The
Barriefield Military Camp, commonly called
Camp Barriefield, was established as a military base at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 on the east bank of the
Cataraqui River opposite the city of
Kingston in the village of
Barriefield. Located north of
King's Highway 2, the name of the military base and village was in honour of the
Royal Navy's Rear-Admiral
Sir Robert Barrie who served during the
War of 1812. In 1937 the base expanded to the south side of King's Highway 2 with the opening of the
Vimy Barracks, named in honour of the
Battle of Vimy Ridge. The Vimy Barracks became home to the
Royal Canadian Corps of Signals which relocated to the Barriefield Military Camp from the
Borden Military Camp. The
Signal Training Centre, later renamed the
Royal Canadian School of Signals was also established at the base. The Barriefield Military Camp continued to expand as one of Canada's largest training bases when the
Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps established a training centre during the Second World War. Following the war, the original part of Barriefield Military Camp on the north side of the King's Highway 2 was renamed the
McNaughton Barracks in honour of the
Canadian Army's General
A.G.L. McNaughton who served during the First and Second World Wars. From 1945 to 1969 the McNaughton Barracks were host to the
Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers School. The base was renamed to
Canadian Forces Base Kingston (
CFB Kingston) in 1966 in the lead-up to the
February 1968 unification of the
Canadian Army,
Royal Canadian Navy and
Royal Canadian Air Force to form the
Canadian Armed Forces. CFB Kingston was placed under
Training Command and was responsible for providing a training facilities and support services to its integral units and lodger units. In September 1975, Training Command was disbanded and the base was transferred to
Canadian Forces Training System. The
Royal Military College of Canada, the
National Defence College, the
Canadian Land Force Command and Staff College and the
Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronics were some of the units supported by the base and under the authority of the commander of CFB Kingston. On September 1, 1988, the
1st Canadian Division Headquarters was established to serve as a staging base for the deployment of troops and materiel on active operations; in this role it supported
Operation Friction which was Canada's support to the
United Nations for the
Persian Gulf War in 1991. On March 30, 1995, responsibility for CFB Kingston was transferred to
Land Force Command, now known as the
Canadian Army (since August 2011). On June 26, 1997,
Air Command reorganized by disbanding the
10 Tactical Air Group and replacing this unit with the newly formed
1 Wing. The headquarters for 1 Wing was relocated to CFB Kingston, however, the unit's six tactical helicopter squadrons flying the
CH-146 Griffon were spread out at Canadian Forces bases across the country. ==Lodger units==