Camp Dunlap was a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

base in

Imperial County Imperial Count (german: Reichsgraf) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. In the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The camp was named for

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Robert H. Dunlap. The 250,000 acre camp was used to train

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

and anti-aircraft units of the

Fleet Marine Force The United States Fleet Marine Forces (FMF) are combined general- and special-purpose forces within the United States Department of the Navy that perform offensive amphibious or expeditionary warfare and defensive maritime employment. The Fleet ...

. The base was located at the present-day location of

Slab City Slab City, also called The Slabs, is an unincorporated, off-the-grid alternative lifestyle community consisting largely of snowbirds in the Salton Trough area of the Sonoran Desert, in Imperial County, California. It took its name from concrete s ...

. Construction of the camp was done by Vinson & Pringle and

Del E. Webb Construction Company The Del E. Webb Construction Company was a construction company that was founded in 1928 and developed by Del Webb. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, it became the Del E. Webb Corporation a publicly traded company on the New York ...

out of

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. The same company contracted to build

Marine Corps Air Station El Centro Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...

and

Marine Corps Air Station Mojave The Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field is in Mojave, California, United States, at an elevation of . It is the first facility to be licensed in the United States for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft, being certified as a spa ...

. Camp Dunlap opened on October 15, 1942 to serve as a training facility during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The facility contained five different tent camps within its boundaries and eight different artillery ranges. During the war, the 10th, 11th, and 13th Marine Regiments trained there before departing overseas. The facility was also used as a bombing range for planes flying from nearby

. The Marine Corps began dismantling the camp in December 1945 and finally closed it in March 1946. The base was turned over to the Naval Real Estate Board at that time. On August 29th, 1951, the

California State Lands Commission The California State Lands Commission is a unit of state government that is responsible for management and protection of natural and cultural resources, as well as public access rights, on some of California's publicly owned lands. The members of ...

approved the sale of the to the Navy at per acre, with the state retaining the mineral rights, and with the understanding that the land would revert to state ownership once the Navy had abandoned it.Associated Press, “Army, Navy Get Desert Tracts”, ‘’The San Bernardino Daily Sun’’, San Bernardino, California, Thursday 30 August 1951, Volume LVII, Number 312, p. 2. In October 1961, the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

conveyed the land on which Camp Dunlap was situated back to the

State of California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Notes

References

;Bibliobraphy * United States Marine Corps bases Closed installations of the United States Navy {{ImperialCountyCA-geo-stub Del E. Webb buildings