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Chain of Command
Camp Hale, between Red Cliff and Leadville in the Eagle River valley in Colorado, was a U.S. Army training facility constructed in 1942 for what became the 10th Mountain Division. It was named for General Irving Hale. Soldiers were trained in mountain climbing, Alpine and Nordic skiing, cold-weather survival as well as various weapons and ordnance. When it was in full operation, approximately 15,000 soldiers were housed there. The creation of an elite ski corps was a national effort, with assistance from the National Association of Ski Patrol, local ski clubs, and Hollywood. Enough men were recruited to create three army regiments, which were deployed after training. Camp Hale was decommissioned in November 1945. By 1943, Camp Hale had as many as 14,000 men in training. Conditions in the camp were harsh: the altitude required acclimation; the shallow valley created polluted inversion layers; recreation was non-existent because of the camp's high mountain isolation, which prevented even the USO from visiting; and many of the non-skiing trainees hated skiing. Trainees were taught to ski at Cooper Hill by ski instructors, brought from the ski-areas such as Sun Valley and Waterville Valley. Located three miles from the camp, Cooper Hill had on-site barracks for the instructors and a newly built T-bar ski lift for the trainees. Military use of Camp Hale included the 10th Mountain Division, the 38th Regimental Combat Team, the Norwegian-American 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate), and soldiers from Fort Carson conducting mountain and winter warfare training exercises. Trainees were taught skiing, mountain climbing, snow survival skills (such as building snow caves), and winter combat. Camp Hale was active for three years. In 1945 it was deactivated and the 10th Mountain Division moved to Texas. Camp Hale was later used, even though decommissioned as a Army Training Camp, for other US Army activities during the Korea War era such as the Army planned to establish a cold weather training command at the old Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado. 1LT James Earl Jones? regiment was established as a training unit at Camp Hale in late 1953 or early 1954, to train in the bitter cold weather and the rugged terrain of the Rocky Mountains.
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Other Memories
His first duty station was supposed to be at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, but his orders changed, and his unit was instead sent to Colorado where the Army planned to establish a cold weather training command at the old Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado. His regiment was established as a training unit, to train in the bitter cold weather and the rugged terrain of the Rocky Mountains.
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