Camp Gonsalves
| Camp Gonsalves Marine Corps Jungle Warfare Training Center |
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|---|---|
Logo for the Marine Corps Jungle Warfare Training Center
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| Active | 1958 - present |
| Country |
 United States
|
| Branch |
 United States Marine Corps
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| Type | Training Base |
| Size | 17,500 acres (80 km2) |
| Part of | 3rd Marine Division |
| Garrison/HQ | Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler |
| Nickname(s) | J Dub |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Maj. M. A. McBride |
| Notable commanders |
Lt. Gene A. Deegan (1961) Captain Oliver North (1973-1974) Captain S.M. Lowery (1981-1984) Captain Glenn T. Starnes (1986) |
Camp Gonsalves is a U.S. Marines jungle warfare training area, established 1958, located in Northern Okinawa, Japan, across the villages of Kunigami and Higashi. It is the largest U.S training facility in Okinawa.
Also known as the Northern Training Area (NTA), and since 1998 as the Jungle Warfare Training Center (JWTC) it occupies 17,500 acres (71 km2) of jungle in Northern Okinawa. The hilly and rugged terrain is topped with single and double canopy forest. The region supplies the densely populated south of the island with drinking water. As part of the Ryukyu Islands subtropical evergreen forests, most of the area surrounding JWTC is designated as a national forest by the Government of Japan. The area is home to 24 endangered species including the Okinawa rail, Amami woodcock, Pryers woodpecker and the Ryukyu robin. There are three species of pit viper poisonous snakes, the Okinawa habu, hime habu, and the Sakishima habu. JWTC supports the local Government of Japan small Asian mongoose capturing project.
In 1958, the early years of the Vietnam War, the Northern Training Area was established as a counter-guerilla school. Over the years the base camp at NTA gradually evolved from a few Quonset huts and other small buildings to a facility, which was completed in 1984. The Jungle Warfare Training Center contains 22 helicopter landing zones, one water surface beach access, four bivouac sites, three outdoor classrooms, one firebase, three 3rd world village target sites and one target missile site.
On 5 November 1986, the base camp was officially named Camp Gonsalves, in memory of PFC Harold Gonsalves who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the Battle of Okinawa. In March 1998, to better convey NTA as a training base, the name was officially changed to the Marine Corps Jungle Warfare Training Center, the only existing Department of Defense jungle training facility for Marine and Joint Forces. As of March 2000[update] the area had 71 land owners, with a yearly rental fee of 476 million yen and a total of three Japanese employees.
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Wikipedia