Fort Hamilton

Fort Hamilton is a historical US Army garrison located in Brooklyn, New York. It is surrounded by multiple communities and one of the few US bases actually located in cities with such an importance. The mission is simple. It aims to deal with the National Guard and the reserve squads in New York. It is among the oldest bases in this area.

History

The history dates back to 1776, when a small group of American fighters opened fire on a British convoy willing to suppress the American forces starting a local revolution. It was not such a major fight, but the first active military role of this spot. The actual construction began in 1825. It took the natives over 6 years to build the place. After spending more than half a million USD – a huge amount of money at those times, the fort was ready to be used and see its first units coming. Throughout the Civil War, the fort allied with a close one – Fort Wadsworth – in defending the small gulf against the Confederate army.

Time passed by and since those times, the objectives and mission of Fort Hamilton didn’t change too much. The place was used as a training spot during all the important wars of the last century – World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. In the modern years, it represented a training base for the reserve units. At the same time, its location didn’t give it too much space for expansion and major improvements. Instead, it was stuck with protecting the metropolitan area of New York.

In the popular culture, the fort is mentioned throughout “Word of Honor”, one of Nelson DeMille’s novels.

Units

Three major units inhabited the fort throughout its history. The 5-th Coast Artillery was established here in 1924. It stayed here for a few years, then the fort was used for temporary deployments. In 1861 and 1862, the fort was inhabited by the 12-th Infantry Regiment and the 21-st Infantry Regiment. Ever since then, its purpose and objectives were relatively small for a US base. Therefore, no major units were hosted here, but just locals.

Housing

The Balfour Beatty Communities, which is also responsible with the housing system for other forts, is the most appropriate office to call for accommodation. It deals with both on site and off site accommodation. It mostly deals with married soldiers willing to relocate here with their families. Those who get here alone must check out the sponsor automatically assigned by the community.

Since Fort Hamilton is located in a city, finding off site accommodation is just as easy. It is safe and reliable and sometimes the facilities are better, not to mention the normal life idea soldiers get while living in regular communities. The prices are higher though. While relocated on site, the troops benefit from multiple facilities and services.

Other than that, try to set up your housing opportunities before actually arriving in the area.