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Armed Conflict
Current and historic photos of Fort Custer
CURRENT PHOTOS
The following photos were taken at Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Mich., in February 2007. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality scientists gave EJ a tour of the acreage no longer under DOD control. The U.S. Army once operated Fort Custer on more than 14,000 acres, but now the Michigan National Guard operates just 8,000 of those original acres. What once housed cavalry from World War I, storage bunkers from World War II, a top-secret radar building from the Cold War era and large open spaces used to train soldiers for war now serves as a cemetery, private industrial facilities and a large outdoor recreation area.
The outside of this bunker was camouflaged to hide it from the prying eyes of spy planes. |
 An old bunker hides in the snow. |
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 Some remnants of an old military building are still present at this outdoor recreation area in Battle Creek. |
 A cemetary is now located where part of Fort Custer used to be located. |
Inside a bunker used to store amunitions from World War II, a sign indicates the presence of white phosphorus, which was used to make incendiary devices. Though the bunker is now empty the sign warning visitors "If smoke is present, wear protective mask and call fire dept" remains. One-tenth of a gram of white phosphorus is a deadly dose for humans.
MDEQ scientists working on the Fort Custer site show EJ a map to illustrate the massive size of the site, which exudes all of the problems typical to former military sites — hidden landfillls, buried amunitions, and underground storage tanks of unknown substance.
HISTORIC PHOTOS
When the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality started researching old military sites in Michigan, they searched through historical documents of all kinds, including photographs. Take a look at the Fort Custer of yesteryear.
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