HOME MOVIES: 1930s FORT BRAGG U.S. ARMY EXERCISE

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1930s

Format: 16mm

Description: This somewhat rough but very interesting 16mm silent home movie dates to the 1930s and was shot by a member of the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg. The film shows an encampment of soldiers performing various duties including the dreaded K.P. or "Kitchen Patrol" at the 1:30 mark. Horse drawn wagons, cavalry troops and a monoplane are seen in the film, as well as tanks, trucks and other vehicles. Clearly this was shot in an era when horses and mechanized forces were still working together… Fort Bragg is a major United States Army installation, located in Cumberland, Hoke, Harnett and Moore counties, North Carolina, near Fayetteville but also borders the towns of Spring Lake and Southern Pines. It was also a census-designated place in the 2010 Census, during which a population of 39,457 was identified. The fort is named for Confederate general Braxton Bragg. It covers over 251 square miles (650 km2). It is the home of the US Army airborne forces and Special Forces, as well as U.S. Army Forces Command and U.S. Army Reserve Command. Camp Bragg was established in 1918, as an artillery training ground. The aim was for six artillery brigades to be stationed there and $6,000,000 was spent on the land and cantonments. There was an airfield on the camp used by aircraft and balloons for artillery spotters which was named Pope Field on April 1, 1919, in honor of First Lieutenant Harley H. Pope, an airman who was killed while flying nearby. The work on the camp was finished on November 1, 1919. It was named to honor a native North Carolinian, Braxton Bragg, who commanded Confederate States Army forces in the Civil War. The original plan for six brigades was abandoned after World War I ended and once demobilization had started. The artillery men, their equipment and material from Camp McClellan, Alabama, were moved over to Fort Bragg and testing began on long-range weapons that were a product of the war. The six artillery brigades were reduced to two containments and a garrison was to be built for Army troops as well as a National Guard training center.In early 1921 two field artillery units, the 13th and 17th Field Artillery Brigades, began training at Camp Bragg. Due to the post-war cutbacks, the camp was nearly closed for good when the War department issued orders to close the camp on August 7, 1921. General Albert J. Bowley was commander at the camp and after much campaigning, and getting the Secretary of War to visit the camp, the closing order was cancelled on September 16, 1921. The Field Artillery Board was transferred to Fort Bragg on February 1, 1922. Camp Bragg was renamed Fort Bragg, to signify becoming a permanent Army post, on September 30, 1922. From 1923 to 1924 permanent structures were constructed on Fort Bragg, including four barracks.