Old stomping grounds

Jack Ariola, a Camp Forrest trainee, came back for a visit 65 years later after training at the Army’s largest training facility during World War II. Ariola looks at the monument, which is placed on some of the old grounds on Wattendorf Highway, that pays tribute to all the trainees. Ariola was training to be a glider operator in the Army’s 194th Glider Infantry Regiment. (Photo by David Housch)

Old stompin' grounds

Conservation Biologist John Lamb and Base Archeologist Shawn Chapman show former Army soldier Jack Ariola the grounds where the former theater at Camp Forrest was located. Ariola trained here for WWII. All that remains of the 85,000 acres of Camp Forrest are a few access roads, brick chimneys and concrete foundations. Approximately 40,000 acres became Arnold Air Force Base in 1951. (Photo by David Housch)

Camp Forrest trainee revisits old stomping grounds

Published Aug. 7, 2009
By Janae' Daniels
AEDC/PA

Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. -- June Ariola and her husband were moving from Tallahassee, Fla., to Corning, Ark., and in her search for a route, she stumbled across Tullahoma, Tenn.

Not many people know about Tullahoma, but June recollects a story her husband Jack told her about training at an Army campground in 1944 before heading to France during World War II. This place was known as Camp Forrest.

Camp Forrest was one of the Army's largest training bases during World War II at approximately 85,000 acres. It was an active Army post between 1941 and 1946.

The camp was a training area for infantry, artillery, engineer and signal organizations. It also served as a hospital center and temporary encampment for troops during maneuvers.

Jack was with the 194th Glider Infantry regiment. He remembers earning $50 a month as a glider. After training at Camp Forrest for four or five months, Jack was off to England for more training until the Battle of the Bulge began Dec. 24, 1944 in Reims, France.

He prepared for the invasion of Germany, but the war ended before the invasion. Jack stayed in Germany until the end of the war and was honorably discharged from the Army in 1945.

After the war, he worked in the oil fields in Alaska and Texas until his official retirement in 1985.