Fort Jackson, South Carolina 1950-1963
The standby status for the fort never came. With the outbreak of the Korean War, the 8th Infantry Division was reactivated at Fort Jackson for the third time in 32 years as a training division. Composed of the 13th, 28th, 61st Infantry and their supporting units, this Division was ordered into active status under the command of Brigadier General Frank C. McConnell on 17 August 1950.
As buildings became available, the Exchange gradually broadened its operations and became more diversified in services provided. This continued until deactivation of the Post in June 1950. Upon reactivation of the Post in October 1950, the Exchange was re-established and has maintained uninterrupted service since that time.
At this time, the main hospital at Fort Jackson again experienced change. On 30 June 1950, the facility was deactivated, and the Post maintained only a dispensary until 15 August 1950, at which time the hospital was reactivated as the United States Army Hospital, Fort Jackson, South Carolina .’
At the beginning, the United States Army Hospital had an operating capacity of 400 beds. In the following months, the capacity varied, and on 1 January 1951, it was 350 beds. On 1 April that authorization was increased to 850, and stayed at that level throughout the year.
Adverse publicity struck Fort Jackson in February 1951 when a news release containing information about inadequate conditions was circulated. As a result, a United States Senate Committee on the Armed Forces Preparedness Sub-Committee visited the Post and inspected facilities on 27-28 February and 1 March l95l)- Fort Jackson was faced with many problems. Training 6,000 men per month for Korea severely taxed the outdated facilities of a Fort that was in the process of discontinuing basic training activities only nine months earlier.
The problems of Fort Jackson were the problems of the times. The Army’s rapid increase in size had created supply difficulties. Most of the structures on Post were temporary, frame buildings constructed between 1939 and 1941. Time had rendered many of these inadequate. Tents were heavily relied upon in furnishing housing for the troops. Selection, training and stabilization of cadre personnel were a serious training problem. While medical care was adequate, both the hospital facility and the medical personnel were greatly taxed. An arrangement had been made with local civilian physicians, who consulted and treated military patients without cost to the Army; this solution to the problem brought high praise from the Sub-Committee, but it also emphasized that the condition should be remedied by the Army as soon as possible. Representing the Committee medically was Dr. Charles W. Mayo of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, New York, who reported favorably on the hospital and medical service.
During 1952, there was a gradual cutback in bed authorizations at the hospital, ranging from a high of 850 on 1 January 1952 to a low of 625 on 1 October. Much trouble was experienced in the personnel area, for there was considerable turnover, particularly in the enlisted ranks. Replacement personnel consisted almost entirely of Korean returnees and inductees from the 8th Infantry Division (Training) of Fort Jackson . While the trainees selected were fundamentally well qualified as a group, many of the returnees lacked the basic requirements of technicians on duty at a fixed installation, for most of their medical background came from combat experience.
Turnover in duty personnel continued to be a paramount problem for the hospital in 1953. Normal requisition channels supplied few qualified replacements, and it was necessary to take basic trainees in for special instruction in hospital procedures. In addition, there was considerable difficulty en countered throughout the year in obtaining specialists essential to hospital operation, including optometrists, medical equipment repairmen, and specialized medical officers.
On 5 March 1953, the Board of Commissioners of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals visited the hospital and conducted a survey of the premises to determine whether or not it should be accredited. Their findings were favorable, and on 19 April 1953 official word was received that the hospital was fully accredited.
On 15 May 1954, the 8th Infantry Division was transferred to Camp Carson, Colorado, minus personnel and equipment. It was immediately replaced by the famed 101st Airborne (Screaming Eagle) Division, defenders of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. The 101st stayed until 16 March 1956, at which time it was sent to Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
On 16 March 1956, Fort Jackson was formally designated the United States Army Training Center, Infantry, as some 10,000 troops paraded on Hilton Field and colors were changed in the ceremonies. Colors of the 101st Airborne Division, formerly stationed here, were transferred to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where it was organized as a tactical unit.
The training at Fort Jackson in 1957 was basically the same as it had continued through the years, except as it had been updated through modern technology.
Basic training, the first eight weeks of Army life for every soldier, was designed to teach a man the rudiments of soldiering. It prepared him for combat, not only militarily and physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. In short, it was the transition period from civilian to soldier.
Actually, the program began a few days before the formal eight-week training period. During that time, he was assigned to a training company, learned his duties in garrison, was issued equipment and taught how to maintain it, and generally discovered what was expected of him by his superiors in matters of discipline.
