Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton | |
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Near Oceanside, California in the United States | |
![]() Marines hiking at Camp Pendleton during 2014 | |
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Coordinates | 33°12′53.1″N117°23′15″W / 33.214750°N 117.38750°W |
Type | Marine Corps base |
Area | > 125,000 acres (51,000 hectares) |
Site information | |
Owner | Department of Defense |
Operator | US Marine Corps |
Controlled by | Marine Corps Installations West |
Condition | Operational |
Website | Official website |
Site history | |
Built | March–September 1942 |
In use | 1942–present |
Garrison information | |
Current commander | Brigadier General Nick I. Brown |
Garrison | I Marine Expeditionary Force |
Airfield information | |
Airfield | Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton |
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oceanside to the south, San Clemente in Orange County to the north, Riverside County to the northeast, and Fallbrook to the east.
The base was established in 1942 to train U.S. Marines for service in World War II. By October 1944, Camp Pendleton was declared a "permanent installation," and by 1946 it became the home of the 1st Marine Division. It was named after Major General Joseph Henry Pendleton (1860–1942), who had long advocated setting up a training base for the Marine Corps on the West Coast. Today it is home to myriad Operating Force units, including the I Marine Expeditionary Force and various training commands.
In 1769, a Spanish expedition led by Captain Gaspar de Portolá explored northward from Loreto, Baja California Sur, seeking to reach Monterey Bay, something never before done overland by Europeans. On July 20 of that year, the expedition arrived in the area now known as Camp Pendleton, and as it was the feast day of St. Margaret, they christened the land in the name of Santa Margarita. The expedition went on to establish military outposts and Franciscan missions at San Diego and Monterey.
During the next 30 years, 21 missions were established, the most productive one being Mission San Luis Rey, just south of the present-day Camp Pendleton. [1] At that time, San Luis Rey Mission had control over the Santa Margarita area.
After 1821, following the Mexican War of Independence from Spain, some of the former members of the Portolà expedition who had stayed on (mostly garrison soldiers) were awarded large land grants (ranchos) by Mexican governors. The retired soldiers were joined as rancheros by prominent businessmen, officials, and military leaders. They and their children, the Californios, became the landed gentry of Alta California.
In 1841, two brothers, Pio Pico and Andrés Pico, became the first private owners of Rancho Santa Margarita. More land was later added to the grant, giving it the name of Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores, which stayed with the ranch until the Marine Corps acquired it in 1942. The design of the ranch's cattle brand is seen in the base's logo today. [2]
In 1863, an Englishman named John (Don Juan) Forster (Pio Pico's brother-in-law) paid off Pico's gambling debts in return for the deed to the ranch. During his tenure as owner, he expanded the ranch house, built in 1827, and developed the rancho into a thriving cattle industry.
Forster's heirs were forced to sell the ranch in 1882 because of a series of droughts and a fence law that forced Forster to construct fencing around the extensive rancho lands. It was purchased by wealthy cattleman James Clair Flood and managed by Irishman Richard O'Neill, who was eventually rewarded for his faithful service with half ownership. Under the guidance of O'Neill's son, Jerome, the ranch made a profit of nearly half a million dollars annually, and the house was modernized and refurbished.
In the early 1940s, both the Army and the Marine Corps were looking for land for a large training base. The Army lost interest in the project, but in February 1942 it was announced that the 122,798 acres (497 km2) of Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores would be transformed into the largest Marine Corps base in the country. [3] It was named for Major General Joseph Henry Pendleton who had long advocated the establishment of a West Coast training base. Construction began in April as a temporary facility built to minimum standards of wood frame construction. [3] After five months of furious building activity, the 9th Marine Regiment, under then Colonel Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr., marched from Camp Elliott in San Diego to Camp Pendleton to be the first troops to occupy the new base. On September 25, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially dedicated the base. [4] Wartime training facilities at the base included landing craft school, amphibious tractor school, beach battalion school, amphibious communications school, Naval Construction Battalion Training Center [5] and a medical field service school at the naval hospital at Santa Margarita Ranch, now Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton. The facility was used as a discharge base for soldiers returning from Europe and Asia after World War II ended in 1945. [6]
During the Korean War, $20 million helped expand and upgrade existing facilities, including the construction of Camp Horno. When Camp Pendleton trained the country's fighting force for the Korean and Vietnam Wars, approximately 200,000 Marines passed through the base on their way to the Far East.
Beginning in 1954, Camp Pendleton has hosted a variation of Basic Training familiarization for teenagers age 14 to 17. This training, called "Devil Pups", promotes physical fitness, instills discipline and promotes love of country and the Marine Corps. [7]
The camp's stables display a plaque and statue commemorating a horse, Sergeant Reckless, which served with the Marine Corps in Korea. [8]
In 1975 Camp Pendleton was the first U.S. military base to provide accommodations for Vietnamese evacuees in Operation New Arrivals. Over 50,000 refugees came to the base in the largest humanitarian airlift in history. [9] [10] [11]
Camp Pendleton has continued to grow through renovations, replacing its original tent camps with 2,626 buildings and over 500 miles (800 km) of roads.
Preservation of Camp Pendleton heritage and Marine Corps history is ongoing. The original ranch house as well as the Las Flores Adobe have been declared a National Historic Site.
