Fort Indiantown Gap

Infobox Military Structure
name=Fort Indiantown Gap
location=Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania


caption=Fort Indiantown Gap Training Center
type=National Guard Training Site
built=1931
materials=
used=Currently
controlledby=Pennsylvania National Guard
garrison=
commanders=
battles=

Fort Indiantown Gap, also referred to as "The Gap" or "FiG", is a fort located along Interstate 81 in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, 23 miles (37 km) northeast of Harrisburg. The installation is an active US Army National Guard Training Center and serves as headquarters for the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the Pennsylvania National Guard. The Eastern Army Aviation Training Center and Northeast Counterdrug Training Center are also located here. The fort surrounds Memorial Lake State Park. The residential area of the fort is a census designated place (CDP); its population was 85 at the 2000 census.

History

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania owns the facility, but it has leased portions of it to the US Army for various operations throughout its history. The post is undergoing major installation changes in preparation for the arrival of the Stryker Brigade. It will be the home to the largest mechanized Brigade aside from Fort Knox, Kentucky. The post dates back to before World War II (probably the 1930s). It is the largest training post for Active, Reserve and Guard forces in the United States. It has more munition ranges than all of the Army TRADOC posts combined. The post can serve 75,000 soldiers at one time and has been a mobilization and embarkation center in the past for World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the first Gulf War and recently the operations in Kosovo and the Balkans.

The post was originally developed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, on the recommendation of General Edward Martin, as a National Guard training site in 1931. Over the years, the facility has served as home to both Pennsylvania and federal military forces. In 1941 the post was officially named Indiantown Gap Military Reservation (IGMR). Martin retired from military service and went on to serve as Pennsylvania Governor and then Senator. After his death, the Pennsylvania legislature renamed the facility the Edward Martin Military Reservation, a designation that Martin himself had rejected throughout his life. The new name was never fully accepted by the military personnel who served there. In 1975, the Secretary of the Army renamed the post Fort Indiantown Gap in order to more closely align it with the other Active Duty stations throughout the United States. Pennsylvania also reinstated the "Indiantown Gap" designation, which it retains today. In 1976, the Commonwealth donated a section of the land to the Veterans Administration for the establishment of a National Cemetery.

The Active Army has a small enclave remaining since the Base Realignment and Closure decision to realign the post in 1995, but no federal troops are quartered at Fort Indiantown Gap any longer. Most of the World War II structures and buildings are slowly being demolished in accordance with Department of Defense directives to scrap World War II buildings.

As of July 2007, the base still largely consisted of World War II-era buildings that have disappeared from active Army posts, but construction of new facilities can be seen throughout the post.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 85 people, 33 households, and 26 families residing in the fort. The population density was 4.5 people per square mile (1.7/km²). There were 37 housing units at an average density of 2.0/sq mi (0.8/km²). The racial makeup of the fort was 97.65% White, 1.18% African American, and 1.18% from two or more races.

There were 33 households out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 78.8% were married couples living together, 3.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.2% were non-families. 15.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the fort the population was spread out with 16.5% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 34.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 84.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.8 males.

The median income for a household in the fort was $65,893, and the median income for a family was $66,607. Males had a median income of $42,250 versus $31,071 for females. The per capita income for the fort was $27,757. None of the population and none of the families were below the poverty line.

Geography

Fort Indiantown Gap is located at coor dms|40|26|13|N|76|34|34|W|city (40.436987, -76.576055)GR|1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 19.0 square miles (49.2 km²), of which, 18.8 square miles (48.8 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²) of it (0.84%) is water.

Folklore

An infamous 19th-century murder in Fort Indiantown Gap resulted in a trial of six defendants who all had blue eyes. They became known as the Blue Eyed Six, given the moniker by a newspaper reporter who was attending the trial. Their murder trial, held in the county courthouse in Lebanon, received worldwide publicity and inspired Arthur Conan Doyle while he was writing "The Red-Headed League".Fact|date=November 2007 Five of the six defendants were hanged at the county jail. One of the defendants, Franklin Stichler, was buried in an unmarked grave on his family's farm. Another defendant, Israel Brandt, a civil war veteran, ran a rather seedy hotel along Hotel Road. The murder site along Indiantown Run, Stichler's family farm, and the hotel site were all later encompassed by the Fort Indiantown Gap installation.

ee also

* Indiantown Gap National Cemetery

References

* Ludwig, Gary. "The Blue Eyed Six, A Historical Narrative". Hodge Podge USA. 1979.

External links

* [http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/indiantowngap.asp Indiantown Gap National Cemetery]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/fort-indiantown-gap.htm Fort Indiantown Gap] at GlobalSecurity.org
* [http://www.wwiifederation.org/igmr_history.html History of Fort Indiantown Gap] at World War II Federation, Inc.
* [http://www.dmva.state.pa.us/ftig/site/default.asp Fort Indiantown Gap official website]