Fort Custer Training Center
Fort Custer’s training facilities are used by the Michigan National Guard and other branches of the armed forces, primarily from Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. Many Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) students from colleges in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana also train at this facility, as well as do the FBI, the Michigan State Police, various law enforcement agencies, and the Lansing Community College Truck Driver Training School.

About

Fort Custer is home to the 177th Regiment, Regional Training Institute, and the Regional Maintenance Training Site. In addition, the new Augusta Armory is located within Fort Custer’s boundaries. Fort Custer offers a state-of-the-art distance learning center, barracks and dining facilities for visiting units, and plenty of training areas. The small arms ranges are recently upgraded and the maneuver training areas offer a variety of terrain.

Fort Custer Education Center

 

The Fort Custer Education Center is a state of the art Training and Conference Center with on-site Billeting with 242 single billets, 5 Multipurpose Rooms, 4 classrooms and a 210 person auditorium that can be combined for a variety of training uses.

The Education Center is operated by the Michigan Army National Guard and the Regional Training Institute conducts Military Occupational Specialty, Non-Commissioned Officer Leadership Training and Officer Leadership Training Courses for Soldiers from all over the State, the Region and the Country.

Fort Custer Education Center Fact Sheet

History

 

Camp Custer was built in 1917 for military training during World War I. Named after Civil War cavalry officer General George Armstrong Custer, more than 100,000 troops trained or demobilized there during the war. In the years following World War I, the camp was used to train the Officer Reserve Corps and the Civilian Conservation Corps.

On August 17, 1940, Camp Custer was designated Fort Custer and became a permanent military training base. During World War II, more than 300,000 troops trained there, including the famed 5th Infantry Division (also know as the “Red Diamond Division”) which left for combat in Normandy, France, June 1944. Fort Custer also served as a prisoner of war camp for 5,000 German soldiers until 1945.

Fort Custer became home to units of the Navy Reserve in 1949 and to a Marine Corps Reserve Tactical Bridge Company in 1952. Also during that time, approximately 17,000 troops were trained for the Korean War. Beginning in 1959, Fort Custer served for a decade as part of the North American Air Defense system.

In 1968, the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs assumed control of Fort Custer. Today, the facility is federally-owned and state-operated.