The 109,054-acre base is located just 35 miles from Louisville, Kentucky. The history of the US Army's Cavalry and Armored forces and of General George S. Patton's career can be found on the grounds of Fort Knox. The military presence at this location started in 1861, during the Civil War, when Fort Duffield was constructed to oversee the confluence of the Ohio and Salt rivers and the northern portion of the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike.

Founded originally in 1940, the Detroit Arsenal was the first facility for the mass-production of tanks in the United States. During World War II this plant built a quarter of the tanks (around 22,000) used in that conflict. In 1996 the plant portion of the base was closed, and tank production was transferred to Lima, OH. The remaining functions of the base include the hosting the headquarters of the US Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and the TACOM Life Cycle Management Command.

Camp Shelby is a 136,000 acre facility consisting of enough maneuver space to allow battalion-size units to train in large-scale situations. This camp regularly hosts joint training from National Guard and Reserve units from Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee.

Originally 160,000 acres was leased by the Army from 1942-1946 for use primarily as an anti-aircraft artillery range, in 1951 the Army purchases 261,000 acres for a permanent training area capable of support large-scale training operations. In 1987 the training area was enlarged to its current size of about 327,000 acres, and is used for training exercises large and small by all branches of the military.

Fort Hood was first established in 1942, as a test and training center for the then-new class of armored vehicles known as tank destroyers. To train and test the vehicles and soldiers required wide-open spaces, and the initial base size of 108,000 acres gave plenty of room for maneuvering and tactics to be developed. Through the Korean conflict and the Vietnam War, Fort Hood primarily was used to train armored and infantry units for both conflicts.

Today Fort Hood houses the US Army III Corps, the 1st Cavalry Division, as well as Military Police units, Air Defense Artillery, the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, as well as a host of other units.

Built in 1940, Fort Irwin was originally established as the Mojave Anti-Aircraft Range and was renamed two years later. During World War II it was used as the Desert Training Center, and was used to train armored units during Korea, and artillery and engineers during Vietnam.

Since 1979 Fort Irwin has been the site of the US Army National Training Center, serving as the premier training ground for all types of Army units. With over 1,000 square miles of space, Fort Irwin can train large armored maneuvers, as well as infantry, airborne, and also features special mock villages for Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) training.

Nested in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in northeast Alabama, Anniston Army Depot occupies over 25 square miles of land, encompassing more than 15,246 acres of woodland and 10 acres of lakes and streams. Possibly the nation's most diversified defense resource - Anniston Army Depot offers scenic splendor as well as unlimited natural resources.

Although rural in locale, Anniston Army Depot is easily accessible by road, rail, and air. Less than 5 miles south of the depot, Interstate 20 serves as a major east-west artery, providing easy access to Birmingham, AL and Atlanta, GA. Also, two airports capable of facilitating the mighty C-5 cargo plane provide convenient air transportation within just an eight mile radius. Immediate access to a main rail line is also available within the boundaries of our depot.

From its origin in 1942 as a storage depot, Anniston Army Depot has transformed into a state-of-the-market maintenance facility, earning its highly-esteemed reputation as "The Tank Rebuild Center of the World." But...we're not just tanks anymore.

Fort Benning is one of the US Army's busiest facilities. It sits on the border of Georgia and Alabama, covering nearly 200,000 acres. Fort Benning is the primary training installation for all US Army infantry personnel. Enlisted infantry recruits undergo Basic Combat Training (BCT) and Advanced Individual Training (AIT) in a combined fourteen-week course called One Station Unit Training.