Fort Riley
Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Geary and Riley counties.[1] The portion of the fort that contains housing development is part of the Fort Riley census-designated place, with a residential population of 7,761 as of the 2010 census.[2] The fort has a daytime population of nearly 25,000. The ZIP Code is 66442.
Fort Riley
Namesake[edit]
Fort Riley is named in honor of Major General Bennet C. Riley, who led the first military escort along the Santa Fe Trail. The fort was established in 1853 as a military post to protect the movement of people and trade over the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe trails. In the years after the Civil War, Fort Riley served as a major United States Cavalry post and school for cavalry tactics and practice. The post was a base for skirmishes with Native Americans after the Civil War ended in 1865, during which time George A. Custer was stationed at the fort.
United States Cavalry School[edit]
In 1887, Fort Riley became the site of the United States Cavalry School. The famous all-black 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments, the soldiers of which were called "Buffalo Soldiers", were stationed at Fort Riley at various times in the 19th and early 20th centuries. During World War I, the fort was home to 50,000 soldiers. Since the end of World War II, various infantry divisions have been assigned there. Most notably, from 1970 to 1996 the post was home to the famed 1st Infantry Division, also called "Big Red One". Between 1999 and 2006, the post was headquarters to the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) and known as "America's Warfighting Center". In August 2006, the Big Red One relocated its headquarters to Fort Riley from Leighton Barracks, Germany.
Camp Whitside is named in honor of Brigadier General Samuel M. Whitside, who served as commander of Company B, 6th Cavalry Regiment, at Fort Riley, between the years of 1871 and 1874.
Environmental contamination[edit]
The Fort Riley site has contaminated groundwater stemming from years of improper waste disposal. Wastes at the site include pesticides, vinyl chloride, solvents, perchloroethylene (PCE) and other volatile organic compounds. The United States Environmental Protection Agency listed Fort Riley as a Superfund site in 1990. Major cleanup activities at the site took place in the 1990s, while environmental monitoring of the site continues as of 2017.[12]
Irwin Army Hospital[edit]
A year after the post was established in 1853, a temporary hospital was constructed near the present day Post/Cavalry Museum and Patton Hall on the main post. A permanent hospital, which is now the Post/Cavalry Museum, was built in 1855 with a clock tower added in 1890. The second hospital replaced the 1855 hospital in 1888 and is now Post Headquarters. A third hospital was built in 1941 at Camp Whitside and named Cantonment Hospital, later Station Hospital. The second hospital remained as an annex until 1957. The fourth hospital (now known as the "Legacy Hospital") was dedicated in 1958, and a new facility on the site of the previous Station Hospital opened in 2016. The Legacy and current hospitals were named after Brigadier General Bernard John Dowling Irwin "The Fighting Doctor" who won the Medal of Honor for distinguished gallantry in action during an engagement with the Chiricahua Indians near Apache Pass, Arizona Territory, in February 1861.[13] As of 2016 the hospital has 47 beds and is staffed by 45 physicians.[14]