Page 16 - Armed Forces Fort George G. Meade Base Guide - Summer/Fall 2024

WELCOME

The nearest MARC stations to Fort Meade are the BWI Rail Station, Around 1923, the famed tank-riding dog, Old Joe, befriended
the Odenton Station and Savage Station. For more information, Soldiers who manned the 66th Infantry’s light tanks. Joe became the
visit www.mta.maryland.gov/marc-station-information 66th Infantry’s official pet by order of the commanding officer of Fort
Meade and acquired fame by becoming the Army’s only tank-riding
Airport: Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall dog. Joe died in 1937 at the post hospital. The entire 66th Infantry
Airport (BWI) is in Anne Arundel County approximately 10 miles honored Joe with a military formation and a procession of tanks.
from post and is the closest airport to Fort Meade. Other airports Military trucks escorted Joe to a grave near one of the tank parks.
in the area include Dulles International Airport (Northern Virginia)
and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (Washington, D.C.). World War II
Regional Transit Authority Fort Meade became a training center during World War II, and its
ranges and other facilities were used by more than 200 units and
The Regional Transit Authority (RTA) manages public transit services approximately 3.5 million Soldiers between 1942 and 1946. The
in Howard, Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties and the city wartime peak of military personnel at Fort Meade was 70,000 in
of Laurel. RTA provides a free one-call/one-click transportation March 1945.
information clearinghouse for the Baltimore-Washington region.
Through the Transportation Resource Information Point (TRIP) you Fort Meade was home to many services. The Cooks and Bakers
can find all public transportation schedules and fare information School supplied bread for the entire post—approximately 20,000
for the Baltimore Metropolitan region. Call 1-877-331-TRIP (8747) people, including families. In 1942, the Third Service Command
for assistance. The RTA services to Fort Meade from the Odenton opened the Special Services Unit Training Center, where Soldiers
MARC station are served by the Crofton Connector. See the were trained in all phases of the entertainment field. Entertainers,
schedule at https://www.aacounty.org/transportation/transit/ musicians, and others involved in the entertainment industry,
routes-service-hours. including swing-band leader Glenn Miller, served in Special Services.

Fort Meade History Fort Meade was also home to a number of German and Italian
prisoners of war. In September 1943, a group of 1,632 Italian and
Named for Civil War Hero 58 German prisoners arrived at Fort Meade. Some of those prisoners
died during captivity and were buried on the installation.
Originally called Camp Meade, the base was authorized by an Act
of Congress in May 1917 as one of 16 cantonments built for troops Post World War II
drafted for World War I. The present Maryland site was selected June
23, 1917 because of its proximity to three railroads, Baltimore’s ports, With the conclusion of World War II, Fort Meade reverted to
peacetime activities. One key post-World War II event at Fort Meade
and Washington, D.C. The cost for construction was $18 million,
and the land sold for $37 per acre in 1917. More than 15,000 men was the transfer from Baltimore, on June 15, 1947, of the Second
U.S. Army Headquarters. This transfer brought an acceleration
were involved in the construction of 1200 wooden buildings
that housed more than 400,000 men who deployed through the of post activity because Second Army Headquarters exercised
command over Army units throughout a seven-state area. A
camp on their way to France. In addition to troops, Camp Meade
included a remount station which held 12,000 horses, mules, and a second important development occurred Jan. 1, 1966, when the
Second U.S. Army merged with First U.S. Army. The consolidated
blacksmith school. The 5,400 acres of land on which Fort Meade sits
was originally owned by Maj. Samuel Snowden, a Revolutionary War headquarters moved from Fort Jay, NY to Fort Meade to administer
hero. Camp Meade was named in honor of Maj. Gen. George Gordon activities of Army installations in a 15-state area.
Meade, whose victory at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 proved a Middle Eastern Conflicts
major factor in turning the tide of the Civil War in favor of the North.
In August 1990, Fort Meade began processing Army Reserve and
World War I National Guard units from several states for the presidential call-up
in support of Operation Desert Shield. In addition to processing
In addition to men and horses, Camp Meade included three infantry
divisions, three training battalions and one depot brigade. The “Hello Reserve and Guard units, Fort Meade sent two of its own active-
Girls”—women who served as bilingual telephone-switchboard duty units—the 85th Medical Battalion and the 519th Military Police
operators in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I—were Battalion—to Saudi Arabia. In all, approximately 2,700 personnel
also an important part of Fort Meade’s history. They were some of the from 42 units deployed from Fort Meade during Operation Desert
first women to serve as uniformed members of the Army—24 years Shield/Desert Storm.
before the Women’s Army Corps was established. In 1928, the post Post 9/11
was designated Fort Leonard Wood, but Pennsylvania congressmen,
angry at having the name of native son George Meade removed, After the events of Septempter 11, 2001, like all military installations
held up Army appropriations until the Army agreed to name the across the country and the world, the Army instituted increased
new permanent installation Fort George G. Meade, which it did on security measures. Roads once used as shortcuts through the
March 5, 1929. installation were closed. Gate guards and changed entry procedures
made the installation less accessible. Despite these changes, Fort
Tank Corps Joe Meade continues to hold job fairs and other major events to which

B-6 Armed Forces Fort George G. Meade Base Guide