Fort Devens

As one of the less active forts on the US territory, Fort Devens is spread over 5000 acres and is part of two different cities – Shirley and Ayer. At the same time, one of its training bases for the reserve troops is spread over Lancaster. The place is named in the memory of Charles Devens, one of the Civil War heroes. Its history saw an interesting moment in the 20-th century. The authorities decided to close it in 1995. Interestingly enough, it was opened again the next day, but with a different purpose and turned into a training base for reserve soldiers. Its current name was given in 2007.

The fort is currently run by 306 enlisted troops. There are also over 2000 reserve soldiers, more than 300 civilians employed and over 400 families. Although the population is not very impressive, the facilities are numerous and varied. The fort includes 21 training bases, 15 maneuver bases and 25 ranges. It is built and run by the US Army. It is also partially open to the public.

History

The place used to be known as Camp Devens and was raised in 1917, with the simple purpose to deal with the training activities for the troops to be sent in World War I. If it also dealt with the recruiting operations, once the war ended it was turned into a demobilization service. The camp was a temporary solution for the US Army. It became a permanent military base in 1931 only.

In 1940, prior to World War II, the camp was taken through a series of advanced improvements. The authorities built over 1200 wooden buildings and a professional airport. The camp also served as a recruitment center. During World War II, a specific area in the fort was used to host Japanese, German and Italian war prisoners.

While the USA were involved in the Vietnam War, Fort Devens was the target of multiple anti-war organizations. One of them opened a large bookstore against the war in the close borderland.

These days, the place is no longer active. It is used by the reserve troops only. With all these, the US Army announced the plans to build a new training base in 2008. In 2011, some of the citizens made a petition to turn the fort into a town. If accepted, this would be the 32-nd town of Massachusetts.

Units

There are about 10 units and tenant units hosted at Fort Devens. Among them, you can count the 366-th Military Police Detachment, the 94-th Regional Readiness Command, small parts of the 2-nd Battalion and the 3-rd Battalion and the 3411-th Military Intelligence Detachment.

Housing

The relocation office is the one responsible with the housing opportunities at Fort Devens. The most appropriate housing option here is off site, in the surrounding human communities. You are also free to try the privatized system, but it is not as efficient as the army operated one. The best idea before getting here is to get in touch with the office early.