Fort Jackson

Fort Jackson, just east of Columbia, South Carolina, was created in 1917 as Camp Jackson as the United States entered World War I. At the conclusion of World War I, Camp Jackson was shut down and the Camp was abandoned April 25, 1922 pursuant to General Orders No. 33 from the War Department. Camp Jackson was reactivated for World War II. At the conclusion of World War II the post was to have been inactivated by 1950; however, the outbreak of the Korean War caused the Post to remain active and it remains an active duty post in the early 21st Century. The fort encompasses more than 52,000 acres of land, including over 50 ranges and field training sites and 1000 buildings. Fort Jackson is the largest and most active Initial Entry Training Center in the U.S. Army, training 50 percent of all soldiers and 80 percent of the women entering the Army each year. Providing the Army with new soldiers is the post's primary mission. Accomplishing this mission means training in excess of 45,000 basic training and advanced individual training soldiers annually. The training is provided by the 165th, 171st, and 193rd Infantry Brigades. The post has other missions as well. While some military installations have experienced downsizing and closure in past years, Fort Jackson has added several new schools and training institutions since 1995, including the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, the Department of Defense Chaplain Center and School, and the Defense Academy for Credibility Assessment. In 2007 the Army consolidated all of its training facilities for Drill Sergeants at Fort Jackson, and in 2009 Command Sergeant Major Teresa King became the first woman to head what is now the sole Drill Sergeant School for the U.S. Army.