III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 488 

Honoring the 100th anniversary of Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2018 

Mr. PERDUE (for himself and Mr. ISAKSON) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the 100th anniversary of Fort Benning in 

Columbus, Georgia. 

Whereas 2018 is the 100th anniversary of a military installation operating in Columbus, Georgia; 

Whereas Fort Benning is named after Confederate Brigadier 

General Henry Lewis Benning, a resident of Columbus, 

Georgia, and a prominent Civil War infantry commander; 

Whereas Fort Benning resides on land originally belonging to 

the Creek Tribe of the Muskogee Nation; 

Whereas, on April 4, 1917, the day after President Woodrow 

Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against 

Germany, the citizens of Columbus began advocating for 

an Army camp to be constructed near Columbus, Georgia; 


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Whereas the War Department decided to move the Infantry 

School of Arms at Fort Still, Oklahoma, to a more spacious site to train soldiers on infantry skills and tactics; 

Whereas, on August 27, 1918, with the help of the Columbus 

Chamber of Commerce, an 84-acre farm on Macon Road 

in Columbus, Georgia, was selected as the site for the infantry camp; 

Whereas, on September 18, 1918, the Adjutant General ordered troops from Fort Still to report to the newly selected site by October 1, 1918; 

Whereas, on October 19, 1918, Columbus native Anna Caroline Benning, daughter of the brigadier general, raised 

the United States flag over the United States Infantry 

School of Arms, and it was formally christened Camp 

Benning; 

Whereas, after the end of World War I, the Committee on 

Military Affairs of the Senate ordered construction on 

Camp Benning to be halted on January 9, 1919; 

Whereas Senator Hoke Smith of Georgia strongly advocated 

for congressional hearings to receive testimony over resuming construction of the post, allowing for Columbusarea supporters, as well as infantry commanders who 

fought in World War I, to testify about the need for the 

post; 

Whereas, on March 8, 1919, the Committee on Military Affairs of the Senate voted to resume building Camp 

Benning; 

Whereas the post quickly outgrew the Macon Road location, 

and on June 17, 1919, Camp Benning was moved to its 

present site, which included the 1,800 acre plantation of 

local businessman Arthur Bussey; 


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Whereas, on January 9, 1922, the War Department issued 

General Order No. 1 making Camp Benning a permanent 

military installation and appropriating more than 

$1,000,000 of additional building funds for the Infantry 

School of Arms, which later became the Infantry School; 

Whereas, on May 12, 1920, 10 Army aircraft were assigned 

to Camp Benning as the air detachment of the post, 

marking the first use of aviation at Camp Benning; 

Whereas, on February 8, 1922, Camp Benning was redesignated Fort Benning; 

Whereas, on June 17, 1932, the tank school of the United 

States Army officially moved from Fort Meade, Maryland, to Fort Benning; 

Whereas Fort Benning played a critical role in World War 

II, training thousands of soldiers for the European, African, and Pacific theatres of war; 

Whereas, on June 25, 1940, the commandant of the Infantry 

School was directed by the Adjutant General to provide 

a platoon of volunteers for parachute test duty, leading 

to the formation of the Parachute Test Platoon; 

Whereas, on September 16, 1940, the War Department approved the formation of the first Parachute Battalion at 

Fort Benning; 

Whereas, on October 1, 1940, the 501st Parachute Battalion 

was activated; 

Whereas, in July 1941, the modern Officer Candidate School 

for Infantry was established at Fort Benning to provide 

a rigorous training venue for new officers; 

Whereas, in December 1943, the 555th Parachute Infantry 

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chute Infantry Battalion, the first African-American 

parachute unit, which was known as ‘‘Triple Nickles’’, 

was activated at Fort Benning; 

Whereas, after World War II, Fort Benning continued to 

play a vital role in training soldiers for every conflict involving the United States; 

Whereas the Ranger Training Center was established October 

12, 1950, which trained personnel for the Korean War; 

Whereas, during the second longest conflict involving the 

United States, the Vietnam War, Fort Benning reopened 

the Officer Training School for Infantry and trained 

thousands of officers who participated in the war; 

Whereas the 11th Air Assault Division was activated at Fort 

Benning on February 7, 1963, to test and develop the air 

mobile concept; 

