Helmer Swenholt - Between Wars / Corps of Engineers

Between Wars / Corps of Engineers

He was assigned in 1922 to Camp Humphreys, Gary, Indiana, with the engineers in the regular army. He was a Federal instructor with the National Guard unit of Indiana. In one incident his car caught fire but no one was injured. In 1928 he moved to New Orleans where he was assigned to the River and Harbor Engineer District Office. In 1930 he went to Panama where he worked with the Eleventh Engineers for two years. He was assigned in 1932 to Fort Dupont, Delaware, to organize the Civilian Conservation Corps units to provide housing, food, and medical care in the U.S. National Forest Service in the National Forests in Idaho. There was a brief period in 1932 where the War Department considered retiring Colonel Swenholt (with many other officers) during a time when there was a military downsizing . This did not happen and Swenholt remained in the Army. In 1935 he was ordered back to Dupont, Delaware, and to Oakland, California, where he was assigned to the Topographic Engineers at Fort Stevens, Oregon, to map various areas in three states along the Pacific Coast. In 1937 he mapped Centralia, Washington and Fort Barry, California, for the same company (Company A, 29th U.S. Engineers. This was one of the first times the airplane was used to make ground maps by making photographs and the Army was working in conjunction with the Coast Survey and Geodetic Survey departments to map this part of the country. In September 1938 Swenholt was assigned to command the District Engineer Office, Omaha, Nebraska. One of their assignments was to stabilize the banks of the Mississippi by sinking pilings along the northern edge of Omaha in an effort to change the channel. In early 1941 when the Army foresaw the need to begin armament, Major Swenholt's command was assigned the task of relocating roads, railroads and sewer lines in preparation for building the plant which would make the Martin B-26 Bomber. Bids for building the plant (estimated to be $10M) were solicited February 9, 1941. The plant was known as the Fort Crook Bomber Plant. Groundbreaking was Monday March 3, 1941 with Major Swenholt turning the first shovelful of dirt. Glenn Martin attended the event. Swenholt was to supervise the construction of the plant.