What To Know About El Paso's Diverse Military Presence

El Paso isn't a coastal city ... hell, we barely have a lake and the river's dry most of the year ... yet we have Navy and Coast Guard members stationed here. WTH?

El Paso's largest military presence is army but the other branches of the United States military are all here too. Fort Bliss has also hosted both Union and Confederate troops.

True story - at one point during the Civil War, Fort Bliss was in the hands of the Confederacy.

Fort Bliss is the 2nd largest military base in Texas, (although most of it's actually in New Mexico), and it has the largest training ground of all the USA's bases. The population of Fort Bliss numbers around 150,000, about the same as Las Cruces.

Most active duty personnel here are Army with the largest number of soldiers assigned to the 1st Armored Division.

Why Does El Paso Have Every Military Branch?

The Army, obviously, trains here with the 1st Armored Division being the largest unit assigned to Fort Bliss. The 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command is also here along with many other units.

With no large bodies of water handy, or much water at all for that matter, you may be wondering why we have Navy and Coast Guard running around. Good question.

Why Is The Navy Here?

The Navy has been here since 1946. They were first established here to team up with the Army for missile development which makes sense since a ton of our missiles are launched at sea.

What About The Coast Guard, Marines And Air Force?

In recent times, the Coast Guard, (and a few Marines), were sent here to provide security and/or monitor activity along the Rio Grande. The Marines also maintain a reserve unit here as well as conducting artillery rocket testing.

The Air Force originally had a large unit stationed at Biggs Airfield along with a German Air Force unit. Their activities have been scaled back around El Paso but Holloman Air Force Base is only about 80 miles north in Alamogordo.