Camp Shelby Camp Shelby is a military post whose North Gate begins at the southern boundary of Hattiesburg , Mississippi , on United States Highway 49 . It is the largest state - owned training site in the nation . During wartime , the camp ' s mission is to serve as a major independent mobilization station of the United States Army Forces Command ( FORSCOM ) . Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center is the largest reserve component training site , covering , allowing up to battalion - level maneuver training , Gunnery Table 8 - 12 , field artillery firing points and a wide range of support facilities . This is the normal Annual Training location for National Guard and Reserve units located in Mississippi , Alabama , and Tennessee . However , units from across the country use its assets to support a variety of missions . The 2nd Battalion , 114th Field Artillery conducts its gunnery training and has the bulk of its combat equipment stored in the Mobilization and Annual Training Equipment Site ( MATES ) located there . Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center ( CSJFTC ) , encompassing over 525 square kilometers , is located in portions of Perry and Forrest Counties , in south Mississippi . The training center was established during World War I and it has served almost continuously since then as a training site , not only for the Reserve Components of the Army , but also for the Active Components of the Army , Navy , Marine Corps , and Air Force . The training site consists of a mix of State , Department of Defense , and U . S . Forest Service lands in the DeSoto National Forest . Encompassing more than , Camp Shelby , Mississippi is the largest state - owned and operated field training center in the United States . It is a training ground for the Abrams M1 Tank , Paladin Howitzers and home to the 3rd Brigade 87th Division Training Support . Camp Shelby serves as a training site for National Guardsmen and Reservists from throughout the country hosting as many as 100 , 000 personnel annually . Camp Shelby was established in 1917 . The post was named in honor of Isaac Shelby , Indian fighter , Revolutionary War hero and 1st Governor of Kentucky , by the first troops to train here , the 38th Division . In 1934 , the State of Mississippi acquired the site for use as a summer camp by the National Guard . Because of Camp Shelby ' s natural advantages of climate , terrain and location , it was reopened in 1940 as a federal installation . Some of the divisions that have trained in Mississippi include the 31st , 37th , 38th , 43rd , 63rd , 65th , 69th , 85th , 94th , and the 99th Divisions . The famous Japanese - American 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Battalion trained here in preparation for World War II ( See the 1951 movie " Go For Broke ! " and the 2006 movie Only the Brave ) . Women ' s Army Corps ( WAC ) units also trained here . The post contained a large convalescent hospital and had a prisoner of war camp which housed soldiers of the famous German Afrika Corps . The post closed shortly after the end of World War II . During the Korean War , Camp Shelby was established as an emergency railhead facility . In the summer of 1954 , non - divisional National Guard units trained at Camp Shelby and in 1956 , it was designated a permanent training site by Continental Army Command ( now FORSCOM ) . Over 5 , 000 troops were processed through Camp Shelby during Desert Storm operations . The 199th Light Infantry Brigade trained at Camp Shelby from September to November 1966 in preparation for deployment to Vietnam from Fort Benning Georgia . The 199th was the only combat unit to train at Camp Shelby during the Vietnam War . Camp Shelby was federalized as a FORSCOM Mobilization Center on June 6 , 2004 . Since then , several Regimental or Brigade Combat Teams have mobilized through Camp Shelby including the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment ( Tennessee Army National Guard ) ; the 155th Heavy Brigade Combat Team ( MS ARNG ) ; the 2nd Brigade Combat Team , 28th Infantry Division ( PA ARNG ) ; the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team , 28th Infantry Division ( PA ARNG ) ; the 53rd Brigade Combat Team ( FL ARNG ) ; the 1st Brigade Combat Team , 34th Infantry Division ( MN ARNG ) ; the 41st Brigade Combat Team ( OR ARNG ) ; the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team ( LA ARNG ) ; the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team ( ID ARNG ) , the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team ( NY ARNG ) , and the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team ( GA ARNG ) . U . S . Navy Seabee units homeported or mobilized from the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport , Mississippi utilize Camp Shelby as the site for their Field Training Exercises ( FTX ) . Camp Shelby is also home to the Youth Challenge Academy ( a military structured GED and State High School diploma program established in 1994 to aid Mississippi High school dropouts , ages 16 to 18 , designed and operated by the National Guard Bureau ) and the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum . In mid - 2007 , the Air National Guard opened a new combat training runway at Camp Shelby . The Shelby Auxiliary Field 1 is one of only two facilities in the world designed for C - 17 Globemaster III short - field landing operations . It was constructed to meet Air Force C - 17 training requirements . Contingency Operating Location 3 at Camp Shelby is used for Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps field training .