Camp Atterbury

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Camp Atterbury
near Edinburgh, Indiana
Mass-enlistment ceremony of WACs, August 10, 1943, at Camp Atterbury, Indiana
Type	Military Training Base
Built	1941-1942
In use	1942-1946,2001 - Present
Controlled by	United States

Camp Atterbury, near Edinburgh, Indiana, is a training base of the Indiana National Guard. It was planned just months before the U.S. entry into World War II. Originally surveyed and researched by the Hurd Company, the present site was recommended to Congress in 1941. Construction commenced shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. More than 1,500 wood frame buildings were constructed, sized to hold more than one army infantry division. It also contained the 47-building, (concrete block, 2-story) Wakeman General and Convalescent Hospital, the largest hospital of its kind in the US in the 1940s. It was known for its progressive plastic eye replacements. During World War II, the 30th, 83rd, 92nd, U.S. 39th Evacuation Hospital, and 106th Infantry Division trained here. The 106th left Camp Atterbury and within 2 weeks was in the front lines. Spread over a 28-mile front, they bore the brunt of the Battle of the Bulge with more than 7,000 MIA, KIA, or WIA.

During WWII, Camp Atterbury was also used as a prisoner of war camp, housing German and Italian soldiers ^[1]. A small Roman Catholic chapel was built by the Italian prisoners, which was restored and dedicated in 1989 ^[2].

Shortly after the end of World War II, the base was put into mothballs. At the onset of the Korean War, it was once again activated with the arrival of the 28th Infantry Division in 1950. The 28th left for Germany, to be replaced by the 31st Infantry Division. When the 31st left in 1954 for Camp Carson, Colorado, the base once again was mothballed. It was later given to the Indiana Army National Guard.

Serving as a National Guard training facility, it again gained importance following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Thousands of regular and reserve forces have received training here just prior to deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq. It is one of two Guard bases with this mission, Camp Shelby in Mississippi being the other.

Originally 43,000 acres (170 km²), it is now reduced to approximately 30,000 acres (120 km²), with the remaining being leased to the Atterbury Job Corps, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the Hoosier Horse Park and the Johnson County Parks Department. Plans are under way to reclaim some of the area.

In 2005, it gained the former Muscatatuck Hospital grounds, composed of some 3,000 acres (12 km²) with several permanent buildings, including 5-story buildings with underground tunnels. Troops are helicoptered from Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Area to Muscatatuck for training in urban warfare.

The Civil Air Patrol's National Emergency Services Academy (NESA) is held every year during the Summer at Camp Atterbury.^[3]