BRAC: Relocating Armor History, Honor, and Lineage

The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)-directed move of the U. S. Army Armor School to Fort Benning, Georgia, involves a lot more than just movement of equipment and personnel; it is the movement of generations of history, honor, and lineage. The rightful pride felt by armor soldiers stems from a history of innovation, accomplishment, and battlefield prowess. Any tour of Fort Knox reveals armor’s proud lineage, from vehicle displays scattered throughout the installation to the heroes’ names associated with every prominent building. Moving this lineage is a task that is being addressed by the Armor Center’s Strategic Plans Cell in concert with commanders at the U. S. Army Armor Center and School. In 2011, the Armor School will complete occupation of its new home at Harmony Church. The face of Fort Benning will be forever changed with the arrival of the Armor School, transforming from the Home of Infantry into the Maneuver Center of Excellence. Recognizing the need to put armor’s stamp on Fort Benning “branding,” plans were drawn up and briefed to the commanding generals of both posts. These plans initially focused on Harmony Church, but later expanded to include the entire installation. These plans were further developed into memorialization and branding plans. The branding plan includes physical representations such as armored vehicle displays, installation gate displays and signage, and water tower markings. The memorialization plan focuses on naming facilities, ranges, streets, training areas, and parade/athletic fields. In support of the effort to transform Fort Benning, a memorialization board was stood up this past January and meets monthly to address the dedication of the large number of facilities being built on Fort Benning in support of the Armor School BRAC move, Grow the Army program, and other new facility projects. The memorialization program assigns O6-level commanders as area champions to facilitate memorialization of facilities within their footprint. For Harmony Church, the director of the Armor School and the commanders of 16th Cavalry Regiment and 194th Armored Brigade will serve as champions for the school facilities under construction. Working within the Fort Benning process, the Armor Center decided on a systematic approach to naming various entities within the memorialization program. Buildings will be named after heroes of armor and cavalry and other branches reflective of the activities contained within the buildings and individuals who made significant contributions to the development of the armor branch or armor technology. Fortunately, multiple buildings can be named after the same individual, so individuals already honored at Fort Knox can be further honored with facility dedication at Fort Benning. The Harmony Church construction project will extend over several years for the numerous facilities that will house the Armor School. Figure 2 shows the facility types and the year in which buildings will be dedicated. Sand Hill is included because the 1st and 2d Battalions of the 46th Infantry will relocate there. Dedicating these new facilities will allow the armor community to honor heroes from all eras, including those from the current War on Terror. New roads and streets (there are currently twelve) will be named using unit designations. The first four streets have already been designated as: 1st Armored Division Road, 2d Cavalry Street, 15th Cavalry Street, and 194th Armored Brigade Loop. BRAC: Relocating Armor History, Honor, and Lineage by Daniel Nelson 50 —

There are eight new parade and athletic fields to be named, six at Harmony Church and two at the new basic training facilities located at Sand Hill. Unit nicknames will be used to dedicate these fields, so there may be a future “Phantom Field” (9th Armored Division) at Fort Benning. Seventeen new ranges are currently under construction, or are scheduled to be constructed, to support the move of the Armor School. These facilities range from small-arms qualification to tank-gunnery ranges. These ranges will be dedicated to honor Medal of Honor or Distinguished Service Cross recipients from all eras. The last phase of the memorialization process will name maneuver training areas. While nearly all of Fort Benning’s areas have been memorialized, the new training areas developed to support armor training represent new groupings of previously named terrain features and areas. These new training areas will be dedicated to honor significant armor and cavalry victories. While change can bring about certain unexpected emotion, we are reminded of armor’s strong and enduring relationship with infantry. It is a friendship that has in decades past seen our men and women stand side-by-side on faraway battlefields in defense of a free world. Today, in another time of war, this relationship is sustained by shared values and a willingness to defend, at all cost, that which we hold most dear: our liberties, our loved ones, and our homelands. The bond between armor and infantry will be on full display in this new, integrated Maneuver Center of Excellence, which will embody a shared commitment to protect our Nation from any and all threats — past, present, and future. The Maneuver Center of Excellence will further enhance the collaboration between the two branches, thus allowing the “one force, one fight” to respond more quickly to any threat. ArmoredVehicleDisplaysatHarmonyChurch ArmoredVehicleDisplaysatHarmonyChurch Sign:Welcometo TheMCOE Key UnitArmor Displays Sign:Welcometo Armor School ArmorSchool Signw/Vehicle Figure 1 Facilty Type Year-> 09 10 11 12 13 09 10 Arms Vault 1 AAFES Store 1

Brigade Headquarters 2 1 Battalion Headquarters 4 3 2 Company Operations & Barracks 10 5 10 Company Operations 4 Chapel 1 Dining Facilities 2 1 1 Fire Station 1 General Instructional Building 2 1 Medical/Dental Facility

Simulations Facility 2 1 Unaccompanied Barracks 2 3 Vehicle Maintenance Facility Wash Rack 1 Harmony Church Sand Hill Figure 2 Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Daniel C. Nelson is currently serving as a strategic planner, Strategic Planning Cell, U. S. Army Armor Center and School, Fort Knox, KY. He received a B. S. from Penn State and a M. S. from Shippensburg University. His military education includes the U. S. Army Command and General Staff College. During his career, he served in various command and staff positions, to include brigade XO and battalion commander, Unit of Action Experimental Element, Fort Knox; brigade XO, 2d Infantry Division Engineer Brigade, Camp Howze, Korea; commander, 3d Battalion, 410th Engineer Battalion (AC/RC), Fort Knox; engineer plans officer, 8th U. S. Army, Yongsan, Korea; and terrain intelligence officer, Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, Bosnia and Germany. — 51