Fort Hood, Texas

How Fort Hood is governed

Fort Hood appears to be an unincorporated community or a census-designated place, so it may have no city government of its own — services usually come from Bell County, Coryell County and its elected officials. The chart below is a generic template; readers can correct it if Fort Hood does have local officials.

Form of government not yet listed.

0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.

• Mayor

  Executive

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  The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.

  • City Manager / Administrator

    Executive

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    The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).

    • Police Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the police department.

    • Fire Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the fire and emergency services department.

    • Public Works Director

      Administration & departments

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      Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.

    • Finance Director

      Administration & departments

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      The budget, taxes, and city accounts.

    • Planning & Zoning Director

      Administration & departments

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      Land use, zoning, building permits.

    • Parks & Recreation Director

      Administration & departments

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      Parks, programs, and public facilities.

• City Council

  Legislative

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  The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.

  • City Clerk

    Administration & departments

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    Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.

  • City Attorney

    Administration & departments

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    The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.

  • Boards & Commissions

    Legislative

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    Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.

• Municipal Court

  Judicial

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  Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.

  • Municipal Judge

    Judicial

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    Presides over the municipal court.

Website

home.army.mil/cavazos

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Population over time

From 29,589 in 2010 to 28,295 in 2020 (−4.4%).

History

Foundation

During World War II, tank destroyers were developed to counter German mobile armored units. These were mobile antitank guns on armored halftracks or specially developed tanks. Wide-open space was needed for the tank destroyer testing and training, which Texas had in abundance. Andrew Davis (A.D.) Bruce was assigned to organize a new Tank Destroyer Tactical and Firing Center, and he chose Killeen, Texas, for the new camp. The War Department announced the selection on 15 January 1942. An initial acquisition of 180,000 acres (730 km2) was made, and the camp was estimated to cost $22.8 million for the land, facilities, and development of utilities. The date of completion was set for 15 August 1942.

About 300 families had to move from their homes to make room for the camp area and the communities of Clear Creek, Elijah, and Antelope were demolished to facilitate construction of the base. The old Sugar Loaf community, historically called the "Cradle of Killeen", provided the city with many of its first citizens in 1882. All that remains of the community is the mountain from which it took its name, located in the Fort Hood area. To lessen the burden of moving, the Army agreed to allow land to be used for grazing for a nominal grazing fee. This grazing arrangement still continues today.

In mid-August, the camp was occupied and the official opening took place on 18 September 1942. Camp Hood was named in February for Confederate General John Bell Hood, who commanded Hood's Texas Brigade during the American Civil War, part of a series of new training camps named for notable regional military leaders together with Camps Carson, Campbell, and Atterbury.

The original facilities provided housing and training sites for nearly 38,000 troops. In January 1943, an additional 16,000 acres (65 km2) in Bell County and 34,943 acres (141.41 km2) in Coryell County near Gatesville, Texas were purchased. The site near Gatesville was known as the subcamp and later as North Camp Hood. During the war years, North Camp Hood housed nearly 40,000 troops and 4,000 prisoners of war and was the site for the southern branch of the United States Disciplinary Barracks.

At the end of 1942, about 45,000 troops were living and training at Camp Hood, and in late June 1943, the population peaked at almost 95,000 troops, which was maintained until early 1944.

In 1944, the number of tank destroyer battalions in training at the post declined rapidly. Field artillery battalions and the Infantry Replacement Training Center replaced them in March 1944. By September, the Infantry Center was the largest activity on post with 31,545 troops. The total camp population on the last day of 1944 was 50,228.

During the last year of World War II, the post's mission shifted and its population drastically decreased. As the war came to an end, troop training slowed and equipment reclamation and demobilization were prioritized. A separation center was established in September 1945, and as the year ended, post strength had fallen to 1,807 prisoners and about 11,000 troops. The Infantry Replacement Training Center was officially shut down on 7 January 1946.

Cold War

The 2nd and 20th Armored Divisions were sent to Camp Hood after returning from Europe in January 1946, but the 20th was soon inactivated, leaving fewer than 5,000 at the post. The 2nd Armored remained at the post until its inactivation at the end of the Cold War. Camp Hood was retained postwar as an armored training center and on 15 April 1950 was officially renamed Fort Hood as a result of its permanent status.

In mid-1954, III Corps moved from California to the post. The corps supervised the training of combat units at Fort Hood and other Fourth Army stations from 1954 to 1959 when III Corps was inactivated. Probably the most famous trainee to come through the post was Elvis Presley, arriving on 28 March 1958. Other than receiving record amounts of mail (three or four bags per day), he was treated like all other trainees. On 19 September, Presley shipped out for Germany.

During this period, the 4th Armored Division was reactivated and deployed to Germany as part of the "Gyroscope" concept of unit movement.

In September 1961, Fort Hood again became the home for the III Corps, and in February 1962, III Corps was assigned as part of the U.S. Army Strategic Army Corps. At the same time, the basing of the 1st Armored Division there made it a two-division post. On 15 June 1963, Killeen Base was turned over to the Army.

Vietnam War

During the late 1960s, Fort Hood trained and deployed a number of units and individuals for duty in Vietnam. As the United States ended its role in the conflict, thousands of returning soldiers completed their active duty with one of the divisions. During this time, the post was modernized. On 13 September 1965, Darnall Hospital opened. In 1970, construction began on Palmer Theater and Venable Village was dedicated. Modern barracks were springing up around post. The wood buildings of the post were replaced with brick structures.

In August 1968, forty-three African American GIs, who objected to being sent to Chicago for riot-control duty during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, were court martialed and jailed by the US Army. Many of the soldiers were decorated and wounded veterans who had completed tours of duty in Vietnam.

In October 1969, Killeen Base was designated as West Fort Hood, and the airfield's name was designated as Robert Gray Army Airfield. The base was named after a Killeen native who was a pilot of a B-25 bomber on the famous Doolittle Raid in Tokyo in 1942. He was killed later in World War II flying combat missions. With the redesignation came a change in mission at West Fort Hood. Nuclear weapons were removed; they had been secretly kept there since 1947.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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