Fort Shafter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fort Shafter
Honolulu, Hawaii
Richardson Hall at Fort Shafter, nicknamed the "Pineapple Pentagon"
Type	Army post
Built	1905-1907
In use	1907–Present
Controlled by	U.S. Army
Garrison	U.S. Army Pacific Command
Battles/wars	Attack on Pearl Harbor

Fort Shafter is in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, extending up the interfluve (ridgeline) between Kalihi and Moanalua valleys, as well as onto the coastal plain (as Shafter Flats) at Māpunapuna. Fort Shafter is the headquarters of the United States Army Pacific Command, the MACOM of U.S. Army forces in Asia and the Pacific Basin. Fort Shafter is also the oldest military base on Oahu and is celebrating its 100th year.

Fort Shafter has been home to the senior Army headquarters in Hawaii for a century. Construction began in 1905 on the ahupua'a of Kahauiki, former Hawaiian crown lands that were ceded to the United States government after annexation. When the post opened in 1907, it was named for Major General William Rufus Shafter (1835-1906), who led the United States expedition to Cuba in 1898.

Palm Circle was laid out as a cantonment for an infantry battalion. The barracks and officers' quarters were arranged around a parade field ringed by Royal Palms. The 2d Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment was the first unit stationed at the new post. Palm Circle is a National Historic Landmark.

Fort Shafter gradually spread out from Palm Circle. Tripler General Hospital once stood where the highway intersection is today (the hospital moved to its present location in 1948). In 1914 a regimental-sized cantonment area was constructed (near Richardson Theater). The Hawaiian Ordnance Depot was built in 1917 as a separate post (near today's post exchange). In 1921 the Hawaiian Department moved to Fort Shafter from downtown Honolulu. Finally, a new area was constructed in 1940 for Signal Corps elements.

Palm Circle; Tripler Army Medical Center is visible in the background

War came to Fort Shafter on 7 December 1941, where the Hawaiian Department commander, Lieutenant General Walter C. Short, occupied Quarters 5. One soldier, Corporal Arthur A. Favreau, 64th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft), was killed on post by an errant Navy shell. Fort Shafter became a busy headquarters and the barracks on Palm Circle were converted to offices. The major headquarters was named successively U.S. Army Forces, Central Pacific Area (1943-44); U.S. Army Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (1944-45); and U.S. Army Forces, Middle Pacific (1945-47). In 1944 the Army Corps of Engineers erected the "Pineapple Pentagon" (buildings T-100, T-101, and T-102) in just 49 days. Two large fishponds were filled in to form Shafter Flats.

For most of the next half century, Fort Shafter has remained the senior Army headquarters for the Asia-Pacific region. In 1947 the headquarters was renamed U.S. Army, Pacific. The post continued to adapt to meet the Army's evolving requirements. In the early 1960s the new Moanalua Freeway split the post in two. In 1974, when the headquarters was eliminated, Fort Shafter became home to U.S. Army Support Command, Hawaii, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pacific Ocean Division (relocated from Fort Armstrong). In 1979 the Army established U.S. Army Western Command, which was renamed U.S. Army, Pacific in 1990. In 1983 the Army conveyed to the State of Hawaii 750 acres (3.0 km²) of undeveloped land on the mauka end of post. Today Fort Shafter remains the focal point for command, control, and support of Army forces in the Asia-Pacific region.