| Fort A.P. Hill Regional Training Center | |
|---|---|
| Caroline County, Virginia | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Military base |
| Controlled by |  United States Army |
| Website | home |
| Location | |
  Fort A.P. Hill Regional Training Center Location of Fort A.P. Hill Show map of Virginia Fort A.P. Hill Regional Training Center Fort A.P. Hill Regional Training Center (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates | 38°07′04″N77°16′35″W / 38.11778°N 77.27639°W /38.11778; -77.27639 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 11 June 1941[1] |
| In use | 1941—present |
| Garrison information | |
| Current commander | Lt. Col. Matthew S. Bauer[2] |
| Past commanders | Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Q. Jordan[3] Lieutenant Colonel David A. Meyer[4] Lieutenant Colonel Peter E. Dargle[5] Lieutenant Colonel John W. Haefner[6] Lieutenant Colonel Michael S. Graese[7] Lieutenant Colonel James M. Mis Lieutenant Colonel James B. Balocki Lieutenant Colonel Michael E. Gates[2] Lieutenant Colonel Andrew P. Aswell Lieutenant Colonel Jason P. Duffy |
Fort Anderson-Pinn-Hill, commonly known asFort A.P. Hill (formerlyFort Walker)[8] is a training and maneuver center belonging to theUnited States Army located near the town ofBowling Green, Virginia. The center focuses on arms training and is used by all branches of theU.S. Armed Forces, independent of any post.[9]
As such, the units being trained will coordinate with Fort A.P. Hill's Installation Safety Office, the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security, the Regional Training Support Center, Fort A.P. Hill's Plans, Analysis and Integration Office, the Directorate of Public Works, and the Directorate of Resource Management.
A Post Exchange and Commissary are a 60-mile drive away, atFort Belvoir; online purchases can be trans-shipped to Fort A.P. Hill.[10]
C-17s andC-130s can land at the Fort A.P. Hill Airstrip. There is a jump zone, and drop zone.[9]
In the spring of 1940, the War Plans Division of the Army General Staff developed a plan to raise a national army of four million men that would allow it to conduct simultaneous operations in both the Pacific and European theaters. In July 1940, a movement began to locate an area of approximately 60,000 acres (240 km2), independent of any post, and lying somewhere between thePotomac River and the upperChesapeake Bay.[11]
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Marston, an artillery officer stationed inRichmond, Virginia and acting as an agent of theThird Corps Area commander, made a detailed investigation of theBowling Green, Virginia area in September 1940. He enthusiastically recommended that the War Department procure theCaroline County site.[11] The result was a maneuver area that contained 77,332 acres (312.95 km2) andbilleting space for 74 officers and 858 enlisted personnel.
The installation was established as an army training facility on 11 June 1941, pursuant to War Department General Order No. 5. In its first year, the installation was used as a maneuver area for theII Corps and for three activatedNational Guard divisions from the Mid-Atlantic states. In the autumn of 1942, Fort A.P. Hill was the staging area for the headquarters and corps troops ofMajor GeneralGeorge S. Patton’s Task Force A, which was part of the Western Task Force of theAllied invasion of French North Africa. During the early years ofWorld War II, the post continued to be a training site for corps and division-sized units. Commencing in 1944, field training forOfficer Candidate School and enlisted replacements from nearbyForts Lee,Eustis, andBelvoir was conducted.[11]
In 1952, during theKorean War, the installation was designated as Camp A.P. Hill and was a major staging area for units deploying toEurope, including theVII Corps Headquarters and the3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. The fort was the major center for the Engineer Officer Candidate School, training students from Fort Belvoir during theVietnam War.[11]
Construction of the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps[12]Explosive Ordnance Disposal training center was completed in July 2011, with the first day of class being 17 October 2011. It is named afterCaptain Jason McMahon, who died in Afghanistan in 2010.[13] The center provides explosive ordnance disposal advanced technical training and tactical skills education for both officer and enlisted.
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The U.S. ArmyAsymmetric Warfare Group[14] officially opened its $90.1 million Asymmetric Warfare Training Center on 24 January 2014. The 300-acre (120 ha) training complex includes a headquarters, barracks, administrative, training and maintenance facilities, an urban training area, a 12-mile (19 km) mobility range, an 800-metre (2,600 ft) known distance range, a light demolitions range and an indoor shooting range.[15] This center focuses on providing joint and combined arms training. All branches of the U.S. Armed Forces train at the installation, and the installation has also hosted training of foreign allies, ranging from providing support for mobilizations to helping units train for deployment.[11]
The installation was named for Virginia native andConfederateLieutenant GeneralA. P. Hill.[11] Fort A.P. Hill was one of theU.S. Army installations named for Confederate soldiers to be recommended for renaming byThe Naming Commission.[16] Their recommendation was that the post be renamedFort Walker, after American abolitionist and Civil War surgeonMary Edwards Walker.[17] On 5 January 2023 William A. LaPlante, US under-secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment (USD (A&S)) directed the full implementation of the recommendations of the Naming Commission, DoD-wide.[18] The post was redesignated Fort Walker on 25 August 2023.[18][19][20]
In June 2025 it was announced that Fort Walker would be renamed toFort Anderson-Pinn-Hill, shortened as A.P. Hill, to honor three different Civil War soldiers who fought for the Union: PrivateBruce Anderson, First SergeantRobert A. Pinn, and Lieutenant ColonelEdward Hill.[21][22][23]
| Bruce Anderson | Robert A. Pinn | Edward Hill |
|---|---|---|
| No Photo Available |  |  |
On 12 June 2024 the U.S. ArmyCombat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) C5ISR demonstrated anti-mine capabilities during a robotic breaching exercise at Fort Walker.[24]
The Fort A.P. Hill garrison currently includes;[25]
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It is used year-round for military training of both active and reserve troops of theU.S. Army,U.S. Navy,U.S. Marine Corps, andU.S. Air Force, as well asReserve Officers' Training Corps cadets and other government agencies including the Departments of State and Interior,U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and federal, state, and local security and law enforcement agencies.[11]
The installation hosted theBoy Scouts of AmericaNational Scout Jamboree in 1981, 1985, 1989,1993, 1997, 2001,2005, and2010.[11] The number of participants each time included approximately 35,000 Boy Scouts and some 250,000 visitors. In 2013, the Boy Scouts moved the Jamboree to its new permanent home atSummit Bechtel Reserve high adventure camp inFayette County, West Virginia.
An episode ofWhat on Earth?, first shown on Discovery Channel as S8 E1 (8/27/20), features the site in an episode called "Zombietown USA".[26]
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