Fort Shafter

Coordinates: 21°20′42″N 157°53′02″W / 21.345°N 157.884°W / 21.345; -157.884
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Fort Shafter
Honolulu, Hawaii
Richardson Hall at Fort Shafter, nicknamed the "Pineapple Pentagon"
Coordinates21°20′42″N 157°53′02″W / 21.345°N 157.884°W / 21.345; -157.884
TypeArmy post
Site information
Controlled byU.S. Army
Site history
Built1905-1907
In use1907 – present
Battles/warsAttack on Pearl Harbor
Garrison information
Current
commander		General Charles A. Flynn
Past
commanders		General Vincent Brooks
GarrisonU.S. Army Pacific

Fort Shafter, in

Asia-Pacific region with the exception of Korea. Geographically, Fort Shafter extends up the interfluve (ridgeline) between Kalihi and Moanalua valleys, as well as onto the coastal plain (as Shafter Flats) at Māpunapuna. A portion of the area is also known as the Palm Circle Historic District; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been further designated as a U.S. National Historic Landmark
. It is also known as Palm Circle or 100 Area.

History

Fort Shafter is the oldest military base on Oahu and celebrated its 100th birthday on 22 June 2007.

Fort Shafter has been home to the senior Army headquarters in Hawaii for a century. Construction began in 1905 on the

ahupua'a of Kahauiki, former Hawaiian crown lands that were ceded to the United States government after annexation. When the post opened in 1907, it was named for Major General William Rufus Shafter
(1835–1906), who led the United States expedition to Cuba in 1898.

royal palms. The first unit stationed at the new post was the 2d Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment
.

Fort Shafter gradually spread out from Palm Circle. Tripler General Hospital once stood where the highway intersection is today (the hospital moved to its present location in 1948). In 1914, a regimental-sized cantonment area was constructed (near Richardson Theater). The Hawaiian Ordnance Depot was built in 1917 as a separate post (near today's post exchange). In 1921, the Hawaiian Department moved to Fort Shafter from downtown Honolulu. Finally, a new area was constructed in 1940 for Signal Corps elements.

Palm Circle; Tripler Army Medical Center is visible in the background

War came to Fort Shafter on 7 December 1941, where the Hawaiian Department commander, Lieutenant General

Walter C. Short, occupied Quarters 5. One soldier, Corporal Arthur A. Favreau, 64th Coast Artillery (Anti-Aircraft), was killed on post by an errant Navy shell.[2]
Fort Shafter became a busy headquarters and the barracks on Palm Circle were converted to offices. The major headquarters was named successively U.S. Army Forces, Central Pacific Area (1943–44); U.S. Army Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (1944–45); and U.S. Army Forces, Middle Pacific (1945–47). In 1944, the Army Corps of Engineers erected the "Pineapple Pentagon" (buildings T-100, T-101, and T-102) in just 49 days. Two large fishponds were filled in to form Shafter Flats.

For most of the time since the

Fort Armstrong, (Hawaii)
). In 1979, the Army established U.S. Army Western Command, which was renamed U.S. Army, Pacific in 1990. In 1983, the Army conveyed to the State of Hawaii 750 acres (3.0 km2) of undeveloped land on the northern end of post. Today Fort Shafter remains the focal point for command, control, and support of Army forces in the Asia-Pacific region; it includes an underground command center beneath Palm Circle.

References

  1. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 11 October 2020. - Page 4
  2. ^ Parkman, E. Breck (2019). "A Hypothesis Regarding the Army's Incinerator at Fort McDowell, Marin County, California" (PDF). Articles of the SCA Proceedings. 33: 86. Retrieved 21 January 2020.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Shafter.
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