January 24, 2009

Fort Chaffee, located near Fort Smith (Sebastian County), was officially opened as Camp Chaffee in 1941 as an infantry training base. Redesignated a fort in 1956, the base continued to serve as a major training area until the 1990s. As of 2008, some 66,000 acres of the base are utilized as a training area for the Arkansas National Guard. Shown here are officers and enlisted men during a National Guard training exercise in 1965.