"The Signal Corps is the only department in the United States Army that has experimented with motor wagons…one has just been sent to Manila to be used as a supply wagon for the corps, and the others are being used at Fort Myer, Virginia."
Some may think this is a recent headline, especially when considering that JBM-HH was the first Department of Defense installation to adopt new electric cars as part of its official fleet on Jan. 13, 2009; but this is actually an article that appeared in The Automobile Trade Magazine on Feb. 6, 1901.
Surprisingly, the U.S. Army long ago experimented with three "new" electric automobiles and a charging station on then-Fort Myer, 108 years before these cars were officially adopted.
In 1901, the base was evaluating electric autos' efficiency and value; specifically, the longevity of battery charges and electric auto performance in hostile conditions, such as suitability for the vicious counterinsurgency campaign waged in the jungles of the Philippine-American War from 1899-1902.
However, this interesting fact is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to JBM-HH's rich history of innovation, and more importantly, its larger contributions to the mechanization and reorganization of the U.S. Army.
As you will read here, and in the third and final History of Innovation article next month, JBM-HH has and will continue to play a critical role in our military's innovation history.
Early Mechanization Innovation
JBM-HH has played a part in U.S. Army mechanization since the dawn of motorized cars.
A Motor Way Magazine article, dated May 3, 1906, optimistically cites the U.S. Army's first ever evaluation of new, motorized military ambulances on Fort Myer: "This employment of a motor vehicle in the transportation of wounded Soldiers is as yet something of an experiment, but the trials of the new apparatus conducted within the past few weeks at Fort Myer, Virginia, indicate that this novelty will prove an unqualified success."
In contrast, another article in The Power Wagon magazine, dated May 17, 1906, more shrewdly highlights the electric auto's benefit to "administrative officers" for how much "saving might be accomplished, through the employment of motor wagons," versus the current "throngs of horses and drivers."
Mechanization and Cavalry
Fort Myer was the showcase of the U.S. Cavalry from 1887-1942. Per General Order No. 42, the Commanding General of the Army, Gen. Philip Sheridan, officially designated Fort Myer a cavalry post on July 6, 1887.
Although several cavalry units would rotate through Fort Myer, to include elements of the famous 10th Cavalry Regiment "Buffalo Soldiers," it would be the 3rd Cavalry, whom former General of the Army Winfield Scott called the "Brave Rifles" in 1847, that would call Fort Myer its home for the longest period.
After the 3rd Cavalry's foray in Cuba during the Spanish American War of 1898, they would occupy Fort Myer in 1899, then again be summoned for action in the Philippine-American War in 1899.
After the trench horrors of World War I, an intense debate raged inside the Army regarding the cavalry and its proper place amidst the dawn of war-machines. Following the growing use of motorized vehicles and tanks in the later part of the war, military traditionalists and new-age visionaries collided.
Ideas ranged from outright replacing the cavalry with armored vehicles on one side, to fielding completely separate armor and cavalry units entirely. Even the role of the cavalry was called into question: How suitable could the cavalry continue to be in performing reconnaissance and interdiction missions when compared to the growing capabilities of mechanized forces?
Gen. George S. Patton
Assigned to Fort Myer four times throughout his career, Gen. George Patton served as a squadron commander in the 3rd Cavalry from 1920-1922, and would play a key role in shaping U.S. senior military leaders' thoughts about the future of cavalry and mechanized forces.
Although a staunch and accomplished cavalry officer by trade, Patton was also an admirer of famed British "machine warfare" thinker Maj. Gen. John Frederick Charles "Boney" Fuller.
Patton became the first officer transferred into the U.S. Army's new Tank Corps in 1917, and throughout the 1920's, wrote prolifically about his mechanized experience in the First World War, offering his thoughts about the future of armored warfare.
Adeptly using his time on Fort Myer, Patton targeted influential senior leaders and venues to promote his ideas with numerous articles and speaking engagements.
