Fort Bliss
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fort Bliss | |
|---|---|
| Southwestern United States | |
 An Abrams tank crew makes its way off Fort Bliss’s Doña Ana Range. |
|
| Type | Military Base |
| Built | 1849-1893[1] |
| In use | 1849-Present[2] |
| Controlled by | 1849-1861: United States 1861-1862: The Confederacy 1862-Present: United States |
| Garrison | 32d Army Air and Missile Defense Command 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade 4-1 Brigade Combat Team (BCT), U.S. 1st Cavalry Division 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade 204th MI Battalion, Joint Task Force Six USACAS McGregor Range U.S. 1st Armored Division |
| Commanders | John "Black Jack" Pershing |
Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in El Paso County, Texas, USA. The Fort is named for Lieutenant Colonel William Wallace Smith Bliss, who was a son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor and was re-interred at Fort Bliss National Cemetery on post.
Fort Bliss, a U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) installation, is comprised of approximately 1.12 million acres of land which extend across Texas and New Mexico, which makes Fort Bliss comparable in size to the state of Rhode Island.[3] Fort Bliss also includes McGregor Range and Doña Ana Range–North Training Areas in New Mexico, and the South Training Areas in Texas.[3] Fort Bliss is the largest installation in TRADOC (1.1 Million Acres), and within the Army is second only to White Sands Missile Range, which is adjacent to Fort Bliss. Unsurprisingly, Fort Bliss is the largest Maneuver Area in the Army, at 550 square miles, which is three times the size of the National Training Center. Fort Bliss also provides the largest contiguous tract of virtually unrestricted airspace in the Continental United States (1500 Square Miles).[3]
Since World War II the primary mission of Fort Bliss has been air defense artillery, in particular the maintaince of several U.S. Patriot Missile Batteries. Fort Bliss has been the home of several U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Brigades, and specializes in the training of soldiers within ADA regiments. This will change in the coming years as a result of BRAC 2005, which will transform Fort Bliss from an Air Defense Artillery post to a Heavy Armor Training post by moving the Air Defense Artillery School and the ADA brigades currently stationed at Fort Bliss to Fort Sill. The ADA Brigades will be replaced by the incoming U.S. 1st Armored Division, which will arrive at Fort Bliss intermently between 2008 and 2011.
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[edit] History
Fort Bliss has a rich history in the Southwestern United Sates, one that can be traced back to the 1800s. The mission of Fort Bliss and the men assigned to have evolved over time to meet the changes of the United States and the world.
[edit] Early Fort Bliss
The first American military use of the area that was to become Fort Bliss was in 1846 when Colonel Alexander Doniphan led a group of Missouri volunteers through El Paso del Norte en route to military successes at Chihuahua and the Sacramento Pass. Two years after Colonel Doniphan's campaign, on 7 November 1848, the War Department ordered the establishment of a post in El Paso.[4][5] On 8 September 1849 the garrison party of several companies of the 3rd U.S. Infantry, commanded by Jefferson Van Horne, arrived in this area. On the north side of the Rio Grande they found only four small and scattered settlements. When the fort was first established at the site of Smith's Ranch, which is now downtown El Paso, Fort Bliss was one of the Southwestern outposts protecting a recently won frontier war against harassing Apaches and Comanches. At the time of its creation the post occupied territory that was considered to be part of New Mexico, and the base remained the strongest military encampment in New Mexico until the 32nd parallel of Latitude was made the official boundary between New Mexico and Texas in 1850.[5] Subsequently, Fort Bliss was reclassified a Texas military installation.[5]
The troops did not remain at El Paso long, however, since Indian raids were constant and shifting, and garrisons had to be moved frequently to meet the changing threats. In 1851 the two companies of troops stationed in El Paso were moved 40 miles north to Fort Fillmore. For more than two years there was no garrison at The Pass. In 1854 the post was officially named Fort Bliss in honor of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel William Wallace Smith Bliss, General Zachary Taylor’s adjutant general during the Mexican-American War and later his Secretary when General Taylor became President of the United States. Colonel Bliss is buried in the Fort Bliss National Cemetery, and his monument stands in Howze Stadium on this reservation. When the post was reoccupied in 1854, the original site at Smith's Ranch was abandoned and a new post was established at Magoffinville. There it remained 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.[6]
