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Special Operations Center of Excellence
Facilities
Main Campus
The main SOCoE campus is located in the heart of Fort Bragg. Central to the campus are the command headquarters building, Bryant Hall; the NCO Academy and Warrant Officer Institute, located in Kennedy Hall, and the 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne). All these command-element facilities are located on Ardennes Street and have a number of support facilities located adjacent to them and in the surrounding area, including the Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center, which is the home to the Special Warfare Medical Group and all SOF medical training. The current campus is dated, and many of the facilities no longer meet the needs of the command. To that end, SOCoE is undertaking a multimillion dollar, phased construction plan that will bring our facilities in line with the degree of professionalism seen in our training. The proposed campus upgrades will ensure that SOCoE can harness new and emerging technology to keep its training cutting-edge. The upgrades will also ensure that SOCoE can physically accommodate the Soldiers who will return to SOCoE for advanced education throughout their career.
Sgt. 1st Class William M. Bryant Hall
Bryant Hall houses the headquarters of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. Located within Bryant Hall is the Directorate of Training and Doctrine, the Directorate of Special Operations Proponency and the command's general staff. The facility is named in honor of Sgt. 1st Class William M. Bryant, a Medal of Honor recipient, who was born February 16, 1933, in Cochran, Ga. Bryant entered service at Detroit, Mich. Bryant's goal was to become airborne and, as time passed, Special Forces. Bryant's family received the Medal of Honor posthumously on Feb. 16, 1971, for an action on March 24, 1968, while assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Bryant, assigned to Company A, distinguished himself while serving as commanding officer of Civilian Irregular Defense Group Company 321, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Mobile Strike Force Command, during combat operations.
Col. Aaron Bank Hall
Col. Aaron Bank Hall is the main academic facility for the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. Located on Ardennes Street, the four-story academic facility has more than 180,000 square feet and contains 91 classrooms and 62 offices. Bank Hall is named in memory of Col. Aaron Bank, who is known as "the father of Special Forces." In 1952, Bank was named the commander of the Army's first special-warfare unit, the Fort Bragg-based 10th Special Forces Group, which he helped to create. Bank has been called a pioneer of special operations for his belief that special operators were a brotherhood of men who were risk-takers that had confidence in themselves and their chain of command. Built over a three-year period – from 1989 to 1992 – at a cost of $19.5 million, it is the largest instructional facility on Fort Bragg, hosting classes six days per week, often 16 hours per day.
SOCoE Libraries- The Learning Resource Center
SOCoE Libraries- The Learning Resource Center is comprised of the Marquat Memorial Library and the Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center (JSOMTC) Library, the Medical Branch.
A 10,000 square-foot facility, housed in Bank Hall. The library maintains a diverse collection of library resources and services to support education, training, doctrine development and operational research requirements.
Maj. Gen. William Frederic Marquat was born in St. Louis, Mo., on March 17, 1894, to William and Sara (Layden) Marquat. Before joining the military, he reported local features for the Seattle Times. Marquat served in World War I with the Coast Artillery Office. By the time World War II broke out, Marquat had ascended to the rank of major general. He served as a staff officer to Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the commander of the 14th Anti-Aircraft Command in the Philippines, seeing action in the Manila-Bataan campaign. His skills as a diplomat and a staff officer served him well after World War II, when he was hand-picked to organize and chair the Allied council for Japan, serving as the United States representative in determining occupation policies. Simultaneous to this chairmanship, he headed the Economics and Science Section General Headquarters for the Supreme Command Allied Powers in Tokyo from 1945–1952. Most of the post-war economic success of Japan can be directly attributed to policies drafted by this section. Maj. Gen. Marquat left Japan in 1952 as the first Chief of Civil Affairs and Military Government, Department of the Army. He served in this post until he retired in 1955. He passed away on May 30, 1968.
The Marquat Library was first memorialized in 1969 at Fort Gordon, Ga., as part of the U.S. Army Civil Affairs School. The memorialization was moved in 1973 when the Civil Affairs School moved to Fort Bragg.
Marquat Memorial Learning Resource Center and JSOMTC pdf
Marquat Memorial Learning Resource Center Finding Aids:
A Guide to Researching the History of Psychological Operations
A Guide to Researching the History of Special Forces
Joint Special Operations Medical Training Facility
The Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center (JSOMTC) is a 75,000 square-foot tri-service facility and home to the Special Warfare Medical Group; the Naval Special Operations Medical Institute; and Operating Location E, 16th Special Operations Wing. The staff and cadre train more than 1,400 students annually from the United States Army Special Operations Command, the Navy Special Warfare Command, the Marine Special Operations Command and the Air Force Special Operations Command. The JSOMTC produces U.S. Army Special Forces medical sergeants for the United States Army Special Forces Command during a 50-week course. They produce Special Operations Combat Medics for the United States Special Operations Command during a 26-week course. Special Operations Independent Duty Corpsman are developed for the U.S. Navy during the 24-week course. Civil Affairs medical sergeants are trained in both the SOCM course and the 7-week CAMS course. Annually, all of the graduates of the above four courses return to the JSOMTC to attend the 2-week Special Operations Combat Medical Skills Sustainment Course. This course refreshes Special Operations Medics in their critical tasks and recertifies them for deployment with their SOF units.