Patton advanced his view of armor's role in the same context as famed U.S. cavalry generals of old, including Gen. Jeb Stuart and Gen. Philip Sheridan, who advocated the cavalry's independent nature, emphasizing speed, mobility, and surprise, versus the set-piece firepower approach favored by Patton's infantry officer peers.
By the late 1920's, Fort Myer became a prominent stage for the innovation of mechanization, when the Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Charles Summerall, established the first-ever Provisional Platoon, 1st Armored Car Troop here on Feb. 15, 1928.
Patton's influential writings and Washington, D.C., engagements undoubtedly influenced perspectives and can be traced to aspects of the March 1928 Chief of Staff of the Army Memorandum, which lays out guidance on how mechanized forces should be organized, integrated, and employed.
Assigned to Fort Myer as the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Cavalry commander from 1932-1935, and from 1938-1940 as the 3rd Cavalry commander, Patton continued to advance the utility of mechanized warfare and advocated for its speed in blunting an adversary's momentum.
He also advocated the use of mechanized forces to surprise an enemy and achieve tactical advantage. Both notions became decisive concepts during World War II, as Patton commanded his famed Third Army on their historic blitz across Europe. No doubt, Fort Myer played a key role in the innovation of mechanized ideas and tactics.
Innovation in Education
Until World War I, each branch of service had separate professional education and development paths for service members, which operated more or less independently from one another.
However, after the World War I, Army leadership saw the need to integrate private industry and broader commercial technologies when exploring future warfare.
Established in 1924, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (now Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy) sought to better integrate the levers of industrial power with traditional martial capabilities, thus creating broader strategies for national security.
After World War II, this trend would continue, as the need for joint, combined, and interagency education towards warfare grew. As a result, JBM-HH became the home for innovative thinking and education in all of these areas, and new institutions were established on Fort McNair, including the National Defense University, National War College, and Armed Forces Staff College.
Innovation in Reorganization
JBM-HH has played a key role in the reorganization of critical Army functions. Months after the outbreak of World War II, the Military District of Washington (MDW) was established to defend the nation's capital, and through subsequent decades, would become the center of gravity for military reorganization in the nation's capital.
MDW now has command and control over the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard); The U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own;" the MDW Air Operations Group; U.S. Army Priority Air Transport; the 12th Aviation Battalion; MDW Engineer Company; Fort Meade, Maryland; JBM-HH; Fort Belvoir; and Fort A.P. Hill.
In addition, as of 2004, MDW is the Joint Force Headquarters--National Capital Region (JFHQ-NCR) responsible for safeguarding the nation's capital and defense support to civil authorities. JFHQ-NCR covers approximately 2,500 square miles and comprises Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, and Coast Guard service members and assets.
JFHQ-NCR is part of a team of local and federal agencies and aligns military resources to integrate them effectively in a coordinated, national response to assist civilian authorities to national emergencies, such as a catastrophic natural or man-made disaster.
This one-of-a-kind, cross-governmental relationship drew recognition in 2007 from the Harvard University School of Government's "Innovations in American Government" program and is a model case study for successful inter-departmental organizations.
Finally, on Oct. 1, 2009, the historic U.S. Army bases of Fort Myer and Fort McNair, and Henderson Hall, Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps, were merged into one installation (JBM-HH) as a result of the Base Closure and Realignment Act of 2005.
Of significance, JBM-HH is one of only two joint bases in the entire U.S. Army to be managed and commanded by the U.S. Army. Likewise, it is only one of 12 joint bases in the entire DoD. Even today, JBM-HH is a model of innovation and continues to make history.
Editor's Note:
The Pentagram will publish occasional columns by writer Col. Patrick Duggan, JBM-HH's commander. This is the second in a series of stories intended to provide context to the policies, endeavors and rich history of innovation of JBM-HH.
Part 1 of the "History of Innovation" series was published in the July 21, 2016 edition of the Pentagram and is available online at http://go.usa.gov/xgX4H.
Related Links:
Joint Base Meyer-Henderson Hall
Mechanization and Reorganization: A History of Innovation (Part 1 of 3)
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