Fort Drum is a U.S. Army military reservation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, near the western border of northern New York, United States.

This section of the article incorporates text taken from a public-domain document prepared by the United States military.

In 1809 the United States stationed a company of infantry soldiers at what was then called Sackett's Harbor to enforce the Embargo Act and control smuggling between northern New York and Canada, particularly Kingston, Ontario.

Following the outbreak of the War of 1812, Sacketts Harbor became the center of United States naval and military activity for the Upper St. Lawrence River valley and Lake Ontario.

The town was rapidly flooded with troops and some 3,000 skilled workers for the navy shipyard, most of whom came from New York City.

In 1908, Major General Frederick Dent Grant was sent to the Pine Camp region to train with 2,000 regulars and 8,000 militia.

In 1909 the military allocated funds to purchase land to form Pine Camp, and summer training continued here through the years.

The camp came into the national spotlight in 1935, when the largest peacetime maneuvers in American military history up to that point were held on the Pine Plains and surrounding farmland.

For 36 hours, young men from offices, factories, and farms marched, attacked and defended in tactical exercises on the 100 square miles (260 km2) the Army had leased for its war games.

[5] With the outbreak of World War II in Europe, Pine Camp was selected by the Army for a major expansion.

Contractors went to work, and in a period of 10 months at a cost of $20 million, an entire city was built to house the divisions scheduled to train at Pine Camp.

[6] Several communities at or near Agent Orange manufacturing or storage sites continue to report dioxin levels above recommended safety standards, including Fort Drum.

Its mission is to be operationally ready and trained to deploy rapidly by air, sea, and land anywhere in the world, prepared to fight upon arrival and win.

In 2013 Fort Drum was being considered for the location of a proposed Eastern United States missile defense site.

Several villages in Jefferson County are on the border of Fort Drum: Antwerp, Black River, Carthage, Evans Mills, Natural Bridge, and Philadelphia.

The nearest city is Watertown, 13 miles (21 km) to the southwest, which is the service and shopping destination for the fort's personnel.

Civilian job opportunities include day care providers, school teachers, nurses, and custodial workers.

[13] While housing can be difficult to obtain on-post due to the number of families moving to the area, families are able to stay temporarily at the Fort Drum Inn, cottages, guest house, cabins, or the LeRay Mansion, which all are under the care of Fort Drum Lodging.