Fort Benning
Columbus, Georgia · Nearest airport: CSG (15 min drive)
Most families fly into ATL (100 min) instead. The local airport isn’t a typical commercial hub.
Benning runs OSUT. OSUT stands for One Station Unit Training — Soldiers complete basic training (BCT) and their MOS school in one cycle at the same installation, instead of shipping to AIT at a different base. Pick the track below that matches your Soldier’s MOS.
Not sure which track? Tap here.
Look at your Soldier’s orders or the welcome letter they sent home from Reception. There’s an MOS code (job code) like “11B” or “19D”.
- 11-series (11B Infantryman, 11C Indirect Fire Infantryman) → Infantry OSUT
- 19-series (19D Cavalry Scout, 19K M1 Armor Crewman) → Armor OSUT
When in doubt: ask your Soldier directly on their next phone call, or ask the company drill sergeant during a recall window. The MOS dictates which track page below applies to you.
Start here
Infantry OSUT
11B Infantry — 22-week training, ceremony schedule, trip planning for family attendance.
Armor OSUT
19K Armor — 22-week training, ceremony schedule, trip planning for family attendance.
Hotels (6 recommended)
Drive times to the gate, whether breakfast is open before you leave, prices. Sorted by what matters on graduation morning, not by who pays us most.
Packing list
What to bring for the bleachers, what your Soldier wants when you arrive, the things families come back and say they wish they’d packed.
Where to find verified Benning info while we curate
Until we’ve fully populated Benning content here, these sources are authoritative. Each is the official place the garrison itself points families to.
- Garrison website
- home.army.mil/benning
- Visitor information
- home.army.mil/benning/my-fort/visitor-information
- Public Affairs phone
- 706-545-5592
- Public Affairs email
- usarmy.benning.mcoe.mbx.executive-services@mail.mil
- Sandboxx Help Center
- help.sandboxx.us/en/articles/9331616-fort-benning-turning-blue-graduation-ceremony — crowd-aggregated; cross-check against the garrison source above.
When a fact changes between our verification dates and your trip, the garrison source above is the authority — not us. We update from the same sources on a quarterly cadence (see docs/DATA_REFRESH_PLAYBOOK.md).