Real Crime Stories/Paranormal Hauntings/Conspiracy Theories Book II

Incident at Fort Benning

Fort Benning is a United StatesArmy post straddling the Alabama–Georgia border next to Columbus,Georgia. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-dutymilitary, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees andcivilian employees on a daily basis. It is a power projectionplatform, and possesses the capability to deploy combat-ready forcesby air, rail, and highway. Fort Benning is the home of the UnitedStates Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, the United States ArmyArmor School, United States Army Infantry School, the WesternHemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly known as theSchool of the Americas), elements of the 75th Ranger Regiment (UnitedStates), the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade, and other tenantunits.

It is named after Henry L. Benning, abrigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the CivilWar. Fort Benning is one of ten U.S. Army installations named forformer Confederate Generals.

Since 1909, Fort Benning has served asthe Home of the Infantry. Since 2005, Fort Benning has beentransformed into the Maneuver Center of Excellence, as a result ofthe 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission's decision toconsolidate a number of schools and installations to create various"centers of excellence". Included in thistransformation was the move of the Armor School from Fort Knox toFort Benning.

History

Fort Benning is named after ConfederateGeneral Henry L. Benning.

Camp Benning was established October19, 1918, initially providing basic training for World War I units,post-war. Dwight D. Eisenhower served at Benning from December 24,1918, until March 15, 1919, with about 250 of his Camp Colt,Pennsylvania, tankers who transferred to Benning after the armistice. On December 26, 1918, a portion of the Camp Polk (near Raleigh,North Carolina) tank school was transferred to Camp Benning "towork in conjunction with the Infantry school". Camp Benningtank troops were moved to Camp Meade from February 19–21, 1919.

In February 1920, Congress voted todeclare Camp Benning a permanent military post and appropriated morethan $1 million of additional building funds for the Infantry Schoolof Arms, which later became the Infantry School. By the fall of1920, more than 350 officers, 7,000 troops and 650 student officerslived at Camp Benning. The post was renamed to Fort Benning in 1922,after Henry L. Benning, a general in the army of the ConfederateStates of America. Benning fought against U.S. Army troops in theCivil War as commander of Confederate States Army forces. In 1924,Brig. Gen. Briant H. Wells became the fourth commandant of theInfantry School and established the Wells Plan for permanentconstruction on the installation, emphasizing the importance of theoutdoor environment and recreation opportunities for militarypersonnel. During Wells' tenure, the post developed recreationalfacilities such as Doughboy Stadium, Gowdy Field, the post theaterand Russ swimming pool. Doughboy Stadium was erected as a memorial bysoldiers to their fallen comrades of World War I. One of theDoughboys' original coaches was a young captain named Dwight D.Eisenhower.

Lt. Col George C. Marshall wasappointed assistant commandant of the post in 1927 and initiatedmajor changes. Marshall, who later became the Army Chief of Staffduring World War II, was appalled by the high casualties of World WarI caused, he thought, by insufficient training. He was determined toprevent a lack of preparation from costing more lives in futureconflicts. He and his subordinates revamped the education system atFort Benning. The changes he fostered are still known as the BenningRevolution. Later in his life, Marshall went on to author theMarshall Plan for reviving postwar Europe and was awarded the NobelPeace Prize in 1953.