Вашингтон штатындағы Форт Льюис әскери базасы

Former U. S. Army post in Washington state

Fort Lewis is a United States Army base located 9.1 mile (15 km) south southwest of Tacoma, Washington. Fort Lewis was merged with McChord Air Force Base on February 1, 2010, to form Joint Base Lewis–McChord. Fort Lewis, named after Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was one of the largest and most modern military reservations in the United States, consisting of of prairie land cut from the glacier flattened Nisqually Plain. It is the premier military installation in the northwest and the most requested duty station in the Army. Joint Base Lewis McChord (Fort Lewis) is a major Army installation, with much of the 2nd Infantry Division in residence, along with Headquarters, the 7th Infantry Division, 593rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, and the 1st Special Forces Group. However, the Headquarters of the 7th Infantry Division is primarily a garrison management body. Fort Lewis's geographic location provides rapid access to the deep water ports of Tacoma, Olympia, and Seattle for deploying equipment. Units can be deployed from McChord Field, and individuals and small groups can also use the nearby Sea Tac Airport. The strategic location of the base provides Air Force units with the ability to conduct combat and humanitarian airlifts with the C 17 Globemaster III.

The Joint Base Garrison operates the installation on behalf of the warfighting units, families, and extended military community who depend on JBLM for support. The mission of the unit is to provide support to mission commanders and the joint base community, to serve as an enabler to the soldiers as they train and project America's combat power, and to make JBLM the station of choice for American soldiers and their families. Also adjacent to the post is Camp Murray (Washington National Guard).

Fort Lewis was originally established in 1917 with the passage of a Pierce County bond measure to purchase of land to donate to the federal government for permanent use as a military installation. A portion of the initial land was taken from the Nisqually tribe's reservation. (The Nisqually people would later petition unsuccessfully for the return of this land.) In 1927, Pierce County passed another bond measure to establish a military airfield just north of Fort Lewis. The airfield, called Tacoma Field, opened in 1930 and was renamed McChord Field in 1940. McChord Field separated from Fort Lewis when the U. S. Air Force was created in 1947 and was subsequently renamed McChord Air Force Base. The two bases operated independently of one another for more than 60 years before merging in 2010. Fort Lewis began as Camp Lewis in 1917, when the citizens of Pierce County voted by an eight to one margin to bond themselves for to buy of land. They donated the land to the federal government for military use. The only stipulation was that the tract be used as a permanent army post. Captain David L. Stone and his staff arrived at the camp site on May 26, 1917, and a few days later the initial construction began. As work on the camp was pushing forward, the War Department named it "Camp Lewis" after Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Italian prisoners of war, organized into units, were trained as quartermaster units at Fort Lewis since, after Italy surrendered to the Allies and declared war on Germany, they were not strictly held to the work requirements that prohibited prisoners of war from working on items directly headed for the war or in the war effort. At the conclusion of World War II, the northwest staging area of Fort Lewis became a separation center and discharged its first soldiers in October 1945. Sometime in the early 1960s, Interstate 5 was built through the fort, separating the northwest corner of the fort and creating "Northfort". With the departure of the 4th Infantry Division (United States) for Vietnam in 1966, Fort Lewis once again became a personnel transfer and training center. David H. Hackworth described his service commanding a training battalion at the Fort during the Vietnam War in his memoir "About Face". In 1972, the 9th Infantry Division (United States) was reactivated and trained there until its deactivation in 1991. The Fort Lewis Military Museum was established in 1972 to preserve and document the post's history. The base received much media attention in the wake of the Kandahar massacre, committed by a Fort Lewis soldier in March 2012. The 1st Joint Mobilization Brigade disbanded in late May 2014. It previously controlled and provided host unit support for mobilizing, deploying, and demobilizing reserve component units from all the U. S. military services. The unit began as the 2122st Garrison Support Unit (Army Reserve), overseeing the mobilization of about 27,000 Soldiers. The group of fewer than a dozen personnel mobilized about 15,000 soldiers within three weeks at the start of the War in Afghanistan. The unit was redesignated the 654th Area Support Group (Forward) in May 2004 and the 1st JMB in March 2007. Training and mobilization validation moved to individual units (instead of the 1st JMB) in 2011.

The United States Army's I Corps commands most Army units at Joint Base Lewis McChord and conducts planning and liaison with other assigned active and Reserve component units in the continental United States. It is one of the active Army's contingency corps. I Corps stays prepared to deploy on short notice worldwide to command up to five divisions or a joint task force. In 1981, the I Corps was reactivated at Fort Lewis. On October 12, 1999, General Eric K. Shinseki, Chief of Staff of the Army, announced I Corps would lead the acceleration of Army transformation, training, and the initial creation of the first two Stryker Brigade Combat Teams at Fort Lewis. Helicopters based at the airfield assisted with medical evacuations at Mount Rainier National Park on numerous occasions in the 1970s. Army helicopters were also used to insert search and rescue [SAR] teams into inaccessible areas on the east, north, and west sides of the mountain, lowering rangers to the ground by a cable device known as a "jungle penetrator". Helicopters began assisting with high altitude (above 10,000 feet) SAR operations in the 1980s. Helicopters were also used for "short haul" rescue operations, in which a ranger and litter were carried in a sling below the helicopter to the scene of the accident.

The census designated place (CDP) Fort Lewis is located within the installation's area. As of the 2000 census, the CDP, which includes the most densely populated part of the base, had a total population of 19,089. As of the census of 2000, there were 19,089 people, 3,476 households, and 3,399 families residing on the base. The population density was 1,248.5 people per square mile (482.0/km2). There were 3,560 housing units at an average density of 232.8 per square mile (89.9/km2). The racial makeup of the base was 60.4% White, 20.3% African American, 1.4% Native American, 3.4% Asian, 1.8% Pacific Islander, 6.2% from other races, and 6.4% from two or more races. 13.1% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 3,476 households, out of which 85.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 89.3% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 2.2% were non families. Of all households, 2.0% were made up of individuals, and 0.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.75, and the average family size was 3.78. The age distribution was 32.1% under the age of 18, 28.0% from 18 to 24, 37.5% from 25 to 44, 2.0% from 45 to 64, and 0.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females, there were 168.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 212.5 males. All these statistics were typical for military bases. The median income for a household on the base was $32,384, and the median income for a family was $32,251. Males had a median income of $20,878 versus $20,086 for females. The per capita income for the base was $12,865. 8.2% of the population and 7.1% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 10.7% of those under the age of 18 and 0.0% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.