David K. Thurma Non-Comissioned Officers Academy
The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School's David K. Thuma NCO Academy is located adjacent to the SOCoE headquarters' campus. The academy offers advanced professional development for Special Forces, Civil Affairs and Military Information Support Operations NCOs. The NCO Academy serves as SOCoE' premier generating force for implementing and assisting with design and development of the Warrior, Senior and Advanced NCO Courses, ensuring the highest quality of training, education and professional development for all special-operations NCOs. The NCO Academy is a graduate-level learning organization that provides asynchronous learning that is known worldwide as a generating force "center of excellence" by developing adaptive, innovative, warrior-focused NCOs who have the right mix of training and education and whose graduates consistently exceed the leadership requirements for the current and future operating forces.
The facility is named in honor of David K. Thuma who died in Kenya June 18, 1998, while establishing the working relationship required to establish a joint peacekeeping force composed of Tanzanian, Kenyan and U.S. Special Forces.
The Special Operations Mission Training Center
The Special Operations Mission Training Center, or SOMTC, is a state-of-the-art training center designed to train and educate U.S. Army Special Forces, Civil Affairs and Military Information Support Operations Soldiers, provide training on Digital Battle Command Systems, fielded digital simulations and digital simulators to enhance Soldiers' capability to successfully operate in service, joint and USSOCOM digitized environments when deployed and during training. The Special Operations Mission Training Center is made up of two service members, three government service employees and 46 contractors, who have more than 400 years combined experience in SOF training, simulations and digital systems. Over the years, the SOMTC has trained thousands of ARSOF Soldiers and students, and as a part of SOCoE, continues to be an integral part of "the world's best SOF training center and institution." As part of its mission, the center manages and executes the ARSOF Battle Command Program linking commanders to current battle command tactics, techniques and procedures. The staff also identifies user requirements for TEMO simulations and simulator support, and develops, coordinates, schedules and executes digital Battle Command Systems, training exercises and military-operations simulations and simulator support, new equipment training and other support to the school and USASOC operational units at Fort Bragg and other locations within CONUS and at deployed locations.
SOCoE Weapons Training Facility
The Joint Armament Facility (JAF) is a 16-acre complex that includes the 18B training area, a weapons-storage vault, depot-level maintenance and testing and manages the USSOCOM Nonstandard Weapons, Materiel and Munitions Program responsible for maintaining, testing and certifying all foreign weapons for SOCOM components and designated non-SOCOM customers. The JAF is recognized by the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) as the subject-matter expert on nonstandard weapons and routinely provides training in foreign weapons maintenance and sustainment for SOCOM components' armament specialists. Along with numerous supported training events, Company B also hosts the annual SOCoE Truck Rodeo challenging the on-road and rough terrain driving skills of all SOCOM and DoD participants.
Range 37 Miller Training Complex
Range 37 is a high-risk live-fire training complex where special-operations Soldiers are taught the Special Forces Advanced Reconnaissance Target Analysis and Exploitation Course (SFARTAETC) and the Special Forces Sniper Course (SFSC). Soldiers are trained in close quarters battle, explosive breaching and special-operations sniper techniques in support of regional combatant commanders, USASOC, USSOCOM and other services' requirements.
The Range 37 Miller Training Complex is a 133-acre site comprising of eight live-fire shoot houses, three flat ranges, one sniper range with a four-story tower, and 20 other training buildings and apparatuses. Fort Bragg rededicated Range 37 in memory of retired Command Sgt. Maj. Franklin D. Miller, who died in July 2000 at age 55. The ceremony took place on the 32nd anniversary of the event for which he received the Medal of Honor. He was decorated for valor for his actions on Jan. 5, 1970, during a special-operations patrol behind enemy lines in Laos, just across the border from Ben Het, South Vietnam.
During the 2010 fiscal year, Range 37 was the host to more than 75 events that included congressional delegations, foreign military dignitaries, USSOCOM organizations, local community leaders and athletes. Demonstrations included the use of aviation assets, ground mobility vehicles, airborne infiltration, weapons familiarization and a close-up view of a live-fire assault into a training structure.
