Association of Defense Communities picks Fort Smith for a top award

Fort Smith is one of three U.S. cities recently selected as a 2024 Great American Defense Community by the Association of Defense Communities. The other two cities are Elizabeth City, N.C., and the Black Hills region of South Dakota.

Fort Smith is home to the Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center (FCMTC), Ebbing Air National Guard Base, and is the location for the U.S. Air Force foreign pilot training center for the Department of Defense Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

Elizabeth City is home to a U.S. Coast Guard Bases, and South Dakota is home to Ellsworth Air Force Base, home to the 28th Bomb Group which operates the B-1B bomber.

“We are thrilled to celebrate Fort Smith as a 2024 Great American Defense Community,” ADC President Karen Holt said in a statement. “The foundation of our military’s resilience lies within our communities, and Fort Smith, Arkansas serves as a prime illustration of how a community can support the mission.”

The Great American Defense Communities program was launched by ADC in 2016 to recognize communities and regions that support military installations for their efforts to improve quality of life for military.

“Fort Smith is humbled and extremely proud to be named as a Great American Defense Community by ADC,” said Tim Allen, president and CEO of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce. “This region has a rich history of supporting the military, including Ebbing Air National Guard Base and the Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center. With the addition of the Foreign Military Sales Pilot Training Program, we now stand in a select group of communities that are critically important to supporting our nation’s security at home and abroad.”

The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith in 2023 was designated for the 2023-2024 academic year a “Military Friendly” school by Military Friendly.

According to ADC, communities are chosen through a competitive nomination process based on community building efforts, such as educational and employment opportunities, and support and collaboration with neighboring military installations.

Washington, D.C.-based ADC provides a connection among officials in communities, states, the military and industry on community-military issues and installation management. The organization has nearly 300 communities, states, regions and affiliated industry organizations as members.