Fort Lee | A Century of Change
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Fort Lee | A Century of Change
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TABLE of CONTENTS Welcome
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100 Years
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1910s WWI
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1940s WWIi
13
1950-60s COLD WAR
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1970-90s GULF ERA
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2000S-NOW MODERN ERA
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A FINAL WORD
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ADVERTISER INDEX
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Discover Fort Lee was created by the staff of The Progress-Index. This publication may not be reproduced, in full or part, without the express written consent of The Progress-Index. Copyright 2017, all rights reserved. www.progress-index.com Phone (804) 732-3456, Fax (804) 861-9452 Publisher - Craig Richards Editor - Pat Sharpf Staff Writer - Michael Buettner, John Adam | Photographer - Scott Yates Operations Manager - Travis Wolfrey | Graphic Artist - Marc Calindas Ad Director - Carol Crittendon | Account Executives - Amber Wallace, Jessica Miller, Michelle Nichols | Classified Sales Specialist - Devin Nicholas Multi Media Specialist - Peyton Yates | Classified Sales Manager - Alice Coleman Fort Lee | A Century of Change
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WELCOME to Fort Lee This year marks the 100th anniversary of Fort Lee. Since it’s beginnings, the Army post in central Virginia has been primarily a training facility. And since it’s beginnings Fort Lee has changed and been a catalyst for change in the Army. The post was established in 1917 to train soldiers for World War I. After the war, the camp was largely demolished and reverted to game lands. But as the clouds of war gathered again, Camp Lee was reborn and would remain a major training facility for the Army. In the Army’s build-up to World War II, Camp Lee was reconstructed in October 1940 becoming home of the Army Quartermaster Corps. The Army post was busier than in the first global war, with more 300,000 soldiers trained at Camp Lee during World War II. But after World War II there was to be no dismantling of the Army post. Instead, in April 1950 Camp Lee was granted permanent status as it became Fort Lee. It
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wasn’t long after that when the post became a hub of activity again as the Korean War began in June of the same year. Following the Korean War in 1953 throughout the 1960s the post worked on modernization and most of the temporary World War II structures were replaced by more permanent brick and mortar buildings. The next major change came in 2005 due to the 2005 Base Realignment And Closure process. The end result was the largest growth of the post in more than 60 years, $1.2 billion in investment with 4.7 million square feet of new building space About 70,000 troops now pass through Fort Lee’s classrooms each year, making it the third largest training site in the Army. One hundred years after the first soldiers arrived to the region for training, Fort Lee is now firmly established as one of the Army’s largest training bases.
Fort Lee Main Gate, 1959
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100 Years FORT LEE — Fort Lee this year celebrated its birth 100 years ago. “For 100 years, Camp/Fort Lee has provided world-class training to the brave men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces,” said Maj. Gen. Darrell K. Williams, commanding general, U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command and Fort Lee. The history of Fort Lee stretches back a century. Following a declaration of war in April 1917, the Army leased 9,000 acres in Prince George County for the construction of a camp to train the mobilizing Army. It was one of just 32 camps that was build to train soldiers for World War I. Construction of Camp Lee began in June 1917 on what had been farmland. Within just three months there were 1,500 buildings on post with a network of 15 miles of roads. The training camp was built in a horseshoe shape that was about two miles from tip to tip. Following a whirlwind of construction, Camp Lee became the home of the 80th Division, which deployed to France in May 1918 in support of World War I. A daily population of more than 40,000 troops trained at Camp Lee until the Armistice in November 1918. Following the war, Camp Lee served as an outprocessing center for soldiers until the early 1920s. The land was then turned into a game preserve. The buildings constructed as part of the war effort were demolished. Little remains of that time on Fort Lee, but training trenches are preserved in certain areas of the post not open to visitors. Another structure, that was on the land before the construction of the post — the Davis House — was also left standing and remains on post to this day. In the Army’s build-up to World War II, Camp Lee was reconstructed in October 1940 becoming home of the Army Quarter-
of Change and Service
master Corps. The camp was also briefly the home of the Women’s Army Corps Training Center. The Army post was busier than in the first global war, with more 300,000 soldiers trained on Fort Lee during World War II. Even before the first barracks were constructed, raw recruits for the Quartermaster Replacement Training Center moved into tents in the heart of Camp Lee to begin training. In October 1941 (two months before Pearl Harbor) the Quartermaster School moved from Philadelphia to Camp Lee to begin training officers and noncommissioned officers in the art of military supply and service. Since that time Fort Lee has remained the home of Quartermaster training. Also during the war, the camp served as a German Prisoner of War Camp. In total, about 1,000 German Prisoners of War would be interred at Fort Lee. Today there is no evidence where the prison camp stood. Most of the structures built for World War II were meant to be temporary structures, though a few still exist on post and are still being used. One of the first permanent structures was built just after the war in 1948, the post theater. In April 1950, Camp Lee was granted permanent status as it became Fort Lee. The post also picked up another training school when riggers — soldiers that pack parachutes — moved from Fort Benning, Ga. to Fort Lee. It wasn’t long after that when the post became a hub of activity again as the Korean War began in June of the same year. Following the Korean War in 1953 throughout the 1960s the post worked on modernization and most of the temporary World War II structures were replaced by more permanent brick and mortar buildings.
