On Fort Leavenworth

SN1 gave me the nickel tour of Fort Leavenworth on Tuesday and I was impressed.  The post is large, well maintained, and is about as beautiful as a military base gets.  One shouldn't skip over that "well maintained" bit, mainly because a lot of the buildings date back to the mid- and late 19th century.  There are also some very impressive new facilities, some of which house the Army's Command and General Staff College (CGSC)... where SN1 has been studying for most of the past year.  The Lewis and Clark Center is the main building on the CGSC campus and that's where SN1 began our tour.  A few photos... as always, click for bigger:

The CGSC foyer and reception area, which features dramatic lighting, both natural and artificial.

A view of the Army's Divisional Flags that overhang the reception area.

One of two stained glass windows in the HUGE foyer.

The second of two stained glass windows, both of which were gifts from the CGSC classes of 1976.

And then there's this...

That's looking into the rather small MacArthur Room... which has one of General MacArthur's original desks and chair, along with a five-star flag and a very impressive portrait.  And who knew the general used a PC?  Not me...

SN1 also took me into one of the CGSC classrooms and I was duly impressed with the amount of technology being used... from humongous flat-screen monitors that are multi-purposed, capable of showing briefings, cable teevee, and  video conferencing... to individual desks that feature dual flat-screen monitors with access to both classified and unclassified networks as well as various and sundry applications.  There's also extensive use of closed-circuit, two-way video that allows multiple classrooms to conference with each other.  VERY impressive, state-of-the-art stuff.  I drooled a lot, but I didn't take pictures there.

We walked around a bit and I was most impressed with the military history on display.  I could have spent hours and hours in there but SN1 had an appointment elsewhere on the post so we only had about an hour before we had to leave.  I might wrangle an invitation to go back.

So... SN1 went to his appointment and then we drove around the base for a bit.  Spring might be the best time to visit Fort Leavenworth, mainly because the post is a very leafy place.  Some evidence of that:

That's a view of some of the field grade officer housing... mostly colonels.  The housing looks pretty old, doesn't it?  And that's only because it IS.  Two examples:

I strongly suspect this is a general officer's house.

The Waddington family's quarters.  Note the Union Jack... CGSC hosts a lot of foreign students.  AND foreign faculty.

Detail from the photo of the Waddington family's quarters.

The architecture is just way, way cool.  And recall what I said above about "well-maintained;" I think it's remarkable that the Waddington family lives in such an old and historic house.  The photos above are just a very small sample of the beautiful old buildings that abound on Ft. Leavenworth.  I have to hand it to the Army: they know how to preserve their heritage.  Ft. Leavenworth just reeks of history.

And then you have the post below, wherein SN1 and I went to the old Disciplinary Barracks and had a beer.  All in all... a great day out.

And tonight it's HOCKEY... Red Wings hockey!!