In the spring of 1941, plans for the construction of a Marine Corps base on 11,000 acres of land in Onslow County, Jacksonville North Carolina, was approved. This base was named Camp Lejeune, in honor of Lieutenant General John Archer Lejeune, 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps. Camp Lejeune now boasts 156,000 acres of training grounds. The new facility met all the requirements for an east coast division training center, especially with its location near the two deep water ports of Morehead City and Wilmington. To prepare for amphibious operations, 11 miles of these training grounds are on the beach. The mission at this Marine Base is still the same as it was in the beginning: “to maintain combat-ready units for expeditionary deployment.”

This Base is a convenient location between Wilmington and Morehead City (both deep-water ports) which makes Camp Lejeune well-positioned for fast deployments. Camp Lejeune has received the Commander-in-Chief’s Award for Installation Excellence six times. Located on the military base installation are more than 450 miles of roads, 6,946 buildings and facilities to support a population of approximately 137,526 marines, sailors, retirees, their families, and civilian employees. Visit: https://militarybases.com/north-carolina/camp-lejeune/