Ft Bliss Facts 90% of Ft Bliss is in New Mexico to include Afghan Immigrant Camp

After a few snarky comments from locals, questioning why a previous story identified Ft. Bliss as Ft Bliss, New Mexico for reasons of that article and this one we stand by that reporting.

The Fact is the leadership of Ft Bliss is headquartered in El Paso, Texas however the prior story was referencing the Afghan refugees of which are being housed in base camps in the 1,080,000 acres of the New Mexico portion of this vast base. Thus referencing, Ft Bliss, New Mexico was in fact the photo of record was taken at the Fort Bliss base camp location on the New Mexico acreage of the military installation. When we are reporting from the base command located in El Paso Texas the story will reflect that location. We stand by our reporting from the nations second largest in the military of which 90% resides in New Mexico.

Facts:

The headquarters to the base in in El Paso, the immigrant relocation facility is in the New Mexico section of the post. Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, Ft. Bliss has an area of about 1,700 square miles (4,400 km2); it is the largest installation in FORSCOM (United States Army Forces Command. 1.2 Million acres are located in New Mexico and Texas with 90% of the land mass in New Mexico. 

Fort Bliss is different from most Army installations in that the main post is located in the metropolitan city of El Paso, Texas and 90% of training lands and several base camps are located in New Mexico's 1,080,000 acres of base property.

The facts are the leadership of the base is indeed in El Paso, Texas, but by land mass it is a New Mexico dominated installation with 90% of the land mass or according to the US Army data base of installations and inventory approximately 1,080,000 acres of this vast garrison are located in New Mexico, with a majority of the training camps, maneuvers and exercises taking place in the New Mexico acreage. The leadership is housed in El Paso when not involved in camp training or maneuvers. 

Location: El Paso, TX and Doña Ana and Otero Counties, NM

» Land Area: 1.2 million acres
» Special Use Airspace: 1,597 nautical miles2
» Total Population Supported: 169,000
» Military Personnel: 34,000
» Civilian Personnel: 11,000

Refugees from Afghanistan continued to arrive at Fort Bliss in El Paso and are transferred to the New Mexico base camp as part of Operation Allies Refuge.

Less clear is how exactly how many will be processed at the installation, serving as a temporary site for what presumably would be thousands of people evacuated as the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan after 20 years. According to the office of the president 118,000 people have been relocated from Afghanistan in the last 2 weeks being one of the largest migration transfers in the history of a US State Department and US Military collaborations of record. 

According to U.S. Army North, refugees are being welcomed to the El Paso installation's Doña Ana Range Complex, on land overlapping Otero and Doña Ana counties in New Mexico.

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, said Monday on Twitter that more than 650 had landed at the installation as of Saturday and had undergone medical screenings and examinations on base while awaiting transfer to extended housing as their visa applications are in process.

A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-NM, said one constituent in the Albuquerque area was seeking assistance for more than 100 family members in the country. One family the delegation was assisting safely arrived in Germany after departing Kabul during the weekend.

U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat representing New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, called the effort an "all-hands-on-deck moment" in a statement, adding: "We urge all New Mexicans with information about loved ones, friends, or allies on the ground in Kabul to contact our offices immediately."

This is a developing story with updates coming from the US Army daily...

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