Fort Polk

rdf:langString Fort Polk

rdf:langString Fort Polk & The Joint Readiness Training Center

rdf:langString Big Picture: Operation Sagebrush

rdf:langString Joint Readiness Training Center and Joint Readiness Training Center Operations Group shoulder sleeve insignia

rdf:langString gov.archives.arc.2569597

rdf:langString The Home of Heroes

rdf:langString Joint Readiness Training Center

rdf:langString Training Post

rdf:langString Fort Polk & The Joint Readiness Training Center

rdf:langString Fort Polk is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, about 10 miles (15 km) east of Leesville and 30 miles (50 km) north of DeRidder in Beauregard Parish. It was named to honor Leonidas Polk, the first Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana, a leader of the breakaway Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America, and a Confederate general in the American Civil War. It is one of the U.S. Army installations named for Confederate soldiers recommended for renaming by the Congressional Naming Commission; its recommendation is that the post be renamed Fort Johnson. The post encompasses about 198,000 acres (309 sq mi). Some 100,000 acres (160 sq mi) are owned by the Department of the Army and 98,125 acres (153.320 sq mi) by the U.S. Forest Service, mostly in the Kisatchie National Forest. In 2013, there were 10,877 troops stationed at Fort Polk, which generated an annual payroll of $980 million. Louisiana officials lobbied the Army and the United States Congress to keep troop strength at full capacity despite looming defense cuts. Fort Polk began as a base for the Louisiana Maneuvers in the 1940s. It served the 1st Armored Division in the 1950s, and became a basic training post during Vietnam War years of the 1960s and '70s. It hosted the 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) in the 1970s-1980s, and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in the 1990s and the 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, and the 162nd Infantry Brigade in the 2000s. Fort Polk is now home to the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC), the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, 115th Combat Support Hospital, U.S. Army Garrison and Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital. The land that is now Fort Polk is part of a region of cultural resources, including archaeological sites, historic houses and structures, and other sites of historical value. The U.S. Army has spent considerable time, effort, and money to find and inventory thousands of archaeological sites on Fort Polk and the property owned by the U.S. Forest Service where the Army trains.