Once formal training began, the trainee followed a daily schedule filled with intense and concentrated instruction. The first two weeks were devoted to familiarization with elementary drills and ceremonies. These were designed to impart discipline and military tradition. Learning to work together and to respond instantly and correctly to verbal commands molded the trainees into smooth-running military units, ready for more advanced instruction.
Also included in the first two-week block of instruction was extensive training in first aid, military courtesy, and chemical, biological, and radio logical warfare. Of continually increasing importance, the chemical, biological and radiological training taught the recruit to protect himself in almost all combat situations involving gas, germ, or atomic attack. Character guidance instruction, administered by Army chaplains, explained the interrelation of spiritual and patriotic values.
In the third and fourth weeks (later changed to the fourth, fifth and sixth weeks) trainees concentrated on rifle marksmanship. This instruction, called “TRAINFIRE,” replaced the century-old method of stationary targets placed at known distances on a rifle range. The men fired at electrically- controlled targets which “popped up” at varying distances amid bushes, trees, and other natural terrain features. The basic concept behind TRAINFIRE was to present the recruit a simulated combat-firing situation for his rifle training.
After two weeks of TRAINFIRE instruction, the recruits were ready to qualify on the record range with the Ml rifle, the basic infantry weapon. In a competitive spirit, each man fired 112 rounds which were recorded to see how well he had mastered the weapon.
Instruction in the fifth and sixth weeks applied previous training to combat situations. In day and night tactical training, the recruit learned how to negotiate barbed wire and other artificial obstacles, crawling low on the ground, with his weapon carefully cradled in his arms. The recruits also received instruction in bayonet and hand-to-hand combat.
Approximating most closely the grim realities of combat was the infiltration course. This 100 yards of sand, barbed wire entanglements, and other obstacles was the trainee’s simulated “baptism of fire.” He had to crawl the course three times, once at night, as live machinegun rounds snapped a few feet overhead from specially prepared emplacements. Hugging the ground, the men dodged simulated artillery bursts and crawled through or over barriers and ditches.
In the seventh week, each basic training company moved into the field for bivouac. After marching some 13 miles, the recruits set up two-man shelter tents in the bivouac area. During their week-long stay in the temporary camp, the recruits learned to live in the field and continued their tactical training.
The final week was devoted to review and testing. Trainees were put through a proficiency examination to determine their knowledge of all they learned during the eight weeks. They also took a final physical training test to measure their increase in strength and endurance over the eight- week period.
The entire eight-week cycle had been interspersed with lectures in character guidance, troop information, and supply economy. These lectures, combined with the more active portion of the training, provided the trainee with a sound basis in the elements of modern warfare.
After basic, the recruit went on to an additional eight weeks of advanced training. This was designed to teach him the particular skills he must learn in order to perform his job in the Army. They could vary from advanced infantry training to basic Army administration and similar subjects. Fort Jackson ’s 3d Training Regiment taught advanced infantry tactics and received recruits from other Army basic training centers as well as graduates from Fort Jackson basic training units.
Advanced Individual Training gave each individual practical instruction in all the weapons organic to the Infantry company. An addition to this pro gram was the new 7.62 mm family of weapons, including the Nl4 rifle and the M60 machine gun. The new M79 grenade launcher had also been integrated into the training. The objective of the training was to qualify each individual with a Military Occupational Specialty of either ill (Light Weapons Infantry Leader) or 112 (Heavy Weapons Infantry Leader).
In addition, while undergoing Basic Unit Training the soldier was subjected to simulated combat conditions. Working in units ranging in size from the squad to the company, the men were presented problems which covered many aspects of Infantry tactics, including live fire assaults, defensive fighting, attacks on cities and across rivers, and many other realistic field situations.
Both Advanced Individual Training and Basic Unit Training were conducted by the 3d Training Regiment (Infantry) at Fort Jackson . The Regiment had the responsibility for training both Active Army and Reserve Forces Act personnel in Advanced Individual Training and Basic Unit Training. Since its organization and activation in March of 1956 through 1963, the 3d Regiment had qualified more than 50,000 men as Infantrymen. As originally organized, the Regiment consisted of four battalions - the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th.
Other trainees were assigned to various specialist training schools on the basis of aptitude scores achieved during administration of the Army’s battery of aptitude tests. The test results indicated each individual’s best fields of interest and ability.
