16. Fort Gordon, Augusta, Georgia
The first Camp Gordon, established at Chamblee, Georgia during World War I, included among its trainees, Sgt. Alvin York. Following the armistice, Camp Gordon closed. In July, 1941, a new division training camp authorized by the US Army began construction near Augusta, designated Camp Gordon by the Army. The name was in honor of Confederate Major General John Brown Gordon, who led troops against the United States Army in the Civil War, and joined a secret anti-black society during reconstruction. Camp Gordon, in addition to training troops for deployment overseas, served as a prisoner of war facility from 1943 – 1945.
Beginning in the 1950s and into the 1970s, basic training (boot camp) took place at Fort Gordon (renamed in 1956), as well as other forms of training for infantry and communications. Until the mid-1970s military police trained at the site. The United States Army Signal Corps and the Army Cyber Corps have been based at Fort Gordon, as is the Cyber Center for Excellence. It has been the site of several protests over the years, including over the Vietnam War, working conditions at facilities within the base, and over its name.
