Fort Rucker Fort Rucker is a U . S . Army post located mostly in Dale County , Alabama , United States . It was named for a Civil War officer , Confederate General Edmund Rucker . The post is the primary flight training base for Army Aviation and is home to the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence ( USAACE ) and the United States Army Aviation Museum . Small sections of the post also lie in Coffee , Geneva , and Houston counties . Part of the Dale County section of the base is a census - designated place ; its population was 4 , 636 at the 2010 census . The main post has entrances from three bordering cities , Daleville , Ozark and Enterprise . In the years before the September 11 , 2001 attacks , the main post ( except airfields and other restricted areas ) was an open post with unmanned gates allowing civilians to drive through . Following the attacks , this policy was changed , and the post is now closed to unauthorized traffic and visitors . Military facilities . Coordinates : The U . S . Army Aviation Center of Excellence is the dominant military facility at Fort Rucker . Training , doctrine , and testing are all key parts of the Center ' s mission to develop Army Aviation ' s capabilities . All Army Aviation training has been undertaken at Fort Rucker since 1973 , as well as training of US Air Force and ally helicopter pilots . The Center is home to the US Army Aviation Technical Test Center ( ATTC ) , which conducts developmental aircraft testing for Army Aviation . The United States Army Operational Test and Evaluation Command ' s Test and Evaluation Coordination Office and TH - 67 primary and instrument training are both located at Cairns Army Airfield . Operational units on the post include the 1st Aviation Brigade and the 110th Aviation Brigade handling Army Aviation training , and the USAF 23d Flying Training Squadron for the training of Air Force helicopter pilots . The 110th Aviation Brigade consists of five battalions using three different sites . 1st Battalion , 11th Aviation Regiment , operates and manages air traffic control services and flight simulation support for USAAVNC / Fort Rucker and the National Airspace System . 1st Battalion , 14th Aviation Regiment operates from Hanchey Army Heliport and conducts graduate level training using the AH - 64D Apache Longbow and OH - 58D Kiowa helicopters . 1st Battalion , 212th Aviation Regiment operates from Lowe Army Heliport and Shell Army Heliport and conducts combat and night operational training , using the OH - 58 , UH - 1 , and UH - 60 helicopters . 1st Battalion , 223d Aviation Regiment operates from Cairns Army Airfield and Knox Army Heliport and conducts flight training using the CH - 47 Chinook helicopter and C - 12 Huron aircraft . The Helicopter School Battalion operates from Shell Army Heliport and , providing training for Latin American pilots under the United States Security Cooperation Program . Additionally , due to the large number of warrant officers stationed there , the Warrant Officer Candidate School and Warrant Officer Career College are both located at Fort Rucker . Aviation branched warrant officers remain at Fort Rucker to complete flight training and the Aviation Warrant Officer Basic Course . Upon completion of their training , aviation warrant officers receive the Army Aviator Badge . Fort Rucker is often referred to as " Mother Rucker " , both as an insulting pseudo - homonym , and in deference to the birth of an Army Aviator ' s career and his or her constant return to the Post for continued training and responsibility throughout their career . It is common knowledge in an Army Aviation career , that " Everyone returns to Mother Rucker " , because of the frequency of pilot training and re - education . Support and other facilities at Fort Rucker include the Lyster Army Health Clinic , United States Army Aeromedical Research Lab , United States Army School of Aviation Medicine , and Army Aviation Museum . History . The original name of the post was Ozark Triangular Division Camp , but before the camp was officially opened on 1 May 1942 , the War Department named it Camp Rucker . The post was named in honor of Colonel Edmund W . Rucker , a Civil War Confederate officer , who was given the honorary title of “ General , ” and who became an industrial leader in Birmingham after the war . Fort Rucker ( situated on of sub - marginal farmland , and formerly a wildlife refuge ) was opened 1 May in 1942 as " Camp Rucker " , and had quarters for 3 , 280 Officers