Fort Devens

Fort Devens
Company type	Military facility
Industry	Military
Founded	September 5, 1917; 109 years ago
Headquarters	Ayer, Shirley, Harvard, United States
Area served	United States
Products	Military training and operations

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Fort Devens, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 7 August 2025

Fort Devens is a military facility of the United States Army Reserve situated within the municipalities of Ayer, Shirley (Middlesex County), and Harvard (Worcester County), Massachusetts. Designated as a superfund site in 1989 due to contamination concerns, the majority of the fort’s property was divested in 1996. Nonetheless, the cantonment section remains under Army jurisdiction, operating as the Devens Reserve Forces Training Area (RFTA). Reactivated in May 2007, Fort Devens currently does not host any active-duty Army units. The nearby Devens Range Complex in Lancaster facilitates live-fire exercises involving small arms, machine guns, grenades, and rocket weaponry.

By 2011, Fort Devens supported a community comprising 306 enlisted soldiers, 2,151 reservists, 348 civilian employees, and 1,399 family members. The installation featured 25 firing ranges, 21 designated training zones, and 15 maneuver areas covering an extensive land area. It also housed the United States Army Base Camp Systems Integration Laboratory along with the United States Army System Integration Laboratory.

A portion of the former installation now serves as the Federal Medical Center, Devens, a federal correctional facility focused on providing medical and psychiatric care for male inmates.

Formation during World War I

Established on September 5, 1917, Camp Devens—named after jurist and Civil War general Charles Devens—served as a temporary cantonment for soldier training during World War I. Approximately of land was initially leased and subsequently purchased from 112 landowners across the towns of Ayer, Harvard, Lancaster, and Shirley. The terrain consisted of farmland alongside previously logged "sprout" woodland.

Its position was strategically chosen due to its proximity to a key New England railroad junction. Construction efforts mobilized the largest workforce in the United States at that time to develop a facility capable of housing 10,000 troops. This included barracks and essential infrastructure erected at a rate of 10.4 buildings per day. Camp Devens functioned as both a reception and demobilization center, processing and training more than 100,000 soldiers. Three divisions—the 12th, 26th, and 76th—were activated and trained there.

In 1918, the camp experienced devastating impacts from the second wave of the Spanish flu pandemic, resulting in approximately 850 soldier deaths.

Interwar Period

Following World War I, Camp Devens transitioned into a separation center that processed over 150,000 returning servicemen. Although placed on inactive status afterward, it continued to operate as a summer training site for National Guard units, Reservists, and ROTC cadets.

The National Defense Act of 1920 underscored the significance of maintaining a citizen army. In 1927, funds were appropriated for permanent construction at Devens; however, development slowed considerably due to the stock market crash. Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers acknowledged the post’s critical role in supporting the local agricultural economy.

In 1929, rocket pioneer Robert Goddard conducted brief experiments at the site. Thanks to Rogers’ advocacy, Camp Devens was redesignated as Fort Devens in 1931, establishing it as a permanent U.S. Army installation. Construction during the Great Depression was limited and primarily executed by workers from the Works Progress Administration. Shortly thereafter, Fort Devens Army Airfield was established.

World War II

In 1940, Fort Devens was designated as a reception center for draftees from New England serving one-year enlistments. A significant construction effort valued at $25 million resulted in the addition of more than 1,200 wooden structures and an airfield. During the conflict, the 1st, 32nd, and 45th Infantry Divisions underwent training at this location. Between 1944 and 1946, Fort Devens functioned as a prisoner-of-war camp housing German and Italian detainees and was assigned in 1942 to hold enemy aliens of Italian, German, and Japanese origins.

Post World War II

Between 1946 and 1950, the 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division was stationed at Fort Devens. One battalion was redesignated as the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment and deployed to Korea alongside the 1st Cavalry Division. In August 1950, the 7th Infantry embarked for Japan to join the 15th Infantry Regiment and division command.

From April 1951 until 1996, Fort Devens was home to the Army Security Agency Training Center & School (ASATC&S). Mid-century, it also accommodated the 56th Air Defense Artillery Brigade under the Army Air Defense Command.

On February 15, 1958, the Pentomic 2nd Infantry Brigade was reactivated at Fort Devens. For five years, it conducted training exercises across northern Massachusetts and Cape Cod and was prepared to assist Marines during the Lebanon crisis in 1958, though it ultimately did not deploy. The brigade comprised various infantry, artillery, armor, cavalry units, engineers, and support companies.

This brigade was deactivated in February 1963 after being reflagged as part of the 5th Infantry Division. Later that year, it was reactivated within the 1st Infantry Division before relocating to Fort Riley, Kansas in January 1964.

From 1968 through 1995, Fort Devens served as the base for the 10th Special Forces Group and operated as a training hub for Army Reserve and National Guard personnel.

Units remaining near base closure

Fort Devens hosted the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) from 1968 until its relocation to Fort Carson, Colorado in 1995. The 39th Engineer Battalion (CBT) remained until its inactivation in 1992 before being reactivated at Fort Campbell, Kentucky in 2014. Established at Devens in 1951, the Army Security Agency Training Center & School (ASATC&S) evolved into the U.S. Army Intelligence School, Devens (USAISD) by 1976 before moving to Fort Huachuca, Arizona in 1996. Other units stationed until closure included the 36th Medical Battalion—which encompassed the 595th Medical Company and the now-inactivated (1994) 46th Combat Support Hospital—and the 624th Military Police Company.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Headquarters for Army Readiness Region I and Readiness Group Devens operated here to facilitate training for reserve components including National Guard and Army Reserve units across New York and New England. Additional subordinate Readiness Groups were located at Secena Army Depot and Fort Hamilton in New York City.

