------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/starc-ar.htm Downloaded 3 April 2003 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Camp Robinson's colorful history dates back to 1917 and the closing days of World War I. In 1917, the War Department contracted for the construction of a huge new post to be named Camp Pike in honor of the soldier and explorer, Zebulon Pike. On 26 August 1937, the state renamed the post Camp Joseph T. Robinson, in honor of U. S. Senator Joseph Taylor Robinson from Arkansas. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: http://www.hnd.usace.army.mil/oew/factshts/factshts/robinson.pdf Downloaded 19 February 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Camp Joseph T. Robinson Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) GENERAL PROJECT INFORMATION Site Name: Camp Joseph T. Robinson Site Number: K06AR002900 City/County/State: North Little Rock /Faulkner & Pulaski/Arkansas SITE DESCRIPTION The former Camp Robinson is located just north of and bordering the city of North Little Rock. The four major areas are located on the perimeter of the current Camp Robinson. SITE HISTORY In 1917, the United States acquired 6,000 acres for use as an encampment known as Camp Pike. In 1937, Camp Pike was renamed Camp Joseph T. Robinson. During World War II, Camp Robinson expanded to 48,188 acres and was used for basic training and to house German Prisoners of War. Camp Robinson was declared surplus after World War II and in August 1950, 32,884 acres were conveyed to the Military Department of the State of Arkansas. The remaining 15,304 acres were disposed of as follows: 571 acres to the city of North Little Rock for an airport, 365 acres conveyed to Central Baptist College, 870 acres conveyed to the city of North Little Rock for a park, and 13,465 acres conveyed to private ownerships. DOD retained 31 acres for a U.S. Army Reserve Center. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: http://www.arngmuseum.com/CJTRWWII.htm Downloaded 19 February 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Camp Robinson - WWII Construction on Camp Robinson began on September 9, 1940. The camp was originally designed as a tent-barracks regimented cantonment for 25,000 soldiers with headquarters and administration buildings, hospital, railroads and warehouses, communications, roads and all utilities. The camp was built by MacDonald Construction Company and G.L. Tarlton Contractor, Inc., St. Louis, Missouri. Construction was completed on March 31, 1941 at a cost of over $11,500,000. Of this, $4,500,000 was spent on labor and $6,000,000 on material. The balance was spent on rental of equipment and engineer and contractor fees. At the peak of construction, December, 1940, the contractors had approximately 10,000 workers on site. Camp Robinson embraced a total of 44,000 acres. This included the 6,000 acres that the US owned and the balance was either leased or acquired through condemnation proceedings. When completed, the camp consisted of 6,763 buildings, including 5,425 hutments. These were the primary quarters for soldiers at Camp Robinson. They consisted of a 16ı x 16ı wooden floor with a wooden frame. The bottom half of the walls were wood siding; the upper half were screened with canvas flaps. The roofs were originally canvas, but were replaced with wood and tar paper in late 1941. They were heated by a gas fired stove and had one electrical outlet. Although not yet complete, the camp began receiving troop on January 2, 1941. By January 7, 1941 there were 16,000 troops on the camp. These were soldiers from the 35th Division and the 153rd Infantry Regiment. The 35th Division left Camp Robinson during the latter part of 1941. After additional training on both the east and west coasts, the Division saw service with the Third Army in the European theater from July 6, 1944 to the conclusion of hostilities on May 7, 1945. The 92nd Infantry Division was activated at Camp Robinson on October 15, 1942. The 92nd was the last division of the segregated Army. All enlisted personnel and about one-half of the officers were black. The division left Camp Robinson in May of 1943. After additional training at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, the Division fought in Italy from August 1944 until the warıs end. The 66th Infantry Division arrived at Camp Robinson on August 17, 1943 and stayed until April 7, 1944. After a brief period at Camp Rucker, Alabama the division entered France at Cherbourg on December 25, 1944. While crossing the English Channel, the division lost 762 soldiers to German submarines. The division saw service in the coastal sector of France until the end of the war. A Branch Immaterial Replacement Training Center (BIRTC) was located on Camp Robinson in early 1942. Its purpose was to train soldiers in basic infantry skills to prepare them for combat, regardless of their specialty. For administrative purposes ,the BIRTC was organized as five regiments, each with three battalions of four companies. A company would typically have 270 trainees, meaning the BIRTC had a capacity of training 16,200 soldiers at a time. The BIRTC was organized into five training regiments, the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th. Each training regiment consisted of three battalions; the 51st, 52nd and 53rd in the 11th; the 56th, 57th and 58th in the 12th; the 61st, 62nd and 63rd in the 13th; the 66th 67th and 68th in the 14th and the 71st, 72nd and 73rd in the 15th. The BIRTC was converted to an Infantry Replacement Training Center in January of 1943. The training cycle was originally eight weeks, but was expanded to double that in 1943. However, world events often dictated that the training cycle be shortened to fill man power needs. A Medical Replacement Training Center (MRTC) operated at Camp Robinson from 1942 to 1944. Its purpose was to train soldiers as medical personnel. The MRTC consisted of three regiments, the 21st, 22nd and 23rd. The 21st had two battalions - the 101st and 102nd. The other regiments had three battalions each - the 103rd, 104th and 105th in the 22nd and the 106th, 107th and 108th in the 23rd. Each company had 270 personnel, giving the MRTC a capacity of 13,500 trainees. Like the BIRTC, the MRTCıs training cycle started out at eight weeks, but was later doubled; however, that cycle was often shortened if medics were needed quickly. In 1944, the BIRTC was replaced by an Infantry Replacement Training Center, and was expanded by changing the MRTC units to Infantry training units. When the reorganization was complete, the Infantry Replacement Training Center was authorized 878 officers and 4,024 enlisted soldiers and had a training capacity of 21,000. Training continued until 1946. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcribed by Paul M. Webber on 3 April 2003 Home Page: http://home.pcisys.net/~pwebber/31_id/rtw.htm