In order to understand the origins of Fort Hood, one must understand where the U.S. was in 1942. The country had just entered World War II, and the military was analyzing the strength of their main opponent in the European theater of the war, Germany. As the German war machine operated in large part because of the strength of their massive ground assault led by their tanks, according to Military Wikia, the U.S. developed tank destroyers to combat the Germans, and they needed a wide and open land to test and train these destroyers. Killeen, Texas, was selected as the new spot.
Named after Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood, the original plan for Fort Hood was a 100,000-acre post in central Texas. By the end of their second year, another 51,000 acres were added, according to FT Hood Housing. During the war, Fort Hood housed about 40,000 troops and 4,000 prisoners of war. Following WWII, that number decreased to about 11,000. Still, the rest of the 20th century saw plenty of conflicts that needed soldiers stationed at the fort. In 1950, Fort Hood officially became a permanent base.
According to the Army's official website, the fort continued to train for heavy, mounted warfare, such as tanks. Soldiers have been deployed from the fort throughout the decades, from Korea to Iraq. Veteran Aid reports that Fort Hood is the third largest military base in the U.S., as of 2016, behind only Fort Bragg and Fort Campbell.
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