Camp Beauregard " For the American Civil War site , see Camp Beauregard Memorial in Water Valley . " Camp Beauregard is a U . S . Army installation located northeast of Pineville , Louisiana , primarily in Rapides Parish , but also extending northward into Grant Parish . It is currently operated by the Louisiana National Guard as one of their main training areas . The current base covers and is home to many different units and elements of the Louisiana Army National Guard . The camp is named for Louisiana native and Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard . The beginnings of the existing post started in 1917 , when the War Department authorized the building of more than thirty such camps around the country to train troops for World War I . The 17th Division was organized in 1918 as a National Army division for World War I . The 17th Division included the 33rd Infantry Brigade ( Sep 1918 - Feb 1919 ) , with the 5th and 83rd Regiment s , and the 34th Brigade with the 29th and 84th Regiments . The 5th Infantry Regiment was assigned on 27 July 1918 to the 17th Division and relieved on 10 February 1919 . The 17th Division was intended to be a replacement and school division . The 17th Division did not go overseas and demobilized in February 1919 at Camp Beauregard . The camp was abandoned in 1919 and given to the state . During that brief time , Alexandria businessman Morgan W . Walker , Sr . , started a taxi and bus service to transport soldiers from Camp Beauregard into Alexandria . The operation eventually led to the formation of Continental Trailways Bus lines . Camp Beauregard was returned to the U . S . government in 1940 for use as a World War II training area . This is the time period during which Beauregard really got busy . The area had been effectively deforested in previous years and was unusable for agriculture . That fact and the hot , muggy weather made this a logical location for training American troops in preparation for East - Asian war efforts . The camp , and several tens of thousands of acres of surrounding land , including camps Claiborne , Livingston , Cook , Polk and what is now Esler Regional Airport were used for the Louisiana Maneuvers , a training exercise involving almost 500 , 000 men , preparing them for the battles of World War II that they would soon be involved in . A full two - thirds of the U . S . military rotated through these war games . A large part of the State of Louisiana , centered around these large camps , became almost an occupied territory . After the war , the camp reverted to the state , which used it as a training area for two years and then deactivated it . The camp was reactivated in 1973 and became one of the premier military training areas in Louisiana . Since then , most of the old buildings have either been torn down or remodeled , and many new buildings have been constructed to support the current mission . The 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Louisiana Army National Guard often makes use of the Camp ' s training and lodging facilities . The 225th Engineer Brigade , the largest engineer group in the army , has its headquarters in Camp Beauregard . The Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections operated the J . Levy Dabadie Correctional Center adjacent to the Louisiana National Guard base on the camp property . It closed in July 2012 .