Fort Knox — Kentucky’s Most Beautiful Gated Community 

By T.W. Shortt | Vietnam Veteran | Former Fort Knox Soldier | TW Shortt Reports

About ten years ago, I took an elderly friend on a drive around Fort Knox. His family had lived in the area since the early 1950s, and his father had operated the old Quartermaster Laundry on post. Yet my friend, then in his eighties, had not been back onto Fort Knox in half a century. 

What he saw surprised him. 

As we drove along the tree-lined streets, past historic buildings, neatly maintained grounds, military facilities, and familiar landmarks, he finally said something that has stayed with me ever since: 

“It’s like driving through a museum.” 

That description may be the most accurate I’ve ever heard. 

Fort Knox is one of the most orderly, well-maintained communities in Kentucky. You do not see abandoned buildings, overgrown lots, tall grass, discarded automobiles, or the visual clutter common in many modern communities. Streets are maintained. Buildings are cared for. The grounds are orderly. There is little unnecessary noise. 

It feels like someone is responsible for the place. 

That may sound like a simple observation, but it is increasingly unusual. 

What is also surprising is how many people living only a few miles from Fort Knox have either never been on the installation or have not visited it in decades. For many residents of Hardin County and surrounding communities, Fort Knox is something they drive past rather than experience. 

I first encountered Fort Knox in July 1967. 

I was eighteen years old. 

I grew up in a government housing project in the Newport News-Hampton area of Virginia, and this was only the second time in my life I had been far from home. When I arrived at Fort Knox, what I saw was unlike anything I had previously experienced. 

The installation seemed enormous. 

Everything appeared organized, purposeful, and disciplined. 

But Fort Knox was also preparing for war. 

During that period, new air cavalry units were being organized and trained for deployment to Vietnam. Among them were the 7th Squadron, 7/1 Air Cavalry, and the 7/17 Air Cavalry. 

When I reported to my company, near what is today the shopping and service area along Wilson Road, there was hardly a company there to report to. 

The senior soldier present was a private first class. 

Within a few days, a sergeant arrived. Then came a WO1, a newly commissioned warrant officer fresh from flight school. For a brief period, that young warrant officer was effectively the senior-ranking person present as the unit slowly took shape. 

Then everything began happening rapidly. 

Soldiers arrived. Officers arrived. Pilots and crew members reported. Equipment appeared. Aircraft were assigned. What had begun as only a handful of soldiers grew into an air cavalry organization numbering hundreds of men. 

We were building a military unit from the ground up. 

By early 1968, the preparation was over. 

Aircraft associated with the deployment were moved across the United States toward California, while the soldiers prepared to travel overseas. We eventually boarded the USNS Upshur for the long voyage to Vietnam. 

Thirty days later, Fort Knox seemed an extraordinarily long way away. 

Yet my first impression of the installation never left me. 

Sixty years later, I can still see much of what that eighteen-year-old soldier saw in 1967: broad streets, beautiful, wooded areas, historic buildings, military tradition, discipline, and an unmistakable sense of order. 

Fort Knox is certainly a military installation. 

But it is also one of Kentucky’s most historically important communities, and in its own unusual way, it may be Kentucky’s most beautiful gated community. 

Residents who have never been there should make the trip. So should local elected officials, business leaders, planners, and others who help shape the future of the communities surrounding Fort Knox. 

Unlike 1967, you cannot simply drive through the gate today. Visitors must go through the proper screening and visitor access process before entering the installation. But the short delay is worth it. 

Fort Knox is not a distant federal property disconnected from us. It is our neighbor. It is part of this region’s history, economy, identity, and future. 

And it is a magnificent community. 

For me, it is more than that. 

In a strange way, Fort Knox still feels a little like home. 

It was, after all, only the second place in my life that I ever truly called home.