Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune | |
---|---|
Onslow County, in Jacksonville, North Carolina | |
MCB Camp Lejeune Insignia
|
|
Coordinates | 34°35′N 77°20′W / 34.583°N 77.333°WCoordinates: 34°35′N 77°20′W / 34.583°N 77.333°W |
Type | Military base |
Site information | |
Controlled by | United States Marine Corps |
Site history | |
Built | 1941 |
In use | 1941–present |
Garrison information | |
Garrison |
II Marine Expeditionary Force Marine Special Operations Command |
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (/ləˈdʒɜːrn/ lə-JURN) is a 246-square-mile (640 km2)United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The base's 14 miles (23 km) of beaches make it a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports (Wilmington and Morehead City) allows for fast deployments.
The main base is supplemented by six satellite facilities: Marine Corps Air Station New River, Camp Geiger, Stone Bay, Courthouse Bay, Camp Johnson, and the latest addition to the facility, the Greater Sandy Run Training Area.
In April 1941, construction was approved on an 11,000-acre (45 km2) tract in Onslow County, North Carolina. On May 1 of that year, Lt. Col. William P. T. Hill began construction on Marine Barracks New River. The first base headquarters was in a summer cottage on Montford Point, and then moved to Hadnot Point in 1942. Later that year it was renamed in honor of the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps, John A. Lejeune.