Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. With an area of about 1,700 square miles (4,400 km2), it is the Army's second-largest installation, behind the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. It is FORSCOM's (United States Army Forces Command) largest installation, and has the Army's largest Maneuver Area (992,000 acres) behind the National Training Center. Part of the post in El Paso County, Texas, is a census-designated place (CDP); it had a population of 8,591 at the 2010 census. Fort Bliss provides the largest contiguous tract (1,500 sq mi, 3,900 km2) of virtually unrestricted airspace in the Continental United States. The airspace is used for missile and artillery training and testing .
Fort Bliss is home to the 1st Armored Division, which returned to US soil in 2011, after 40 years in Germany. The division is supported by the 15th Sustainment Brigade. The installation is also home to the 32nd Army Air & Missile Defense Command, the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, the 212th Fires Brigade, and the 402nd Field Artillery Brigade.
The headquarters for the El Paso Intelligence Center, a federal tactical operational intelligence center, is hosted at Fort Bliss. Its DoD (United States Department of Defense) counterpart, Joint Task Force North, is at Biggs Army Airfield. Biggs Field, a military airport located at Fort Bliss, is designated a military power projection platform.
Fort Bliss National Cemetery is located on the post. The fort is named for Mexican-American War soldier William Wallace Smith Bliss.
Read more about Fort Bliss: History, Today, Local Impact of Fort Bliss, Geography, Demographics
Famous quotes containing the words fort and/or bliss:
“The newspapers are the ruling power. Any other government is reduced to a few marines at Fort Independence. If a man neglects to read the Daily Times, government will go down on its knees to him, for this is the only treason these days.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“These two
Imparadised in one another’s arms,
The happier Eden, shall enjoy their fill
Of bliss on bliss.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)