Fort Crowder Fort Crowder was a U . S . Army post in southwest Missouri , constructed and used during World War II . Establishment and Purpose . Camp Crowder was a military installation named in honor of Major General Enoch H . Crowder , provost marshal of the United States during World War I and author of the 1917 Selective Service Act . The camp , located south of Neosho , Missouri , was established in 1941 . The Army selected the Neosho site for the post due to its of its proximity to water , a cross roads to two major railroads ( Kansas City Southern and the Frisco railroads ) , and two major U . S . highways ( US 71 running north - south and US 60 and US 66 , running east - west ) . Originally it was to serve as an armor training center . As it was constructed , it was re - designated as a U . S . Army Signal Corps replacement training center , an Army Service Forces training center and an officer candidate preparatory school , the first of its kind at any military installation . The post also served as an infantry replacement center and had a German prisoner of war camp . By 1943 the army had acquired in Newton and McDonald Counties . Notable Individuals . Carl Reiner was stationed at Camp Crowder in the 1940s and when he created the 1960s - era " The Dick Van Dyke Show " , he made the post the setting where Rob and Laura Petrie , portrayed by actors Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore , met ; Rob was a sergeant in Special Services and Laura was a USO dancer . Cartoonist Mort Walker was also stationed there and drew inspiration for Camp Swampy of his " Beetle Bailey " comic strip . Jean Shepherd featured many stories of his time at Camp Crowder in various monologues . The post is also notable as the birthplace of landmark LabVIEW programmer Michael Porter . Post War and Cold War Use . In 1946 , the post was deactivated and placed in a caretaker status . While the core of the post was retained , many of the wood temporary barracks were declared surplus and sold . The base ' s movie theatre was disassembled and reassembled on the campus of what is today the University of Missouri - Kansas City where it was the University of Kansas City Playhouse until being torn down for a new theatre . A walled patio and fireplace with masks of Comedy and Tragedy were built near the theater and are still landmarks on the university campus . In the early 1950s , local congressman Dewey Jackson Short , senior member of the House Armed Services Committee secured authorization and initial funding to build two permanent barracks and a disciplinary barracks and reactivate the post as a permanent installation , Fort Crowder . Beginning as a reception center for newly inducted draftees and enlistments who were issued the initial uniform clothing allowance and transferred to other army posts for initial testing and subsequent assignment to a basic training command . Short tried to have it designated a permanent home for the Army ' s military police training school . The space age . With Short ' s defeat in the 1956 election , the fort lost its legislative patron and was deactivated again in 1958 . As that took place , about of the post was turned over to the U . S . Air Force as a buffer zone around Air Force Plant 65 , a government owned - contractor operated liquid propelled rocket engine manufacturing facility operated by the Rocketdyne division of North American Aviation . The complex , serviced by a spur of the Kansas City Southern Railroad , included a main manufacturing facility , an engine testing area ( ETA ) for the live fire testing of rocket engines , a component testing area ( CTA ) , and a former Camp Crowder warehouse , Building 900 , as a warehouse and later engine overhaul and manufacturing . For 16 years , starting in 1957 , rocket engines for missiles such as the Atlas , Thor and Saturn were assembled and tested at Air Force Plant 65 . The facility constructed and tested engines for the Mercury and Gemini programs until its contract ended in 1968 . The permanent barracks , were obtained as surplus and formed the core of the community college campus for Crowder College in 1962 . Final Disposition . With the end of the North American Rockwell contract , the remaining Federal government holdings were transferred to the General Services Administration as surplus property for interim management and eventual disposal . In the mid - 1980s , the remaining parcels of the former post were transferred to the Missouri Department of Conservation for wildlife management and outdoor recreation , the Neosho R - 5 public school district for agriculture instructional farm , and the Missouri National Guard to operate a military training facility under license from the U . S . Army Corps of Engineers on . The remainder of the land was given to various public and private entities which uses now include a municipal airport , industrial parks , industrial waste treatment facility operations , regional landfill , underground fuel storage , burn pits and lagoons . Environmental issues . Groundwater and soil contamination has been identified in various areas of the base ' s original property boundaries . Trichloroethylene contamination in soils and groundwater has been documented at the site and may include off - site contamination in a number of private wells . Waste material generated from the former Fort include aviation and vehicular fuels , oils , greases , metals , paints and solvents . References . Camp Crowder