Fort Gregg-Adams — formerly known as Fort Lee — is a United States Army installation situated in Prince George County, Virginia, roughly a few hours south of Washington, D.C. The post serves as headquarters for the U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM) and the Sustainment Center of Excellence, and is home to multiple Army schools including the Quartermaster, Ordnance, and Transportation Schools. Among its facilities is the United States Army Women's Museum, a one-of-a-kind institution that chronicles women's military service from the American Revolution through the present day. Gates visited the museum in Season 13 of Expedition Unknown, meeting with museum staff to review archival materials — including original newspaper clippings and photographs — related to a 1945 WAC plane crash and the servicewomen who were lost.
Women begin serving in support roles alongside the Continental Army at the birth of the U.S. military, a history documented at the museum on post.
The 'Hello Girls' — French-speaking American women — serve in forward communications roles during World War I, laying groundwork for the later Women's Army Corps.
The Women's Army Corps is founded, roughly five months after the attack on Pearl Harbor; over 30,000 women apply in response to the original call for 1,000 recruits.
A WAC plane crash occurs, the subject of the Expedition Unknown investigation; the servicewomen involved are later honored at the Army Women's Museum.
Josh Gates visits Fort Gregg-Adams and the United States Army Women's Museum for Expedition Unknown S13E06, 'America's MIA Heroines.'
At the United States Army Women's Museum, Gates is guided by Tracy Bradford, a museum representative who provides on-camera historical context. Bradford explains that the Women's Army Corps grew from a long tradition of women's service dating back to 1775, when women served in logistical roles — as laundresses, cooks, nurses, and foragers — alongside the Continental Army. She highlights the 'Hello Girls' of World War I as a pivotal moment, describing them as French-speaking American women brought overseas for forward communications work and calling them the direct precursor to the WAC.
Mainstream military historians broadly support this lineage. The WAC, founded in 1942, represented a formal and legally recognized expansion of women's roles in the U.S. military at a time of acute wartime need. The original enlistment call sought 1,000 women; more than 30,000 applied — a figure Bradford cites on camera — and enrollment grew substantially throughout the war. The WACs performed roles across communications, medicine, logistics, and administration, freeing male soldiers for combat assignments.
The episode's specific focus is a 1945 WAC plane crash and the servicewomen who were never fully accounted for — a chapter that the museum's archival holdings help illuminate. The archival materials Gates examines, including newspaper clippings and photographs, represent primary-source evidence of these women's service and the circumstances of their loss. As with many MIA investigations, the historical record remains incomplete, and the episode explores rather than resolves the full story of what happened.
Gates himself brings a personal dimension to the visit, noting on camera that his British grandmother served in the UK equivalent of the WAC. The episode contributes by bringing renewed public attention to a corner of World War II history that, as Gates observes, many viewers may not know well — without overclaiming resolution of the underlying mystery.
The Women's Army Corps was founded in 1942, approximately five months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, in response to urgent wartime manpower needs.
When the original call went out for 1,000 WAC recruits, more than 30,000 women applied — thirty times the initial target.
The 'Hello Girls' of World War I — French-speaking American women who served in forward communications roles — are considered a direct historical precursor to the Women's Army Corps.
Fort Gregg-Adams serves as headquarters for the U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command and hosts multiple Army schools, including the Quartermaster, Ordnance, and Transportation Schools.
The United States Army Women's Museum is located on Fort Gregg-Adams and is generally open to the public, though visitors should check current base access requirements and museum hours in advance, as on-post facilities may have specific entry protocols. The museum's exhibits span from the American Revolution to contemporary service, making it a substantive destination for military history enthusiasts.
Petersburg, Virginia, approximately 2 miles; Richmond, Virginia, approximately 25 miles north.
Fort Gregg-Adams is accessible year-round; Virginia's spring and fall offer mild temperatures that make the drive from the D.C. area particularly pleasant.
Normandy Beaches, France
Normandy Beaches, France, is closely tied to World War II military history and the broader theater in which WAC servicewomen operated during the same era Gates investigates at Fort Gregg-Adams.
Wichita Mountains
The Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma have historical connections to U.S. military installations and American frontier heritage explored in other Expedition Unknown investigations.
Bannack State Park
Bannack State Park features in an Expedition Unknown investigation into lost or overlooked American historical figures, a thematic parallel to the MIA heroines episode centered on Fort Gregg-Adams.
Historical data sourced from Wikipedia