Fort Rucker is a U.S. Army Post located in Dale County, Alabama. The post is the primary flight training base for Army Aviation. It was named after Confederate General Edmund Rucker who was a Civil War officer. The fort is home to the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence and the United States Army Aviation Museum. Population near the base is 6,050 people. The dominant military facility at Fort Rucker is the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence whose key parts of its mission are training, doctrine, and testing. All Army Aviation training has been done at Fort Rucker since 1973. All U.S Air Force and dally helicopter pilots were trained here. Units stationed on the base include the 1st Battalion, the 11th Aviation Regiment, 14th Aviation Regiment, and the 212th Aviation Regiment. At the start of World War II, the U.S. War Department decided to add a number of new bases. Fort Rucker covered 58,000 acres and was open on May 1st, 1942 as “Camp Rucker” The name was officially changed to Fort Rucker as of October 1955.

Weather in the Fort Rucker area tends to be hot in the summer with temperatures in the 80s and cool in the winter with the temperatures in the 50s. Annual rainfall in the area is 56 inches with the wettest month being March. July is also the warmest month, and January is the coldest. Local housing options are available nearby in cities such as Enterprise, Daleville, and Newton. Hanchey Army Heliport became the home of the Department of Rotary Wing Training of the Army Aviation School in 1959. While serving in the Army, U.S. Vice-President Al Gore was stationed at Fort Rucker for five months before being deployed to Vietnam.