Fort Polk (2)

Fort Polk (2) (1941-Active) - A World War II U.S. Army Fort established first as Camp Polk in 1941 near Leesville, Vernon Parish, Louisiana. Renamed Fort Polk on 1 Nov 1955 after Confederate General Leonidas Polk (Cullum 477), West Point graduate, who was killed during the U.S. Civil War at Pine Mountain 14 Jun 1864. Active U.S. Army post. History Construction began in January 1941 and the camp was activated about 1 May 1941. The first trainees were elements of the 3rd Armored Division commanded by Major General Alvan C. Gillem, Jr. The post trained a number of armored divisions during the war, the 11th Airborne Division, and the 95th Infantry. Camp Polk housed more than 4,000 prisoners of war toward the end of the war. The post closed on 31 Dec 1946 and was placed in caretaker status. The post was reactivated for the Korean War, the Berlin crisis and the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam war, an advanced infantry training (AIT) center was established and Louisiana's heat, humidity, and precipitation were used to train and acclimatize soldiers for combat in Vietnam. More soldiers were shipped to Vietnam from Fort Polk than from any other American training base. The 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) was reactivated at Fort Polk in 1975 and remained at Fort Polk until inactivated in November 1992. During this period Fort Polk experienced a major building program that included new barracks, motor pools, 1000 family housing units, chapels, and dental clinics. The new facilities included a new Army Community Hospital, Post Exchange, commissary, warehouses, classrooms, athletic complexes, and improved gunnery ranges. In 1993, the Joint Readiness Training Center (JTC) moved from Fort Chaffee to Fort Polk to prepare soldiers for conflict. Current Status Active U.S Army post. {"selectable":false,"height":"-500","width":"-500"} Location: Leesville, Vernon Parish, Louisiana. Maps & Images Lat: 31.04679 Long: -93.20539 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 312' GPS Locations: 31.04679, -93.20539 Fort Polk 31.04422, -93.19142 Polk Army Airfield See Also: Sources: Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 348. USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 2512473 Links: Wikipedia - Fort Polk Visited: 8 Apr 2016