Search results
Camp Blanding is the primary training site for most of the Florida National Guard's military units and the main combat arms brigade, the 53rd Infantry Brigade of the Florida Army National Guard.
Camp Blanding Joint Training Center (CBJTC) near Starke, is the National Guard’s premier training site in North Florida. The 73,000-acre post provides resources to enhance joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational training in support of our nation, state and communities.
Blanding was a Florida native who commanded the 2nd Florida Brigade during the Mexican Border War in 1916-17. In 1940 the regular Army leased Camp Blanding as a training center.
More than 4,000 men – soldiers, U-Boat sailors, and civilian “enemy aliens” – were detained at Camp Blanding. During the war, Camp Blanding was Florida’s fourth largest city. It is estimated that more than 745,000 personnel served at Camp Blanding during World War II.
Consistent with Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, Florida’s Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen continue to serve in units from the Panhandle to the Keys. Today, Florida Guardsmen are involved in hundreds of community service projects across the state each day.
Jun 5, 2024 · Location: Stark, FL. Significance: Olmsted Designed Residential Institution. MANAGED BY: Department of Military Affairs. In 1917, after realizing how unprepared the U.S. was to train hundreds of soldiers needed for a world war, the government created the Committee of Emergency Construction.
Camp Blanding Joint Training Center is a primary military reservation and training base for the Florida National Guard, both the Florida Army and Air National Guard, located near Starke, Florida.
As early as January 1942, Camp Blanding became home to Central American civilian “enemy aliens” and later that year U-boat captives. Before the close of the war, Blanding would become the largest POW base camp within the state with upwards of 1,000 prisoners at any one time.
Camp Blanding Museum was established in 1990 and currently features displays focused on Camp Blanding’s History and involvement during WWII. Learn More.
Looming from forest and S.R.16 asphalt, the Camp Blanding Museum nestles outside the main gate of Camp Blanding, a historic North Florida National Guard installation that remains active and alive, filled with troops and their accoutrements.
