowed and the layout is stroller friendly.
San Antonio Field Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service
Got questions about immigration? Need assistance with the forms? We can help! We are offering a monthly orientation to assist Soldiers and Family members. An Immigration and Naturalization Service representative will answer question about Immigration and Citizenship.
Plan My Move
This is an automated system that provides Soldiers and Family members with extensive updated information about Army, Air Force, Marine, and Navy installations worldwide prior to departure. The information consists of housing, child care, medical facilities, etc. and can be found online at www.militaryhomefront. dod.mil. Instructions: Go to “Troops & Families” then go to “moving” and click on “Installation Overview.” Once you select the installation, click on “Print Booklet.” If you are unable to print, the office can either print the information for you or download the information to a CD.
Newcomers’ Briefing
This program is designed to integrate new service members into the community. It provides information about vital services that are offered here on Joint Base San Antonio Fort Sam Houston. The Newcomers Briefing takes place at 8:00 AM at Building 2797 Stanley Road. It is mandatory for all new arrivals to Fort Sam Houston. The Army and Navy personnel will take place on the first Friday of each month and the Army and Air Force will attend on the third Friday of each Month.
Trails and Tales of Fort Sam Houston Tour
You’ll experience ghost haunts to high tech centers as we drive by and visit historic post sites. For DoD card holders only. For additional information, call (210) 221-2418.
Lending Closet
Hours: 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
The Closet provides temporary loans of household items to incoming and departing Permanent party personnel (first priority), Students (second priority) and TDY, Retirees and Civilians (third priority) assigned to the area. List of items: High Chairs, Cribs, Strollers, Pots and Pan, Dishes, Silverware, Coffeepots, Baking Dishes, Iron, Ironing Boards, Toaster, Futon, Vacuum Cleaner, Table and Chairs. There is a 30-day time limit on borrowed items.
Sponsorship Training
Sponsorship Training is conducted quarterly for designated sponsors at Army Community Service or at the unit upon request. The sponsor receives a guide with step-by-step instructions on how to assist their assigned service member and family.
Overseas Orientations
Overseas orientations are offered monthly and targeted according to destination such as Korea, Germany, Japan, Hawaii, Italy and Belgium. Topics include entitlements, reimbursements, household goods shipments, recognizing and dealing with the emotional stress of relocation, Command and Noncommand Sponsored tours, Employment, and Education. If you want to learn the culture, language and special concerns of the area.
Warrior & Family Support Center (WFSC)
3628 Rawley E. Chamber Rd. Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234 Phone: (210) 916-8219
The Warrior & Family Support Center (WFSC) offers a comfortable environment for injured soldiers and their families to relax and socialize during the soldier’s medical rehabilitation. As the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) continues, injured Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airmen are transported to major medical facilities located on military installations.
BAMC physicians recognize the need for family members to be directly involved in the rehabilitation of their service members. A vital part of a patient’s recovery is to have a familiar environment where they can feel comfortable.
The facility itself includes a central reception area, computer and meeting area with internet access, and a recreation/entertainment area. The WFSC also serves as a resource center for information and referral services.
NON-MWR Community Services
Health Care - Beneficiary Counseling Assistance Coordinators Health Benefits/Tricare
3851 Roger Brooke Drive Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234 Phone: (210) 916-1876
San Antonio Military Medical Center
Building 3600 Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234 Phone: (210) 916-4141
Dental Clinics - Budget Dental Clinic
2981 Garden Avenue, Building 1268 Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234 Phone: (210) 808-3735
Rhodes Dental Clinic
1967 Stanley Road, Building 2375 Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234 Phone: (210) 295-4095
Veterinary Treatment Facility (VTF)
The Fort Sam Houston Veterinary Treatment Facility (VTF) is located in Building 2635 on Harney Road behind the Harlequin Dinner Theater. They are open for over the counter sales and appointment scheduling from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The clinic is closed on or about the last working day of every month for inventory. Sick calls and vaccination services are conducted by appointment and available Monday through Friday.
