Fort Jackson is a United States Army Installation. The US Army United States Army Transformation and Training Command (T2COM) operates one of four Basic Combat Training (BCT) programs on this installation. Fort Jackson is named for Andrew Jackson, a United States Army general and the seventh president of the United States (1829–1837) who was born in the border region of North and South Carolina.

History

thumb|left|Fort Jackson quarters in the winter.

thumb|left|Camp Jackson, Columbia, SC, 1917– [[World War I.]]

thumb|ARNG recruits arriving at Fort Jackson for BCT

Fort Jackson was founded in 1917 at Camp Jackson as the US entered World War I. At the conclusion of World War I, Camp Jackson was shut down and the Camp was abandoned 25 April 1922, pursuant to General Orders No. 33, War Department, 27 July 1921. Camp Jackson was reactivated for World War II, where Franklin D. Roosevelt and George C. Marshall hosted a demonstration of the combat-readiness of several divisions for Winston Churchill and Alan Brooke in preparation of the abandoned Operation Roundup. At the conclusion of World War II, the post was to have been deactivated by 1950; however, the outbreak of the Korean War caused the post to remain active and it is still functioning in the early 21st Century.

Fort Jackson is the largest and most active initial entry training center in the U.S. Army, training 50 percent of all soldiers entering the Army each year. Providing the Army with new soldiers is the post's primary mission. 35,000 potential soldiers attend basic training and 8,000 advanced individual training soldiers train at Fort Jackson annually. The training is provided by the 165th and 193rd Infantry Brigades Monday through Sunday for a ten-week period.

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 National Center for Credibility Assessment, part of the Defense Intelligence Agency. 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.

Fort Jackson encompasses more than of land, including 100 ranges and field training sites and more than 1,000 buildings. Soldiers, civilians, retirees and family members make up the Fort Jackson community that continues to grow in numbers and facilities. An additional 10,000 soldiers attend courses at the Soldier Support Institute, Chaplain Center and School, and Drill Sergeant School annually. Close to 3,500 civilians are employed at Fort Jackson and 46,000-plus retirees and their families receive services from this base.

Located in the heart of the Midlands of South Carolina, Fort Jackson was incorporated into the city of Columbia in October 1968 and is midway between New York City and Miami. Columbia has direct access to three interstate highways, I-20, I-26 and I-77, and indirect access to two additional interstates within , I-95 and I-85. Average temperatures in the region range from a high of 90+ °F (32 °C) in July to a low of 34 °F (1 °C) in January. Annual rainfall averages around .

The fort has a significant economic impact on the local area. Annual expenditures by Fort Jackson exceed $716.9 million for salaries, utilities, contracts and other services. In addition, over 100,000 family members visit the Midlands area each year to attend basic training graduation activities, using local hotels, restaurants and shopping areas.

In 2020, the reception battalion barracks were renovated.

Incidents

On 6 May 2021, 23-year-old Jovan Collazo, who was three weeks into United States Army Basic Training, fled his basic training dorm in an attempt to make it back to his home state of New Jersey. The DoDEA schools on-post are Pierce Terrace Elementary School (Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 1) and C.C. Pinckney Elementary School (grades 2–6). Students are zoned to Dent Middle School and Richland Northeast High School, which are operated by the school district.

Area tertiary schools include Midlands Technical College and Fort Jackson–based programs of University of South Carolina, Claflin University, and Webster University.

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File:Pierce Terrace School Picture.webp|Pierce Terrace Elementary School

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Several scenes in the 1994 film Renaissance Man, set at the fictional Fort McClane, were filmed at Fort Jackson in 1993.

Notable people

  • Ken Berry (1953–1955), dancer, actor, singer, was corporal in the Artillery and Special Services divisions at the close of the Korean War
  • Jim Cook Jr. (2013–2014), New Jersey–based journalist and playwright
  • Jim Croce, singer-songwriter
  • Jason Crow, Army Ranger and member of Congress
  • Desmond Doss, Medal of Honor recipient
  • James C. Dozier (1885–1974), served in Pancho Villa Expedition, WW1 (awarded Medal of Honor) and WW2
  • Leonard Nimoy, actor, writer, film director, poet, musician, and photographer
  • Joe Plumeri, Chairman & CEO of Willis Group Holdings, and owner of the Trenton Thunder, was in the Army Reserve at Fort Jackson in 1968
  • Geoff Ramsey, film producer, actor, photojournalist served in Kuwait.
  • Oliver Stone, filmmaker, attended both basic and AIT at Fort Jackson before serving in Vietnam.
  • Freddie Stowers (1917), among first recruits to enter training; only African-American to be awarded the Medal of Honor in WW1.

Notes

References

Further reading

  • Clayton, K. B. History, Annual Supplement: Headquarters, United States Army Training Center and Fort Jackson. Office of the Director of Plans and Training. .
  • Department of Defense. 21st Century U.S. Military: U.S. Army Adjutant General School (AG School) at Fort Jackson, plus Army Background Material CD-ROM . Progressive Management, 2005. .
  • Myers, Andrew H. Black, White, & Olive Drab: Racial Integration at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and the Civil Rights Movement (University of Virginia Press, 2006).
  • Soldiers Network
  • Basic Combat Training Center of Excellence