Fort Campbell Then
Fort Campbell, Ky., is named in honor of Brig.
Gen. William Bowen Campbell, the last Whig Governor
of Tennessee. He was elected Colonel of the
First Tennessee Volunteers, the “Bloody First,” and is
remembered in history as he led his regiment in the
storming of Monterey in 1846 with the cry, “Boys,
follow me!”
The post is located between Hopkinsville, Ky.,
and Clarksville, Tenn. The site was selected on July
16, 1941, with construction beginning Feb. 4, 1942.
Within a year, the reservation designated as Camp
Campbell was developed to accommodate one
armored division and various support troops, or a
total of 23,000 men.
Early in the summer of 1942, the post’s initial
cadre, one officer and 19 enlisted men, arrived from
Fort Knox, Ky. From that time until the end of WWII,
Camp Campbell was the training ground for the 12th,
14th and 20th Armored divisions, Headquarters IV
Armored Corps and the 26th Infantry Division.
In the spring of 1949, the 11th Airborne Division
arrived at Campbell following occupation duty
in Japan. The 11th was in residence there until
early 1956.
In April 1950, the post became a permanent
installation and was redesignated Fort Campbell.
On Sept. 21, 1956, Secretary of the Army Wilbur
M. Bruckner and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Maxwell
D. Taylor presented the colors of the 101st Airborne
Division to Maj. Gen. T.L. Sherbourne, the first commander
of the new ROTAD airborne division. This
was the official ceremony reactivating the famed
“Screaming Eagles” of WWII.
On May 2, 1966, Third Army General Order 161
directed the activation of a Basic Combat Training
Center at Fort Campbell. On July 6, barely two
months after its activation, Fort Campbell’s Army
Training Center received its first 220 newly inducted
Soldiers. Basic Combat Training began on schedule
July 11 with a full complement of 1,100 trainees.
The 1st Brigade was sent for duty in Vietnam in
July 1965. After the war escalated, the rest of the
division joined the “Always First Brigade.” The 6th
Infantry Division was reactivated at Fort Campbell
on Nov. 24, 1966, and inactivated July 25, 1968.
On Aug. 18, 1969, the U.S. Army Training
Center and headquarters, Fort Campbell, was
combined.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade got its official
homecoming ceremonies Sept. 2,
1971, welcomed by Secretary of Defense
Melvin Laird. The 173rd was redesignated
as the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne
Division (Airmobile).
On April 6, 1972, the 101st Airborne
Division (Airmobile) was officially welcomed
back to its home station in ceremonies
attended by Vice President Spiro
T. Agnew and Gen. William C. Westmoreland,
Army Chief of Staff.
On April 15, 1972, the U.S. Army
Training Center was inactivated.
