Camp Forrest Camp Forrest , located in Tullahoma , Tennessee , was one of the U . S . Army ' s largest training bases during World War II . It was an active army post between 1941 and 1946 . History . The camp , named after Civil War cavalry Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest , was originally named Camp Peay . Camp Peay was named after the Tennessee Governor Austin Peay and built in Tullahoma as a National Guard Camp in 1926 . Camp Peay covered 1 , 040 acres ( 4 . 2 km² ) . Camp Forrest covered 85 , 000 acres ( 340 km² ) located just beyond the old Camp Peay . The camp was a training area for infantry , artillery , engineer , signal organizations , and cooks . It also served as a hospital center and temporary encampment area for troops during maneuvers . Major General George Patton brought his 2nd Armored Division from Fort Benning , Georgia for maneuvers . William Northern Field , an air training base , was an addition used as a training site for crews of four - engined B - 24 bombers of the Army Air Forces . Incoming troops had the normal amenities such as service clubs , guest houses , library , post exchanges , post office , hospital , religious services , theaters , showers , Red Cross , and Army Emergency Relief facilities . Recreation facilities include swimming , archery , tennis , a sports arena and a nine - hole golf course . Camp Forrest officially became a prisoner of war camp May 12 , 1942 . The camp housed Italian and German POWs . Prisoners became laborers at Camp Forrest in the hospitals and on farms in the local community . Initially the camp held civilian detainees who were arrested at the outbreak of the war under a program called " Alien Enemy Control . " Many of these internees were incarcerated without legal process . Official government documents made available in the late 1990s indicate that over 25 , 000 Alien Enemies were held at various locations throughout the United States . Camp Forrest ' s population was over 700 . In 1943 they were transferred to other Internment Camps to make room for actual POWs captured on the field of battle . In 1945 the U . S . government implemented an Intellectual Diversion Program to educate Germans on the American way of life . This program used educational and recreational media to change views of POWs , and the government claimed success with many prisoners . Tullahoma was greatly affected by the installation of Camp Forrest . Because of maneuvers and operations , civilians had to adjust to blocked roads , traffic jams , crowded stores , the absence of mail delivery and driving at night without lights . Soldiers camped out on lawns and fields ; many crops and fences were destroyed . In 1940 the population in Tullahoma was 4 , 500 . By the end of the war , the population had grown to 75 , 000 . Many military people who moved in for construction and operation of the camp remained after the war . In 1946 the war was over and Camp Forrest and Northern Field were declared surplus property . Buildings were sold at auction , torn down and carted away . Water and sewage systems and electrical systems were sold as salvage . All that remained were roads , brick chimneys and concrete foundations . Soon after the close of the camp , the area was selected for the site of the air force ' s new Air Engineering Development Center . In 1951 the center was dedicated by President Truman and renamed the Arnold Engineering Development Center in honor of General of the Air Force Henry H . " Hap " Arnold . General Arnold was World War II Commander of the Army Air Corps and the only air force officer to hold 5 - star rank .