Camp Blanding Joint Training Center
Posted by: 1W0X1
N 29° 58.902 W 081° 59.050
17R E 405059 N 3317165
Front Gate of Camp Blanding Joint Training Center in Starke, FL.
Waymark Code: WM1WWW
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 07/22/2007
Views: 252
From
Camp Blanding History:
Camp Blanding owes its location on the shore of Kingsley Lake to the US Navy’s desire to establish a Naval Air Station (NAS) on the banks of the St. Johns River, south of Jacksonville. The site was already the location of the Florida National Guard’s Camp Foster and negotiations were started for a land swap. In mid 1939, the transaction was accomplished and the state armory board chose as compensation a tract of 30,000 acres in Clay County as a National Guard camp and training site. The National Guard Officers Association of Florida recommended the new camp be named in honor of Lt General Albert H. Blanding. The War Department agreed and Camp Blanding’s history began.
From Wikipedia:
Camp Blanding is the primary military reservation and training base for the Florida National Guard, located near Jacksonville in Clay County, Florida that measures approximately 73,000 acres (300 km²).
Camp Blanding is the primary training site for the state's combat arms brigade, the 53rd Infantry Brigade (RSTA), and is home to a detachment of the 20th Special Forces Group. Camp Blanding also houses several units of the Florida Air National Guard to include the 202nd Red Horse Squadron, 159th Weather Flight, Weather Readiness Training Center (WRTC), and the joint Army/Air 44th Civil Support Team.