Specialist schools at Fort Jackson, conducted by the 4th Training Regiment, included Intermediate Speed Radio Operation, Field Communications, and Supply, in addition to the Basic Army Administration, and Light Vehicle Operation and Maintenance courses.
On Friday of the last week of Basic Combat Training, the trainee joined the rest of his battalion in an impressive parade to pass in review before the Commanding General and visitors who had come to witness the occasion.
One trainee from each company was selected as the “Outstanding Trainee” in his unit, in recognition of his leadership ability, military bearing, and training proficiency. During the first part of this colorful review, the out standing trainees marched “front and center” along with the national colors and regimental flags and guidons, and were presented a scroll by the Commanding General.
The day following graduation (usually a Saturday morning) was known as "shipping day." The trainee normally received a 14-day leave after completing Basic Combat Training and departed on shipping day.
In 1958 Fort Jackson continued its mission to train individuals as replacements for assignment to units in the United States and overseas. There were 305 training areas, 75 ranges, 169 miles of roads, with 345,047 square feet of warehouses. The Annual Funding Program (Fiscal Year 1958) was $14,117,100.
To provide realistic training for basic trainees, the 7th Battalion, 2d Training Regiment organized an “aggressor force’ to attack each company as it moved into overnight bivouac. The companies learned quickly the importance of internal control and the proper spacing of flank guards as they were compelled to be alert against a common enemy. The “SWAMP RAT” aggressor forces, as they were called, were commanded by Captain Richard Beach and Second Lieutenant Harry E. Hearn.
In March 1958 the 48th Ordnance Detachment began "Operation Life Saver," an all-out drive to inspect and disarm all war souvenirs which were endangering the lives of Fort Jackson personnel and civilians in the Columbia area. Many veterans of World War II and Korea brought home trophies which they considered safe, but which were actually dangerous, even though many years old.
TRAINFIRE I Range - Prototype for the Army. - In July 1958 began one of the most outstanding examples of new concepts of training rifle marksmanship. It was developed and tested at Fort Jackson and then adopted on an Army-wide basis. Cost of construction was $549,800.
For many years recruits had learned to use their rifle by aiming at a bull’s-eye target on the firing range at distance of 100, 200, and 300 yards. While this system developed many sharp shooting soldiers, it had its defects. On a battlefield a soldier often doesn’t have an opportunity to see the enemy clearly, to know the exact range or to get into a perfect firing position. As a result, it was found that less than 257 of the riflemen in a combat situation fired their rifles at all. Clearly, something had to be done. The result was TRAINFIRE. Its big advantage was that it introduced realism into the training situation. In TRAINFIRE I the basic trainee learns first to sight enemy riflemen who are partially hidden and to estimate the distance to this enemy. He learns to direct his fire not at a stationary bull’s eye, but at pop-up targets located at various distances in wooded areas.
Rifle Squad Tactical Ranges I, II, III, and IV. — These prototype ranges for the Army carry the TRAINFIRE I concept one step further. Each uses pop-up targets, but the men go through the course as fire and maneuver teams, there by combining tactics with technique of rifle fire. In an attack problem, the squad must maneuver properly and use supporting fire. In a defense problem, the squad will be rated on distribution of shots, in addition to the number of targets hit, as enemy targets advance up the hill to the squad’s position. Constructed at a cost of $799,284, these ranges were put into operation at Fort Jackson on 26 April 1966.
In 1960, the 2,646 World War Il-type temporary barracks constructed in 1941 presented a sizable maintenance workload. Dependent housing was limited and inadequate, with the exception of 27 officer apartments. There were 95 apartments, only 27 of which were considered adequate, available from a converted mobilization type World War II hospital, plus 325 “Lanham Act” apartments.
At this time the installation had 27,500 in population. The major mission was to provide administrative and logistical support to the US Army Training Center, the US Army Garrison, the US Army Reception Station, the US Army Hospital, various assigned and attached Table of Organization and Equipment (TOE) and Table of Distribution (TD) units, satellite units and activities, and Reserve Units conducting Summer Training here.
The major effort was directed toward the Replacement Training Program. The primary objective of this training was to qualify individual replacements for the Active Army.
There was, at that time, a combined headquarters, with the following elements reporting directly to it:
Special Troops. — Provided administrative and logistical support to troop units. Six TOE and TD units were attached to Special Troops for administrative and logistical support. These units were the 282d and 291st Bands, the 48th Ordnance Detachment, the 316th CIC Detachment, the 570th Army Postal Unit, and the 89th NP CI Company.
