Ft. Irwin

[Subdeacon Joe]

On This Date, Sept. 10, 1940: Reflecting the nation’s overall military buildup on the eve of World War II, construction began on temporary housing facilities and an administrative building for the bombing range. Over the next several weeks, work began on barracks, a medical facility, ordnance magazines, a railroad spur and associated utilities. Fourth Air Force also authorized several new target installations, and a hard-surfaced runway adjacent to the lakebed. This marked the beginning of the permanent facilities on the western shore of the Muroc Dry Lake bed which eventually came to be known as South Base.

The area of the lakebed was first used by the railroads, with a watering station for steam engines located nearby by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. In 1910, the Corum family settled on the lake bed; they attempted to create a small community called “Muroc” (the name reversed), which failed. In 1933, the United States Army arrived, looking to establish a bombing range in the area. The lakebed’s potential use as an airfield was then realized, and in 1937 the United States Army Air Corps set up Muroc Air Field for training and testing, which later became Edwards Air Force Base.

For more aerospace and aviation milestones, visit https://www.aerotechnews.com/blog/2021/09/03/on-this-date-76/

 

 

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Is Edwards Sdrawde reversed?

[Amigo]

Fort Irwin is a good distance from Edwards Air Force Base...

[Sedalia Dave]

23 minutes ago, Amigo said:

Fort Irwin is a good distance from Edwards Air Force Base...

 

Yep

 

On August 8, 1940, a Presidential order withdrew from public use almost 1,000 square miles of public land in the High Desert of Southern California. The land was established as the Mojave Anti-Aircraft Gunnery Range and later named Camp Irwin in memory of Major General George Irwin, a World War I battle commander. In 1951, the post became the home of the United States Army Armor and Desert Training Center and was designated Fort Irwin in 1961. In 1981, the installation was re-designated as the National Training Center (NTC) and since then its development as the premier training site of the U.S. Army has been nonstop.

 

THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER 1976 - 1984 

 

Few developments in Army training have been of such broad scope and long-term significance as the National Training Center (NTC), established in October 1980 at Fort ~ in the Mojave Desert of California This instrumented training facility, for armor and mechanized infantry battalions of Army divisions based in the United States, represented a major and unprecedented initiative in bringing realistic simulated-fire, force-on-force training to the battalion level. The NTC thus served the country well in helping to produce a ready fighting force for the deserts of Southwest Asia in early 1991. This monograph, prepared by Dr. Anne W. Chapman, Research Historian in the Office of the Command Historian, surveys the TRADOC role in the development of the National Training Center from its origin in the 1976 concept through the end of the first phase of operation· in 1984. It provides a documented historical analysis of how and why such a landmark event in Army training was launched, examining attendant policy issues, funding, instrumentation, and training problems involved in bringing the project from concept to reality. The work also furnishes a record of bow a major defense project was brought on line, making it valuable as a case study.