Category: Texas

How many military bases are in Texas?

There are 15 military bases in Texas.

Texas is home to a number of important military installations that play a critical role in supporting the United States military’s global operations. These bases serve as training facilities, command centers, and logistical hubs, and contribute significantly to the state’s economy and communities.

One of the largest military bases in Texas is Fort Hood, located in Killeen. This Army installation covers over 200,000 acres and is home to more than 40,000 soldiers and their families. It serves as a major training site for armored and infantry units, and has played a key role in many of the military’s recent operations, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Another important Army installation is Fort Bliss, located in El Paso. This base covers over 1 million acres and is home to over 35,000 soldiers and their families. Fort Bliss is a major training center for artillery and missile units, and is also home to the United States Army Air Defense Artillery School.

The Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth is a joint-use facility that serves both the Navy and the Air Force. It is located in Fort Worth and is home to a variety of aircraft, including fighter jets, helicopters, and transport planes. The base also serves as a training center for Navy and Marine Corps pilots.

The Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio is another important installation in Texas. It is home to the United States Air Force Basic Military Training, and trains over 85,000 airmen and women annually. The base also houses a number of other important Air Force units, including the 37th Training Wing and the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency.

In addition to these major bases, Texas is also home to a number of other military installations, including Camp Bowie, Camp Mabry, and the Corpus Christi Army Depot. These installations provide critical support to military operations around the world, and contribute significantly to the state’s economy and communities.

Overall, Texas plays a vital role in supporting the United States military, and its military installations are an important part of the state’s heritage and identity. These bases serve as a testament to the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women who serve in the armed forces, and provide a source of pride for Texans across the state.

  • Naval Air Station Corpus Christi

    Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is located in Nueces County in the coastal city in South Texas. This is a United States air base which used to be named as Truax Field, named after Lieutenant Myron Truax of the United States Navy.

    The United States troops set camp in the city on July1946 under General Zachary Taylor until March 1846 and after a year the place was named Corpus Christi. On 1926, the Port of Corpus Christi was established and the on 1941, the United States armed forces commissioned Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. Currently, the Port of Corpus Christi is deepest inshore port in the whole of Gulf of Mexico and rank 6th largest United States port which handles mostly agricultural products and oil.

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    Corpus Christi United States army installation houses the Corpus Christi Army Depot and the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. It is also the home for the Chief of Naval Air Training, Drug Enforcement Agency, the United States Coast Guard, Defense Distribution Depot, Medical Naval Hospital and the Mine Warfare Command. The base is the location of the world’s largest helicopter facility.

    Naval Air Station Corpus Christi mission is to provide maintenance and operations, material and service support to the operations of the United States Navy Aviation and the Naval Training Command units. The flight training facility in Corpus Christi puts emphasis on the flight maneuvering and traffic pattern operations. There were about 400,000 flights made annually in the Corpus Christi air field.

    The Naval Air Station Corpus provides 6,200 non military jobs to the local industry which makes the installation the biggest employer in the city. Corpus Christi’s industry is dependent on their tourism, petrochemical and oil industry. The Port of Corpus Christi ranked 47as the largest cargo tonnage in the world.

  • Fort Hood

    Fort Hood was named in honor of Confederate General John Bell Hood is a United States military installation situated in Killeen, Texas. With an area of 158,706 acres, Fort Hood has 6,007 officers and 82.610 active duty personnel, and considered to be the largest active armory post in the United States Army which has the ability to support two divisions of armory.

    Fort Hood was built with the purpose of wide open space that will be used in the training and testing of the World War I tank destroyers. This is the base location for the 4th Infantry Division, 1st Cavalry Division, 3d Signal Brigade, Headquarters Command of the III Corps, 13th Corps Support Command, 3d Personnel Group, 13th Finance Group, 504th Military Intelligence Brigade, 89th Military Police Brigade, 21st Cavalry Brigade and other support units.

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    Fort Hood became part of the operation Desert Shield in Southwest Asia on August 1990. It also supports to the operation Provide Comfort and operation Desert Calm and continue serving the Persian Gulf area. It deployed soldiers on December 1992 to May 1993 in Somalia known as the Operation Restore Hope which control and command the Joint Task Force Support Command. From then on, Fort Hood is present in almost all of the deployment activities in the Caribbean Basin, Southwest Asia and Central America, supported the operation Sea Signal V and Vigilant Warrior and other emergency operations.

    Aside from the peacekeeping missions of Fort Hood, it is also an active participant in worldwide disaster relief operations. It helped in the 1985 Mexico City Earthquake and the Managua, Nicaragua earthquakes. On 1990, Fort Hood continued the wide infrastructure program in the modernization of the post which at present continues the modernization while putting emphasis on the training, quality of life and force projection.

