HISTORY
Fort Bliss in photos: A look through the years

02 FEB 1920 - FLY BY - Planes of the 1st Surveillance Group fly by in salute to General John J. Pershing, February 2, 1920. Note observer in lead plane executing hand salute as plane flies over what is today Armstrong Field, Fort Bliss.
U.S. Army Photo
El Paso, TX circa 1935. Old buildings used by Army where Ft. Bliss was at the Hart's Mill site, 1880-1884. Building on left was the HQ, and on right the Post Guardhouse. Both buildings were razed many years ago. Photo by National Photo Print Co. El Paso, Texas
Times Blumenthal Photo Collection
Loys B. Taylor at Pershing Gate, 1938.
1st Armored Division And Fort Bliss Museum
In 1941, soldiers of the First Cavalry Division, Fort Bliss, put four jeeps, experimental vehicles at the time, through two weeks of rugged day and night testing in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
El Paso Times File
May 16, 1956 - Members of the 82nd Airborne are shown during a jump demonstration which was part of Armed Forces week activities at Fort Bliss.
U.S. Army Photograph
IN MEMORY OF JFK - A canon echoed every half hour at Ft. Bliss Saturday in memory of John F. Kennedy, late commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army and President of the United States. The post flag is shown in the background at half-mast. Colors will be displayed at half-mast for 30 days. Additional tribute will be paid to President Kennedy Monday at Ft. Bliss.
Times File Photo
April 4, 1968 - Private Byron B. Lofton, the Fort Bliss Army Training Center's 100,000 receptee since it opened in November 1965, surveys his new Army haircut. The haircut was practically one of the first items on the agenda for him in the Army.
U.S. Army Photograph
Sept. 1, 1988 - Fort Bliss Pvt. Cedric Williams waited at El Paso's Biggs Army Airfield Wednesday to board an Air Force plane bound for West Germany. Williams was among 700 soldiers who left Fort Bliss Wednesday for the Reforger 88 exercise, the West's largest war games this year.
Times File Photo
General Omar N. Bradley is to left of the image. From 1977 until his death in 1981 Omar N. Bradley, latest five-star general of the United States Army, lived and worked at Fort Bliss. There is a park on Ft. Bliss named for Omar N. Bradley.
El Paso County Historical Society
April 14, 1988: "Tour of Duty" stars Ramon Franco, front, and Stan Foster toured Fort Bliss.
Times File Photo
The Pershing House at Ft Bliss is named after General John "Blackjack" Pershing.
Times File Photo
Spec. Dan Jackson, left, and Sgt. Damon Harcum worked to replace the brakes on a five-ton vehicle at Fort Bliss Wednesday. They are reading for a field training exercise.
Times File Photo
The annual Armed Forces Day celebration Saturday at Noel Field in Ft. Bliss.
Times File Photo
Fort Bliss soldiers fired a 75-mm howitzer during the 50-gun salute to the Union Wednesday on post.
Times File Photo
Ulysses Davis, left, and William McCurtis, president of the 9th Cavalry Association, stood before the Buffalo Soldier statue at Fort Bliss on Wednesday during a ceremony honoring the Army's 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments.
Times File Photo
Master Sgt. Mark Pratt stood on a scaleSunday as he prepared to board an aircraft with other soldiers for deploymnet to Southwest Asia. The weighing-in is done to properly distribute weight on the aircraft.
Times File Photo
Staff Sgt. Paul Flaven, left, of the 258th Rear Area Operations Center based in Phoenix, donned his gas mask before entering a chamber filled with tear gas during a bilogical wrfare training excise at Fort Bliss. Units from Arizona, California and New Mexico are expected to deploy from Fort Bliss in two weeks.
Times File Photo
Spc. Jesus Lozacruz, carrying the M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon, of the 693rd Quartermaster Comany of Bell, Calif., waited his turn Wednesday to board a Boeing 777 for deployment, possibly to the Middle East, out of Biggs Army Airfield. Lozacruz is one of the 200 California reservists who was activated and has been training at Fort Bliss since before Christmas.
Times File Photo
Soldiers go through training on Patriot Missles reloading drills as part of their duties as they prepare to possibly be part of the next group of soldiers deployed to the war in Iraq.
Times File Photo
About 180 members of the 978th Military Police Company deployed to Kuwait Monday evening. The soldiers will join the more than 4,500 Fort Bliss soldiers who have deployed out of Biggs Army Airfield since August to theMiddle East.
Times File Photo
U.S. Army Command Sgt. Major Robert S. Rodgers bowed his head after reading a roll call of nine soldiers from the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss who were killed March 23 in an ambush in Iraq. The post held a memorial service at the post's deployment center.
Times File Photo
Spc. Joseph Hudson and Spc. Patrick Miller carried a flag and waved from a hatch of the C-17 Globemaster III as they returned to Biggs Army Airfield Saturday.
Times File Photo
Sgt. Melvin Rosado, right, was among members of the 507th Maintenance Company and other air defense artillery soldiers who returned Thursday to Fort Bliss after four months in the Persian Gulf. They were greeted by hundreds of family members and friends.
Times File Photo
Feb 28, 2008: Thirty-one riderless horses were led along the Welcome Home Heroes Parade route paying homage to the 31 soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, who died in Iraq. The horses were guided by soldiers and members of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Posse.
Times File Photo
German soldiers line up during the annual Volkstrauertag, or German National Day of Mourning, ceremony Sunday at Fort Bliss National Cemetery.
Times File Photo
Incoming and outgoing commanders of the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss salute as a gun salute takes place during the change of command ceremony at Fort Bliss.
Times File Photo
Nov. 11, 2018: Soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss carry a giant U.S. flag along Diana Drive to be hoisted at half-staff over Old Glory Memorial during the 2018 Northeast Veteran's Day.
Times File Photo
The 2020 Fort Bliss POW/MIA Commemoration Ceremony was held Friday, September, 18, 2020. The small ceremony honored those across the Army who have been held prisoner of war or is missing in action with special mention of those from Texas and Fort Bliss. Fort Bliss and 1st Armored Division Commander Gen. Matthew L. Eichburg spoke at the event and music was provided by the 1st Armored Division Band.
Times File Photo
Taps is played at Fort Bliss National Cemetery Monday during the Memorial Day ceremony.
Times File Photo
Master Sgt. Janina Simmons, a U.S. Army Ranger School graduate, stands near Fort Bliss Military Installation on Feb. 24, 2022, in El Paso. Simmons made history as the first Black woman soldier to complete U.S. Army Ranger School.
Times File Photo
UCLA and University of Pittsburgh athletes in El Paso for the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl got to climb aboard tanks during a 2022 visit to the Close Combat Tactical Trainer at Fort Bliss.
Times File Photo
The newly built 3D-printed barracks at Fort Bliss are one of the largest construction projects of its kind.
Times File Photo