10th Mountain Division at Camp Hale

by Flint Whitlock

In 1942, at the beginning of World War II, the US Army built its most unusual military post for its most unusual division in a high, remote, Rocky Mountain valley 100 miles west of Denver, Colorado. Located at 9,250 feet above sea level, Camp Hale was the training home of the famed 13,459-man 10th Mountain Division, which trained in mountain warfare techniques for two years--and almost missed the war. After they were finally deployed for combat in early 1945 in the Northern Apennine Mountains of Italy, the young men of the 10th never lost a battle or gave up a foot of ground. And, after the war, many of the veterans returned home to create America's ski and winter sports industry. Building Camp Hale was an incredible feat of wartime engineering and construction. To transform the wild, alpine meadow into an Army camp, 10,000 civilian construction workers were hired to scrape away the vegetation; level the valley floor; install roads and water and sewer lines; build 1,000 structures and two ski areas; and relocate a highway and railroad line--all within seven months and at a cost of $31 million (over a half billion dollars in today's money). Yet Camp Hale was demolished two years after it was built.

130 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 20, 2023

About the author

As an art major, Flint Whitlock graduated from the University of Illinois in 1964 with a degree in Advertising Design, but has always been as much a writer as an artist. His love for military history began at an early age—fueled by his father, James, who served with the famed 10th Mountain Division in World War II. Flint also had an uncle who was a military policeman with the 1st Infantry Division and another uncle who served with the Navy in the Pacific.

Wanting to serve his country, Flint was commissioned a Second Lieutenant through the Reserve Officer Commission Training Program and entered active duty in December 1964. After attending the basic Air Defense Artillery officers' course at Fort Bliss, Texas, Flint earned his jump wings at Airborne school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was then posted to a Nike Hercules battery in Baumholder, Germany. After two years in ADA, he received a branch transfer to the Quartermaster Corps and spent an additional year with the Supply and Maintenance Agency in Zweibruecken, Germany, where he was promoted to captain.


In 1968, Flint was transferred to South Vietnam, arriving one day before the Tet Offensive in January, 1968. He served for six months as a supply specialist at 1st Logistical Command Headquarters at Long Binh, northeast of Saigon, before being transferred to the 14th Inventory Control Center at the same post. He returned to the States in 1969 and spent a year with the 5th Infantry Division Supply and Maintenance Battalion at Fort Carson, Colorado, before resigning his commission and returning to civilian life.

After a stint as the Public Relations Director for the Denver Dynamos of the now-defunct North American Soccer League, he served as a copywriter, art director, and creative director for several major Colorado advertising agencies. While holding down these positions, he also continued to paint and write, becoming a locally prominent artist of the “photo-realist” genre. His attention to visual detail also translated to the written word, as he sought to convey the emotional and physical aspects of the soldier's experience.

To heighten his understanding of, and appreciation for, what the World War II combat soldier went through, he became involved in World War II re-enactment groups, in which he has been active for over 20 years. As a tribute to his father, he founded the 10th Mountain Division Living History Display Group in 1983 (www.tenthmountain.org). He is also a member of the 10th Mountain Division Foundation Board of Directors and the 10th Mountain Division Resource Center Advisory Committee.

Flint Whitlock lives in Denver, Colorado, with his wife, Dr. Mary Ann Watson, a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at Metropolitan State College of Denver. They have three grown children: Gillian Lee Whitlock, an actress and make-up artist in Hollywood; Suki Montgomery, a psychologist and member of the counseling staff at Ithaca (NY) College; and Matthew Montgomery, an anesthesiologist in Denver. To keep in shape, Flint skis, referees soccer, and plays tennis.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, sweet, and to the point. Lots of great photographs.

Built in seven months at a cost of $30M the entire camp was disassembled three years later as soon as the Division deployed to Italy. WTF?!

The whole concept was forced on the Army by enthusiastic civilians. General Marshall surrendered. But the Army could never figure out how to use these men nor did it want the animals-horses and mules.

Warner Brothers even made a 20 minute recruiting film-Mountain Fighters. It's on YouTube.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 9 of 2024: 10th Mountain Dicrision at Camp Hale by Flint Whitlock and Eric Miller (2023, Arcadia Publishing, 115 p.)

Like all Images of America books, this book is a lavishly illustrated history of Camp Hale, Colorado. Camp Hale was built to train America's mountain troops during World War II, the 10th Mountain Division.

As a former Infantryman in the Washington Army National Guard and an avid skier and climber in my life, I've taken an interest in the history of the 10th (they also trained at Mt. Rainer).

Many of the troops later essentially founded the Colorado ski industry, including the grandfather of my great friend Casady Henry, Friedel Pfeiffer.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides excellent history of Camp Hale telling the story with a superior collection of photographs and commentary.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-selected collection of photographs showing the creation and development of Camp Hale and the training that took place there.