US Army Hospital — Operated with 450 authorized beds, with a normal expanded capacity of 1,100 beds and a mobilization capacity of 1,500 beds. The 7th Surgical Hospital ( Mobile ), a STRAC unit, was attached to the hospital.
US Army Reception Station — Received and processed personnel from Army Recruiting Main Stations and Induction Stations of the Third US Army area, and five States and the District of Columbia of the Second Army area. In Fiscal Year 1960, the Reception Station processed over 59,000 men.
Five Training Regiments — The five training Army Training Center and conducted basic combat, common specialist, and unit training. In Fiscal 79,000 graduates from this training. Also included in the training operations was the Third US Army NCO Academy. This Academy had the mission of raising the standards and quality of performance of noncommissioned officers, with emphasis on the fundamental role — Trainer, Leader, Supervisor. In Fiscal Year 1960, 535 noncommissioned officers graduated from this Academy.
On 31 August 1960, a total of 27,587 personnel were working and living on the installation, about 1,000 more than the average population in Fiscal Years 1959 and 1960.
A new medical unit was attached to the hospital in 1961. On 10 October, the 916th Surgical Hospital (Mobile Army), an activated reserve unit from Little Rock, Arkansas, was assigned to Fort Jackson as a result of the Army- wide buildup at that time. The 916th was attached until 7 August 1962, at which time the unit returned to Arkansas and its personnel were released from active duty.
One of the major projects undertaken by Fort Jackson during 1963 was the Cuban Volunteer Training Program. This project was taken over from Fort Knox, Kentucky, its original location, on directions from higher command. The pro gram was transferred from Fort Knox, where it had been in existence about five months, in December 1962.
On 17 December 1962 a team of eight officers, including Brigadier General Robert L. Ashworth, Deputy Commander of Fort Jackson, flew on short notice to Fort Knox . Their mission was to lay the groundwork for a transfer of the Cuban Training Program from Fort Knox to Fort Jackson .
With the return of the delegation on 19 December 1962, arrangements and coordination had been made for the transfer of the personnel and records, plans and responsibilities to Fort Jackson . The move took place immediately after the Christmas holidays.
On 2 January 1963 the bulk of the Spanish-speaking trainer cadre from Fort Knox arrived at Fort Jackson . The 1st Training Regiment was designated as the training agency for the Cuban Volunteers, and 1,700 Cuban trainees were received on 5 January 1963. They arrived by bus under the supervision of the part of the cadre which had remained at Fort Knox to direct the move.
The Cuban trainees had been in various stages of their 22-week training program at Fort Knox . When they arrived at Fort Jackson a two-day delay in training took place while reception, processing and various other adjustments were accomplished. The regimental structure was altered to establish a Spanish-speaking committee; personnel were placed on temporary duty to the 3d Training Regiment to form a special committee for Advanced Individual Training and Basic Unit Training; a special group was formed to teach basic English to the Cuban trainees; additions were made to the Table of Distribution to meet the needs of Cuban Training — an S-3 officer in each battalion and a regimental S-2 section. Lesson plans, applicable memoranda, regulations and circulars, notices, and signs in the regimental area were translated into Spanish.
From the time the Cuban Volunteer Program arrived at Fort Jackson, Cuban input continued steadily until early April, at which time 14 companies, totaling more than 2,700 Cubans, were in training. After this date input fell off sharply, and by 31 July 1963, arrival of Cubans had fallen to below the number required to fill one company a month.
In 1963, Fort Jackson was a bustling Post with an average of more than 23,000 officers and enlisted men and 1,800 civilian employees. Its recreational facilities included many lighted outdoor areas:
· a football stadium capable of seating 6,600, with cinder track
· a baseball stadium seating 3,200
· seven softball diamonds
· four tennis courts
· three modern swimming pools
· a golf driving range.
Other facilities included a Post Field House, seating 3,500; five gymnasiums; four theaters; seven service clubs; five libraries; two arts and crafts shops; and a dayroom for each company. In addition, there was an 18-hole golf course, one of the finest in the armed services, and a new 24-lane bowling center — the most modern in the United States. There were also nine chapels in operation and a religious education center, with chaplains representing the Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish faiths. Fort Jackson provided a balanced program for its personnel, from recreational and cultural to the religious, all within the reach of the individual as need arose. The post had progressed greatly since its early days as Camp Jackson . It exemplified the modern Army in both its rapid growth and the new methods of carrying out its training mission. New devices and techniques were utilized in the training program to develop alert and skilled soldiers.