Fort Lewis (Washington): Difference between revisions

Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Part of United States Army I Corps United States Army I Corps Air Mobility Command (AMC)
Located near: Tacoma, Washington
17th Field Artillery Brigade Fort Lewis 62d AW C-17 loading Army personnel from Fort Lewis at McChord Field
Coordinates	47°06′21″N 122°33′52″W / 47.10583°N 122.56444°W / 47.10583; -122.56444 (Joint Base Lewis-McChord-AR) (Fort Lewis) 47°08′51″N 122°28′46″W / 47.14750°N 122.47944°W / 47.14750; -122.47944 (Joint Base Lewis-McChord-AF) (McChord Fld)
Site information
Controlled by	United States Army
Site history
Built	1917
In use	1916-Present
Garrison information
Garrison	Joint Base Garrison, Joint Base Lewis-McChord Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Joint Base Garrison (US Army)  627th Air Base Group (USAF)

JBLM McChord Field

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Location of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington

Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) (IATA: TCM, ICAO: KTCM, FAA LID: TCM) is a United States military facility located 9.1 miles (14.6 km) south-southwest of Tacoma, Washington. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Joint Base Garrison, Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The facility is an amalgamation of the United States Army Fort Lewis and the United States Air Force McChord Air Force Base which were merged on 1 February 2010.

JBLM was established in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The legislation ordered the consolidation of the three facilities which were adjoining, but separate military installations, into a single joint base – one of 12 joint bases formed in the United States as a result of the law.

Joint Base Lewis-McCord is a training and mobilization center for all services and is the only Army power-projection platform west of the Rocky Mountains. Its key geographic location provides rapid access to the deep water ports of Tacoma, Olympia and Seattle for deploying equipment. Units can be deployed from McChord Field, and individuals and small groups can also use nearby Sea-Tac Airport. The strategic location of the base provides Air Force units with the ability to conduct combat and humanitarian airlift to any location in the world with the C-17 Globemaster III, the newest, most flexible cargo aircraft in the airlift force.^[2]

The Joint Base Garrison operates the installation on behalf of the warfighting units, families and extended militant community who depend on JBLM for support. The mission of the unit is to provide world-class support to mission commanders and the joint base community, to serve as an enabler to our warfighters as they train and project America's combat power, and to make JBLM the station of choice for our nation's warfighters and their families.^[2]

With an Army joint base commander and an Air Force deputy joint base commander, the garrison supports the installation through directorates and agencies that provide a full range of city services and quality-of-life functions; everything from facilities maintenance, recreation and family programs to training support and emergency services.^[2]

The major organizations that make up the bulk of the Joint Base Garrison include:

• Directorates of Public Works: Logistics
• Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation
• Human Resources; Emergency Services
• Plans and Training Security and Plans

Additional staff offices that support the installation mission include the Joint Base Public Affairs Office, the Religious Support Office, the Resource Management Office, Equal Employment Opportunity Office, the Installation Safety Office and the Plans. Analysis and Integration Office_ Other partners who work closely with the Joint Base Garrison include the Civilian Personnel Advisory Center, the Mission and Installation Contracting Command and Joint Personal Property Shipping Office.^[2]

The Yakima Training Center is a major sub-installation of JBLM, and provides a full range of training lands and ranges to active and reserve component units. Encompassing more than 320.000 acres, YTC is a world-class facility where units can prepare for any mission they may be called upon to perform.^[2]

Three military units support the Joint Base Garrison

• 1st Joint Mobilization Brigade

Provides command and control and host unit support to mobilizing, deploying and demobilizing reserve component units from all military services

• 627th Air Base Group

Provides command and control and administrative oversight to the Airmen who perform installation support duties on behalf of the garrison

• Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Joint Base Garrison

Provides administrative oversight to the Army personnel in the garrison and supports newly arrived Soldiers during their in-processing period.

