A Brief History of

College Arms Housing

1952-2013

2

On 23 June 1952, ground was broken for College Arms housing, intended

primarily for US Army War College (USAWC) students and their families. The USAWC

had moved to Carlisle Barracks in the summer of 1951, but the amount of housing

available was nowhere near what was needed. Deputy Commandant Brigadier General

Arthur Trudeau, instrumental in getting the USAWC to Carlisle, had a part in setting up

student quarters in accordance with the Wherry Housing Act of 1949. Adjustments had

to be made to comply with that program. The three bedroom homes, notoriously small,

could have been a bit

larger except for

regulations--two feet had to

be trimmed off the length

and width to get the

construction price below

$9,000 each.1 College

Arms housing overall cost

$925,700.2

Ten to twelve of the

homes were to be ready for occupancy by 1 September 1952.3 By the next academic

year, one hundred small white houses dotted the northeast section of post. Those

College Arms homes, numbering 501 to 600, lined all or parts of today’s Wright and

Forbes Avenues and Liggett, Davis, Craig, Pershing, Butler, Sumner, and Patton

Roads. Around 1960, half of the homes were expanded from three bedroom, 1,265

1 Arthur G. Trudeau Papers, Box 1, Oral History Volume II, 45, 53-54, US Army Military History

Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. 2 Army War College Archives, Curriculum Development, Department of Academic Affairs,

General Files, Box 1, Folder 12, US Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. 3 Edward M. Almond Papers, Box 92, Folder 1, US Army Military History Institute, Carlisle

Barracks, Pennsylvania. News clipping (where above photo is also from) has no newspaper name or date. It was in a scrapbook with 1952 clippings.

3

square foot homes (left, below) to four bedroom, 1,570 square foot homes (right).

Throughout the years, senior enlisted lived in five of the homes. More recently, a few

USAWC geographic bachelor students, civilian students, and other officers and enlisted

have also lived in College Arms.4

The size of the homes led to the

nickname “Smurf Village,” from a popular

1980s cartoon that originated as a comic

strip in Belgium in 1958. Smurfs, tiny

blue people who lived in a village in a

forest, were described as three apples

high. The current and previous USAWC

commandants, Major Generals Anthony

Cucolo III and Gregg Martin, both

remembered living in “Smurf Village”

when they were students. USAWC end-of-

year survey comments have included

everything from “Bulldoze 'Smurf' houses.

I will even volunteer to drive one!” (2004)

to “We quite enjoyed our ‘smurf’ home and our return to small-town America” (2009).5

4 Bif Coyle, Chief, Army Housing/Residential Communities, meeting with author, 13 November

2012, and email to author, 6 December 2012. Floor plans printed from Balfour-Beatty’s website,

www.carlislebarrackshomes.com, 5 November 2012.

4

Since 2006, housing at Carlisle

Barracks has gone through upgrades,

including The Meadows neighborhood

being added beside the golf course and

new homes replacing the red houses on

Marshall Ridge. In the “final phase” of the

housing improvements, College Arms

homes are being replaced by Heritage

Heights duplex houses. Phase I, completed

in 2009, demolished 31 homes and

replaced them with 24. The individual

homes cost between $267,000 and $275,000,

depending on size. Phase II, a $22 million

project, will replace 69 College Arms homes

with 56, and all should be ready for the

USAWC Class of 2015.6

by Jessica J. Sheets

USAMHI/USAHEC

25 January 2013

research assistance from Bif Coyle,

Michael Lynch, Guy Nasuti, and Melissa Wiford

5 Office of Institutional Assessment, “Executive Summary, End-of-Year Survey AY 04” and

“Executive Summary End-of-Year Survey Report: AY09” found at http://cbportal.carlisle.army.mil

/sites/daa/directorates/ia/surveys2/Shared%20Documents/surveys.aspx. Cartoon from “Housing Photos

for 8 Nov Briefing Rev 11-5-04.ppt,” emailed by Bif Coyle, Chief, Army Housing/Residential Communities,

to author, 13 November 2012. 6 (1) 2006 date provided by Bif Coyle, Chief, Army Housing/Residential Communities,

conversation with author, 8 January 2013. (2) Reynolds, Suzanne, “Heritage Heights phase II

demolition/construction slated for September start,” Army War College Community Banner online, August

2012, http://www.carlisle.army.mil/banner/archiveDisplay.cfm?articleMonth=8&articleYear=2012. The

article actually says 71 College Arms homes would torn down in Phase II because it was including the 2

residences within the farmhouse (building 839). College Arms count verified by email from Bif Coyle to

author on 6 December 2012. (3) “Smurf phase-out begins,” Army War College Community Banner online,

November 2012, http://www.carlisle.army.mil/banner/archiveDisplay.cfm?articleMonth=11&article

Year=2012. (4) Schloesser, Kelly. “Carlisle Barracks goes ‘green’ all year-round, Army War College

Community Banner online, May 2009, http://www.carlisle.army.mil/banner/archiveDisplay.cfm?article

Month=5&articleYear=2009. (5) “BBC Housing Costs by Unit.xlsx,” emailed by Bif Coyle, Chief, Army

Housing/Residential Communities, to author, 24 January 2013.

5

Pre-demolition photos US Army War College Photo Lab, November 2012

larger kitchen

(smaller kitchen pictured on page 3)

6

living room and dining room

second floor

7

attic/storage area

older living room

8

Title page credits

College Arms then and now (photographs taken from Young Hall)

From informational board on College Arms in possession of Bif Coyle, Chief, Army Housing/Residential

Communities. Left image: “Wherry Housing Project, Reisinger Bros. Inc., May 27, 1953.” Right image:

circa 2004.

Aerial view Carlisle Barracks Collection Photographs, Box 76, Folder 8, US Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. Circa mid-1990s.