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1st Armored Division

The 1st Armored Division units include: 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division ("Ready First") is prepared to deploy, conduct decisive and sustainable land operations in support of a division, Joint Task Force, or Multinational Force. The Brigade will be trained and ready to conduct decisive action as part of Combined Arms Maneuver or Wide Area Security operations in order to disrupt or destroy enemy military forces, control land, and be prepared to conduct combat operations to protect U.S. national interests.

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division ("Strike") is prepared to deploy, conduct decisive and sustainable land operations in support of a division, Joint Task Force, or Multinational Force. The Brigade will be trained and ready to conduct decisive action as part of Combined Arms Maneuver or Wide Area Security operations in order to disrupt or destroy enemy military forces, control land, and be prepared to conduct combat operations to protect U.S. national interests.

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division ("Bulldog") is prepared to deploy, conduct decisive and sustainable land operations in support of a division, Joint Task Force, or Multinational Force. The Brigade will be trained and ready to conduct decisive action as part of Combined Arms Maneuver or Wide Area Security operations in order to disrupt or destroy enemy military forces, control land, and be prepared to conduct combat operations to protect U.S. national interests.

1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade ("Iron Eagles") conducts aviation operations to support geographic combatant commanders conducting unified land operations.

1st Armored Division (1AD) Artillery (DIVARTY) ("Iron Steel") provides direct support, precision strike, and Joint Fires capability to the 1st Armored Division for Unified Land Operations in support of the Division's contingency operations. 1AD DIVARTY provides trained and ready fire support forces and assists Brigade Combat Team (BCT) Commanders in training their fire support systems.

1st Armored Division Sustainment ("Muleskinners") provides mission command of assigned, attached, and Operational Control (OPCON) Echelons above Brigade sustainment units and synchronize distribution and sustainment operations in support of 1st Armored Division, and other aligned units. On order, rapidly deploy to designated contingency areas; receive, integrate, and provide mission command of sustainment units providing operational and tactical sustainment; and perform theater opening, theater distribution, and sustainment operations in support of Unified Land Operations.

Additional units/agencies

The Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Leadership Center of Excellence (NCOL CoE): Academic institution for noncommissioned officers aligned under Army University and the Combined Arms Command, with additional reporting to Training and Doctrine Command. Provides professional military education to DoD and allied noncommissioned officers.

The United States Army Sergeants Major Academy (USASMA) was accredited as a branch campus of the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) in 2018. In March 2018, the CGSC Combined Arms Center Execution Order, made USASMA the 4th campus of CGSC. In June 2019, USASMA Class 69 became the first students from the Sergeants Major Course to earn Bachelors of Arts in Leadership and Workforce Development (Staff College) through USASMA. The accreditation process took 10 years, beginning with the last officer commandant, Col. Donald E. Gentry.

The 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade: Known as the "Imperial" Brigade, it strategically deploys combat ready units globally in support of the 32nd AAMDC to conduct joint and combined air and missile defense operations in order to protect the Combatant Commander's critical priorities. On order, conducts reset and training of Patriot, Avenger Iron Dome, and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) units.

William Beaumont Army Medical Center (WBAMC)

The 5th Armored Brigade: The brigade plans, coordinates, synchronizes, and supports the pre/post mobilization training and demobilization of Army National Guard and United States Army Reserve units in order to provide trained and ready forces for worldwide contingencies. On order, deploys exportable OC/T teams in support of the Army Total Force Policy.

The Fort Bliss Mobilization Brigade: The brigade provides all administrative and logistical aspects of Title 10 support to mobilizing/demobilizing units. Act as focal point for installation support and quality of life issues. Coordinate requirements and integrate mobilization support. Provides personnel and logistical readiness validation input.

The CONUS Replacement Center: CRC receives, processes, equips, and conducts Theater Specific Individual Requirements Training (TSIRT) for military Non Unit Related Personnel (NRP), Department of Defense (DoD) Civilians, and Non Logistics Civil Augmentation (LOGCAP) Program (Non LOGCAP) Contactors deploying to and redeploying from theaters of operations in support of overseas contingency operations.