Fort Lewis, named after Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition, is one of the largest and most modern military reservations in the United States. Consisting of 87,000 acres (350 km²) of prairie land cut from the glacier-flattened Nisqually Plain, it is the premier military installation in the northwest and is the most requested duty station in the army.^[3]

The United States Army I Corps commands most Army units at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and conducts planning and liaison with other assigned active and Reserve component units located in the continental United States. It is one of four corps headquarters in the active Army, and one of three based in the continental United States. I Corps has been designated as one of the active Army's contingency corps. I Corps stays prepared to deploy on short notice worldwide to command up to five divisions or a joint task force. ^[4]

Since I Corps was assigned to Fort Lewis in 1981. Soldiers from its units have participated in Operation Just Cause in Panama, Desert Shield and Desert Storm during the Persian Gulf War, Operation Provide Comfort for Kurdish Refugees, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. They helped will the restoration of order following the riots in Los Angeles. participated in Operation Safe Harbor in NAS Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for Haitian migrants, supported relief efforts following Hurricane Andrew in Florida and Hurricane Iniki in Hawaii, and played a significant role in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and in restoring peace in Kosovo.^[4]

I Corps also contributed to the command structure of Operation Desert Storm with the I Corps commander, Lieutenant General Calvin Waller, and the Deputy I Corps commander, Major General Paul Schwartz, assisting General H. Norman Schwarzkopf the commander of American forces. January 15, 2003, marked the 85th anniversary of the activation of the I American Army Corns in Neufchâteau, France. The corps assumed tactical responsibility for troops fighting on the Western Front 4 July 1918. Corps Soldiers participated in battles during the Aisne-Marne Offensive, the St. Mihiel Offensive and the Battle of Meuse-Argonne. After World War i, I Corps was disbanded at Tonnerre, France in 1919.^[4]

In 1981, I Corps was reactivated at Fort Lewis. On Oct. 12, 1999, General Eric K. Shinseki, Chief of Staff of the Army. announced I Corps would lead the acceleration of Army transformation, training and the initial creation of the first two Stryker Brigade Combat Teams at Fort Lewis.^[4]

Since Sept. 11. 2001. I Corps and Fort Lewis assets have been active in providing support for Global War on Terrorism operations_ GWOT operations include Operation Noble Eagle (Homeland Defense). Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom.^[4]

On Feb. 5. 2004, Task Force Olympia was activated, a sub-element of I Corps headquarters with the mission to command forward-deployed units in Iraq. This marked the first time that I Corps had forward Soldiers in combat since the end of the Korean War. Task Force Olympia included units from ail three components of the Army (active. Reserve and National Guard) as well as Marine and Australian officers. Task Force Olympia's subordinate units included the 3d Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2d Infantry Division, which deployed for Iraq on Nov. 8, 2003, and returned to Fort Lewis after one year of combat duty; and the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, which departed Fort Lewis on Sept. 15. 2004, for one year and returned September 2005, On June 1. 2006, the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division cased its colors and became the 2d Cavalry Regiment - Stryker Brigade Combat Team with its home station in Germany. A brand-new unit ready to make history then uncased the colors of its new designation on June 1, 2006 - the 4th Brigade, 2d Infantry Division.^[4]

Subordinate units assigned to Fort Lewis are:

JBLM has more than 25,000 soldiers and civilian workers. The post supports over 120,000 military retirees and more than 29,000 family members living both on and off post. Fort Lewis proper contains 86,000 acres (350 km²); the Yakima Training Center covers 324,000 acres (1,310 km²).

JBLM Main & North have abundant high-quality, close-in training areas, including 115 live fire ranges. Additional training space is available at the Yakima Training Center in eastern Washington, including maneuver areas and additional live fire ranges.

In 2009, the former Fort Lewis Regional Correction Facility was remodeled and renamed the Northwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility (NWJRCF). The facility houses minimum and medium security prisoners from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.^[5]

During the summer months (June, July, August), JBLM North hosts the Leader Development and Assessment Course, a capstone program for the U.S. Army's ROTC program.

Also adjacent to the post is Camp Murray (Washington National Guard).

