Benning, Fort

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BENNING, FORT

BENNING, FORT. Camp Benning (redesignated as Fort Benning in 1922), named for the Confederate general Henry L. Benning, was established near Columbus, Georgia, during World War I. By consolidation of three smaller military training schools in Kansas, California, and Oklahoma, a model infantry school was established at Benning in 1920. In 1941 the alleged lynching of Private Felix Hall at Fort Benning raised troubling questions about race relations in a segregated military. By the 1950s Fort Benning had emerged as the nation's foremost infantry training center. In the early 2000s it housed a number of active regiments, the National Infantry Museum, and the U.S. Army Infantry School, where soldiers learn everything from basic combat training to high-tech surveillance. The base also housed the controversial School of the Americas, dedicated to inter-American military cooperation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bridges, Connie, Richard Brill, Terry Ray, and Jennifer St. Onge. The History of Fort Benning: Diamond Jubilee, 1918–1993. Columbus, Ga.: The Advertiser Company, 1994.

Robert S.Thomas/a. r.

See alsoArmy, United States ; Military Service and Minorities: African Americans ; Rangers .

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Fort Benning

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