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 , the Jacksonville University NROTC Battalion and the University of South Florida NROTC Battalion continue to conduct their week - long orientation at Camp Blanding each August before the college semester starts . 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 . It is also home to the headquarters and support companies of the 3 - 20th Special Forces Group , the 211th Infantry Regiment , and the 2 - 111th Airfield Operations Battalion ( AOB ) Aviation Regiment . Camp Blanding also houses several non - flying units of the Florida Air National Guard , to include the 202nd RED HORSE Squadron , 159th Weather Flight , Weather Readiness Training Center ( WRTC ) , and the joint Army / Air Force 44th Civil Support Team . The base is also a training location for several counter - drug units and law enforcement agencies in Florida and functions as the alternate Emergency Operations Center ( EOC ) for the state of Florida . Weapons ranges at Camp Blanding include : - 50 live fire ranges capable of handling all weapons systems organic to a Light Infantry Brigade to include Mortars and Artillery ; - 5 Automated Ranges for small arms and handgun qualification ; - a Crew Combat Range ; - 4 Platoon / Squad Movement to Contact ranges ( 400 by 800 meters ) Training Areas include three Major Maneuver Areas with a total of plus of varied topography — planted pine plantations , swamps , oak hammocks , desert like terrain — with minimal environmental restrictions , with the ability to support a Light Infantry Brigade plus one Battalion of aggressors . The Military Operations in Urban Terrain ( MOUT ) Collective Training Facility consists of 16 Buildings and a Bridge and Tunnel Trainer . In 2008 Camp Blanding became host to the Army ' s latest Air Assault course in response to the growing need for Air Assault trained individuals for the continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan . There is also a bombing and strafing target for military aircraft , primarily used by the Navy , Marine Corps and Air Force , located on the southern portion of the post . On base billeting facilities can accommodate 3000 personnel , i . e . , one standard Army Brigade consisting of four Battalion Areas . Each Battalion area has company dining facilities , orderly rooms , Officer / Enlisted barracks , a supply building , and a Battalion HQ building . History . 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 in Clay County as a National Guard camp and training site . The National Guard Officers Association of Florida recommended the new camp be named in honor of Lieutenant General Albert H . Blanding . The War Department agreed and Camp Blanding ' s history began . Blanding graduated from the East Florida Seminary ( now the University of Florida ) in 1894 and entered military service . He commanded the 2nd Florida Infantry during the Mexican Border Service in 1916 and 1917 . 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 , a German prisoner - of - war compound , and a separation center . At the height of the war , the Army leased acreage from local landowners , raising the total to . From 1940 to 1945 , more than 800 , 000 soldiers received all or part of their training here . At one point during the war , the camp contained the population of the fourth largest city in Florida . There were 10 , 000 buildings , of paved roads , the largest hospital in the state . It was one of the largest training bases in the country . After the war , the state ' s were returned to the armory board and by 1948 , most of the buildings were sold or moved off post . In the early 1950s , the Federal Government deeded additional land to the State of Florida for use as a National Guard training facility , but until 1970 , the post saw only limited use by the military . In the 1970s , an expansion program began upgrading post facilities and in 1981 , the Department of Defense redesignated 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 . From 2001 until 2008 , Camp Blanding was used by the Southeast Region of the Civil Air Patrol to host their South East Region Encampment for CAP Cadets . The Florida Wing of Civil Air Patrol continues to utilize Camp Blanding for their wing - level Summer Cadet Encampments . Camp Blanding Museum and Memorial Park . Camp Blanding is also home to the Camp Blanding Museum and Memorial Park . Open to the public , the facility contains a history museum in one of Camp Blanding ' s restored World War II buildings , tracing the history of both Camp Blanding and the Florida National Guard . Outdoor exhibits and displays include equipment and Army , Navy and Air Force aircraft from World War II , the Korean War , the Vietnam War , the Cold War and Operation Desert Storm , including captured Soviet - manufactured Iraqi equipment from the latter conflict .