The Pit

The Pit is the secret Headquarters of G.I. Joe.

Comic Canon
The first Pit to serve as the Joe Team's headquarters was located in underneath the Chaplain's Assistant School's motor pool within Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island. Only members of the elite G.I. Joe and the privileged few are privy to its existence. Even the chaplains and their students are not aware their motor pool has a huge secret underground.

Early on, the Pit has become a matter of interest to Cobra as they have made several attempts to ascertain its true location. Among the early attempts was the insertion of a battle robot that would makes its way up and beam a signal. Thanks to the Joes' resourcefulness, this plan was foiled.

MUX History
When G.I. Joe was reformed in 1997 a new Pit was constructed. For a time the Joes were based in an underground HQ beneath the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH.

The Pit is currently located in an undisclosed location in Texas.

Pit I & II:
The motor pool at the Chaplain's Assistants School at Fort Wadsworth was equipped to meet any repair and maintenance need, just like any other Army motor pool. It was also the only motor pool in the world with a hydraulic lift that went down and the only one with five floors of armored basement below it. In reality, the motor pool hid the secret headquarters of the G.I. Joe team, also known as "The Pit." Built under extremely tight security, the Pit was designed to keep certain the Joe team's status remained classified and its existence virtually unknown. Apparently, even the rest of the personnel at Fort Wadsworth was unaware of the Pit's existence, believing that the Joe team members were just motor pool staff.

Hidden under the Chaplain's Assistants School, the least threatening of all army installations, the Pit housed nearly the entire G.I. Joe operation within its five levels. These levels contained an elaborate training area, briefing rooms, an armory and high-tech communications equipment and computer systems. A staging area held the Joe team's vehicles and offered access to the equipment lifts leading to the motor pool above. (Of the team's many vehicles, only their aircraft were housed elsewhere, stationed at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey.) Personnel support areas such as a canteen (kitchen) and living quarters were also included. The bottom levels of the Pit could be sealed off and could operate independently for six months, withstanding up to a five megaton blast. Fortunately, that aspect of the Pit was never tested. The team's original thirteen members actually took up residence in the base before it was completely operational. During the early days of the team, Cobra's first attempt at infiltrating the Pit occurred when following a battle, the Joes brought a dismantled Cobra battle robot into the Pit for study. It was believed to be deactivated, but an outside signal from Cobra caused the robot to reactivate and reassemble itself. After a brief battle and minor damage to the Pit, the robot was destroyed before it could reach the surface and transmit a signal that would reveal the location of the base.

Many months after the Cobra's first attempts to find the location of the base, the Pit was threatened with a Cobra assault. Cobra had discovered that the Joes were quartered at Fort Wadsworth, but the Joes were tipped off by Cobra agent, Scar-face. Knowing that a Cobra assault was imminent, Hawk had a prefabricated fortress built one level below the motor pool. Using the equipment lifts, the fortress was pushed to the surface just as a Cobra attack destroyed the motor pool. Cobra believed that the ground level fortress was the entire G.I. Joe H.Q., so when they blew it up they assumed the Pit itself had been destroyed. After the battle that followed, Cobra's forces retreated. During the battle, General Flagg was killed by the mercenary Major Bludd, making the victory a hollow one for the Joes.