[edit] Service with the Confederacy
At the outbreak of the United States Civil War, the garrison received orders from General David Emanuel Twiggs in San Antonio to surrender the post to Confederate commissioners.[7] Confederate forces held the post in 1861, and used the base 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.[7] Initially the Confederate Army had success in their attempts to gain control of New Mexico, but following the Battle of Glorieta Pass Confederate soldiers were forced to retreat. The Confederate garrison abandoned Fort Bliss without a fight the next year when a Federal column of 2,350 men under the command of Colonel James H. Carlton advanced from California.[7] The Californians maintained an irregular garrison at Fort Bliss until 1865 when 5th Infantry units arrived to reestablish the post.[7]
[edit] Reconstruction and the Pershing Expedition
Protecting settlers and travelers against Indians was the primary duty of the garrison until the surrender of Geronimo in 1886. Early in 1868, flood waters from the Rio Grande seriously damaged the Magoffinville post, and in March of that year Fort Bliss was moved to higher ground and was rebuilt on a site called Concordia. It continued as Camp Concordia until 1869 when the old name, 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. Supplies arrived irregularly over the Santa Fe Trail by wagon train. The Concordia post was abandoned in December 1876. When troops left in January, El Paso was without a garrison for more than a year. At that time the town and its environs on the north side of the river had swelled to a population of almost 800.
In 1878 Fort Bliss was set up as a permanent post, to prevent further trouble over the salt beds and the usage of Rio Grande water for irrigation purposes. Up to this time the government had a policy of simply leasing property for its military installations; However, a tract of 135 acres was purchased at Hart's Mill on the river's edge in the Pass near what is today the University of Texas at El Paso. On the basis of $40,000 appropriation, a building program was begun. The first railroad arrived in 1881, and tracks were laid across the military reservation, thereby solving the supply problems for the fort and rapidly growing town of El Paso.
By 1890 Hart's Mill had outlived its usefulness, and Congress appropriated $1,500,000 for the purchase of land and for construction of a military installation on the mesa approximately 5 miles east of El Paso. This area, the present site of Fort Bliss, was first occupied by units of the 18th Infantry in October of 1893.
In January 1914, John Pershing arrived in El Paso to take command the Army 8th Brigade that was stationed at Fort Bliss. At the time the Mexican Revolution was in underway in Mexico, and the 8th Brigade had been tasked with securing the U.S.-Mexico border. In March 1915, under the command of General Frederick Funston, Pershing led the 8th Brigade on the failed 1916–1917 Punitive Expedition into Mexico in search of the outlaw Pancho Villa. General Pershing was assigned a 1915 Dodge Brothers touring car, serial number 3066. During this time, George S. Patton served as one of Pershing's aides.
After a year at Fort Bliss, Pershing decided to bring his family there. The arrangements were almost complete, when on the morning of August 27, 1915, he received a telegram telling him of a fire in the Presidio of San Francisco. His wife and three young daughters were burned to death in a house fire, only his six-year-old son Warren was saved.[8] After the funerals at Lakeview Cemetery in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Pershing returned to Fort Bliss with his son, Warren, and his sister Mae, and resumed his duties of commanding officer.
[edit] World War I and World War II
In 1917, following America's entrance into World War I, President Woodrow Wilson named Pershing to command the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), a post which he retained until 1918. Pershing was responsible for the organization, training, and supply of an inexperienced force that eventually grew from 27,000 men to over two million soldiers. In this way, Pershing is credited with the creation of the "National Army", a combined draft and professional Army force that was called upon to fight World War I. It was during this time that Pershing received orders to transfer from Fort Bliss to Europe to assume command of the AEF.
