Facts and figures about Fort Eisenhowers impact on the CSRA
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n June of 2020, U.S. Army Cyber Command Headquarters consolidated eight separate facilities in the Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., area and moved them to Fort Eisenhower, the region’s largest employer.
Fort Eisenhower remains the CSRAs largest employer with 31,874 military, civilian and contractor employees. Using a conservative Dept of Commerce multiplier of 2:1 this equates to 63,748 community jobs as a result of Fort Eisenhower. The estimated total economic impact is over $2.4B annually.
Fort Eisenhower is implementing more than 80 major construction and renovation projects worth nearly $2 billion projected over the next decade. For example, the $900-million Cyber Center Schoolhouse expansion includes a new building, renovation and modernization of existing facilities, and road, water and sewer improvements. Underway is a $50-million entry at Gate 6 that will widen a portion of Gordon Highway.
Army Cyber Headquarters is in Fortitude Hall on Fort Eisenhower; this state-of-the-art 336,000-square-foot facility, with a construction and infrastructure fit-out cost of approximately $366 million, is the culmination of plans begun in 2013 when Army officials first directed that ARCYBER consolidate functions at Fort Eisenhower as part of plans to bring cyberspace operations, capability development, training and education together at one location. The move unites Army Cyber organizations that were spread across multiple facilities at three Army installations in three states, providing a focal point for command and control of round-the-clock global operations conducted by ARCYBER’s staff and subordinate units.
About 800-1200 service members separate from the military at Fort Eisenhower each year. These are primarily highly skilled information technology or medical professionals. Surveys show about half plan to or would like to remain in Augusta area if there were jobs available.
Fort Eisenhower is one of only two Army installations that was not cut during the Army’s drawdown, and in fact is growing by over 4300 personnel by FY23. There is over $1.6B in planned infrastructure investments through 2028.
The Fort Eisenhower Retirement Services area of responsibility supports over 60,000 military retirees and family members. In addition, with the closing of Forts McPherson and Gillem, Fort Eisenhower has assumed responsibility for support to military retirees and their families in the Atlanta area.
Area school districts receive over $1.2M annually in impact aid, which is funding provided by the Department of Education to compensate for federal employees who do not pay property or GA state taxes because they live in government housing or are out-of-state residents.
As part of the planned modernization to meet the growth and increase in mission requirements of Fort Eisenhower, there is $1.6B in planned infrastructure investments through 2028.
The GA Army National Guard operates a $39M, 150,000 sq ft Regional Readiness Center and supporting Field Maintenance Facility that was constructed on 30 acres of Fort Eisenhower. The Readiness Center enables consolidation of area units into a single facility.
Fort Eisenhower is one of 2 military installations selected for the Municipal Services Pilot Program. Underway multi-million dollar project at Gate 6 that will widen a portion of Gordon Highway.
Fort Eisenhower service members, civilians and family members volunteer over 90,000-man hours annually in area schools, nursing homes, food banks, and for other community activities and events.
Fort Eisenhower facilities are used for community activities such as the Soap Box Derby, Special Olympics, Motorcycle Safety Course, and ROTC/JROTC training. The 27-hole Gordon Lakes Golf Course, Fort Eisenhower Bowling Center, Riding Stables, Dinner Theater, Gordon Club, and the Sportsman’s Complex with skeet, trap, archery, and firearms ranges are all open to the public.
Fort Eisenhower is home to the GA National Guards Youth Challenge Academy which is a program for high school dropouts, offering a chance to complete their GED and gain experience as responsible adults. Each session is 5 and a half months long and graduates over 200 students.
Fort Eisenhower has no encroachment issues. In 2010 Fort Eisenhower obtained approval of an Army Compatible Use Buffer (ACUB) proposal to protect against encroachment around the installation boundary. Fort Eisenhower and its primary partner, Central Savannah River Land Trust, have identified priority areas surrounding the installation in which to acquire conservation easements under the ACUB program. The Fort Eisenhower ACUB is approved for a total amount of $16,458,000 (subject to availability of funds) and currently has $936,102 dollars of funding in place to implement the proposal with a goal of protecting up to 11,900 acres in Richmond, Columbia, McDuffie and Jefferson counties. The FY13 focus – 1,618 acres in Richmond and McDuffie Counties comprised of 17 individual parcels. Additionally, Fort Eisenhower completed JLUS studies in August of 2005 and July of 2019. As a result of the study the four counties that Fort Eisenhower occupies have agreed to direct development in ways that will allow Fort Eisenhowers mission to continue without conflicts with land use outside the installation.
In 2002, Richmond County invested $8.6M to build Freedom Park Elementary School (K-5) on Fort Eisenhower and added a middle school (6-8) wing in 2008 at a cost of $5.8M. The school currently supports 855 students of on-post military residents and has won numerous awards to include a National Blue-Ribbon School since 2007, GA School of Excellence since 2007, and in 2011 was one of only 4 schools selected in the U.S. as a National Model School.
Fort Eisenhower has provided 750 acres in partnership with Georgia Power for a 30-megawatt solar energy project, the largest Department of Defense solar project to date.
Ft Gordon requested a new access gate off Gordon Highway west of gate 2 (Robinson Ave) to accommodate recent growth. It was approved by Congress and inserted into the Army Military Construction Priority List for FY2018. The new gate (Gate 6) was completed in the summer of 2021 and is now the main gate to the installation.