Fort Huachuca army base is located 15 miles north of Mexico in the city of Sierra Vista in Cochise County, south-east Arizona, US. Built on a 73,000-acre site in March 1877, the base is currently being operated by the US Army Installation Management Command (AIMC). The Libby Army airfield, situated on the border of Mexico, shares its runway with the nearest civilian Sierra Vista municipal airport.
The base is a hub for the US Army Intelligence Centre, 9th Signal Command, 11th Signal Brigade, 1st Battalion and 210th Aviation. It also serves the military auxiliary radio system (MARS), the joint interoperability test command (JITC) and electronic ground proving (EGP). Fort Huachuca base is also used by the Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Centre (AATTC) located in Missouri for soldier training.
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The US Army awarded a five-year, $286m contract to Man Tech International in November 2009 to test the command, control, communication, computers and intelligence (C4I) system at the base. The company offers technical, maintenance, logistics, instrumentation, and hardware or software-related development services.
Fort Huachuca army base
The Department of Arizona decided to build a camp in the Huachuca mountains in February 1877 to protect the migrating farmers and travel routes in Southern Arizona as well as the border of Mexico.
In March 1877, the temporary camp accompanied with two 6th Cavalry companies was built. The site for the camp was selected as it offers fresh running water, more tress, sheltering hills, clear visibility in three directions, and a large protective ground for security from enemies.
The camp was renamed as a fort in 1882. It was again re-assigned as Fort Huachuca by General Nelson in 1886. The danger to the Southern Arizona from Apache ended in August 1886. The 10th Cavalry “Buffalo Soldiers” occupied Fort Huachuca in 1913 and it was taken over by General John J. Pershing during World War I to protect the US Mexico border.
The fort was occupied by the 25th Infantry Regiment in 1933 and was replaced by the 93rd Infantry Division during World War II. Later in 1943, the 92nd Infantry Division resided at Fort Huachuca when the 93rd Infantry departed to the pacific.
The chief signal officer of the US Intelligence Centre identified that the climate at the fort was suitable for testing electronic and communications equipment in 1954. The centre began using the base from 1971. The base is currently known as the US Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM) or 9th Army Signal Command. It became a national historic place in 1976.
Fort Huachuca garrison facilities
The headquarters of 18th Military Police Detachment and the 36th Army Band are located in the Fort Huachuca base. Logistic, engineering, fire and safety, intelligence and security, housing and law enforcement amenities are offered by the base.
Other base facilities
The personnel at the base are offered training facilities, sporting fields, recreation facilities, golf, horseback riding, bowling, arts and crafts, restaurants, playgrounds, laundry, discount ticket sales for area attraction and rentals. The base also has childcare facilities.
Future Fort Huachuca developments
Several expansion activities have been taken up in the base recently. In March 2008, Michaels Military Housing was selected by the US Army to create a community development and management plan (CDMP) for the Fort Huachuca base under the residential communities initiative (RCI) programme.
Michaels, in collaboration with the Fort Huachuca army, created Mountain Vista Communities. These communities manage and maintain the existing houses located in the base.
Michaels has developed a five-year initial development plan (IDP) to enhance the quality of life at the base. The improvements being made include the development of an additional 201 homes, constructing new community centres, improving play grounds, adding exercise trails and a new dog park.