Fort Bliss had predominantly been a cavalry post since 1912, but that gradually began to change as the army started to experiment with armoured vehicles and their applications on a battlefield. On 8 November 1928 three light armoured cars, eight medium armoured cars, two motorcycles, and two trucks arrived at Fort Bliss.[9]. The mechanized forces proved to be better suited to warfare than horses, and the army reacted by phasing out horse mounted cavalry in 1943.[9]
After World War I the army began forming dedicated anti-aircraft artillery units to deal with the threat of airplanes on the field of battle. This led to another composition change at Fort Bliss during World War II, when the post shifted its focus from maintaining armoured vehicles and training their crews to anti-aircraft batteries and the training of soldiers to handle them. In September of 1940 the anti-aircraft training center was established, and in 1941 the 1st Tow Target Squadron arrived, tasked with flying drones to allow anti-aircraft gunners to hone in their skills.[10] On 3 August 1944 the Anti-Aircraft Artillery School in North Carolina 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.[10]
Following World War II the United States began to secure Nazi technology and personel for transportation to the United States under the codename Project Paperclip (better known as Operation Paperclip). As part of this effort several guided missiles, like the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket, arrived at Fort Bliss for study and reverse engineering. In addition, several captured Nazi scientists responsible for designing and building the rockets arrived at Fort Bliss to help the United States understand exactly how the technology worked. Among those arriving from Germany were Wernher von Braun, the lead scientist involved with the development of Germany's V-2 Rockets. Von Braun had surrendered to U.S. forces in Germany after German scientists were ordered killed to keep them from revealing the secrets of their work. Recoginzing the importance of Von Braun, the U.S. moved quickly to find the remaining V-2 scientists and secure the rockets. Most of those responsible for the rocket production were ultimately captured by Soviet soldiers; however, the United States was able to locate some 300 train cars worth of V-2 parts, as well as blueprints for the rockets, which had been recovered by the 332nd Engineer General Service Regiment near Bad Sachsa, Germany.
The parts and pieces recovered by the United States were brought back to the country and sent to various locations for analysis and study, among the sites selected to receive parts were Fort Bliss and White Sands. Von Bruan eventually ended up at Fort Bliss, where he and his team trained military, industrial and university personnel in the intricacies of rockets and guided missiles. They helped to refurbish, assemble and launch a number of V-2s that had been shipped from Germany to the White Sands Missile Range (at the time, White Sands Proving Ground) in New Mexico. They also continued to study the future potential of rockets for military and research applications. Since they were not permitted to leave Fort Bliss without military escort, von Braun and his colleagues began to refer to themselves only half-jokingly as "PoPs", "Prisoners of Peace".
[edit] The 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 and more important to the country, and were expanded accordingly. On 1 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.[11][12] In 1957 Fort Bliss and its anti-aircraft personnel began using Nike Ajax, Nike Hercules, Hawk, Sprint, Chaparrel, and Redeye missiles.[10][13] Fort Bliss took on the important role of providing a large area for troops to conduct live fire exercises with the missiles.
Due to 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 former was aimed at creating more barracks facilities, while the latter was aimed at building new classrooms, materials labs, a radar park, and a missile laboratory.[10] Between 1953 and 1957 the Army also expanded McGregor Range in an effort to accommodate live fire exercises of the new missile systems.[10]
Throughout the Cold War Fort Bliss remained a premier site for testing anti-aircraft equipment. As one of the largest bases in the United States the post has welcomed military members from all parts of the United States, and from various other nations either allied with or friendly to the United States, including Japan, Spain, Kuwait, Germany, the Netherlands, and Jordan.[10]
[edit] Training Soldiers
While the Air Defense Artillery School develops doctrine and tactics, training current and future soldiers has always been its core mission. The school is organized as the 6th ADA Brigade under TRADOC. Until 1990 the base was used for Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training (AIT), under the 1/56 ADA Regiment, part of 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 (MOS 88M). As of 2005, the AIT portion of the school has undergone significant changes.
