Fort Bliss
Note: For the 'town in Texas, see Fort Bliss, Texas.
Fort Bliss is the home of the United States Army Air Defense Center, located 70 miles (110 km) to the south of the White Sands Missile Range in Texas. Fort Bliss was staffed in 1849 to guard El Paso. It was originally located along the banks of the Rio Grande, overlooking Mexico, but was later moved northeastward 10 miles (16 km) to its current location. To this day, the walls of the Fort Bliss Officers Club still contain adobe bricks from over a century ago, and the installation has survived, in contrast to Fort Selden, 45 miles (72 km) to the northwest, which is crumbling back into desert.
Fort Bliss is home to a large number of maintenance crews and supply units, and serves as one of the Army's premier bases for test driving tanks and other equipment. The fort also house thousands of military vehicles, among them all the equipment needed to set up Patriot missile sites. The fort also monitors missile launches conducted by White Sands Missile Range. The base is the size of Rhode Island, encompassing approximately 1,177,000 acres (4,760 km²). In the post 9-11 era Fort Bliss has served as one of the major deployment centers for troops bound for Iraq and Afghanistan. Included on the fort is Biggs Army Airfield, which was the site for the return of the 507th Maintenance Company, also based at Fort Bliss.
The Fort is named for Lieutenant Colonel William Bliss, who was a son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor.
