Posted on 09/10/2003 5:20:52 PM PDT by T-Bird45
Steadfast Fort Riley
As times and the Army's needs have changed over the past 150 years, so has the adaptable yet reliable military outpost.
When it opened in 1853, Fort Riley was no different from any of the other frontier forts that were beginning to dot the Old West.
Like Fort Scott and later Fort Larned, it was built to keep an eye on neighboring Native American tribes and protect traders and settlers along Kansas' trails.
Most of those forts are long gone. But because it has been able to change along with the rest of the nation, Fort Riley is very much alive.
The dusty frontier outpost has morphed itself into a sleek, modern training center for the U.S. Army that celebrates its 150th anniversary this month.
Fort Riley has grown and flourished because the leaders who served there and politicians who represented it in Congress have been successful at keeping the fort in step with the military's needs.
"One of the reasons it continues to survive is because of the individuals who fought to keep it open," said Virgil Dean of the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka.
For example, when horses were being replaced by tanks, Fort Riley was able to ditch its cavalry training center in favor of a mechanized training area. Fort Riley now boasts one of the army's most modern railheads and is a key link in the military's ability to quickly ship men and materiel.
Today, Kansas lawmakers are trying to attract new opportunities to keep the fort viable for the future. Sen. Pat Roberts is campaigning for the fort to land a U.S. Army division headquarters. Sen. Sam Brownback says that division could be the famed Big Red One, the First Infantry Division, which used to be based there.
Fort Riley also survived because it still has the one thing that many military posts are running out of -- land.
"It comes down to that old real estate adage -- location, location, location," said Bill McKale, Fort Riley's museums director.
"There was and still is prime maneuver space for the Army to train on. And, it is also a central location in the nation. It serves as a place to bring soldiers to train from all over the central Plains states."
The fort, with its 100,000 acres, is one of the three oldest continuously operating forts west of the Mississippi. Fort Leavenworth was established in 1827; Fort Bliss in Texas dates to the late 1840s.
McKale says that when the fort was founded in 1853, it performed the same functions as other forts in the area.
But since then it has undergone a number of changes:
By the 1880s, Fort Riley's mission changed from protector to supplier. Its large acreage, abundant rains and proximity to the railroad helped it become one of the main suppliers of hay for cavalry posts around the nation.
In 1887, the School of Cavalry and Light Artillery was established there, McKale said, further helping to establish the fort as a permanent fixture.
The school's Army horsemen became some of the best mounted soldiers in the world, with some competing internationally at horse shows and races.
In 1906, Fort Riley was designated a regimental post, increasing the number of soldiers permanently stationed at the fort.
In the 1930s, the fort again underwent a transformation when horses were replaced by new technology such as motor vehicles, tanks, machine guns and airplanes.
Throughout its 150-year history, however, whether they were mounted on horses or tanks, the men and women at the fort have helped it earn its nickname: America's War Fighting Center.
Fort Riley has served as home to some of the nation's most notable soldiers and officers, including George Armstrong Custer, Hap Arnold, Harry Truman and George Patton.
Its impact has also been felt in Kansas.
"Throughout the 19th and 20th century, Fort Riley was important to Kansas' growth and development," said Dean of the state historical society.
McKale agrees.
"We've had a rich history in this state," he said. "We've been training, educating and mobilizing.... We've been in the back yard all along."
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Places like Fort Riley, Fort Sill, Fort Hood and Fort Bliss are welcomed by their local communities and states.
The beautiful 2-story stone building that was once the Post Commandant's office and Headquarters Building is now the Ft Riley post museum. I wonder if when young Colonel Patton was the commandant there between the wars he could have inmagined the way the place looks now. Nah, he was probably more concerned with an unannounced inspection of the post stables....
Thanks
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