[edit] Base realignment and closure, 1995
In 1995 then President Bill Clinton authorized another round of the Base Realignment and Closure program. During this BRAC round the Department of Defense recommended that the U.S. 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, which had called Fort Bliss home since 1972, be relocated to Fort Carson, Colorado. Efforts to consolidate units from another fort with those units that remained at Fort Bliss were overruled by the BRAC commission, leaving Fort Bliss on the losing end of the 1995 BRAC process, as this Realignment left Fort Bliss without any armoured vehicles. Units operating the US Army’s MIM-104 Patriot Missile Defense System relocated to Fort Bliss during the 1990's.
[edit] The War on Terror
Since the September 11, 2001, attacks Fort Bliss has provided ADA Battalions for US and NATO use in aphganistan and Iraq, and has served as one of the major deployment centers for troops bound for Iraq and Afghanistan. This mission is accomplished by Biggs Army Airfield, which is included in the installation's supporting areas. Biggs Army Airfield (formerly Biggs AFB), is home to the Army's Command Sergeant Major Academy, and which also was the site for the return of the 507th Maintenance Company, also based at Fort Bliss. Following the U.S. Liberation of Afganistan in 2001 Fort Bliss began training Afghan security forces at the U.S. Army Sergents Major Academy at Fort Bliss, with the hope that these newly trained soldiers will eventually be able to take control of their own national security.
[edit] Base realignment and closure, 2005
On May 13 the Pentagon released its BRAC recommendations, which included plans to transform Fort Bliss into a heavy armor training post.[14] As part of this transformation the panel recommended realigning this base to include approximately 11,500 new troops from the U.S. 1st Armored Division currently stationed in Germany, as well as units from Fort Sill and Fort Hood.[15][14] An estimated 15,918 military jobs and 384 civilian jobs would be transferred to Fort Bliss, bring the total number of troops stationed at Fort Bliss under this alignment to a total of 23,000 by 2011.[14] Officials from Fort Bliss and the city of El Paso were thrilled with the descion; the general mood of the city was perfectly captured by the May 14 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 base as large as Fort Bliss, and the lack of urban encroachment around Fort Bliss that would otherwise hinder its growth.[15] The arrival of the 11,500 troops from the 1st Armoured Division is also expected to create some 20,196 direct and indirect military and civilian jobs in El Paso.[16] According to the Department of Defense, this is the largest net gain in the United States tied to the Base Realignment and Closure recommendations.[16] Of the 20,196 new jobs expected to come to El Paso as a result of Bliss’ realignment 9,000 would be indirect civilian jobs created by the influx of soldiers to the sun city.[16] 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.[16]
The news that El Paso had been selected to receive major elements of the 1st Armoured 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.[14] On August 25 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.[3] The BRAC Commission ultimately ruled against Fort Bliss, and the roughly 4,500 affected soldiers have begun their transfer to Fort Sill. The entire transfer of soldier to and from Fort Bliss must be completed no later then 15 September 2011.[3]
[edit] Fort Bliss today
Fort Bliss today is vastly different from the original post created in 1849 to guard the area from Indian and Mexican raids. The mission of Fort Bliss has changed to providing anti-aircraft and missile defense capabilities, a role which Fort Bliss retains. As the largest military base in the continental United States Fort Bliss is also uniquely suited to conducted live fire exercises of nearly every type of military weapon in the current US Army arsenal. Fort Bliss routinely conducts joint military exercises with other units from other US Bases, and has trained soldiers from several nations around the world. Fort Bliss is the host base for Exercise Roving Sands, a massive army exercise which incorporates military personnel from several different Forts across the United States.
Fort Bliss is home to a large number of maintenance crews and supply units, and serves as one of the Army's premier bases for test driving tanks and other equipment. The fort also houses thousands of military vehicles, among them all the equipment needed to set up Patriot missile sites. Fort Bliss is the home of the United States Army Air Defense Artillery Center, and monitors missile launches conducted by White Sands Missile Range, located 70 miles (110 km) to the north, in New Mexico.
