History
After the onset of World War II, the US War Department decided to add a number of new bases. Fort Rucker (situated on 58,000 acres (235 km2) of sub-marginal farmland, and formerly a wildlife refuge) was opened the 1st of May in 1942 as "Camp Rucker", and had quarters for 3,280 Officers and 39,461 Enlisted Personnel. It was deactivated following the war, then reopened during the Korean War. After another short deactivation, it was again reopened and expanded when it became a helicopter training base. The name was changed to "Fort Rucker" in October 1955.
Hanchey Army Heliport became the home of the Department of Rotary Wing Training of the Army Aviation School on 5 October 1959, marking the first time the Department was centralized.
While serving in the Army, Al Gore was stationed at Fort Rucker before his five-month deployment in the Vietnam War.
The 81st Division (Wild Cat) was the first unit activated at Camp Rucker on June 15, 1942. The 81st received equipment, personnel and trained here before shipping out to the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) Other units passed through and called Camp Rucker home before shipping overseas, these included the 35th, 66th and 98th Infantry Divisions. The 91st and 94th Infantry Divisions were inactivated at Camp Rucker.
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