Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center , formerly known as the Ravenna Training and Logistics Site and the Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant ( RVAAP ) and commonly known as the Ravenna Arsenal , is an Ohio Army National Guard military base located between Ravenna and Newton Falls and adjacent to the village of Windham in the U . S . state of Ohio . Before its present status as a training facility for the Ohio National Guard , Camp Ravenna was a military ammunition production facility for the United States Army . As an arsenal , the facility was at peak operation during World War II and would serve as an ammunitions plant in various roles until 1992 . Camp Ravenna remains an important part of the history and geography of Portage County , Ohio . The facility occupies portions of Freedom , Windham , Charlestown , and Paris townships in Portage County , along with part of Braceville Township in Trumbull County . History . In 1940 , the United States Department of the Army reserved for the construction of two facilities : The Ravenna Ordnance Plant , near Ravenna ; and the Portage Ordnance Depot , near Windham . The facilities officially opened on March 23 , 1942 , although the Atlas Powder Company commenced operations there on August 18 , 1941 . During World War II , the two facilities were combined as the Ravenna Arsenal . The Ravenna Arsenal had an immediate effect upon the communities of Portage County . Over 14 , 000 people were employed at the Arsenal during World War II , and the village of Windham was chosen as the site to house many of these workers . Windham experienced a population boom as a result ; its growth of over 1200 % was the largest of any U . S . municipality in the 1950 Census , as was reported in the June 1951 edition of National Geographic Magazine . At the end of World War II , the facility was placed on " standby " status . In November 1945 , control of the facility was transferred from Atlas Powder to the U . S . Army . The facility continued to be in operation on a limited basis . During the Korean War , the Ravenna Arsenal resumed full operations . In 1951 , Firestone won several defense contracts , among which was operation of the facility under a subsidiary , Ravenna Arsenal , Inc . The facility once again was placed on standby in 1957 . The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics , the forerunner to NASA , then commenced aeronautical experiments at the facility . Among these experiments was aircraft crash testing , which led to the development of an inerting system to prevent jet fuel fires . The Ravenna Arsenal was used for the last time for the production of ammunition during the Vietnam War . In 1971 , the facility was again placed on standby . Ammunition at the facility was then demilitarized , a process which continued until 1984 . It also was part of ammunition refurbishment and minor research and development projects until 1992 . After years of inactivity , the facility became a Superfund site and plans to burn some of the buildings at the site were being discussed . However , an Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) work group recommended that the Army not burn the buildings due to the high levels of polychlorinated biphenyl s ( PCBs ) in the paint . Cleanup of the site is expected to continue through 2018 . Meanwhile , transfer of the facility was ultimately made to the Ohio National Guard , although there were several intermediate caretakers . In 1983 , Firestone sold its contract to Physics International Company . Ten years later , Mason & Hangar - Silas Mason Company , Inc . assumed caretaker status . The Ravenna Training and Logistics Site of the Ohio National Guard began as a tenant unit of the Army facility , which at that time was officially designated the Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant ( RVAAP ) . of the facility were included in the RTLS tenancy by May 16 , 1999 . On January 16 , 2002 , transfer of this land was made to the RTLS , and the RVAAP became a tenant site of the RTLS – essentially switching the roles of the two facilities . The site is now known as Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center and currently occupies approximately 93 % of the land originally covered by the RVAAP . On September 11 , 2007 , the facility was opened to invited guests and members of the news media for a tour . At this tour , it was revealed that the RTLS would eventually encompass the formerly known as the Ravenna Arsenal . At that time , only remained under RVAAP control . In popular culture . The essayist Scott Russell Sanders spent part of his childhood living on the grounds of the Ravenna Arsenal . The Arsenal figures prominently in his memoirs " The Paradise of Bombs " ( 1987 ) and " A Private History of Awe " ( 2006 ) .