Fort Gordon Fort Gordon , formerly known as Camp Gordon , is a United States Army installation established in 1917 . It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps and Signal Center and was once the home of " The Provost Marshal General School " ( Military Police ) . The fort is located in Augusta , Georgia . The main component of the post is the Advanced Individual Training for Signal Corps military occupational specialities . In 1966 – 68 the Army ' s Signal Officer Candidate School ( located at Fort Monmouth during World War II and the Korean War ) graduated over 2 , 200 Signal officers . Signals Intelligence has become more visible and comprises more and more of the fort ' s duties . Fort Gordon and the Signal Center is commanded by Major General LaWarren V . Patterson . History . World War I era . Georgia established many war - training camps during World War I . Chamblee , northeast of Atlanta , was selected for one of the state ' s largest army cantonments . It was named Camp Gordon in honor of John Brown Gordon , who was a major general in the Confederate army , a Georgia governor , a U . S . senator , and a businessman . The camp opened in July 1917 , becoming a training site and home of the famous 82nd Airborne Division . The division was composed of men from several different states , but men from Georgia made up almost half its number . World War II era . Camp Gordon was approved for reconstruction in July 1941 . The U . S . War Department approved a contract to construct facilities on a new training area in Richmond County , Georgia that had been selected several months earlier . A groundbreaking and flag - raising ceremony took place in October . In response to the attack on Pearl Harbor Colonel Herbert W . Schmidt , camp commander , moved his small staff from his temporary office in the Augusta post office building to the unfinished headquarters building at Camp Gordon on 9 December 1941 and the 4th Infantry Division began to establish operations there . The post was home to three divisions during the war : the 4th Infantry , the 26th Infantry , and the 10th Armored . From October 1943 to January 1945 Camp Gordon served as an internment camp for foreign prisoners of war . From May 1945 until April 1946 the U . S . Army Personnel and Separation Center processed nearly 86 , 000 personnel for discharge from the Army . Post World War II . 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 , and in October 1948 a Signal Corps training center was activated . On 21 March 1956 , the post was renamed Fort Gordon . During the 1950s through the 1970s Fort Gordon served as a basic - training facility . It also provided advanced individual training for troops . Since June 1985 Fort Gordon has housed the U . S . Signal Corps , the branch of the U . S . Army responsible for providing and maintaining information systems and communication networks . The Signal Corps training center ' s primary purpose is to conduct specialized instruction for all Signal Corps military and civilian personnel . During the Vietnam War , Fort Gordon was home to Camp Crocket , an area of the post conducting 8 - week infantry training courses for soldiers in line to attend Airborne training at Fort Benning , Georgia , and then be assigned to Airborne units in Vietnam . The location closed as the war ended and today the site is overgrown with pine trees . Active - duty units and facilities . Fort Gordon ' s technical name is the U . S . Army Signal Center of Excellence & Fort Gordon , or USASCE & FG . While the TRADOC school itself is the primary function , the post is home to the following active - duty tenant units : Considered a mission partner on Fort Gordon is the Dwight D . Eisenhower Army Medical Center ( DDEAMC ) , home of the Southeast Regional Medical Command ( SERMC ) as well as a dental laboratory . The facility treats active duty military and their families , as well as many of the military retiree community in the Central Savannah River Area . Under SERMC , the hospital is responsible for military hospital care from Kentucky to Puerto Rico . Fort Gordon has approximately 30 , 000 military and civilian employees and currently has an estimated $ 1 . 1 billion economic impact on the Augusta - Richmond County economy . Between 1966 and 68 , approximately 2 , 200 Signal Officers were trained at Fort Gordon ' s Signal Officer Candidate School ( OCS ) , before all US Army branch OCSs were merged with the Infantry OCS at Fort Benning , Georgia . During the Vietnam War , Ft . Gordon was also a training location for Military Police Corps in the Brems Barracks region of the fort , which was also later used in the 1980s for training radioteletype operators . Berlin Wall display . 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 .