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  • October

    General George S. Patton worked with the Los Angeles District in 1942 to develop the first iteration of the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, then known as the Desert Training Center-California Arizona Manuever Area. The official history of the 773rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, which was among the first units to train at DTC-CAMA, described the area as: "The world's largest Army post and the greatest training manuever area in the U.S. military history. Eighteen thousand square miles of nothing in a desert designed for Hell." More than one million men experienced the Desert Training Area's version of "hell" before the post was closed in 1944. This illustration by Bill Fleming, appeared in "Did You Know? Vol. II," a historical guide developed by the District historian in 1975.

    Did You Know? LA District has a long history with Fort Irwin

    LOS ANGELES--The National Training Center was officially activated on Oct. 16, 1980, making the current incarnation of the sprawling Fort Irwin 33 years old. But did you know that the Los Angeles District worked under the direction of Gen. George S. Patton Jr. to procure the land to build an early and more vast version of NTC—then known as the Desert Training Center-California-Arizona Maneuver Area—in 1942?