Southeast 01
MAJ Cassandra Peck, USA (Ret), COTG
LTJG, Jeff Hawk, NSCC, XOTG
LT, Keith Quiles, NSCC, Central Florida Detachment Commander
Camp Blanding Joint Training Center
5629 FL-16 W, Starke, FL 32091
Summer and Winter NSCC Tier One Training Site
The Training Group Southeast 01 Summer and Winter Tier One Trainings will be conducted on the site of Camp Blanding Joint Training Center. This is an active duty base and instructions for training drop off and base entry will be included in your training's Welcome Letter. Please be diligent about checking for communications in these instructions as these may change.
Sea Cadets will be separated from any active or reserve training that may be conducted during the same time as Summer or Winter Training, although cadets may from time to time be exposed to these other ongoing training.
The Training Group Southeast 01 is extremely grateful to Camp Blanding for their hospitality. Any cadet who acts with disrespect toward any member or other active or reserve duty personnel at the base or otherwise violates any rules of the base will be sent home immediately.
Training's Offered At Camp Blanding:
About Camp Blanding
Camp Blanding Joint Training Center is the primary military reservation and training base for the Florida National Guard, both the Florida Army National Guard and certain non-flying activities of the Florida Air National Guard. The installation is located in Clay County, Florida near the city of Starke. The site measures approximately 73,000 acres (300 km2) and includes Kingsley Lake. It also hosts other Reserve, Army National Guard, Air National Guard, and some Active Component training for the U.S. Armed Forces.
Additionally, Camp Blanding serves as a training center for many ROTC units, both Army and Naval, including the NROTC units at Jacksonville University and University of South Florida. Additionally, the camp hosts military youth training organizations such as the US Naval Sea Cadets and for the Florida Wing Summer Encampment for the Civil Air Patrol/US Air Force Auxiliary's Cadet Program, .
Camp Blanding can accommodate 3000 military members at one time. The nature of the camp is for temporary training facilities so accommodations consist of tents and barracks type buildings.
History of Camp Blanding
Camp Blanding owes its location on the shore of Kingsley Lake to the United States Navy's desire to establish a Naval Air Station (NAS) on the banks of the St. Johns River, south of Jacksonville, in the late 1930s. The site that would eventually become Naval Air Station Jacksonville 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.
In 1940, Camp Blanding was leased to the United States Army as an active duty training center. The post was originally used by New England and Southern troops preparing for deployment overseas. However, during the course of the war, Camp Blanding served as an infantry replacement training center, an induction center, and even a German prisoner-of-war compound. At the height of the war, the Army leased acreage from local landowners, raising the total to 170,000 acres. From 1940 to 1945, more than 800,000 soldiers received all or part of their training here.
After the war, the state's 30,000 acres were returned to the armory board and by 1948, and in the early 1950s, the Federal Government deeded additional land to the State of Florida for use as a National Guard training facility. In the 1970s, an expansion program began upgrading post facilities and in 1981, the Department of Defense re-designated Camp Blanding as a Class A military installation. The designation qualified the post for use by greater numbers of troops with more diversified training.
In 1983, the 105 mm artillery firing points were used for the first time since World War II. Tank ranges were upgraded and Tank Tables I through VI can be fired. In addition to improved facilities and ranges, a parachute drop zone and an expeditionary airfield consisting of two gravel runways capable of accommodating C-130 Hercules aircraft have expanded Camp Blanding's training capacity. The U.S. Navy also utilizes an aerial bombing and strafing target in the southern portion of the post. Upgrading of Camp Blanding's facilities and training areas continues to this day.
5629 FL-16 W, Starke, FL 32091