Much of the Pit remained intact after the destruction of the prefab fortress, but the top levels had been severely damaged. The Army took the opportunity to rebuild the Pit, this time expanding its facilities to deal with the team's growth within the last year and allow for even more Joes to subsequently join the team. Many of the team members themselves took part in the reconstruction. The rebuilt headquarters was different enough for the Joes to unofficially call it "Pit II." The new Pit had an expanded motor pool above it, which allowed for many more vehicle lifts, a helicopter launch pad and even a hidden ICBM missle silo. The original Pit had an escape tunnel leading to a water tower on the ground level. In addition to that, Pit II included an earth-boring vehicle to allow for an additional escape route. After months of construction, the new Pit was officially opened with a dedication ceremony hosted by General Austin. The Joes later found their base infiltrated by Cobra once again when Zartan, disguised as G.I. Joe member Ripcord, was brought into the Pit to treat supposed injuries he sustained during a mission to Cobra Island. Once deep in the Pit, Zartan used his abilities to disguise himself as numerous Joes as the team locked down the base and tried to track down the elusive master of disguise. He nearly escaped before being stopped by Sergeant Slaughter. Zartan was then held prisoner in the base, and remained there when most of the Joe team invaded the Cobra-controlled town of Springfield. The Battle of Springfield proved disastrous after Cobra managed to evacuate their town, leaving behind little evidence that they were ever there. As the Joes made their way back to Fort Wadsworth, a group of Dreadnoks beat them there. They learned the location of the Pit from Buzzer, who had been held prison there for a time. The biker gang freed Zartan with the help of his siblings, Zandar and Zarana, due in part due to the small amount of staff left at the base. After the Joe team was put on suspension following the debacle at Springfield, the Pit was sealed and all personnel were assigned to regular barracks above ground. Cobra chose this moment to again attack the Pit, using Zartan's knowledge of its location. The mission was led by Serpentor, who was quickly taking control of Cobra away from Cobra Commander. The off duty Joes, stationed throughout Fort Wadsworth organized an attack on the motor pool, where the Cobra forces had gathered. Cobra Commander, trying to prove himself as Serpentor usurped his leadership, led a group of Cobra troopers into the Pit along with Destro.The only people actually inside the base were a group of high-ranking officers who were investigating the team. Hawk, General Hollingsworth, General Ryan and Admiral Dyson tried to fend off Destro and Cobra Commander's attack on their own, but failed. Dyson gave his life to save the others, and a mortally wounded Ryan detonated explosives that destroyed the Pit even as Hawk and Hollingsworth escaped. The Pit collapsed, leaving a crater in the middle of Fort Wadsworth and the Joes without any headquarters. After taking up temporary residence in the Chaplain's Assistants Gymnasium, the Joe team was to become a mobile unit. That plan proved to be unfeasible for the G.I. Joe team's size, and a new Pit would soon be built. Fort Wadsworth actually exists on Staten Island. According to the series' writer, Larry Hama, it was easy to use the Army base as a reference for the comic book because of its closeness to Marvel's Manhattan offices. It did house the Chaplain's Assistants School for a time, though only up until 1979, three years before G.I. JOE #1 was published.

PIT III:
After the destruction of the first Pit, a new G.I. Joe headquarters facility was planned. Built beneath a U.S. Army supply depot in the Southern Utah desert, the new facility was situated to avoid some problems with the site of the original Pit. The Fort Wadsworth site proved too dangerous to personnel and Staten Island residents when Cobra uncovered its location. Thus, a depot in the desert was chosen due to its relative isolation.

The new base was built beneath the U.S. Army Chaplain's Assistants Supply Depot in Utah's Escalante Desert. Anyone who passed by the facility saw little more than a cluster of three quonset huts inside a barbed wire fence. A small number of Joes usually inhabited the huts to maintain the illusion of a working supply depot. The new base lacked the huge vehicle lifts and elevators of the old Pit, and was accessible through a stairway beneath a trap door in the center quonset hut. The trap door was often covered by a rug and guarded by the Joe member Spirit, who sometimes sat on the rug and meditated. The final construction stages of the new Pit were completed by the Joes themselves. When the facility was finished, the older Joes dubbed it "Pit III," with a feeling of nostalgia for their original base. The wide open spaces of the desert allowed for an even more ingenious method of getting vehicles and heavy equipment above ground than the original base. Pit III's first level held the main staging area. Larger than the first Pit's staging area, it could hold many of the Joes' large vehicles and was even vast enough to accomodate the space shuttle Defiant and it's crawler launch vehicle. At one end of the level was a huge set of sliding blast doors. When the doors opened, a set of hydraulic lifts lowered a ramp which was an artificial segment of the desert floor above. The ramp allowed vehicles of all sizes to exit and enter the Pit leaving no trace of the ramp after its use. This also allowed the Joes to use the desert as a launch site for the Defiant. The rest of the base's four levels included operations and supply, an armory, living quarters and a mess hall. Like the Joes' previous headquarters, the base was heavily armored and self-sustaining for long periods of time. The desert around the base was often patrolled by small groups of Joes.

