Fort Hood, located in southwestern Bell and southeastern Coryell counties in central Texas, is one of the largest military installations in the world. Its primary mission is to maintain a state of readiness for U.S. combat missions.
Here, some facts about the post:
- Fort Hood officially opened on Sept. 18, 1942, and has been continuously used for armored training ever since. Its first major unit was the 893d Tank Destroyer Battalion from Fort Meade, Md., on April 2, 1942.
- The post was named after Gen. John Bell Hood, who gained recognition during the Civil War as the commander of Hood's Texas Brigade.
- Fort Hood is approximately 60 miles north of Austin and 50 miles southwest of Waco.
- The total service area population is more than 300,000 soldiers, family members and retirees.
- Most of Fort Hood's population is between the ages of 25 and 34. The post has very few people over 55 (as most have retired by that age).
- Forty-eight percent of the population at Fort Hood is white, 26 percent is African-American, 19 percent is Hispanic, 3 percent is Asian, and 4 percent belongs to other races.
- Fort Hood is best known as the headquarters of the 1st Cavalry Division, whose soldiers have seen extensive deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. The division has four combat brigades, three of which have already been deployed three times, some for as long as 15 months.
- Fort Hood is home to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, whose soldiers have also been deployed three times to either Iraq or Afghanistan.
- Roughly half of Fort Hood's more than 40,000 soldiers were serving in Iraq or Afghanistan as of August 2009.
- According to www.icasualties.org, 483 soldiers from Fort Hood have died in Iraq and 31 in Afghanistan, more fatalities than from any other US military post.
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