12 Facts About Fort Polk

1.

Fort Polk is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, approximately ten miles east of Leesville, Louisiana, and thirty miles north of DeRidder in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana.

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2.

Fort Polk began as a base for the Louisiana Maneuvers in the 1940s.

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3.

Fort Polk is home to the Joint Readiness Training Center, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, 115th Combat Support Hospital, US Army Garrison and Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital.

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4.

Land that is Fort Polk is part of a region of cultural resources, including archaeological sites, historic houses and structures, and other sites of historical value.

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5.

Soldiers at Fort Polk participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers, which were designed to test US troops preparing for World War II.

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6.

Fort Polk added that American GIs resented the fact that German POWs were allowed to breathe the air in the US while GIs were on the battlegrounds of a devastated Europe through the duration of the war, but they understood the logic of keeping the POWs in the US rather than in Europe.

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7.

In 1962, Fort Polk began converting to both basic training and an advanced individual training center.

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8.

For many, Fort Polk was the only stateside Army post they saw before assignment overseas.

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9.

Many soldiers reported to basic training at Fort Polk and stayed on post for infantry training at Tigerland before being assigned to infantry line companies in Vietnam.

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10.

In October 1974, Fort Polk became the new home of the 5th Infantry Division, and basic training and AIT started being phased out.

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11.

Fort Polk changed from a Continental Army Command post in July 1975 and became a Forces Command member.

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12.

Fort Polk issued a press release on May 5,2014, that 32,500 acres of the targeted 47,500, out of the 100,000 approved, has been acquired.

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