Whereas the 11th Air Assault Division was inactivated on 

July 1, 1965, and replaced by the 1st Cavalry Division 

(Airmobile) and deployed to Vietnam on September 11, 

1965, specializing in flying troops in and out of combat 

zones via helicopter; 

Whereas Fort Benning served as a major staging ground for 

troops sent to the Middle East during Operation Desert 

Shield and Operation Desert Storm, and later during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom; 

Whereas, in 2009, tanks from the Armor School at Fort 

Knox arrived at Fort Benning, combining infantry and 

armor at 1 post and forming the Maneuver Center of Excellence; 

Whereas the Maneuver Center of Excellence consists of— 

(1) the Capabilities Development and Integration 

Directorate; 


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(2) the United States Army Infantry School; 

(3) the 199th Infantry Brigade; 

(4) the United States Army Armor School; 

(5) the Directorate of Training and Doctrine; and 

(6) additional tenant units; 

Whereas some of the most respected United States military 

leaders in the 20th century were stationed at Fort 

Benning, including— 

(1) General Omar Bradley; 

(2) General Dwight Eisenhower; 

(3) General George Marshall; 

(4) General George Patton; 

(5) General William Livsey; and 

(6) General Colin Powell; 

Whereas Fort Benning has helped foster changes in the role 

of women in the military; 

Whereas, on December, 14, 1973, Privates Joyce Kutsch and 

Rita Johnson became the first women to graduate the 

Basic Airborne Course, and later, United States Army 

Quartermaster School Parachute Rigger Course; 

Whereas, on August 21, 2015, Captain Kristen Griest and 

1st Lieutenant Shaye Haver became the first 2 women 

to graduate from the Army Ranger school at Fort 

Benning; 

Whereas, on December 1, 2016, 13 women became the first 

ever to graduate from the Army Armor Basic Officer 

Leader Course at Fort Benning; 

Whereas, on May 19, 2017, Company A, 1st Battalion, 19th 

Infantry Regiment, 198th Infantry Brigade, graduated 

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pleted the first inter-gender Infantry One Station Unit 

Training at Fort Benning; 

Whereas, on June 22, 2017, 4 women became the first ever 

to graduate from the Cavalry School of the Army at Fort 

Benning; 

Whereas Fort Benning is the sixth largest military installation in the United States covering approximately 182,000 

acres, with a $5,500,000,000 economic impact to the 

‘‘Tri-Community’’ and approximately 120,000 military 

and civilian personnel; 

Whereas the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary 

Club of Columbus, Columbus 2025, and other partnering 

groups fought to establish and have continued to support 

Fort Benning from its inception; 

Whereas the people of the Tri-Community fought to establish 

and have continued to support Fort Benning from its inception; and 

Whereas the following visionary citizens displayed the foresight, vision, and leadership to fight to establish Camp 

Benning near Columbus, Georgia: 

(1) Mr. John Betjeman. 

(2) Mr. Rhodes Browne. 

(3) Mr. John Ralston Cargill. 

(4) Mr. Lucius H. Chappell. 

(5) Mr. Henry B. Crawford. 

(6) Mr. J. Homer Dimon. 

(7) Mr. Robert Ernest Dismukes. 

(8) Mr. W.J. Fielder. 

(9) Mr. Reynolds Flournoy. 

(10) Mr. Frank U. Garrard. 

(11) Mr. Ralph Curtis Jordan. 


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(12) Mr. Albert Kirven. 

(13) Mr. A.F. Kunze. 

(14) Mr. Frank G. Lumpkin. 

(15) Mr. Leighton W. MacPherson. 

(16) Mr. H.R. Mcclatchey. 

(17) Mr. T.T. Miller. 

(18) Mr. Marshall Morton. 

(19) Mr. Roger M. Page. 

(20) Mr. T.G. Reeves. 

(21) Mr. Walter A. Richards. 

(22) Mr. H.C. Smith: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, 

3 on its 100th anniversary; 

4 (2) commends the thousands of men and 

5 women who have worked and trained at Fort 

6 Benning; 

7 (3) honors the people of the ‘‘Tri-Community’’ 

8 including those in Columbus, Georgia, and Phenix 

9 City, Alabama, for their continued support of Fort 

10 Benning; and 

11 (4) encourages Fort Benning to continue its in12 strumental role in preparing the brave men and 

13 women of the United States for the battlefield. 

Æ 


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