The Army Field Support Battalion (AFSBn): AFSBn is responsible for enhancing the readiness of Active, Reserve and National Guard units and continuously synchronizing the distribution of sustainment materiel and force projection at the Installation and field level in order to support the Materiel Enterprise and combat readiness of supported units and contingency operations.

The Network Enterprise Command: This unit defends the security of the Army Global Network Construct, provides transparent delivery of Command, Control, Communications and Computer (C4) Information Technology (IT services to customers).

The Civilian Personnel Advisory Center (CPAC) -- Desert Mountain: CPAC is responsible for assisting customers in recruiting, developing and sustaining a professional civilian workforce through human resource products and advisory services.

The headquarters for the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC), a federal tactical operational intelligence center, is hosted at Fort Bliss. Its DoD (United States Department of Defense) counterpart, Joint Task Force North, is at Biggs Army Airfield. Biggs Field, a military airport located at Fort Bliss, is designated a military power projection platform.

Fort Bliss National Cemetery is located on the post. Other forts in the frontier fort system were Forts Griffin, Concho, Belknap, Chadbourne, Stockton, Davis, Richardson, McKavett, Clark, McIntosh, Inge, and Phantom Hill in Texas, and Fort Sill in Oklahoma. There were "sub posts or intermediate stations" including Bothwick's Station on Salt Creek between Fort Richardson and Fort Belknap, Camp Wichita near Buffalo Springs between Fort Richardson and Red River Station, and Mountain Pass between Fort Concho and Fort Griffin.

Early locations

In 1846, Colonel Alexander Doniphan led 1st Regiment of Missouri mounted volunteers through El Paso del Norte, with victories at the Battle of El Brazito and the Battle of the Sacramento. On 7 November 1848, War Department General Order no. 58 ordered the establishment of a post across from El Paso del Norte, now Ciudad Juárez. On 8 September 1849, the garrison party of several companies of the 3rd U.S. Infantry, 'The Old Guard', currently the oldest active duty regiment in the US Army, commanded by Major Jefferson Van Horne, found only four small and scattered settlements on the north side of the Rio Grande.

The Post Opposite El Paso del Norte was first established at the site of Coon's Ranch, often erroneously referred to as Smith's Ranch, now downtown El Paso It, along with Fort Selden and other Southwestern outposts, protected recently won territory from harassing Apaches and Comanches, provided local law and order, and escorted the forty-niners. Van Horne also had nominal command of the Post at San Elizario, the former Presidio of San Elizario, seventeen miles downstream from El Paso del Norte. With constant Indian raids, garrisons had to be moved frequently to meet the shifting threats. In September 1851, the Post Opposite El Paso and the Post at San Elizario were closed, and the soldiers were moved 40 miles (64 km) north to Fort Fillmore.

On 11 January 1854, Companies B, E, I and K of the 8th Infantry, under the command of Lt. Col. Edmund B. Alexander, established Post of El Paso at Magoffinsville under orders from Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. The post was named 'Fort Bliss' on 8 March 1854, in honor of Lt. Col. William Wallace Smith Bliss, (1815–1853), U.S. Army officer, private secretary, and son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor. Bliss was a veteran of the Mexican War (1846–1848) who was cited for gallantry in action.

Fort Bliss remained there for the next 14 years, serving as a base for troops guarding the area against Apache attacks. Until 1861 most of these troops were units of the 8th Infantry Regiment. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, David E. Twiggs, the Commander of the Department of Texas, ordered the garrison to surrender Fort Bliss to the Confederacy, which Col. Isaac Van Duzen Reeve did on 31 March 1861. Companies B, E, F, H, I, and K were captured by the Confederacy and remained prisoners of war until 25 February 1863 in Texas. Company A returned safely to the North with their Colors on 26 May 1861.