Soldiers render salute at the Change in Command Ceremony 8 Fort Lee | A Century of Change
The rapid logistics buildup in Vietnam after 1965 signaled an urgent need for many more Quartermaster soldiers and Fort Lee responded by going into overdrive, maintaining three shifts and round-the-clock training for a period of time. As Vietnam wound down in the early- to mid-1970s, the Army went through a period of reorganization, also introduced new doctrine, weapons and equipment, and unveiled new training and leader development techniques. The installation has never stopped adapting as new tenant organizations have moved on post, grown or otherwise changed. In 2005, some of the biggest changes ever to come to the post were announced with the approval of the Base Realignment and Closure Act law by then President George W. Bush. Under the 2005 BRAC, the Ordnance Mechanical Maintenance School at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., and the Ordnance Munitions and Electronic Maintenance School at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., were relocated to Fort Lee. These elements moved to a newly constructed U.S. Army Ordnance School Campus on Fort Lee in 2009. The U.S. Army Transportation School also relocated to Fort Lee from Fort Eustis. The Combined Arms Support Command headquarters building, several troop barracks facilities, housing and other new facilities constructed at Fort Lee also greatly expanded the post as part of the BRAC. Over the course of four years, from the first groundbreaking in 2007 to the official conclusion of BRAC related growth on post in September 2011 with the last ribbon cutting event, approximately $1.2 billion was spent on 56 new buildings, four building renova-
tions and more. The expansion nearly doubled the footprint of the post with 4.7 million square feet of new building space. In February 2013, the largest single-building lodging facility in the Army officially opens. The $120 million building has 1,000 rooms, and is operated as a privatized hotel. The major organizations at Fort Lee include the Combined Arms Support Command, Army Logistics University, the U.S. Army Ordnance School, U.S. Army Quartermaster School, the U.S. Army Transportation School, the Defense Commissary Agency and the Defense Contract Management Agency As the Army’s “Home of Sustainment,” Fort Lee supports the training, education and development of adaptive Army professionals in fields such as transportation, supply, culinary arts, equipment repair and maintenance. Currently, Fort Lee trains about 70,000 troops each year, making it the third largest training site in the Army. The daily population of Fort Lee now averages more than 27,000 and includes members from all branches of the military service, their families, government civilians and contractors. The installation has a $2.4 billion impact on the local economy each year. “There are two reasons Fort Lee has remained a vital installation for the Army,” Williams noted. “From the very beginning, we have consistently delivered game-changing troops and leaders, and leveraged an unshakeable partnership with our surrounding community.”
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CAMP LEE
1910s
WW1 ERA
Recruits arriving at Camp Lee, August 1917
Fire Station No. 1, 1910s
Unidentified Couple, 1918. 10 Fort Lee | A Century of Change
Interior of Mess Hall, 1918.
Road Construction, 1917
Recruits learn squad tactics during weapons training at Camp Lee during World War I.
Interior of YMCA Auditorium, 1910s
The Hostess House, 1910s
Fresh recruits, with one not yet in uniform (center), practice drill with wooden sticks rather than weapons at Camp Lee during World War I. Fort Lee | A Century of Change
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Soldier Parade in Petersburg, 1918.
-The Hostess House employee, 1910s Infantry Replacement Company, 1918.