  • Fort Bliss Army Base

    Fort Bliss was established in 1849 standing in an area of 1,700 square miles and known as the United States Army second largest unit, the White Sand Missile Range being the first.  This is a United States Army that is located close to El Paso, Texas which covers the Otero and Dona Ana counties of New Mexico. This was named after William Wallace Smith Bliss, a Mexican American war hero.

    Fort Bliss has the biggest Maneuver Area with a total of 992,000 acres of land providing practice area for military maneuvering located behind the National Training Center and is considered to be FORSCOM’s largest unit. It has the largest tract of unrestricted airspace in the Continental United States that is utilized in the testing and training of artillery and missile.

    This also houses the United States 1st Armored Division, 11th air Defense Artillery Brigades, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, 204th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, German Air Force Air Defense Center and Joint Task Force Six. The El Paso Intelligence Center, a tactical operational intelligence center of the federal government is located at Fort Bliss’ Biggs Army Airfield. The Joint Task Force North its DoD equivalent is also located at the Biggs Field which is a assigned as military projection platform.

    Fort Bliss primary mission is to provide training for the present and next generation set of soldiers as well as to develop various tactics and doctrine. Its duty is to train and ensure the continuous operation of the United States Patriot Missile Battalions. This US post served as the location for the Basic Training and Advance Individual Training (AIT) and then the training was transferred to Fort Sill after 1990.  At present, the unit has four enlisted batteries under the AIT, one of which is for the officer’s Basic Course, a company that provides training for the army truck drivers and for the Captain’s Career Course.

    Fort Bliss Army Base Images

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  • Dyess Air Force Base

    Dyess Air Force Base is situated in the southwestern of Abilene, Texas, 180 miles from the western part of Dallas. Dyess AFB houses the 7th Bomb Wing which is allotted to the Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force. The 7th Bomb Wing is B-1B Lancer, one of the two bomber wings in the United States Air Force. The 7th Bomb Wing mission is to offer world class air power and airmen for the warfighter. The second is the 28th Bomb Wing located at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. The base also houses the 317th Airlift Group which functions for the C-130 Hercules aircraft.

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    Abilene Army Air Base was the original name of the base until it was named Dyess Air Force Base in honor of the Bataan Death March survivor, Leiutenant Colonel William Dyess. Dyes Air Force Base stands in a 6,117 acre land with a population of 13,000 civilian and military people and employs 5,000 personnel with about 200 basic facilities and has housing units for 988 families. Dyes Air Force Base gives at least $310 million in local economy.

    Dyess Air Force Base attraction and unique quality is the broad collection of military aircraft that are on display which they call the “Linear Air Park” which the 30 aircraft collection used since the World War II up to the present day aircraft. All of these collections were already used except for one aircraft. The most recent addition to their display of aircraft is B-1B Lancer which they name as “The Star of Abilene” which is seen at the entrance gate to Dyess together with C-130 Hercules.

    Dyess Air Force Base is belongs to the greenest bases in the United States Air Force because they made use most of their energy consumption from renewable wind energy like the biomass.

  • Brooks City-Base

    Brooks City-Base used to be Brooks Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base is located in San Antonio, Texas. Brooks was established on 1918 is now under the ownership of the City of San Antonio, Texas. It was named in honor of Cadet Brooks who died when he was undergoing his flight training at the time of World War I.

    Brooks City-Base houses the 311th Human Systems Wing and the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine plus the different tenant units. Brooks was formerly established on December 8, 1917 under the name of Brooks Field is known as one of the oldest United States Air Force installation servicing the World War I Army Air Service. Brooks was first named Gosport Field and then it was named Brooks Field after only three days.

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    Brooks City-Base hangar 9

    Brooks City-Base was transferred to Brooks Development Authority as a joint unique project between the Federal, state and the local government whose primary aim is to make the base as the technology, science and business center. The transition happened on July 22, 2002. It was then named as Brooks City-Base. In the year 2005, the base was again listed on the BRAC (Basic Realignment and Closure) list since their removal from the list on 1995. It is now under study of the complete removal of military presence from the base.

    Brooks Development Authority has shown much success in the economic development of the area which includes the 62 acre of land by offering services in the distribution and research facilities for the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, a pharmaceutical company that is internationally known, DPT Laboratories and the emergency operations worth $25.5 million of the City/County which was launched on 2007.

    Brooks City-Base commemorates Weightless 2 with a statue display on the area and the Hangar 9 as the reminder of World War I.