With the threat of world war growing half a century ago, a contract was let to build Camp Gordon on May 5, 1941.

It was named for Georgia's John B. Gordon, one of Robert E. Lee's generals, who served the state after the Civil War as governor and U.S. senator.

Construction wasn't completed until 1942. But days after Pearl Harbor, the camp's first commander was ordered to occupy the post at once, even though ceilings and walls still had to be built to shelter him and his men.

One of the first units to train at the camp was the famous 4th Infantry Division.

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Led by Gen. R.O. Barton, who later became a well-known Augusta real estate executive, those infantrymen were the first to land on Utah Beach during the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

Two other divisions, including an armored division with tanks, also trained at Camp Gordon and left for war in Europe in the 1940s, according to Fort Gordon's official history.

At the same time, the camp served as one of about 40 prisoner-of-war camps in Georgia, according to A History of Fort Gordon, edited by Command Historian Carol E. Stokes.

A graveyard near Gate 2 serves as a reminder. Simple marble headstones mark the graves of 21 Germans and one Italian who died in camps in Georgia or South Carolina during World War II.

As the war ended, about 90,000 returning soldiers were discharged from Camp Gordon through April 1946.

For a time the camp, almost deserted, was placed on standby status, but not for long.

A looming communist threat in Korea increased activity, and the base again began preparing soldiers for combat. In 1948, a signal corps training center for Army communicators and a military police school for law enforcement were established.

It was the first of a long string of military reorganizations that has kept Fort Gordon active in the modern military world.

During the 1950s, Camp Gordon became home to the only Army criminal investigative laboratory in the United States and a jail, or U.S. disciplinary barracks, for military criminals was established.

In 1956, the camp was designated a fort - a permanent Army installation - much to the delight of local leaders. A year later, basic training began.

As the Korean War ended and the Vietnam conflict began, the fort trained infantry, military police and signal soldiers. In fact, a "Vietnam village" was built for simulated combat.

In the postwar years of the 1970s, the Army underwent several more reorganizations. The military police school moved to Fort McClellan, Ala., and all Army signal school training was consolidated at Fort Gordon, making it the largest military telecommunications complex in the world.

In the 1980s and '90s, Fort Gordon soldiers have helped in every military action from Grenada to Bosnia.

The installation is taking a lead role in developing the digitized battlefield, where cutting-edge computer and communications technology unite commanders, troops and support elements instantly on the battlefield.