Camp Grafton Camp Grafton is the main Army National Guard installation in North Dakota . The base , located near Devils Lake , North Dakota , was founded in 1904 as the Rock Island Military Reservation , but later renamed after Gilbert C . Grafton . Camp Grafton is located at . History . Camp Grafton of the North Dakota Army National Guard in Devils Lake , ND is an ARNG Major Training Center . In 1904 some near Devils Lake was ceded to the State of North Dakota by the federal government for use as a permanent military reservation for the North Dakota National Guard . The camp was known as the Rock Island Military Reservation , ( later renamed Camp Gilbert C . Grafton in 1921 ) . Geography . Devils Lake , the largest natural body of water in North Dakota , has been getting larger every year since 1996s , much to the frustration of area residents . Rising water threatens to flood the city of Devils Lake , Camp Grafton , roads , fields , sewage treatment plants , and other human facilities . Devils Lake has a long history of fluctuating water levels . Water levels have risen over , flooding pasture , farmland , homes , businesses , and roads . The fluctuating water level of Devils Lake has been a concern to area residents for a number of years . In 1983 , then Governor Olson issued a Disaster Emergency Proclamation for the area due to the damage to roads and property caused by flooding ( Bluemle , 1983 ) . A drought that began in 1988 caused the lake level to decline again . Camp Grafton ( South ) . In 1983 the North Dakota National Guard received funding from the state legislature to purchase land in Eddy County . Today the " new " training area is known as Camp Grafton South . In 1997 the training facility located at Camp Grafton ( South ) was is designated as the Major General C . Emerson Murry regional live fire and maneuver training center , though it remained a part of the overall Camp Grafton training complex . Major General C . Emerson Murry served in the North Dakota national guard from 1955 to 1984 , and served as adjutant general from 1975 to 1984 . Camp Grafton ( South Unit ) ( CGS ) consists of of a transitional grassland ecosystem . Transitional grasslands contain both tall grass prairies of the east and mixed grass prairies of the west . CGS is one of the largest contiguous areas of transitional grasslands North Dakota . Grazing has been the predominant use of the training area since 1920 . Cattle grazing mimics the prehistoric grazing by herbivores ( elk and bison ) . The rolling hills of transitional grasslands are a tremendous training area for open - area combat arms maneuvers necessary for our mechanized engineer and air defense artillery units . To maintain the transitional grassland ecosystem , grazing licenses are auctioned to local ranchers ; providing income , which is , reinvested back into the training site . The transitional grassland ecosystem is seriously threatened by leafy spurge ( Euphorbia esula ) , an introduced weed . The primary control in the past has been concentrated use of 2 , 4 - D and picloram herbicides . In the past five years , the North Dakota Army National Guard , in partnership with the Range Science Department of North Dakota State University has implemented an integrated pest management plan to control leafy spurge using cultural and chemical controls . The cultural controls consist of grazing spurge tolerant sheep on heavily infested sites , and treating small concentrations through chemical application . The NDARNG is expected to reduce herbicide costs by 79 % over the next six years , with a realization of increased grass production of 50 % . The USDA in other trials throughout the United States is implementing this integrated plan of combined cultural and chemical treatment .