Fort Bliss occupies land in Doña Ana County and Otero County in Southern New Mexico, and in El Paso County, Texas. Although the largest percentage of land is in New Mexico the main facilities of Fort Bliss are located within the city limits of El Paso, Texas, which makes the Fort a Texas military installation. The base itself occupies land that is considered to be either in Central El Paso or Northeast El Paso.[17] The base is the largest maneuver area in the continental United States, encompassing approximately 1,177,000 acres (4,760 km²), almost the size of Rhode Island. Given this fact it is not uncommon to encounter military vehicles on roads near the base or on US 54, which serves as a major transportation route for military equipment. On base railroads also provide transportation for army vehicles and, to a lesser extent, personnel.
In addition to the maintenance and air defense artillery capability, Fort Bliss also serves as the epicenter for Exercise Roving Sands, a multinational air and missile defense exercise. Roving Sands is designed to place emphasis on the interoperability of joint forces air component command (JFACC), joint missile defense command and air area defense command.[18] Since its inception in 1989 Roving Sands has been an annual exercise, but is held as a full-scale event every other year due in large part to budget constraints and real world missions.[18] Roving Sands typically takes place in June, when the weather in Southwest is best suited for large scale exercises.[19]
The support structure of the Fort Bliss area also includes a large medical installation, William Beaumont Army Medical Center and a Veterans Administration center, both located on a separate campus from the main post, at the eastern base of the Franklin Mountains. Training missions are supported by the McGregor Range Complex, located some 25 miles to the northeast, in the New Mexico desert. All of these supporting missions serve the military and retired-military population here, including having served General Omar N. Bradley in his last days.
The installation is also within close proximity to the El Paso Airport (with easy access from the fort via Robert E. Lee Road), Highway 54, and Interstate 10. There is a replica of the original Fort Bliss on the post simulating the adobe style of construction. Other items of interest include the Buffalo Soldier memorial statue on Robert E. Lee Road, and a missile museum on Pleasanton Road.
To this day, the walls of the Fort Bliss Officers Club still contain adobe bricks from over a century ago, and the installation has survived, in contrast to Fort Selden, New Mexico (where Arthur MacArthur was posted, when Douglas MacArthur was a boy), 45 miles (72 km) to the northwest, which is crumbling back into desert.
[edit] Local impact of Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss is one of El Paso’s major economic influences. In 1980 the base contributed about $500 million to the city’s economy;[20] by 2005 that number had jumped to $1.7 billion, according to one study conducted by economy experts at UTEP.[16] The base also serves as a major source of revenue for the Northeast and Central parts of El Paso, and many businesses in the region are tailored toward serving the US Army personnel from base. Like all cities with military bases, El Paso is sensitive to changes in the troop composition at Fort Bliss, and when troops are transferred to other bases or called up for service overseas the economic fallout can be felt throughout the city. One good example came following the departure of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment in 1995, which had an adverse effect on El Paso’s economy. The loss of so many soldiers at the fort prompted many businesses located in the Central and Northeast parts of the city close or move to other areas of the city in an effort to regain lost revenue. Conversely, the expected influx of troops from the newly realigned 1st Armoured Division has led to a sudden boom of construction in both the Central and Northeast areas of El Paso as the city prepares for the new troops, many of whom have families. This in turn has led to an expansion of construction of schools and other city and commercial structures.
Fort Bliss has also assisted El Paso during local disasters. In 1897, and again in 1925, the fort provided food and housing to those displaced by flood waters.[10] Following the 2006 flooding Fort Bliss dispatched troops to the flood effected areas to help with cleanup, monitor and secure the Rio Grande, and to tow vehicles stuck in standing water to safety.
[edit] Geography & demographics
Fort Bliss, Texas, is a census-designated place located at (31.801847, -106.424608).GR1
According to the United States Census Bureau, the portion of the base occupied by housing has a total area of 16.0 km² (6.2 mi²), all land.
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 8,264 people, 1,527 households, and 1,444 families residing in the installation. The population density was 517.1/km² (1,340.1/mi²). There were 2,309 housing units at an average density of 144.5/km² (374.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the installation was 58.11% White, 25.11% African American, 1.33% Native American, 2.35% Asian, 0.69% Pacific Islander, 8.93% from other races, and 3.48% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.31% of the population.
There were 1,527 households out of which 80.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 84.5% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 5.4% were non-families. 4.9% of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.54 and the average family size was 3.62.
