Today, Camp Shelby is a Maneuver Training Center chartered by the National Guard Bureau and houses the Armed Forces Museum** created to preserve the past in order to more fully understand our future and share our rich military heritage with generations to come.
Camp Shelby was established in 1917 and named for Isaac Shelby, a Revolutionary War hero and first governor of Kentucky. The post was demobilized following WWI and acquired by the State of Mississippi in 1934 for use as a National Guard summer camp facility. The camp was reopened in 1940 as a federal installation.
At its height in 1943, Camp Shelby spread over 360,000 acres and was home to 100,000 troops, making the post the largest training facility in the world. An additional 400,000 acres were leased for added
maneuver area. Over 1,000 square miles were devoted to more than 14,000 tents forming the largest tent city in the world.
Besides the 69th Infantry Division, elements of the 38th Infantry Division, the famous Japanese-American 442nd Infantry Regiment Combat team, Women's Army Corps (WAC) units and others also trained at Camp Shelby during WWII.
*No, "Miss." isn't an abbreviation error. In 1943, the MS. we use today was MISS.