Fort Lewis was originally established in 1917 with the passage of a Pierce County bond measure to purchase 70,000 acres (280 km²) of land to donate to the federal government for permanent use as a military installation. In 1927, Pierce County passed another bond measure to establish a military airfield just north of Fort Lewis. The airfield, called Tacoma Field, opened in 1930 and was renamed McChord Field in 1940. McChord Field separated from Fort Lewis when the U.S. Air Force was created in 1947 and was subsequently renamed McChord Air Force Base. The two bases operated independently of one another for over 60 years before being merged in 2010.

Fort Lewis began as Camp Lewis in 1917 when the citizens of Pierce County voted by an eight to one margin to bond themselves for $2 million to buy 68,721 acres (278 km²) of land. They donated the land to the federal government for military use. The only stipulation was that the tract be used as a permanent army post. Captain David L. Stone and his staff arrived at the camp site 26 May 1917, and a few days later the initial construction began. The entire camp was ready for occupancy a month ahead of schedule. In 90 days, Stone had supervised the construction of a "city" of 757 buildings and 422 other structures, all lighted and heated for 60,000 men. The first recruits moved into their new barracks on 5 September 1917, exactly two months after the post building plan had been handed to the contractors.

When they implemented auction of the new cantonment, workmen subscribed $4,000 to build the main gate – which is still standing. The arch was built of fieldstone and squared logs resembling the old blockhouses which stood in the northwest as forts. Some 60,000 men, including the 91st Division, moved into the hastily constructed cantonment to train for World War I. Recruited largely from the northwest, the 91st was considered "Washington's Own." In 1917, Pierce County, through the process of condemnation proceedings (eminent domain), took 3,370 acres (13.6 km²) of the Nisqually Indian Reservation (14 km²) for the Fort Lewis Military Reserve.

The following two years saw tremendous activity at Camp Lewis as men mobilized and trained for war service. Thousands of the nation's youth learned to know Camp Lewis and the state of Washington. With the conclusion of the war, activities at Lewis ground to a standstill. Camp Lewis passed from the hands of Pierce County and became the property of the federal government when the deed for 62,432 acres (253 km²) was recorded in the county auditor's office in Tacoma.

Brigadier General David L. Stone, who had supervised the original construction of Fort Lewis as a captain, returned as its commanding general in 1936, serving until 1937. The project of constructing an army airfield, which later became McChord Air Force Base, directly north of the Fort Lewis installation, received approval as a WPA project in January 1938, and $61,730 was allocated for construction. The allocation provided for clearing, grading, and leveling a runway 6,000 feet (1,800 m) long by 600 feet (180 m) wide.

At the conclusion of World War II, the northwest staging area of Fort Lewis became a separation center and discharged its first soldiers in November 1945. sometime in the early 1960s Interstate 5 was built through the fort separating the northwest corner of the fort, and creating "Northfort". With the departure of the 4th Infantry Division (United States) for Vietnam in 1966, Fort Lewis once again became a personnel transfer and training center. In 1972, the 9th Infantry Division (United States) was reactivated, and trained there until its deactivation in 1991.

The Fort Lewis Military Museum was established in 1972 to preserve and document the post's history.

Located adjacent to Lakewood, Washington and Parkland, Washington, It was named in honor of Colonel William Caldwell McChord, former Chief of the Training and Operations Division in HQ Army Air Corps and started off as the Army airfield of Fort Lewis.

The 627th Air Base Group exists to maintain the Air Force structure as it relates to organizing, training. and equipping Airmen to deploy. More than 1,000 mission-ready Airmen in the 627th Air Base Group are prepared to provide Expeditionary Combat Support for military operations worldwide. The 627th Air Base Group staff is respon¬sible for the administrative functions in caring for Airmen in the JBLM construct. The office processes all administrative routing of awards, decorations, evaluations, and coordi¬nation of staff summary packages to include OT&E subject matter.

