Armed Forces Day
Mark your calendars – Saturday, May 19th is Armed Forces Day. Respect!
The day was created in 1949 to honor Americans serving in the five U.S. military branches – the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard – following the consolidation of the military services in the Department of Defense. In 1962, President Kennedy established Armed Forces Day as an official holiday.
Military Bases in South Carolina
- Charleston Air Force Base - Team Charleston
- Coast Guard Base Charleston
- Fort Jackson - Columbia – Army’s largest initial entry training center in the US
- Marine Corps Air Station - Beaufort
- Marine Corps Recruit Depot - Parris Island
- McEntire Joint National Guard Base - Located in Eastover, McEntire is home to the 169th Fighter Wing, primary unit of the South Carolina Air National Guard
- Naval Weapons Station Charleston - Goose Creek
- Shaw Air Force Base - Sumter
- South Carolina State Guard - Columbia
Historic Military Bases and Forts in South Carolina
- Beaufort Arsenal - built in 1798, its history traces back to the Revolutionary War, and is now a museum.
- Camp Croft - Spartanburg – WWII Army Infantry Replacement Center from 1940-1946 – majority of site is now Croft State Natural Area Park
- Donaldson Air Force Base - Greenville – Once called "The Airlift Capital of the World" for its contributions in the Berlin airlift, Korean War, and Cold War. Closed in 1962 and is now an industrial park.
- Fort Johnson - James Island – built in 1759, this fort was actively used during the Revolutionary War, and fired the first shot of the Civil War.
- Fort Sumter - Charleston – built after the War of 1812 as one of a series of forts protecting the southern coast of the United States.
- Fort Moultrie - Sullivan’s Island – historic Revolutionary war fort that is now a museum.
