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Fort Gillem

Fort Gillem houses the headquarters of both the

Fort Gillem

First U.S. Army and the Georgia Army National Guard and serves as a major distribution facility during national crises or troop deployments. It is located in Forest Park, a southern suburb of Atlanta, between Georgia Highway 54 and U.S. Highway 23.

First established as the Quartermaster Depot during World War II (1941-45), the facility was activated with units from chemical, engineering, medical, quartermaster, and signal divisions. The Quartermaster Depot, designated as Atlanta General Depot in 1941, shipped supplies to army personnel all over the world and housed an automotive school for soldiers.

After World War II the quartermaster mission at the facility continued and included the

Fort Gillem Dedication

distribution of supplies, the maintenance of equipment, and the addition of a coffee roasting plant. Morris Army Airfield, now closed, was established at the post during the 1950s and comprised an airstrip as well as a repair facility for aircraft. Renamed Atlanta Army Depot in 1962, the post was finally named Fort Gillem in 1973 in honor of Lieutenant General Alvan C. Gillem Jr., former commander of the Third Army, which is based at Fort McPherson. At the same time Fort Gillem was designated a subinstallation of Fort McPherson.

Fort Gillem is home to the Atlanta Distribution Center of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service and to the Third Military Police Group (CID) United States

Laboratory Groundbreaking

Army Criminal Investigation Command, and houses a state-of-the-art criminal forensic laboratory. During the 1990s the Georgia Army National Guard increased its presence at the facility as the Oglethorpe Armory opened, and Fort Gillem became home to the Second Recruiting Brigade, the Fifty-second Ordnance Group, and the Equipment Concentration Site for the Eighty-first Regional Support Command. The post also serves as the Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) headquarters for the Southeast and operates the Military Entrance Processing Station for Atlanta and northeast Georgia. In 2005 the U.S. secretary of defense recommended the closure of Fort Gillem, which is scheduled to take place in September 2011.

John Rieken, Georgia State University

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