About Fort Stewart

Fort Stewart is the largest U.S. Army Installation east of the Mississippi River, encompassing approximately 279,000 acres of southeastern Georgia in portions of Bryan, Evans, Liberty, Long, and Tattnall counties.  Fort Stewart is one of only three armor and artillery training areas in the nation with adequate land area to support training troops and maneuver exercises that closely simulate real-life battle conditions.  Tanks, field artillery, helicopter gunnery, and small arms ranges can operate simultaneously throughout the year because of the Installation’s vast acreage, terrain, and mild climate.  Situated within 50 miles of the seaport at Savannah, Georgia, it is the only facility of this type offering rapid access for deployment via a deep-water port on the Atlantic coast.

The continental U.S. has 15 Army power projection platforms, of which Fort Stewart (FSGA) and Hunter Army Airfield (HAAF) is the Army’s premier heavy force power projection platform on the East Coast.  These mobilization sites can have the ability to deploy high-priority active component brigades or larger and to deploy high-priority Army reserve component units. Working hand-in-hand, Fort Stewart/HAAF serves as the home of the most highly trained and rapidly deployable mechanized force in the world: the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), and “Iron Fist” of the XVIII Airborne corps.  These assets combined with the ideal location are capable of deploying units such as the heavy armored forces of the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) or the elite light fighters of the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.

HAAF encompasses approximately 5,600 acres lying entirely within Chatham County, Georgia; it is south of the city of Savannah and 25 miles northeast of Fort Stewart proper.  HAAF is the home base of operations for the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) Aviation Brigade, several other Army battalions (e.g., Rangers, special operations, and military intelligence), Georgia Air National Guard (Tactical Control Squadron), Navy (for P-3 training), and U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Savannah.  Currently, approximately 5,000 active duty personnel are assigned with varying missions, including Installation support, aviation support, military intelligence, air traffic control, and airfield operations.

HAAF first became an airfield in 1929 to serve as the future site of the Savannah Municipal Airport.  However, in 1940 the U.S. government approved construction of an Army Air Corps base and in 1941 the Savannah Air Base opened.  During World War II, the air base supported all types of bomber, fighter, transport, and cargo aircraft.  In 1948, the 2nd Bomb Wing moved from Arizona to Savannah (to the Chatham Field or what is now the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport); it moved to Hunter Field in 1950.  Bombers dominated the airfield throughout the 1950s and most of the 1960s, until management of the field transferred from the Air Force to the Army in 1967.  From that time forward, helicopters have represented the majority of the aircraft found at the airfield.  In 1973, HAAF went into caretaker status but in 1975 was reopened as a support facility for the reactivated mechanized infantry division at Fort Stewart.  In 1980, the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) became part of the nation’s rapid deployment force and for Fort Stewart, the combination of Savannah’s deep ports and HAAF’s long runway make this region the ideal location for rapid deployment of troops and heavy mechanized equipment.  No significant potential effects will occur at HAAF as a result of the projects and other actions analyzed and discussed in the Fort Stewart Training Range and Garrison Support Facilities Construction and Operation Environmental Impact Statement; therefore, HAAF will not be discussed in detail in the EIS or its supporting documents.  Although the EIS will not address the potential effects of the projects on HAAF itself, it will capture the potential effects of the Soldiers and their Families living at HAAF but conducting training and recreational use of the lands comprising Fort Stewart. Please note this assumption throughout relevant portions of the EIS and supporting documents.