Flagship Sill: a power projection platform for 100-plus years

FA Journal, March-June, 2004 by Colonel G. Keith

Fort Sill, Oklahoma, was established in 1869 as a platform from which the United States Army could project military power throughout the Southwest. Today, 135 years later, Fort Sill has enhanced capabilities and developed state-of-the-art facilities to accommodate a significantly larger power projection footprint than "the Southwest."

Today, Fort Sill routinely deploys multiple units simultaneously by rail and air to military operations worldwide--strategically projecting military might quickly and cost effectively while ensuring Soldiers and their equipment are mission capable for training exercises or contingencies. Fort Sill is a flagship installation for projecting power, one of the Army's 16 Focus Areas for a Ready and Relevant Army at War.

For Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF and OIF) alone, Fort Sill has deployed more than 9,000 Soldiers and more than 69 million tons of equipment for both Active and Reserve Component (AC and RC) units with home stations from across the nation (as of March 2004). As the post mobilized/deployed detachment- to brigade-sized units with thousands of pieces of equipment to the Central Command theater, some 3,000 Soldiers redeployed through Fort Sill.

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Also during that same time frame, Fort Sill deployed troops and equipment for major training exercises, such as the 2d Infantry Division Warfighter and Ulchi Focus Lens exercises in Korea and a National Training Center rotation at Fort Irwin, California. One unique exercise certified the strategic deploy-ability of the 3d Brigade, 2d Infantry Division's Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT).

On 27-28 April 2003, an element of the SBCT arrived at Fort Sill by rail and truck. Just five days later, the SBCT's 600-plus personnel and 152 vehicles (including 60 of the 19-ton Stryker vehicles) deployed by air from Fort Sill's Henry Post Field. It took 45 C-17 sorties and only 46 hours to deploy them from Fort Sill to Fort Polk, Louisiana. The brigade was certified as deployable and is now in Iraq.

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Because of Fort Sill's access to transportation, facilities and services and the can-do attitude of its supporting directorates post-wide, the Chief of Staff of the Army recognized Fort Sill's outstanding power projection capabilities in recent years. His "Army Deployment Excellence Award" has been awarded twice since 2001--Fort Sill won the award one year and was First Runner Up the second.

Projecting Power Today--What It Takes. For the expeditionary Army, its deployment flagship must have access to transportation assets and large, efficient support facilities; plenty of billeting and motor pool space; and enough training facilities to accommodate multiple units mobilizing for deployment. Fort Sill has them all, and more.

* Fort Sill is geographically located within the footprint of significant numbers of III Corps units and in the heart of the nation, making it accessible by many AC and RC units. Not only FA units have deployed from Fort Sill, but also Engineer, Transportation, Military Police and Quartermaster from as far away as South Dakota and California. Units can deploy from Fort Sill in any direction by air and deploy by rail to the south, east or west coasts for ship embarkation.

* Air Transport--Fort Sill has access to multiple aerial transport facilities to deploy/redeploy personnel and equipment efficiently and effectively. Fort Sill accesses three airports: Henry Post Field on post, the Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport just 10 minutes away and Altus AFB that's 60 miles away. In 2003, Fort Sill's Unit Movement Office loaded about 140 planes with 1.1 million pounds of equipment and 6,000 military personnel for deployments. Because the Air Force schedules limited time on the ground for loading, Fort Sill ensured that departures would not be delayed due to loading; in 100 percent of the deployments, the planes were loaded and available for early departure.

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Henry Post Field's runway can accommodate C-17s or smaller aircraft (in ideal conditions, larger aircraft), and the airfield is convenient and easy as part of Fort Sill. It offers virtually unlimited space for deploying troops and equipment.

The Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport, only five miles away, is an excellent alternative for deploying forces. It can accommodate a wide variety of aircraft, including the C-5 Globemaster. Because of the one-of-a-kind partnership between Fort Sill and Lawton, including the Airport Authority, the airport is available 24/7. It has become the most frequent aerial port of embarkation/debarkation for forces deploying from or redeploying to Fort Sill. During the height of OIF deployments for combat operations, Fort Sill managed more than 100 aircraft through the Lawton Airport without a single mission delay.

Altus AFB in Altus, Oklahoma, is little more than an hour away and also can accommodate a wide variety of aircraft, including the C-5.

* Rail Transport--Fort Sill works with two major railroads to deploy troops and equipment quickly and cost effectively south, east and west for sea transport to theaters. Fort Sill works closely with the Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Railroad. This allows the post to take advantage of competitive pricing and deploy equipment more cheaply than surrounding power projection platforms. For example, it is cheaper to deploy a unit by rail from Fort Sill to the NTC than it is for Fort Hood to deploy the same-sized unit by rail to the NTC. Fort Sill's coordination with these two railroads provides more options for receiving empty railcars and a more efficient and timely flow of those cars.