Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center

Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center is an Army National Guard installation in western Arkansas, adjacent to the city of Fort Smith. Established as Camp Chaffee in 1941, renamed to Fort Chaffee in 1956, Fort Chaffee has served as a United States Army base, training camp, prisoner-of-war camp, and refugee camp. The base was closed following the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission round. Since that time, the Arkansas National Guard has been using 66,000 acres as a training facility. The State of Arkansas received 6000 acres, about half of which have been redeveloped as of 2014. The main environmental concern has been asbestos, released during various fires.LocationFort Chaffee is just outside Fort Smith (Sebastian County) and Barling (Sebastian County) on Arkansas Highway 22, one mile (1.6 km) southeast of Fort Smith Regional Airport. The Arkansas River flows eastward along its northern border and Interstate 40 is five miles (8 km) to the north on the opposite side of the river.HistoryFort Chaffee was originally named Camp Chaffee. The camp was named after Major General Adna R. Chaffee Jr., an artillery officer who, in Europe during World War I, determined that the cavalry was outmoded and, unlike other cavalry officers, advocated for the use of tanks.