Vaccinations and routine preventive medicine procedures are performed on healthy pets by veterinary technicians. If your pet needs to be seen for something other than routine vaccinations or procedures, please make sure your appointment is with a veterinarian rather than a technician.
PUBLISHING
History of
FORT SAM HOUSTON
General Sam Houston
he namesake of the post, Sam Houston, was born in Virginia on March 2, 1793. At age 15, he left home in Tennessee and was adopted by the Cherokee tribe. Houston was called “The Raven” by the Cherokees. He returned to Maryville, Tennessee, and became a schoolmaster. Enlisting in the Army during the War of 1812, Houston rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. Wounded three times at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Alabama serving under General Andrew Jackson, he resigned from the Army in 1818 and became an Indian Agent. Houston studied law and was elected prosecuting attorney and was then appointed a major general of the Tennessee Militia. At age 30, he became a Congressman from Tennessee and four years later, Governor. Houston married in 1829, but shortly afterward his wife left him. He resigned from the office and rejoined the Cherokees.
There, he decided his destiny awaited him in Texas. Houston arrived in Texas in 1832, became involved in the struggle for independence, and on November 12, 1835, he was elected Major General of the Texas Army. He was delegate to the Convention if 1836 and signed the Declaration of Independence on March 2. On March 11, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Texas Army at Gonzales. Withdrawing to the east, Houston decisively defeated the Mexican Army under General Santa Ana at San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Sam Houston was elected President of the Republic of Texas under the Constitution of 1836 and took office in October 1836. After the annexation of Texas by the United States, Houston was elected to the U.S. Senate and served from 1846 until 1859. Elected as the seventh Governor of Texas in 1859, he opposed secession from the union. When Texas seceded from the Union, Houston refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy and was deposed on March 16, 1861. He retired to his farm in Huntsville, where he died on July 26, 1863
Fort Sam Houston
The U.S. Army has maintained a presence in the Alamo city since 1845. During that time, the installation has performed five distinct and important roles: headquarters, logistical base, mobilization and training site, garrison and provider of medical support.
At first, the Army leased facilities in the City of San Antonio, including its most famous landmark, the Alamo. In fact, the Army repaired the Alamo structure and added a roof so it could be used as a headquarters. In 1876, the Army began to move its facilities to the present site of Fort Sam Houston upon completion of the Quadrangle. The post has since increased in size from the original 92 acres donated to the Army by the city, to approximately 3,000 acres today.
As it expanded, additional facilities were built to meet the Army’s needs. The headquarters and garrison have always constituted one of the Army’s most important commands. Prior to the Civil War, the headquarters controlled 25 percent of the Army’s forces. From 1910 until World War II, Fort Sam Houston was the largest Army post in the continental United States. Many of America’s most distinguished soldiers have served here, including no less than 13 Army Chiefs of Staff and two United States presidents. The post’s prominence led to significant tactical and organizational innovations.
Military aviation was born here in the 1910s and revitalized during the 1940s and 1950s. Large scale troop maneuvers have
been conducted, including the first effective use of the Command Post Exercise in 1911. Field exercises in the 1930s developed the Triangular Division. This streamlined, mobile organization was the foundation of the Army combat power in World War II. The delivery of troops to the battle field by air was also tested here from 1939-1941.
Aeromedical evacuation of casualties was first developed here as early as 1917. At the end of the Second World War, the Army decided to make Fort Sam Houston the principal medical training facility. In conjunction with this decision came the determination to develop Brooke General Hospital into one of the Army’s premier medical centers.
Today, Fort Sam Houston is the largest and most important military medical training facility in the world. Throughout its existence, a close and harmonious relationship has prevailed between Fort Sam Houston and the City of San Antonio. The two have grown and matured together. The city has often been called the “mother-in-law of the Army” because so many soldiers including Dwight D. Eisenhower met their future spouses here.