In the post the population was spread out with 29.3% under the age of 18, 33.6% from 18 to 24, 34.7% from 25 to 44, 2.3% from 45 to 64, and 0.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 167.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 204.8 males.
The median income for a household in the installation was $35,970, and the median income for a family was $34,679. Males had a median income of $19,920 versus $17,227 for females. The per capita income for the installation was $13,201. About 9.5% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.5% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
[edit] References
- ^ A total of five separate areas have housed the military post from its original creation to the present; therefore the time frame given takes all of these moves into account.
- ^ Fort Bliss was abandoned twice before it became a permanent facility; this time frame does not take into account the years when the post was not in service
- ^ a b c d e Fort Bliss. globalsecurity.org. Retrieved on September 24, 2006.
- ^ War Department General Orders no. 58
- ^ a b c Metz, Leon C. [1988]. "Chapter 2: The Warrior Americans", Desert Army: Fort Bliss on the Texas Border, 1st paperback, El Paso, Texas: Mangan Books, pg 28. ISBN 0-930208-36-6. Retrieved on September 23, 2007.
- ^ Information taken from the Fort Bliss Museum Website. United States Army. Retrieved on September 21, 2006.
- ^ a b c d Metz, Leon C. [1988]. "Chapter 5: The Rifles of War", Desert Army: Fort Bliss on the Texas Border, 1st paperback, El Paso, Texas: Mangan Books, pg 47. ISBN 0-930208-36-6. Retrieved on September 23, 2007.
- ^ Many who knew Pershing said he never recovered from the deaths of his wife and daughters.
- ^ a b Metz, Leon C. [1988]. "Chapter 13: The Horse Cavalry", Desert Army: Fort Bliss on the Texas Border, 1st paperback, El Paso, Texas: Mangan Books, pg 137. ISBN 0-930208-36-6. Retrieved on September 23, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g Metz, Leon C. [1988]. "Chapter 16: Defender of the Free World", Desert Army: Fort Bliss on the Texas Border, 1st paperback, El Paso, Texas: Mangan Books, pg 163. ISBN 0-930208-36-6. Retrieved on September 24, 2007.
- ^ United States Army. HISTORY OF FORT BLISS. Retrieved on September 23, 2006.
- ^ globalsecurity.org. Air Defense Artillery School. Retrieved on September 23, 2006.
- ^ Two other surface-to-surface missile systems—LaCrosse and Honest John— were based at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, but would frequently come to Fort Bliss for the purpose of conducting live fire exercises.
- ^ a b c d Roberts, Chris. "BLISS WINS BIG", El Paso Times, pp. 1A. Retrieved on October 20, 2006. (in English)
- ^ a b Mertiz, Darren. "It’s Fiesta time!", El Paso Times, pp. 1A. Retrieved on May 15, 2006. (in English)
- ^ a b c d e Gillot, Louise. "20,196 jobs likely", El Paso Times, pp. 12A. Retrieved on October 20, 2006. (in English)
- ^ Depending on where one classifies the Central/Northeast boundary line, the base lies either in the Central Part of El Paso or the Northeast Part. According to the city zoning map, the base officially resides in Central El Paso.
- ^ a b Roving Sands. globalsecurity.org. Retrieved on September 22, 2006.
- ^ March, April, and May are typically referred to as "Windy Season" in El Paso due to seasonal weather systems that routinely strike El Paso; these wind storms tend to kick up dust which severely reduces visibility. August and September are part of the monsoon season in El Paso.
- ^ Metz, Leon C. [1988]. "Chapter 1: The Europeans", Desert Army: Fort Bliss on the Texas Border, 1st paperback, El Paso, Texas: Mangan Books, pg 13. ISBN 0-930208-36-6. Retrieved on September 24, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Fort Bliss official web site
- The Moniter, the official paper of Fort Bliss
- Unofficial Fort Bliss MWR page
- History of Fort Bliss
- McGregor Range
- Biggs Army Airfield
- Fort Bliss offers example, lessons for BRAC gaining posts
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