Within the Joint Base Garrison. 627th Airmen carry out the mission day-to-day directly supporting 37.000 miii¬tary. 10,000 civilians. 52.000 family members, and 17,000 retirees. The group includes civil engineer, logistics, force support, communi¬cations, and security forces squadrons that provide installation support for 4,055 facilities on Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

McChord Field is home to a wide variety of units and missions. The 62d Airlift Wing is the primary United States Air Force active duty wing on McChord Field. The wing is part of Air Mobility Command and provides the Department of Defense a fast, flexible and responsive airlift capability, with a primary mission to develop and sustain expeditionary Airmen to deliver global airlift for America. In addition. as the provider of the Prime Nuclear Airlift Force. the 6nd is the only wing in the Department of Defense tasked to airlift nuclear weapons and materials.

The 62d AW also maintains the readiness of more than 2.500 active duty and civilian personnel, along with 43 permanently assigned C-17 Globemaster IIIs, to support combat and humanitarian contingencies. The C-17 is capable of rapid strategic delivery of troops and all types of cargo to main operating bases or directly to forward bases in the deployment area The aircraft can also perform tactical airlift and airdrop missions when required. These requirements range from supplying humanitarian airlift relief to victims of disasters, to airdropping troops into the heart of overseas contingency operations in hostile areas.

The 62nd Airlift Wing is joined by its Reserve partner the 446th Airlift Wing. Together, the two wings fly 50 C-17 Globemaster IIIs to provide combat airlift for America. Joint Base Lewis-McChord also hosts the Western Air Defense Sector, an Air National Guard unit; the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron; the 361st Recruiting Squadron and a number of other units across the installation.

JBLM Soldiers receive medical care through on-base Madigan Healthcare System facilities such as Madigan Army Medical Center, the Okubo Clinic, and the Nisqually Clinic. JBLM Airmen receive medical care at the McChord Clinic as well as Madigan Army Medical Center.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 15.9 square miles (41.2 km²), of which, 15.3 square miles (39.6 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) of it is water. The total area is 3.78% water. The military base is, as previously stated, much larger than the CDP defined by the Census Bureau.

Fort Lewis' terrain is primarily a mixture of dense conifer woods and open Puget prairie-garry oak woodlands. Invasive Scotch Broom has taken over many areas. The landscape is very rocky from glacial meltwater deposits. Poison-oak is found in the training areas. Canada Thistle grows thickly in some areas. All trees are to be left standing; post policy prohibits cutting or trimming them.

The temperatures during summer vary from the mid 40s at night to the mid 70s during the day, occasionally peaking over 90 °F (32 °C). Although July and August are the driest months.

The census-designated place (CDP) Fort Lewis is located within the installation's area.^[6] As of the 2000 census, the CDP, which includes the most densely populated part of the base, had a total population of 19,089.

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 19,089 people, 3,476 households, and 3,399 families residing on the base. The population density is 1,248.5 people per square mile (482.0/km²). There are 3,560 housing units at an average density of 232.8 per square mile (89.9/km²). The racial makeup of the base is 60.4% White, 20.3% African American, 1.4% Native American, 3.4% Asian, 1.8% Pacific Islander, 6.2% from other races, and 6.4% from two or more races. 13.1% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 3,476 households out of which 85.8% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 89.3% are married couples living together, 6.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 2.2% are non-families. 2.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 0.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.75 and the average family size is 3.78.

The age distribution is 32.1% under the age of 18, 28.0% from 18 to 24, 37.5% from 25 to 44, 2.0% from 45 to 64, and 0.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 22 years. For every 100 females there are 168.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 212.5 males. All these statistics are typical for military bases.

The median income for a household on the base is $32,384, and the median income for a family is $32,251. Males have a median income of $20,878 versus $20,086 for females. The per capita income for the base is $12,865. 8.2% of the population and 7.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 10.7% of those under the age of 18 and 0.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

• Fort Lewis official site
• Fort Lewis history
• Joint Base Lewis-McChord Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare & Recreation
• United States Army Environmental Command

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Lewis.

• Alan Archambault Fort Lewis, Arcadia Publishing, 2002 ISBN 0-7385-2051-9

• Fort Lewis homepage
• 3rd Brigade / 2nd Infantry Division homepage
• 5th Brigade / 2nd Infantry Division homepage
• 42nd Military Police Brigade homepage