Fort Drum named 2026 Best Garrison in Western Hemisphere
Fort Drum was named the 2026 Best Garrison for U.S. Army Installation Management Command-Western Hemisphere, recognizing performance in mission support, quality of life and other areas.
By Nolan Briggs, ClickNNY Fort Drum Desk
Fort Drum has been named the 2026 Best Garrison for U.S. Army Installation Management Command-Western Hemisphere. The award recognizes performance across 12 areas, including mission support, quality of life, real property management, safety, health and security, and communications, the Army said.
The garrison, home to the 10th Mountain Division (LI) in Jefferson County near Watertown, supported more than 251,000 multi-component personnel through 1,000 training events during fiscal year 2026. That work included maintaining 53 live-fire ranges and 69 training areas, as well as supporting three Joint Readiness Training Center rotations, three overseas combat deployments and the Jaded Thunder and Summit Strike exercises.
Fort Drum also converted an underused shoot house into live-fire lanes for the Next Generation Squad Weapon. The Army said the project shortened the delivery timeline by 180 days and required no military construction funding. A MAVEN Smart Systems training program taught more than 300 Soldiers to use artificial intelligence and machine-learning command-and-control platforms, reducing certain product-generation timelines tenfold.
The garrison’s community-focused work included modernizing 55 permanent-party barracks, fully renovating eight buildings and securing funding for furniture upgrades in 13 others. Fort Drum also received recognition for a fare-free shuttle serving the installation and connections into neighboring Jefferson County, childcare services, spouse employment programs and family events.
Fort Drum previously received the Commander in Chief’s Award for Installation Excellence in 2020 and was named an Installation Management Command Best Garrison in 2019. In 2022, it was recognized as the best IMCOM-Readiness installation, a separate directorate-level honor.
The 2026 award is part of the path toward the annual Commander in Chief’s Award for Installation Excellence. Fort Drum’s announcement was made Oct. 28, 2026. Updates are available through the Fort Drum news page.
Reported by ClickNNY and reviewed by an editor before publication.
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