Confederate forces consisting of the 2nd Regiment of Texas, under the command of Col. John R. Baylor, took the post on 1 July 1861, and used it as a platform to launch attacks into New Mexico and Arizona in an effort to force the Union garrisons still in these states to surrender. Initially the Confederate Army had success in their attempts to gain control of New Mexico, but following the Battle of Glorieta Pass, the Confederate soldiers were forced to retreat when their supply lines were cut.

In 1862, the Confederate garrison abandoned Fort Bliss without a fight when a Federal column of 2,350 men under the command of Colonel James H. Carleton advanced from California. The Californians maintained an irregular garrison at Fort Bliss until 1865, when 5th Infantry units arrived to reestablish the post. These were relieved by the 25th Infantry, Buffalo Soldiers, on 12 August 1866, followed by the 35th Infantry two months later.

After May 1867 Rio Grande flooding seriously damaged the Magoffinsville post, Fort Bliss was moved to a site called 'Camp Concordia' in March 1868. Camp Concordia's location was immediately south of what is now Interstate 10, across from Concordia Cemetery in El Paso. The Rio Grande was about a mile south of the camp at that time. Water was hauled daily by mule team to the camp. On 11 March 1869 the old name of Fort Bliss was resumed.

Water, heating, and sanitation facilities were at a minimum in the adobe buildings of the fort. Records reveal that troops suffered severely from dysentery and malaria and that supplies arrived irregularly over the Santa Fe Trail by wagon train. In January 1877, the Concordia post was abandoned. After the troops left, El Paso was without a garrison for more than a year. By that time, El Paso and its environs on the north side of the river had swelled to a population of almost 800.

On New Year's Day 1878, Fort Bliss was established as a permanent post. The Company L Buffalo Soldiers of the Ninth Cavalry and Company C of the 15th Infantry, were sent to Fort Bliss to prevent further trouble over the salt beds and the usage of Rio Grande water for irrigation purposes. Prior to this date, the government had a policy of leasing property for its military installations. A tract of 135 acres (0.55 km2) was purchased at Hart's Mill on the river's edge in the Pass, near what is today the UTEP.

With a $40,000 appropriation, a building program began. The first railroad arrived in 1881, and tracks were laid across the military reservation, solving the supply problems for the fort and the rapidly growing town of El Paso. By 1890, Hart's Mill had outlived its usefulness, and Congress appropriated $150,000 for construction of a military installation on the mesa approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) east of El Paso's 1890 city limits. Although no money was appropriated for the land, $8,250 was easily raised by the local residents, who realized the economic benefit to the area.

The present site of Fort Bliss on La Noria mesa, was laid out by Captain John Ruhlen from 1891 to 1892. In October 1893, it was occupied by four companies of the 18th Infantry.

World War II and postwar

During World War II, Fort Bliss focused on training anti-aircraft artillery battalions (AAA). In September 1940, the Coast Artillery's anti-aircraft training center was established. In 1941, the 1st Tow Target Squadron arrived to fly target drones. The 6th, 19th, and 27th Tow Target Squadrons were at the nearby Biggs Field. On 3 August 1944, the Anti-Aircraft Artillery School was ordered from Camp Davis to Fort Bliss to make the training of anti-aircraft gunners easier, and they became the dominant force at Fort Bliss following the departure of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division. On 15 September 1942, the War Dept. made space available for handling up to 1,350 POWs, while POW camps could be constructed. During the war, the base was used to hold approximately 91 German, Italian, and Japanese Americans from Hawaii (then a territory), who were arrested as potential fifth columnists but, in most cases, denied due process.

By February 1946, over 100 Operation Paperclip German scientists and engineers had arrived to develop rockets, and were attached to the Office of the Chief of Ordnance Corps, Research and Development Service, Suboffice (Rocket), headed by Major James P. Hamill. Although these men were initially "pretty much kept on ice", resulting in the nickname "Operation Icebox", they were divided into a research group and a group who assisted with V-2 test launches at White Sands Proving Grounds.

