EP2007 - Attractions - Fort Bliss

Fort Bliss is the largest Air Defense Artillery Training Center in the world, stretching more than 1,119,700 acres into southern New Mexico, occupying a larger area than Rhode Island. It is also home to the world’s largest Joint Tactical Air Operations exercise, “Roving Sands.”

Fort Bliss was first settled in 1848 and named after Lieutenant Colonel William Wallace Smith Bliss in 1854. Primarily a cavalry post until 1942, it has served as a base for infantry, antiaircraft artillery training and even guided missile systems. The fort hosts year-round ceremonies and celebrations in honor of most patriotic holidays and observances.

At the Fort Bliss Museum and Study Center and the Air Defense Artillery Museum visitors can view antique weapons, photos, vehicles, documents and other military items and exhibits dating from the 1800s to modern days. The museum’s “Old Fort Bliss” Mogoffinsville Post replica, created in 1948 in celebration of the fort’s centennial, includes a kitchen, post exchange and barracks depicting life on the fort circa 1857. The museums host events such as December’s “Star Spangled Holidays” where reenactors in period dress work, play and describe day-to-day activities of the past.

Other points of interest include the historic Pershing and Fisher houses, and the nearby NCO Museum at Biggs Army Airbase.

As a result of military realignments both nation and worldwide, Fort Bliss is projected to see up to 28,000 troops arriving in the next few years; that’s about 70,000 new residents when counting military families. As the fort boasts, it certainly is “a great day to be a solider.”

Getting There

From the El Paso International Airport, go north on Airport Rd. to Airway Blvd. Fort Bliss’s Robert E. Lee entrance gate will be on your left. If you prefer, you can also continue on Airport Rd. to the Cassidy entrance gate. Visitors must be prepared to show proper identification and vehicle insurance and registration.

Fort Bliss Museum and Study Center and Air Defense Artillery Museum
Building 1735 Marshall Rd.
Hours: 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.
Admission: free
Go in the Cassidy gate and get a one-day pass for entrance
(915) 568-3390

Old Fort Bliss
Building 5051, corner of Pershing and Pleasanton
Hours: 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.
(915) 568-4518

NCO (Noncommissioned Officer) Museum
Building 11331, Staff Sergeant Simms St.
Biggs Army Airbase
Hours: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
Admission: free
(915) 568-8646