Located on 280,000 acres of land in Georgia, Fort Stewart is the largest army base in the Eastern United States. Because of its location it has been a great place to train and prepare troops for various wars. It started life as a smaller base as the government began purchasing thousands of acres in 1940. In November 1940, the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Training Center (originally on 5,000 acres) was officially designated Camp Stewart, in honor of General Daniel Stewart, who had fought during the American Revolution. During the early years of its life as an army installation it was used primarily to train troops on anti-aircraft equipment. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, things really began to ramp up at Fort Stewart.
As World War 2 progressed, Fort Stewart also started holding prisoners of war in 1943. Other training started to occur as well, like a school for army bakers and cooks. After the close of World War 2, the base was drastically scaled back, with only a handful of men running the army camp. In 1950, Camp Stewart was reopened as a training center for the Korean War. During the next ten years, focus would shift from anti-aircraft to Armor and Artillery Firing training. Today, Fort Stewart serves as an important staging area for Operation Iraqi Freedom.