German families began arriving in December 1946. By the spring of 1948, the number of German rocket specialists, nicknamed "Prisoners of Peace", in the US was 127. Fort Bliss rocket launches included firings of the Private missile at the Hueco Range in April 1945. In 1953, funding cuts caused the cancellation of work on the Hermes B2 ramjet work that had begun at Fort Bliss.

In late 1953, after troops had been trained at the Ft Bliss Guided Missile School, field-firing operations of the MGM-5 Corporal were underway at Red Canyon Range Camp, WSPG. In April 1950, the 1st Guided Missile Group named the Republic-Ford JB-2 the Army Loon.

Cold War

Fort Bliss trained thousands of U.S. Soldiers during the Cold War. As the United States gradually came to master the art of building and operating missiles, Fort Bliss and White Sands Missile Range became more important to the country, and were expanded accordingly. In July 1957, the U.S. Army Air Defense Center was established at Fort Bliss. Located at this center, in addition to Center Headquarters, are the U.S. Army Air Defense School; Air Defense; the 6th Artillery Group (Air Defense); the 61st Ordnance Group; and other supporting elements. In 1957, Fort Bliss and its anti-aircraft personnel began using Nike Ajax, Nike Hercules, Hawk, Sprint, Chaparral, and Redeye missiles. Fort Bliss took on the important role of providing a large area for troops to conduct live fire exercises with the missiles.

Because of the large number of Army personnel enrolled in the air defense school, Fort Bliss saw two large rounds of construction in 1954 and 1958. The 1954 build was aimed at creating more barracks facilities. Construction in 1958 built new classrooms, materials labs, a radar park, and a missile laboratory. Between 1953 and 1957, the Army expanded McGregor Range in an effort to accommodate live fire exercises of the new missile systems. Throughout the Cold War, Fort Bliss remained a premier site for testing anti-aircraft equipment.

Fort Bliss was used as the Desert Stage of the Ranger School training course, to prepare Ranger School graduates for operations in the deserts of the Middle East. From 1983 to 1987, Fort Bliss was home to the Ranger School's newly formed 4th (Desert Ranger) Training Company. In 1987, this unit was expanded to form the newly created Ranger Training Brigade's short-lived 7th Ranger Training Battalion, which was then transferred to the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah. The deserts of Utah proved to be unsuitable, so the 7th Ranger Training Battalion was returned to Fort Bliss from 1991 until the Ranger School's Desert Phase was discontinued in 1995.

While the United States Army Air Defense Artillery School develops doctrine and tactics, training current and future soldiers has always been Fort Bliss' core mission. Until 1990, Fort Bliss was used for Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training (AIT), under the 1/56 ADA Regiment and the 2/56 ADA Regiment, part of the 6th ADA. Before 1989, 1/56 had three basic training companies and two AIT batteries. After 1990, 1/56 dropped basic training, that mission assumed by Fort Sill. The unit now had four enlisted batteries for enlisted AIT, one battery for the Officer's Basic Course and Captain's Career Course, added in 2004, and one company that trained army truck drivers in MOS 88M.

Base Realignment and Closure, 2005

In 2005, the Pentagon recommended transforming Fort Bliss into a heavy armor training post, to include approximately 11,500 new troops from the U.S. 1st Armored Division – at that time stationed in Germany – as well as units from Fort Sill and Fort Hood. An estimated 15,918 military jobs and 384 civilian jobs were planned to be transferred to Fort Bliss, brought the total number of troops stationed at Fort Bliss under this alignment to 33,500 by 2012. Officials from Fort Bliss and the City of El Paso were thrilled with the decision. The general mood of the city government was perfectly captured by 14 May edition of the El Paso Times, which boldly proclaimed "BLISS WINS BIG".

According to Senator Eliot Shapleigh, the BRAC commission considered three primary factors to make its decision: The military value of Fort Bliss, the potential for other branches of the armed service to use a post as large as Fort Bliss, and the lack of urban encroachment around Fort Bliss that would otherwise hinder its growth. The arrival of the 11,500 troops from the 1st Armored Division was also expected to create some 20,196 direct and indirect military and civilian jobs in El Paso.

