Fort Drum

Fort Drum is a census-designated place and U.S. Army military reservation in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 12,955 at the 2010 census. It is home to the 10th Mountain Division.

Fort Drum consists of 107,265 acres and temperatures drop as low as -30 degrees. Its mission includes command of active component units assigned to the installation, provide administrative and logistical support to tenant units, support to tenant units, support to active and reserve units from all services in training at Fort Drum, and planning and support for the mobilization and training of almost 80,000 troops annually.

History

This section of the article incorporates text taken from a public-domain document prepared by the US military.

A portion of the present Fort Drum was purchased for use as a military training site since 1908, when it was named Pine Camp. However, the army's presence in the North Country may be traced back to the early 19th century.

In 1809 a company of infantry soldiers was stationed at Sackett's Harbor to enforce the Embargo Act and control smuggling between northern New York and Canada. Following the outbreak of the War of 1812, Sackett's Harbor became the center of United States naval and military activity for the Upper St. Lawrence River valley and Lake Ontario.

Fort Drum (El Fraile Island)

Fort Drum (El Fraile Island), also known as "the concrete battleship," is a heavily fortified island situated at the mouth of Manila Bay in the Philippines, due south of Corregidor Island. The reinforced concrete fortress shaped like a battleship was built by the United States in 1909 as one of the harbor defenses at the wider South Channel entrance to the bay during the American colonial period. It was captured and occupied by the Japanese during World War II, and was recaptured by the U.S. after igniting oil and gasoline in the fort, leaving it permanently out of commission.

The now abandoned fort was named after Brigadier General Richard C. Drum, who served with distinction during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War and died on October 15, 1909, the fort's year of construction. The island and the other former harbor defenses of Manila Bay fall under the jurisdiction of the City of Cavite in Cavite province.

Planning and design

The Board of Fortifications chaired by William H. Taft recommended that key harbors of territories acquired by the United States after the Spanish–American War be fortified. Consequently, El Fraile Island was fortified and incorporated into the harbor defenses, Manila and Subic Bays.

Fort Drum (disambiguation)

Fort Drum is a United States Army base in New York near the Canadian border.

Fort Drum may also refer to: