Camp Shelby was established in 1917. The post was named in honor of
Isaac Shelby, Indian fighter,
American Revolutionary War hero, and the first
Governor of Kentucky, by the first troops to train here, the
38th Division. In 1934, the state of Mississippi acquired the site for use as a summer camp by its National Guard. Because of Camp Shelby's natural advantages of climate and location, plus a great variety of terrain including part of the
Ragland Hills, it was acquired by the federal government in 1940 and expanded. Some of the divisions that trained in Mississippi before and during
World War II included the
31st,
37th, 38th,
43rd,
63rd,
65th,
69th,
85th,
94th, and
99th Infantry Divisions. The famous
Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the
100th Battalion trained here in preparation for combat in World War II. The unit was the subject of the 1951 film
Go For Broke! and the 2006 film
Only the Brave).
Women's Army Corps (WAC) units also trained here. The post contained a large convalescent hospital and had a
prisoner of war camp which housed soldiers of the famous German
Afrika Korps. Camp Shelby is also home to the
Mississippi Armed Forces Museum, and the history of the camp is a significant part of the museum's collection. The post was closed shortly after the end of World War II. During the
Korean War, Camp Shelby was established as an emergency railhead facility. In the summer of 1954, non-divisional National Guard units trained at Camp Shelby and in 1956, it was designated a permanent training site by the Continental Army Command (now FORSCOM). The
199th Infantry Brigade trained at Camp Shelby from September to November 1966 in preparation for
deployment to Vietnam from
Fort Benning, Georgia. The 199th was the only combat unit to train at Camp Shelby during the Vietnam War. Over 5,000 troops were processed through Camp Shelby during
Operation Desert Storm. Camp Shelby was federalized as a FORSCOM Mobilization Center on June 6, 2004. Since then, several
Regimental or
Brigade Combat Teams have mobilized through Camp Shelby, including the
278th Armored Cavalry Regiment (
Tennessee Army National Guard); the
155th Heavy Brigade Combat Team (Mississippi ARNG); the
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division (
Pennsylvania ARNG); the
56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division (PA ARNG); the
53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (FL ARNG); the
1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division (
Minnesota ARNG); the
41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team (
Oregon ARNG); the
256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (LA ARNG); the
116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team (
Idaho ARNG), the
27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (
New York ARNG), and the
48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (GA ARNG).
U.S. Navy Seabee units homeported or mobilized from the
Naval Construction Battalion Center in
Gulfport, Mississippi utilize Camp Shelby as the site for their Field Training Exercises (FTX). Camp Shelby is also home to the
Youth Challenge Academy (a military structured
GED and state high school diploma program established in 1994 to aid Mississippi high school dropouts, ages 16 to 18, designed and operated by the National Guard Bureau). In mid-2007, the
Air National Guard opened a new combat training runway at Camp Shelby. The
Shelby Auxiliary Field One is one of only two facilities in the world designed for
C-17 Globemaster III short-field landing training. It was constructed to meet Air Force C-17 training requirements. Contingency Operating Location 3 at Camp Shelby is used for
Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps field training. Camp Shelby also serves as the training facility for the
Mississippi State Guard annual training and is home to the 310th Battalion (MSSG) 315th MP Co. ==Mobilization support==