Closure, 1996

After nearly eight decades of operation, Fort Devens officially ceased operations in 1996. As part of the Base Realignment and Closure initiative, portions of the land were allocated among several entities including the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Shriver Job Corps, Massachusetts National Guard, Massachusetts Veterans groups, and MassDevelopment. MassDevelopment acquired most of the property for $17 million with plans to create a mixed residential and commercial community. The Federal Bureau of Prisons established the Federal Medical Center, Devens, a specialized prison medical facility.

Following closure, numerous buildings have been refurbished or reconstructed; currently on site are housing developments, an expanding business park, a hotel, various dining establishments, schools, as well as both disc golf and traditional golf courses. Veterans associated with the United States Army Security Agency have shown interest in founding a museum at Fort Devens to honor their primary training site over nearly twenty-five years.

Recent Developments

Devens transitioned into a United States Army Reserve facility managed by the Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM), accommodating units from the Army Reserve, Massachusetts Army National Guard, and Marine Corps Reserve. In 2007, the 94th Regional Readiness Command headquarters, which supervised Army Reserve units throughout New England, was dissolved. Authority was transferred to the 99th Regional Support Command located at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Units previously under the 94th were reorganized along the Eastern Seaboard. Fort Devens continues to serve as an active training location for Reserve and National Guard troops, as well as local law enforcement agencies.

The David S. Connolly Armed Forces Reserve Center was inaugurated in 2011—a $100 million complex comprising three buildings with a total area of 280,000 square feet on 57 acres. This center accommodates 650 Soldiers and Marines from the Army Reserve and National Guard and houses nearly 800 military vehicles.

In January 2011, local residents submitted a petition seeking incorporation of Devens as an official town; earlier attempts in 2006 had not succeeded at the local level. By 2018, Devens had been designated a regional enterprise zone and recognized as a census-designated place spanning portions of Ayer and Shirley in Middlesex County, as well as Harvard in Worcester County.

In March 2021, Commonwealth Fusion Systems launched a $300 million commercial fusion energy development facility on a 47-acre site within former Fort Devens. This initiative focuses on manufacturing fusion power equipment and represents a major investment in cutting-edge energy technology, despite the absence of operational commercial fusion plants worldwide.

Units

As of August 2022, the installation hosts the following military units:

3411th, 3417th, and 3437th Military Intelligence Detachments
366th Military Police Detachment (CID)
401st Chemical Company
Headquarters Company, 25th Marine Regiment
Headquarters and Service Company & Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 25th Marines
3rd Battalion (Logistical Support Battalion), 313th Regiment, 174th Infantry Brigade, FIRST ARMY EAST
2nd Battalion (Training Support Battalion), 310th Regiment, 174th Infantry Brigade, FIRST ARMY EAST
Detachment 1 J2/JT, United States Central Command, Army Reserve Element (ARE)
395th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion
77th Sustainment Brigade
804th Medical Brigade
USNSCC Recruit Training Command New England (summer only)
756th Combat Engineer Company

Environmental Contamination

On December 21, 1989, Fort Devens was designated a Superfund site due to contamination caused by historic underground storage tanks and fuel depots that introduced heavy metals and petroleum substances into the soil.

In 2016, the Army identified Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in groundwater and municipal wells supplying water to Devens and Ayer. By May 2021, local concerns centered on PFAS potentially contaminating the Nashua River, which is used for irrigation downstream. Additionally, discussions covered advancements in implementing a pump-and-treat system designed to remove dissolved arsenic and iron at the Shepley's Hill landfill site spanning 84 acres. As of 2022, groundwater remediation efforts are ongoing at both the former Moore Army Airfield and Shepley's Hill Landfill sites, accompanied by long-term monitoring at four locations affected by petroleum contamination.

Cemetery

Fort Devens contains a cemetery that serves as the final resting place for U.S. military members, their families, and approximately 20 German and Italian prisoners of war from World War II. Some of the interments predate the fort itself, having been transferred from decommissioned Boston Harbor coastal defense forts following the conclusion of World War II.

The oldest burial belongs to 1st Lieutenant Robert F. Massie of the Corps of Artillery, who lost his life in a sword duel at Fort Independence in 1817. Contrary to popular belief, his adversary Gustavus S. Drane survived the encounter and continued to serve until his death in 1846. Massie’s remains, along with others from the Boston Harbor forts, were relocated to Fort Devens during the 1950s.

Lieutenant Edward John Kent Johnson, a member of the Confederate Navy who died as a prisoner at Fort Warren in 1863, experienced multiple reinterments before being moved to Fort Devens in 1939 and eventually repatriated to Florida in 2002.

In media

The December 20, 1942 episode of The Jack Benny Program was recorded on location at Fort Devens.

Fort Devens serves as the backdrop for Jeffrey Sweet’s play "Court-Martial at Fort Devens," which dramatizes a true incident involving two Black members of the WAC who protested racial discrimination during World War II by staging a strike and were subsequently subjected to a court-martial.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

USAG Devens RFTA (official site)
Fort Devens Environmental Cleanup – US Army Corps of Engineers New England District, 2022