According to the Department of Defense, this is the largest net gain in the United States tied to the Base Realignment and Closure recommendations. Of the 20,196 new jobs expected to come to El Paso as a result of Bliss's realignment, 9,000 would be indirect civilian jobs created by the influx of soldiers to the "Sun City". When the BRAC commission recommendations were released Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's spokesman reported that El Paso was the only area that came out with a major gain of forces.

The news that El Paso had been selected to receive major elements of the 1st Armored Division was met with joy, but at the same time many expressed surprise at the panel's recommendation to transfer the Air Defense Artillery School, 6th ADA Brigade, and its accompanying equipment, including the MIM-104 Patriot Missile Anti-Aircraft/Anti Missile defense system, to Fort Sill. In August, officials representing Fort Bliss went before the BRAC Commission to plead their case for maintaining the ADA school and its accompanying equipment at Fort Bliss, citing among other thing the size of Fort Bliss and the history of the ADA school in the region. The BRAC Commission ultimately ruled against Fort Bliss, and the roughly 4,500 affected soldiers were transferred to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The entire transfer of soldiers to and from Fort Bliss was completed no later than September 2011.

In June 2009, authority over the post was shifted from Training and Doctrine Command to Forces Command.

2009–present

A 2010 joint study by Fort Bliss and El Paso-area city governments found that desalination was a viable method for increasing El Paso's water supply by 25%. The Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant, on Montana Avenue, is located on Fort Bliss property, and desalinates the groundwater of the Hueco Bolson for use by El Paso and Fort Bliss. This reverse-osmosis plant protects the fresh groundwater supplies from invasion by more brackish water. This plant is currently the largest non-seawater desalination plant in the world.

In 2010, with the assumption of command by Major General Dana J.H. Pittard, a local that grew up in El Paso, Fort Bliss was made an "open post" which allowed anyone with a valid driver's license to enter the post. From 2015, Fort Bliss was no longer an open post. In 2020, 1st Armored Division's Operations Research and Systems Analysis officer (ORSA) created a COVID-19 progression rate model for the division. This model was used by the COVID-19 task force for the City of El Paso.

In July 2010, electric power consumption at Fort Bliss had been reduced by three megawatts as the base continued to work towards becoming a "net zero" energy installation. In 2011 the 1st Armored Division moved from Baumholder, Germany to Fort Bliss, prompting significant expansion at the base in order to accommodate the relocated. In April 2013, Major General Dana J.H. Pittard announced a $120 million project to be completed by 2015, consisting of the largest solar farm within the U.S. military.

In June 2013, an investigation into above-ground dirt-covered bunkers located on the military reservation was opened. These former nuclear weapons bunkers were used by the Air Force during the Cold War, when Biggs Air Force Base was a SAC base. Low level radiation was detected in Bunker 11507. The bunker interiors were previously painted with epoxy paint to contain the radiation, and the paint has now chipped. The radiation contamination is confined to the area around the bunker. The area was closed in July 2013.

Description

Among Fort Bliss's missions:

Home of America's Tank Division, 1st AD (One of 10 active divisions in the Army)

Largest Joint Mobilization Force Generation Installation (JMFGI) in DoD (FY19: over 72K): 49K MOB/DeMOB/CRC; 23K Pre Mobilization Exercise Training (PMET)

One of the largest Power Projection Platforms in the Army

Home to the Army's ONLY CONUS Replacement Center (CRC)

Interagency operations: El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC), Joint Task Force North (JTF-N), Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Joint Modernization Command (JMC)(Futures Command) conducts Joint Warfighter Assessments/Enhance Multi-Domain C2/Informs Army Modernization

Ability to fire any weapon (pistol to missile)

Provide anti-aircraft and missile defense capabilities.

Conduct live fire exercises of nearly every type of Army weapon.

Host joint military exercises with other U.S. and foreign units,

Be home to many maintenance crews and supply units.

Be one of the Army's premier bases for test-driving tanks and other equipment.

