Download This Version in Microsoft Word format
TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR FORT JACKSON, THE NATION'S LARGEST AND MOST ACTIVE TRAINING FACILITY FOR THE UNITED STATES ARMY, AND TO CONGRATULATE THE SOLDIERS AND COMMAND STAFF STATIONED THERE AS THEY CELEBRATE ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF OUTSTANDING TRAINING FOR OUR NATION'S SOLDIERS.
Whereas, in May 1917, then Major Douglas MacArthur, who would become one of the nation's most illustrious generals, announced the South Carolina location for the newly created Camp Jackson to train Soldiers for the United States Army as the country prepared to enter World War I; and
Whereas, the Columbia Chamber of Commerce raised fifty thousand dollars to purchase the former Hampton Estate while residents donated almost twelve hundred acres for the facility. The federal government purchased 19,700 acres and leased thousands more for the site; and
Whereas, Fort Jackson is named for Andrew Jackson, who was a United States Army General and the Seventh President of the United States of America (1829-1837), and was born in the border region of North and South Carolina; and
Whereas, when the Great War ended, Camp Jackson was closed in 1922, only to be reactivated as Fort Jackson in 1940 to prepare Soldiers for World War II. The expansion of this facility was one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken in the Southeast; and
Whereas, in March of 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt inspected the fort in a private tour, and in June of 1942, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill inspected every phase of training in a celebrated and public tour of the fort, displaying his iconic cigar and his never-give-up attitude; and
Whereas, now the largest and most active training facility in the nation, Fort Jackson has trained over five million Soldiers who have subsequently fought and won our Nation's wars, and lives up to its motto of "Victory Starts Here", by producing fifty-four percent of all Soldiers and sixty-one percent of the women entering the United States Army each year; and
Whereas, in addition to basic training, Fort Jackson also provides advanced training for drill sergeants and chaplains. It also shares facilities for training Sailors and Marines, as well as hosting a South Carolina National Guard training camp; and
Whereas, Fort Jackson trains more than seventy thousand Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines every year and invigorates the local economy with 2.3 billion dollars annually, employing seven thousand active duty and civilian workers; and
Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly is pleased to commend the remarkable service that Fort Jackson has provided to our nation, and the members celebrate Fort Jackson's centennial benchmark of training Soldiers who provide the extraordinary freedoms that we humbly enjoy. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, recognize and honor Fort Jackson, the nation's largest and most active training facility for the United States Army, and congratulate the Soldiers and command staff stationed there as they celebrate one hundred years of outstanding training for our nation's Soldiers.
This web page was last updated on February 14, 2017 at 1:23 PM