The Fort Leavenworth Lamp

The Fort Leavenworth Lamp was a weekly newspaper serving the military community living at Fort Leavenworth in Kanas from 1971 to 2023. It served as a record for activities on base, including the history of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks located on the Army post. The 20-page tabloid was a “civilian enterprise." A civilian contractor sold advertisements to cover costs and profit while the fort’s Public Affairs Office provided the paper’s content.

History
The first weekly newspaper at the post was The Fort Leavenworth News, which published from 1940 to 1952. The post had no newspaper for the next 18 years until The Lamp was launched on April 8, 1971.

The Lamp was named by Lt. Col. Robert Simpson, a U.S. Army Command and General Staff College instructor, who named the newspaper after the Fort Leavenworth Lamp insignia chosen as the symbol of the Command and General Staff College in 1956. Simpson won a contest to name the newspaper. The other submissions included Sir Echo, Brass Mirror, Fort Leavenworth Dispatch, The Dragoon, Post Parade, Outpost and Dirty Damned Lying Press. In 1991, the paper was renamed to The Fort Leavenworth Lamp to avoid trademark infringement with The Lamp, a publication of the Exxon oil company.

In September 2021, Gannett, formerly GateHouse Media, sold the newspaper to CherryRoad Media. In September 2023, ownership of The Fort Leavenworth Lamp was transferred to the base and the paper was closed.