Форт Эйзенхауэр: История и современность армейского поста в Джорджии.

US Army post near Grovetown, GA, USA

Fort Eisenhower, formerly known as Fort Gordon and Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established southwest of Augusta, Georgia in October 1941. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps, United States Army Cyber Command, and the Cyber Center of Excellence as well as the National Security Agency/Central Security Service' Georgia Cryptologic Center (NSA Georgia or NSAG). It was once the home of the Provost Marshal General School and Civil Affairs School. Fort Eisenhower is one of the largest US Army installations in the world with more than 16,000 military service members and 13,500 civilian personnel assigned to it. One of the major components of the installation is Advanced Individual Training for Signal Corps military occupational specialties. Signals Intelligence has become more visible and comprises more and more of the post's duties. for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had also served as Commanding General of the Allied Forces during World War II. On 5 January 2023 William A. LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment directed the full implementation of the recommendations of the Naming Commission. The redesignation occurred 27 October 2023. A different Camp Gordon existed in Chamblee, Georgia near Atlanta during World War I. During World War I, the US Army Camp Hancock was located in Augusta, Georgia in the general vicinity of the current Daniel Field. Camp Hancock was the home of the 28th Infantry Division from Pennsylvania. Camp Hancock was abandoned and turned over to a caretaker detachment on 27 March 1919. From 1919 until 1941, there was no army installation named Camp Gordon in existence, nor was there any installation located near Augusta, Georgia.

From early 1946 to June 1947, the U. S. Army Disciplinary Barracks for convicted criminals was located at Camp Gordon, and the installation was scheduled for deactivation. In September 1948 the Army relocated the Military Police School from Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, to Camp Gordon. In October 1948 a Signal Corps training center was activated here. On 21 March 1956, the post was renamed Fort Gordon. During the 1950s and into the 1970s, Fort Gordon served as a basic training facility under the US Third Army. During the Vietnam War, the post was home to Camp Crockett, an area of the post conducting 9 week advance airborne infantry training courses for soldiers in line to attend their remaining 3 weeks of Airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia. These soldiers were headed for assignment to Airborne units in Vietnam. This location closed as the war ended; today the site is overgrown with pine trees. Between 1966 and 1968, approximately 2,200 Signal Officers were trained at the post's Signal Officer Candidate School (OCS), before all US Army branch OCSs were merged with the Infantry OCS at Fort Benning. Until 1974 and the end of the Vietnam War, Fort Gordon was also a training location for the Military Police Corps. This was located in the World War II wooden barracks corridor between Brainard Avenue and Avenue of the States, and in the Brems Barracks area of the fort. In 1974 the Army moved its main Signal School from Fort Monmouth, New Jersey to Fort Gordon to consolidate all signal training in one location. The activity was designated as the US Army Signal Center and Fort Gordon. At the same time, the Army moved the MP School to Fort McClellan, Alabama and the Civil Affairs School to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Since June 1986 the post has been the home of the Signal Corps Regiment, the branch of the U. S. Army responsible for providing and maintaining information systems and communication networks. The US Army Signal School's primary purpose is to conduct specialized instruction for all Signal Corps military and civilian personnel. During the 1990s the post served as a home for deployable Signal and Military Intelligence units as well. The other major activity was health care, to include a Dental Lab along with a major Army Hospital, Dwight D. Eisenhower Medical Center. Fort Eisenhower is a diversified post where army Signal, Military Intelligence, Medical, and now Cyber are housed. The senior mission partner remains the US Army Cyber Center of Excellence.

As Supreme Commander in World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower prioritized the Allies' actions by a maxim paraphrased — "The important things are seldom urgent; the urgent things are seldom important"; however some things can be both urgent and important (the Eisenhower box). One of Eisenhower's requirements was that a report to him fit on a single sheet of paper. This allowed Eisenhower to manage the workload. Eisenhower later popularized this maxim while serving as President of Columbia University. The co location of Cyber operations and the Cyber Center of Excellence has resulted in Fort Eisenhower shifting from a mission devoted to institutional training to becoming a 24/7 operational installation, to [Operate, Defend, Attack, Influence, and Inform] (ODAY, pronounced "o'day").

On 24 May 2022, the Commission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense that Commemorate the Confederate States of America or Any Person Who Served Voluntarily with the Confederate States of America submitted a recommendation to Congress that the post be renamed to Fort Eisenhower, in commemoration of General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States. The Cyber Center of Excellence was redesignated Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Eisenhower on 27 October 2023 at Barton Field.

Due to increases in the need and use of cyber technology, the US Army decided to consolidate the United States Army Cyber Command into one location. Fort Gordon and Fort George Meade were considered to receive this command. In December 2013 it was announced that Fort Gordon was selected. In September 2014, the US Army established the US Army Cyber branch and Cyber School at Fort Gordon. Both the Signal School and Cyber School are subordinate elements of the US Army Cyber Center of Excellence, the headquarters of which was formerly known as the US Army Signal Center of Excellence. The chiefs of the Signal and Cyber branches the Chief of Signal and the Chief of Cyber are dual hatted as the commandants of their respective schools and serve as the proponent chiefs for their branches and regiments. In October 2016, the post marked its 75th year as a continuous active US military installation near Augusta, Georgia. In 2018, the Installation Management Command became part of the Army Material Command; the installation facilities now belong to AMC, with the TRADOC Cyber Center of Excellence commander serving as the senior mission partner in addition to his TRADOC duties of education and training. Fort Eisenhower is home to the US Army Signal and Cyber Schools. In March 2020 Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) relocated from Virginia to its new home in Fortitude Hall, co joined with the National Security Agency — Georgia headquarters. The co location of the Army Cyber operational headquarters with its institutional Schoolhouse for Cyber Warriors, afforded unique opportunities to enrich institutional courses and training with operational experience and real world lessons. With the establishment of the Army Cyber Corps, and relocation of the Army Cyber command, Fort Eisenhower has shifted from a focus on institutional training to becoming a 24/7 operational installation, for the Cyber Military Intelligence Group (CMIG), the Information Warfare Operations Center (IWOC), and the Joint Mission Operations Center —Georgia (JMOC G).

The Signal school focuses primarily on communications technology that is currently being utilized by the United States Army to provide the DODIN or Department of Defense Information Network, the platform for cyberspace operations. One MOS or Military Operational Specialty that is currently being trained at Fort Eisenhower by the Signal School are the Signal Support System Specialists whose MOS designation is 25U or 25 Uniform. Soldiers that can perform both Signal and Cyber related jobs are in high demand throughout the army and because of this Fort Eisenhower has a steady stream of soldiers training on base in those disciplines.

In Freedom Park, located off Rice Road, across from Barton Field, is a display of two sections of the Berlin Wall, as well as a sign from the wall.