and 39 , 461 Enlisted Personnel . In September 1942 , 1 , 259 additional acres south of Daleville were acquired for the construction of an airfield to support the training camp . It was known as Ozark Army Airfield until January 1959 , when the name was changed to Cairns Army Airfield . The first troops to train at Camp Rucker were those of the 81st Infantry Division ; the 81st Division left Rucker for action in the Pacific Theater in March 1943 . Three other infantry divisions received training at Camp Rucker during the Second World War — the 35th , the 98th , and the 66th . The 66th ( Panther ) Division left for the European Theater in October 1944 . Camp Rucker was also used to train dozens of units of less than division size ; these included tank , infantry replacement , and Women ’ s Army Corps units . During the latter part of the Second World War , several hundred German and a few Italian prisoners - of - war were housed in stockades near the railroad east of the warehouse area , on the southern edge of the post . Camp Rucker was inactive from March 1946 until August 1950 . It was reopened during the Korean War . The Minnesota Army National Guard ' s 47th Infantry Division was mobilized and sent to Camp Rucker in the fall of 1950 , the division provided cadre that would conduct basic training of soldiers , who would later on be sent as replacements to units in Korea . The 47th Infantry Division would remain at Camp Rucker throughout the war . After another short deactivation , it was again reopened and expanded when it became a helicopter training base . The name was changed to " Fort Rucker " in October 1955 . The Hanchey Army Heliport became the home of the Department of Rotary Wing Training of the Army Aviation School on 5 October 1959 , marking the first time the Department was centralized . While serving in the Army , Al Gore was stationed at Fort Rucker before his five - month deployment in the Vietnam War . The 81st Division ( Wild Cat ) was the first unit activated at Camp Rucker on 15 June 1942 . The 81st received equipment , personnel and trained here before shipping out to the Pacific Theater of Operations ( PTO ) Other units passed through and called Camp Rucker home before shipping overseas , these included the 35th , 66th and 98th Infantry Divisions . The 91st and 94th Infantry Divisions were inactivated at Camp Rucker . Geography . Fort Rucker is located at 31°20 ' 37 " north , 85°42 ' 29 " west ( 31 . 343654 , −85 . 707995 ) . According to the U . S . Census Bureau , the CDP area of the base has a total area of 10 . 9 square miles ( 28 . 2 km² ) , of which 10 . 9 square miles ( 28 . 2 km² ) is land and 0 . 04 square mile ( 0 . 1 km² ) ( 0 . 18 % ) is water . Demographics . As of the census of 2000 , there were 6 , 052 people , 1 , 399 households , and 1 , 347 families residing on the base . The population density was 556 . 8 people per square mile ( 215 . 0 / km² ) . There were 1 , 544 housing units at an average density of 142 . 0 per square mile ( 54 . 8 / km² ) . The racial makeup of the base was 68 . 5 % White , 18 . 1 % Black or African American , 0 . 9 % Native American , 2 . 1 % Asian , 0 . 7 % Pacific Islander , 5 . 3 % from other races , and 4 . 4 % from two or more races . Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11 . 7 % of the population . There were 1 , 399 households out of which 79 . 9 % had children under the age of 18 living with them , 85 . 4 % were married couples living together , 8 . 2 % had a female householder with no husband present , and 3 . 7 % were non - families . 3 . 1 % of all households were made up of individuals and 0 . 1 % had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older . The average household size was 3 . 47 and the average family size was 3 . 51 . On the base the population was spread out with 35 . 3 % under the age of 18 , 15 . 9 % from 18 to 24 , 46 . 2 % from 25 to 44 , 2 . 4 % from 45 to 64 , and 0 . 1 % who were 65 years of age or older . The median age was 24 years . For every 100 females there were 131 . 6 males . For every 100 females age 18 and over , there were 145 . 1 males . The median income for a household on the base was $ 34 , 603 , and the median income for a family was $ 33 , 664 . Males had a median income of $ 29 , 321 versus $ 18 , 750 for females . The per capita income was $ 14 , 495 . About 6 . 1 % of families and 7 . 1 % of the population were below the poverty line , including 9 . 3 % of those under the age of 18 and 16 . 7 % of those 65 and older .