The significant contributions of Fort Sam Houston to the United States were recognized in 1975 when the post was designated as a National Historic Landmark. As one of the Army’s oldest installations, Fort Sam Houston boasts the largest collection of historic structures - more than 900 buildings.
Even more consequential than the numbers, is the historical integrity of the post’s different sections which represent the different eras of construction and reflect Army concepts in planning and design. Careful preservations of these areas allows the post to live with its history, surrounded by existence of the traditions of excellence established when the first soldiers arrived here. But Fort Sam Houston does not dwell in the past. It is a dynamic and growing installation, taking on new missions such as the home of the Army Medical Command Headquarters. In addition to command headquarters, Ft. Sam is also home to U.S. Army North, U.S. Army South, Fifth Recruiting Brigade, 12th ROTC Brigade, U.S. Navy Regional Recruiting, The San Antonio Military Entrance and Processing Station and the U.S. Naval School of Health Sciences, and Bethesda Detachment.
Also located at Ft. Sam Houston are Brooke Army Medical Center, the Great Plains Regional Medical Command, Headquarters Dental Command, Headquarters Veterinary Command, the Institute for Surgical Research (trauma/burn center), the Defense Medical Readiness Training Institute and the Army Medical Department NCO Academy.
Designated as a National Historic Landmark, Fort Sam Houston has a collection of historic buildings and sites second to none. Most of these historic points of interest are located within one mile of the National Historic Landmark marker on Stanley Road.
Fort Sam Houston Museum
The Fort Sam Houston Museum tells the story of historic Fort Sam Houston and the U.S. Army in the San Antonio area from 1845 to the present. Central exhibits depict the history of the post in chronological order and are grouped to cover the major periods of development. Each exhibit contains text and images explaining the major events during the period, along with images and examples of the uniforms and equipment in use at that time. Supplemental exhibits focus on common military subjects, military units and some of the soldiers, both the distinguished and the ordinary “GI Joes” who have served here. Audio visual programs are shown daily in the Activities Gallery.
The Museum maintains an expanding collection of 6,000 + artifacts. The collection includes insignia, equipment, firearms, edged weapons, accoutrements, vehicles and artillery from 1832 to the present. Archival holdings include a photograph collection of about 10,000 items, and a small document collection. There is also a reference library of military manuals and publications and secondary sources dealing with the period which covers Fort Sam Houston’s existence.
The Fort Sam Houston Museum is open to the public and admission is free. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The museum will be closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
U.S. Army Medical Department Museum
The AMEDD Museum depicts the history of military medicine from 1775 up to the present. It supports the training and professional development of soldiers attending the AMEDD Center and School. Exhibits depict the history of the Army Medical Department with emphasis on the medical field service, the progress in science and technology, the contribution of key members of the AMEDD in peace and war, and the branches of the AMEDD. A display of vehicles used in the chain of evacuation of causalities, including an ambulance train and aircraft, is located adjacent to the main exhibit gallery.
Artifact collections amount to more than 7,000 items and are increasing. These include medical department uniforms and insignia, individual and organization equipment, medical devices, kits and systems and transport used in the evacuation of casualties. The Museum maintains a considerable collection of archival, photographic and reference materials related to the AMEDD and military medicine.
The AMEDD Museum is open to the public and admissions are free. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 1000 to 1600. The museum is closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.
Calvary & Light Artillery Post
Construction of this neighborhood between 1905 and 1912 made Fort Sam Houston the largest Army post, a distinction it held until World War II. The barracks and hospital have been converted to office space, the Guard House became the Learning Center, and the bakery became the Military Police Station.
Staff Post
Designed by Alfred Giles, the homes on the Staff Post were built for the officers of the headquarters in the Quadrangle. The largest quarters, set aside for the Commanding General, were designated the Pershing house in honor of General John J. Pershing who lived there in 1917. The Post Hospital, built in 1886, has become the Sam Houston House, temporary lodging for VIPs.