Camp Lee Bands, 1918
Machine Gun Training, 1910 12 Fort Lee | A Century of Change
Recently vaccinated recruits at Camp Lee, 1910s
CAMP LEE
1940s
WW1I ERA
Rifle Practice, Quartermaster Replacement Training Center, 1941
Tank defense taught at the QM School during WWII Officer of the Day tends to WACs at Camp Lee, 1944 Fort Lee | A Century of Change
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Digging Foxholes
Students watch as seasoned experts demonstrate how to load and unload military train cars during WWII
Obstacle Course at Lake Jordan
Cargo Loading Nets, 1944
Approved exercises started off the day for trainees at Camp Lee during WWII 14 Fort Lee | A Century of Change
1940s-Typist course
A swearing-in ceremony at Whittaker Dell (amphitheater), Camp Lee, 1942
1944-Camp Lee Prisoner of War Camp
Movie theaters, post exchanges, regimental recreation halls and service clubs were often filled to capacity during off-duty hours
1942-Recruit Reception Center, Camp Lee Fort Lee | A Century of Change
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FORT LEE COLDWAR ERA 1950s-60s
OCS Vietnam Orientation, 1967
Dak Bo, a mock South Vietnamese Village, 1968
Fueling Operations Training, 1969 16 Fort Lee | A Century of Change
Females in the Women’s Army Corps from Fort Lee, Va., march in downtown Petersburg in 1950
Wet Weather Clothing Test, 1951
A swearing-in ceremony at Whittaker Dell (amphitheater), Camp Lee, 1942 Boot Testing, 1951
1950s-Parachute Riggers
1962-Enlisted Housing Fort Lee | A Century of Change
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Graves Registration Training, 1960s
The Quartermaster School, Mifflin Hall, 1961 18 Fort Lee | A Century of Change
1966-Supply Automation Class
FORT LEE
1970s-90s
GULF ERA
Departing for Desert Shield, 1990
Sgt. Seay Field Dedication, 1971
Bicentennial Commemoration Opening Ceremony, June 14, 1975 Fort Lee | A Century of Change
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1999-Petroleum Operations Training
1990s-Soldier Instruction
1976-Field Baking 20 Fort Lee | A Century of Change
1970s-Fort Lee Commissary
1999-Fabric Repair Specialists
1990s-Field Feeding
Sling Load Training, 1995
1990s-Airborne Quartermasters
Laundry and Bath Training, 1974 Fort Lee | A Century of Change
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FORT LEE
Pvt. Felix Ortiz uses a multimeter to check circuits in a power generator during the D Module portion of the Power Generation Equpment Repaier Course at the Ordnance School’s Rozier Hall.
2000s-NOW
MODERN ERA
A member of the Black Daggers paratroopers airbourne with an American Flag at the Change in Command Ceremony at Fort Lee on June 10, 2016.
The Quartermaster Museum
Students in the vehicle recovery specialty work to pull an M1 tank from a muddy water pit at the Fort Lee Vehicle Recovery Range 22 Fort Lee | A Century of Change
Transportation corps soldiers prepare a set of flatbed train cars for loading a pair of trucks
Transportation Management Coordinator students walk into a C-17 Globemaster fuselage
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Teams of military chefs from around the globe compete in a timed challenge during the U.S. Army Culinary Arts Competitive Training Event
A soldier salutes during the Change of Command Ceremony
Student-soldiers rest on an M1 tank inside a mire pit at the Fort Lee Vehicle Recovery Training Center. 24 Fort Lee | A Century of Change
Transportation Corps soldiers have access to facilities including two plane fuselages and a set of railcars.
FORT LEE
A FINAL
WORD
President Barack Obama traveled to Fort Lee on Sept. 28, 2016 to thank the troops and their families serving at the installation for their patriotism and sacrifice, and to meet with military community members. Here are excerpts of his remarks: “Here at this post you are part of a tradition of service that stretches back nearly 100 years. Doughboys marched off to World War I from this facility. You trained our soldiers for World War II, Korea, Vietnam, every conflict since. So as you prepare to celebrate your centennial next year I’m just going to jump the gun and go ahead and say Fort Lee happy 100th birthday. And this also is a chance to pay tribute to the vital work that you’re doing every single day. You don’t always get the glory, but the fact is America’s Army and America’s
military could not project around the world, would not be the very best in the world if were not for the best sustainment personnel in the world. You know there’s an old saying, amateurs talk about tactics, professionals talk about logistics. So today we salute all the logistics personnel. You make sure our troops get what they need - the right amount in the right place and the right time. We salute our transportation corps, keeping our supply lines open and at times risking your lives doing
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it. We salute the folks who handle the ordnance. A lot of work where you need steady hands - don’t drop nothing. We salute all the quartermasters, including all our Army cooks. I know sometimes military food gets a bad rap but here at Fort Lee the cooks train to be world class. …. I will tell you that of all the privileges of this office there’s been no greater privilege, no greater honor than serving as the commander in chief of the finest military in the history of the world. And what makes you best is not just the incredible platforms that give us our military superiority, although we got some pretty impressive equipment on display right here. It’s not just the sophisticated technologies that make us the most advanced military. We have the strongest military because we got the best people. Because of your spirit because of your character and because of your patriotism. So you inspire me and Michelle and the American people and not just as commander in chief but as an American citizen I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for the great work you do. Thanks for your patriotism. . . . .. You dedicated yourself to something bigger than yourself. You chose a life of service. You stepped forward. You volunteered and most of you volunteered in a time of war. You raised your hand and took an oath to defend and protect the county that you love. So I want to thank you for your devotion.”
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A Century of Change
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