Fort Huachuca Fort Huachuca is a United States Army installation under the command of the United States Army Installation Management Command . It is located in Sierra Vista in Cochise County , in southeast Arizona , about north of the border with Mexico . Beginning in 1913 , for 20 years the fort was the base for the " Buffalo Soldiers " , the 10th Cavalry Regiment . During the buildup of World War II , the fort had quarters for more than 25 , 000 men . In 2010 , Fort Huachuca has a population of roughly 6 , 500 active duty soldiers , 7 , 400 family members and 5 , 000 civilians . Fort Huachuca can have well over 18 , 000 people on post during the peak hours of 0700 and 1600 , M - F , making it one of the busiest transient installations . Sierra Vista , which annexed the fort in 1971 , is located south and east of the post , and Huachuca City is to the north and east . Major tenants are the NETCOM / 9th Signal Command ( A ) and the United States Army Intelligence Center . Libby Army Airfield is located on post and shares the runway with Sierra Vista Municipal Airport ; it was on the list of alternate landing locations for the space shuttle , though was never used as such . Fort Huachuca is also the headquarters of Army Military Auxiliary Radio System ( MARS ) . Other tenant agencies include the Joint Interoperability Test Command , Information Systems Engineering Command ( ISEC ) and the Electronic Proving Ground . The fort is also home to a radar - equipped aerostat , one of a series maintained for the Drug Enforcement Administration by Lockheed Martin . The aerostat is based northeast of Garden Canyon and , when extended , supports the DEA drug interdiction mission by detecting low - flying aircraft attempting to penetrate the United States . The fort is also the home to the Western Division of the Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center ( AATTC ) which is based at the 139th Airlift Wing , Rosecrans Air National Guard Base , Saint Joseph , Missouri . History . What today is Ft . Huachuca was a new fort to counter the Chiricahua threat and to secure the border with Mexico . On 3 March 1877 , Captain Samuel Marmaduke Whitside , accompanied by two companies of the 6th Cavalry , chose a site at the base of the Huachuca Mountains that offered sheltering hills and a perennial stream . In 1882 , Camp Huachuca was redesignated a fort . General Nelson A . Miles controlled Fort Huachuca as his headquarters and against Geronimo in 1886 . After the surrender of Geronimo in 1886 , the Apache threat was essentially extinguished , but the army continued to operate Fort Huachuca because of its strategic border position . In 1913 , the fort became the base for the " Buffalo Soldiers " , the 10th Cavalry Regiment , which was composed of African Americans . It served this purpose for twenty years . During General Pershing ' s failed Punitive Expedition of 1916 – 1917 , he used the fort as a forward logistics and supply base . From 1916 – 1917 , the base was commanded by Charles Young , the first African American to be promoted to colonel . He left because of medical reasons . In 1933 , the 25th Infantry Regiment replaced the 10th Cavalry at the fort . With the build - up during World War II , the fort had an area of , with quarters for 1 , 251 officers and 24 , 437 enlisted soldiers . The 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions , composed of African - American troops , trained at Huachuca . In 1947 the post was closed and turned over to the Arizona Game and Fish Department . However , due to the Korean War , a January 1951 letter from the Secretary of the Air Force to the Governor of Arizona invoked the reversion clause of a 1949 deed . On 1 February 1951 The US Air Force took official possession of Ft . Huachuca , making it one of the few Army installations to have an existence as an Air Force Base . The Army retook possession of the base a month later , and reopened the post in May 1951 to train Aviation Engineers in air field construction as part of the Korean War build up . The engineers built today ' s Libby Army Airfield . After the Korean War , the post was again placed in an inactive status with only a caretaker detachment on 1 May 1953 . On 1 February 1954 Huachuca was reactivated after a seven - month shut - down following the Korean War . It was the beginning of a new era for this one time cavalry outpost , one which saw Huachuca emerge as a leader in the development of Electronic warfare . The Army ' s Electronic Proving Ground opened in 1954 , followed by the Army Security Agency Test and Evaluation Center in 1960 , the Combat Surveillance and Target Acquisition Training Command in 1964 , and the Electronic Warfare School in 1966 . Also in 1966 the US Army established the 1st Training Brigade who ' s mission was to train soldiers in MOS ' s of Field Wire and Communication , Telegraph Communications ( O5B wired and wireless ) , Vehicle Maintenance , Food Service and Administration due to the expanding need for these skills in Vietnam . In 1967 , Fort Huachuca became the headquarters of the U . S . Army Strategic Communications Command ( USSTRATCOM ) , which became the U . S . Army Communications Command ( USACC ) in 1973 ; and U . S . Army Information Systems Command ( USAISC ) in 1984 . It is now known as the United States Army Network Enterprise Technology Command ( NETCOM ) / 9th Army Signal Command . The area is so desolate and barren , an old army description of the fort states , " It is the only fort in the Continental United States where you can be AWOL ( absent without leave ) for three days and they can still see you leaving " ! Fort Huachuca was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976 . In 1980 , the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment conducted aircraft training exercises from Fort Huachuca in preparation for Operation Honey Badger . This planned rescue attempt was developed to try to rescue captive American personnel in Iran . It was developed in the wake of Operation Eagle Claw ' s failure . The environment near the fort enabled 160th SOAR pilots to train and simulate flying in the mountainous desert terrain of Iran . Fort Huachuca is also home to Raymond W Bliss Army Medical Center , a U . S . Army Medical Department Activity ( MEDDAC ) . It was the location of the 2007 Conseil Internationale du Sport Militaires Military World Games . Museums . Ft . Huachuca has two museums located in three buildings on Post . All are within a short walk from one another . The Ft . Huachuca Museum takes up two buildings , its main museum and giftshop Bidg . 41401 ) & a nearby spillover gallery called the Museum Annex ( Bidg . 41305 ) . It tells the story of Ft Huachuca and the US Army in the American Southwest , with special emphasis on the Buffalo Soldiers and the Apache War . The museum is located in a historic building over a hundred years old , with numerous rooms and corridors . Several displays illustrate life on the post during frontier days . Some room dioramas have automatic voice narratives . One room is available for audiovisual presentations . The gift shop is well - stocked with memorabilia , books , and souvenirs . The Annex next door also has outdoor displays , walkways , sitting areas , and historical statues . The Museum is operated by local volunteers . All visitors , military or civilian , are welcome at the Ft . Huachuca Museum . The main gate guard will furnish directions and a map post . A donation of $ 5 or purchases are suggested . The second museum is The US Army Intelligence Museum which takes for its theme the evolution of the intelligence art within the US Army . It is in building 41411 , down the street from the Ft . Huachuca Museum . The Intelligence Museum is small , but has a collection of unusual historical artifacts including agent radio communication gear , aerial cameras , cryptographic equipment , and two small drones . The Museum ' s emphasis is on U . S . Army ( not civilian or other agency ) military intelligence history and includes displays of the organizational development of the Army intelligence specialty . There is a well - equipped library of intelligence - related titles , and a small room for audiovisual presentations . Fort Huachuca Museum . http : / / huachucamuseum . com / The volunteer - operated Fort Huachuca Museum was established in 1960 to tell the story of the U . S . Army on the Southwestern frontier . The Army Intelligence Museum acts as a central repository for those items of history that help put the military intelligence story in perspective . Opened on 2 November 1995 , it is a teaching tool within the U . S . Army Intelligence School . Like the Fort Huachuca Museum , the Army Intelligence Museum is a non - profit , governmental organization that is largely dependent upon donations of material and cash from private individuals . Signal Commands . Fort Huachuca has a rich tradition in Army Signal and is currently home to the U . S . Army Network Enterprise Technology Command ( NETCOM ) whose mission is to plan , engineer , install , integrate , protect , defend and operate Army Cyberspace , enabling Mission Command through all phases of Joint , Interagency , Intergovernmental and Multinational operations . It is also home to the 11th Signal Brigade . The 11th Signal Brigade has the mission of rapidly deploying worldwide to provide and protect Command , Control , Communications , and Computer support for Army Service Component Commanders and Combatant Commanders as well as , Joint Task Force and Coalition Headquarters across the full range of military operations . The " Thunderbirds " constantly train in and around the desert conditions of southeast Arizona . They were deployed to provide signal operations during the 2003 invasion of Iraq . Electronic Proving Ground ( EPG ) , a forerunner in the research and development of defense technology , was conducted from and located at Ft . Huachuca for several decades . Military Intelligence . In addition to the US Army Intelligence Center , Fort Huachuca is the home of the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade , which conducts Military Intelligence ( MI ) MOS - related training for the armed services . The Military Intelligence Officer Basic Leadership Course ( MIBOLC ) , Military Intelligence Captain ' s Career Course ( MICCC ) , and Warrant Officer Basic and Advanced Courses are also taught on the installation . The Army ' s MI branch also held the responsibility for unmanned aerial vehicle s , due to their intelligence - gathering capabilities , until April 2006 . The program was reassigned to the Aviation branch ' s 1st Battalion , 210th Aviation Regiment , now 2nd Battalion , 13th Aviation Regiment . Additional training in human intelligence ( e . g . interrogation , counterintelligence ) , imagery intelligence , and electronic intelligence and analysis is also conducted within the 111th . The 111th MI BDE hosts the Joint Intelligence Combat Training Center ( JICTC ) at Fort Huachuca . Football . The Arizona Wildcats football team holds late summer practice and training camp , in addition to other off - the - field exercises , on post .