The installation
The Army's Largest Armored Post
Fort Hood covers about 218,000 acres across Bell and Coryell counties near Killeen, halfway between Austin and Waco. It is the largest active-duty armored installation in the US, with about 60,000 direct employees including 38,642 active-duty soldiers, and the Texas Comptroller put its contribution to the state economy at $39B in 2023.
Camp Hood opened in September 1942 as the Tank Destroyer Tactical and Firing Center, sited for maneuver space no eastern site could match. The post was renamed Fort Cavazos in May 2023 and returned to Fort Hood in June 2025, now honoring Col. Robert B. Hood.
| Command | Role |
|---|---|
| III Armored Corps | Senior tactical headquarters and the Army's armored corps |
| 1st Cavalry Division | The primary armored division |
| 3rd Cavalry Regiment | Armored cavalry |
| First Army Division West | Training readiness and mobilization for active and reserve units |
| 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command | Logistics, distribution and theater opening |
| Operational Test Command | Independent operational testing of new Army and joint systems |
Design to field
Designed in Austin, Proven at Fort Hood
Seed
Capital Factory Center for Dual-Use Innovation
Austin
DIU, AFWERX, SpaceWERX, NavalX and Army Applications Lab under one roof
Design
Austin defense-tech companies
Austin
Allen Control Systems, Anduril, Saronic, Palantir
Move
I-35
60 miles
Austin to Killeen
Test
Operational Test Command
Fort Hood
Independent operational testing before Army-wide fielding
Field
Army Applications Lab and the units
Fort Hood and beyond
Contracts into the force; III Armored Corps and 1st Cavalry Division use the systems
The Operational Test Command makes Fort Hood the gate for new platforms entering the Army. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Leidos and Booz Allen Hamilton run autonomy, drone swarm and tactical AI programs on the post. The Austin companies seeded around Capital Factory now send their systems 60 miles up I-35 to be tested against active-duty armored units.
| System | Built in | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Allen Control Systems Bullfrog | Austin, 510 St. Elmo Rd | AI counter-drone weapon station; Army Applications Lab integrating it on five vehicle platforms; xTechOverwatch winner |
| Shield AI Hivemind | Texas division near Fort Hood | Autonomous drone swarm development and testing |
| Anduril air autonomy and jammers | Austin, South Congress | Texas test-site operations; Golden Dome interceptor pool and software consortium |
| Saronic autonomous surface vessels | Austin; Port Alpha shipyard at Brownsville | Maritime autonomy in the same Texas test and fielding base |
One kill chain
The Ground Half of the Orbital Layer
Each of these systems carries its own AI compute for jammed, GPS-denied fights. Connected, they use the same orbital network Golden Dome is building: SpaceX Starshield and its $2.29B data network, the Space Development Agency's tracking constellation and commercial Starlink. Palantir and Anduril software in Austin ties the orbital picture to the system on the ground; Fort Hood is where the ground half is proven. See the Golden Dome Texas Corridor.
Workforce
Soldiers Into the Texas Industrial Base
About 5,000 to 7,000 soldiers leave active duty at Fort Hood each year, a trained workforce for SpaceX McGregor 60 miles north, the Austin-Taylor chip plants and the DFW defense base. Programs such as Heroes MAKE America connect them to Texas manufacturers.
Killeen, Copperas Cove and Harker Heights rise and fall with deployment cycles, and intergovernmental agreements with the post cover transit, roads, water, wastewater and emergency management.
Record
Dataset Record
- Sources
- US Army and Fort Hood public affairs; Texas Comptroller; company announcements through October 2026
- Map
- Installation outline approximate
- Last verified
- Q4 2026