House thousands of military vehicles, including all the equipment needed to set up Patriot missile sites.

Hosted the USAADCEN Air Defense Artillery Center from 1942 to 2010. USAADCEN has completed its transfer to Fort Sill. Concomitantly, the German Air Force Air Defense school is going to move to new training facilities in Germany and Greece. In 2013, the German Air Force deactivated its presence at Fort Bliss, while retaining a presence at Holloman Air Force Base. Over the previous 47 years, over 50,000 German Airmen received training at this command. In 2015, due to funding constraints on the planned new facilities in Europe, the German Air Force Air Defense school will stay open at Fort Bliss until 2020.

Monitor missile launches conducted by White Sands Missile Range, located 70 miles (110 km) to the north, in New Mexico.

Hosts the CONUS Replacement Center (CRC), the unit-level training site for Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen who are deploying or re-deploying on an individual basis. This CRC consolidates several other centers and now serves the entire Continental United States (CONUS).

A secured drone airfield, with a separate 5000 foot runway and dedicated hangar, 20–25 miles north of the main post is under construction, with completion expected by 2016. It will host a company of 9 MQ-1C Gray Eagles for First Armored Division.

Training missions are supported by the McGregor Range Complex, located some 25 miles (40 km) to the northeast of the main post, in New Mexico. Most of Fort Bliss lies in the state of New Mexico, stretching northeastward along U.S. Route 54 from El Paso County, Texas to the southern boundary of the Lincoln National Forest in Otero County, New Mexico. Much of the northwestward side of Highway 54 is part of the Fort Bliss Military Reservation, ranging from the northern side of Chaparral, New Mexico to the southern boundary of White Sands Missile Range. The main facilities are within the city limits of El Paso, Texas. On the city zoning map, the post officially resides in Central El Paso.

The fort is serviced by the El Paso Independent School District for K–12 education.

Separate from the main post are the William Beaumont Army Medical Center, which also serves the warrior transition battalion for the post's wounded warriors, and a Department of Veterans Affairs center at the eastern base of the Franklin Mountains. All of these supporting missions serve the military and retired-military population here, including having served General of the Army Omar N. Bradley in his last days. In June 2011, a new warrior transition complex, located at Marshall and Cassidy roads, was opened to replace the older facility serving the warrior transition battalion. A new location for William Beaumont Army Medical Center, to be located at Spur 601 and Loop 375, is rescheduled to be completed in September 2019.

The installation is close to the El Paso Airport (with easy access from the post via Buffalo Soldier Road), Highway 54, and Interstate 10. There is a replica of the Magoffinsville site for Fort Bliss on post, simulating the adobe style of construction. Other items of interest include the Buffalo Soldier memorial statue at the Buffalo Soldier Gate of entry to the post, and a missile museum on Pleasanton Road.

Fort Bliss archaeologists manage 20,000 sites on the 1.12 million acre reservation, and serve as tribal liaison to seven federally-funded Indian tribes. The Hueco Tanks historic site in El Paso county is adjacent to the military reservation. Cultural liaison with the tribes at the sacred sites of the reservation is an annual event. The walls of the old Fort Bliss Officers Club contain adobe bricks that are more than a century old. The building houses a Family Readiness Group, where new personnel can learn about the post's activities and support groups. The Fort Bliss Welcome center, for new arrivals, is nearby, in the Building 500 area.

Fort Bliss has been designated a "No Drone Zone" by the FAA, out to 400 feet beyond the lateral edges of the military reservation. This is enforced by the Military Police. Counter-UAS training is available on-post.

Fort Bliss

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Fort Bliss

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Fort Bliss across IJR

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Geography

Units

1st Armored Division

Additional units/agencies

Infrastructure

History

Early locations

Pershing expedition

World War I and postwar

World War II and postwar

Cold War

Base realignment and closure

War on terror

Base Realignment and Closure, 2005

2009–present

Camp East Montana

Description

Local impact

Geography

Demographics

Education

Museums and historic preservation

Fort Bliss across IJR