Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Camp Atterbury History




·         Located near Edinburgh, Indiana and is a training base of the Indiana National Guard.
·         It was planned just months before the U.S. entered into World War II with construction commencing shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
·         At one point housed America's largest hospital, the 47 building Wakeman General and Convalescent Hospital famous for its progressive plastic eye replacements.
·         The camp is named for William Wallace Atterbury (1866–1935), an executive of the Pennsylvania Railroad who ultimately became the railroad's President after overseeing construction of the Camp. 
·         During World War II, Camp Atterbury was also used as a prisoner of war camp, housing German and Italian soldiers. A small Roman Catholic chapel was built by the Italian prisoners, which was restored and dedicated in 1989.
·         The base served as a National Guard training facility, and gained importance following the September 11, 2001 attacks when the Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center (CAJMTC) was activated in February 2003.
·         Camp Atterbury was chosen as the site for a UAV-focused NASA Centennial Challenge with the goal of developing some of the key technologies that will make it possible to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles into the National Airspace System. The competition is to be held on September 10 - 17, 2014.