Unfortunately, the Pit III was a target of Cobra as much as the original Pit. Cobra technicians took note of spy satellite images that showed a small base in the desert where more people entered and exited a quonset hut than could be comfortably quartered inside. Suspicious of the site, Serpentor sent Dr. Mindbender's cybernetically enhanced Star-Viper, who had reflexes and infiltration skills far beyond the average person. The Star-Viper found his way into Pit III and stole a top secret electronic "black box" from the Defiant's computer system. He would have escaped easily that night, but he interrupted a tender moment between Flint and Lady Jaye. The Joes sent the few armored vehicles they had above ground after the Star-Viper, but he escaped. The black box eventually forced the Joes into the Cobra Island civil war.

Some time later, Dr. Mindbender sent out an assault force to the location of the Pit. The Joes, however, had been tipped off. When Cobra arrived and destroyed the quonset huts, all they found beneath them was solid desert. The Joes had simply moved the huts a mile across the desert, keeping the Pit hidden under the desert floor. The Cobra troops, led by a humiliated and confused Dr. Mindbender, retreated back to Cobra Island.

A less conspicuous attempt to infiltrate the base occurred after Zarana brainwashed Joe team members Clutch and Rock & Roll while they were held in the Cobra-controlled town of Broca Beach. The two seemingly normal Joes made it back to the team and were allowed into the Pit. Once there, their programming was activated, which was supposed to cause them to go on a violent rampage through the base. The Joes were spared from the incident when Clutch and Rock & Roll's own nature would not allow them to become murderers and overrode the brainwashing. A long time later, Cobra Commander staged another assault on the Pit, but was repelled by the G.I. Joe team.

Unlike its predecessors, Pit III was not destroyed, but simply closed after the G.I. Joe team was disbanded in the wake of Cobra's supposed abandoning of the United States. Most of the active Joes attended a ceremony to "retire the colors", folding up the base's American flag for one last time. Afterward, the gates were locked and "no trespassing" signs were hung up to keep people away. After briefly being used it to stage one final mission, Pit III was never used by the Joe team again. Years later, the G.I. Joe team was reinstated by the military but moved on to another base which would also be dubbed "the Pit".

'''Unlike Fort Wadsworth, the site of the first Pit, the Chaplain's Assistants Supply Depot never existed, though the Escalante Desert does exist, just northwest of Ceder City, Utah. There is also a town and other sites named Escalante in the area.'''

OOC
The Pit is spelled "The Pit." The Pitt is a comic book character.

The Pit is currently located under Fort Hood.

Shattered Glass
The Pit is G.I. Joe's headquarters in the Shattered Glass universe as well, formerly run by General Flint, and currently run by General Ho since Flint's untimely death. Hidden in the desert, the Pit has had some recently violent security breaches, resulting in the destruction of the gates to both the command center and the motorpool.

During the time Scarlett infiltrated the Pit, she planted hidden explosives in the Archives, the Computer Mainframes, The Brig Central Computer, The Armory, and the Motor Pool's Fuel Storage Tanks (Underneath them, which is not easy to get to). Red was careful to make sure the charges were not hidden in places they might be found by accident. She was knocked unconscious before she could use them to cover her escape, and Airborne didn't trigger them for fear of hurting his Decepticon partner, Slickspin. Thus far the explosives remain, should the main-universe Joes decide to utilize them.