The fort is named in honor of Union Army Brigadier General William Bowen Campbell, the last Whig Governor of Tennessee.

Within a year, the reservation designated as Camp Campbell was developed to accommodate one armored division and various support troops, with a total size of 102,414 acres (414 km2), and billets for 2,422 officers and 45,198 enlisted personnel.

Due to its close proximity to Nashville, the War Department on March 7, 1941, designated Tennessee as the official address of the new camp.

After many months of mail delivery problems, Colonel Guy W. Chipman requested that the address be changed to Camp Campbell, Kentucky.

Early in the summer of 1942, the post's initial cadre, one officer and 19 enlisted men, arrived from Fort Knox, Kentucky.

On May 2, 1966, Third Army General Order 161 directed the activation of a Basic Combat Training Center at Fort Campbell.

On July 6, barely two months after its activation, Fort Campbell's Army Training Center received its first 220 newly inducted soldiers.

In September 1971, the 173rd Airborne Brigade returned to Fort Campbell and conducted its official homecoming ceremonies, which were presided over by Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird.

On April 6, 1972, the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) was officially welcomed back to its home station after the cessation of hostilities in Vietnam.

The ceremonies were attended by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew and General William C. Westmoreland, Army Chief of Staff.

On December 12, 1985, 246 servicemembers died with eight aircrews shortly after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland, Canada, during a return from peacekeeping duties in Egypt.

The damage was especially severe in Clarksville, the town outside of the base, where an EF3 tornado with estimated winds of 150 miles per hour (240 km/h) killed 6 people there and in neighbouring areas.

[4] On July 5, 1999, Private First Class Barry Winchell, 21, of 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat in his barracks.

[citation needed] On October 13, 2005, Fort Campbell made international headlines when Private Nicholas Mikel opened fire on a group of soldiers training at the base.

Happening around 10 p.m. local time, two HH-60 Black Hawk medical evacuation aircraft crashed into each other, while pilots were using night vision goggles.

Early team members were soldiers who volunteered their free time in order to perform quality parachute demonstrations.

Other facilities include Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, Sabalauski Air Assault School and the SSG John W. Kreckel NCO Academy.