FORT SILL

• Military first came to Comanche County in 1834. In 1851 Captain Randolph Marcy first suggested building a fort. Following the Civil War, Colonel Benjamin Grierson and the Buffalo Soldiers constructed the old post site named Camp Wichita in 1868. In 1869 permanent buildings were erected and the name changed to Fort Sill. It is the namesake of Brigadier General Joshua Sill, a West Point graduate killed at the battle of Stones River, TN in 1862. Fort Sill maintains the holding cell and grave of Chief Geronimo, the famous Chiricahua Apache warrior.

• Home to the Field Artillery Training Command, Fort Sill is located in Comanche County, Southwest Oklahoma, adjacent to the city of Lawton and 90 miles Southwest of Oklahoma City. All soldiers in Field Artillery receive skills training at Fort Sill. US Marines and international students from allied nations are also trained there.

• As the artillery training center for the US Army and Marines they train day and night to put “steel on target.” Fort Sill’s approach to training and preparedness makes it one of the best Army training posts and the largest field artillery complex in the free world. The two major commands are FORSCOM (Forces Command) and TRADOC (Training and Doctrine Command).

Facts

• Military first came to Comanche County in 1834

• Occupies 146 square miles

• Current population: 53,000

• 20,000 military and civilian personnel

• 33,000 military family members