The base's diverse geography, spanning over 125,000 acres (506 km2), plays host to year-round training for Marines in addition to all other branches of the U.S. military. Amphibious and sea-to-shore training takes place at several key points along the base's 17 miles (27 km) of coastline. The main base is in the Mainside Complex, at the southeastern end of the base, and the remote northern interior is an impact area. Daytime population is around 100,000. Recruits from nearby Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego spend four weeks at Pendleton's Edson Range receiving field training; after graduating from recruit training, newly minted infantry Marines return to the base's School of Infantry for further training.
Camp Pendleton remains the last major undeveloped portion of the California coastline south of Santa Barbara, save for a few relatively small state parks. In 2015 the site was proposed for a large civilian airport. [12]
Since August 2004, Camp Pendleton has been one of five locations in the Department of Defense to operate the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) air radar. The STARS radar allows the facility to simulate air traffic for training purposes. [13] [ citation needed ]
Camp Pendleton's five-man color guard has participated in many sporting events in San Diego and at the 1996 Republican National Convention, accompanying national anthem performers. Among the more famous performers who were accompanied by the Camp Pendleton color guard have been Frankie Laine, Herb Alpert, Wilson Phillips, Jewel, Trisha Yearwood and the Dixie Chicks, all of whom had performed the National Anthem at either a World Series game, Super Bowl, or, in Wilson Phillips' case, a Major League Baseball All-Star Game that was played at what is now SDCCU Stadium.
In a 2002 letter to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Marine Corps Commandant J.L. Jones stated to the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA), who operates the toll roads in Orange County, “Frankly, my preference is that the proposed toll road not be constructed on or near Camp Pendleton. This construction is one more encroachment venture that will hinder [our] ability to prepare for war. It will also result in additional losses of natural areas that support endangered species, thus placing an even greater burden on Camp Pendleton to protect the region’s biodiversity.” [14] In 2008, after the rejection of the proposed toll road extension of SR 241 through San Onofre State Beach Park for environmental reasons, the TCA filed for permission to build on the northwestern portion of the base. A spokesman for Camp Pendleton denied the request in 2010, stating that they could only allow the toll road to run through the San Onofre State Beach Park because their training missions could not be completed without the proposed land. In fact, the California gnatcatcher, an endangered species, resides on the northwestern portion of the base. [15] The TCA funded a study in 2013 to remove the California gnatcatcher from the endangered species list, which would have made it easier to negotiate the construction and planning of the 241's extension through the San Onofre State Beach Park. [16] [17]
Areas 11-16 are collectively known as "Mainside."
Camp Pendleton was built on a wide swath of coastal land that once supported an estuary at the mouth of the Santa Margarita River and extensive salt marsh habitat. [18] Outlying land within the base is made up of floodplain, oak woodlands, coastal dunes and bluffs, coastal sage scrub, chaparral, and several types of wetlands, including ephemeral wetlands such as vernal pools. [19] Wildfire is not uncommon. [19] Research in ecology takes place on undeveloped areas of the base, which contain examples of rare and endangered California habitat types. The Department of Defense has issued management plans for various ecosystems on this territory. [19]
Land within the base still includes breeding habitat for birds such as the western snowy plover [18] and California gnatcatcher. [20] The coastal bluffs have many of the few existing specimens of the Pendleton button-celery, which was named for the base. [21] Rare mammals on the base include the Pacific pocket mouse and Stephens's kangaroo rat. [19] [22]
Fourteen American bison were introduced from the San Diego Zoo between 1973 and 1979. [23] They roam the Delta and Charlie training areas, Zulu Impact Area and Case Springs on the base. [24] In early 2021, there were around 90 adults, and 14 calves were expected in April. [25]
Dependents on base are zoned to schools operated by local school districts. The Camp Pendleton property does not have any Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools. The Oceanside Unified School District covers portions of the base and operates the following on-post schools: Santa Margarita School (K-8 school), North Terrace Elementary School, Stuart Mesa Elementary School, and Stuart Mesa Middle School. [26] The Fallbrook Union Elementary School District operates the following on-post schools: Mary Fay Elementary School, San Onofre Elementary School, Mary Fay Middle School, and San Onofre Middle School. Some portions of the base are assigned to the Capistrano Unified School District. [26]
Oceanside USD-zoned areas on Camp Pendleton property are assigned to Oceanside High School. [27] The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) stated that the school "has been noted as an important resource for the Camp Pendleton community as it serves as the high school for many students of military families since there is no high school on base." [28] Fallbrook Union ESD feeds into Fallbrook Union High School District, [29] which operates Fallbrook High School. The Capistrano district operates San Clemente High School. [27] The base has no on-post high schools. [26]
Fallbrook is a census-designated place in northern San Diego County, California. It had a population of 32,267 at the 2020 census. Fallbrook is immediately east of the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton. It is known for its avocado groves and calls itself the "Avocado Capital of the World".
North County is a region in the northern area of San Diego County, California. It is the second-most populous region in the county, with an estimated population of 869,322. North County is well known for its affluence, especially in Encinitas, Carlsbad, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, Poway and Solana Beach, where house prices range, on average, above $1,000,000. Cities along the 78 freeway have more mixed incomes.
Marine Corps Recruit DepotSan Diego is a United States Marine Corps military installation in San Diego, California. It lies between San Diego Bay and Interstate 5, adjacent to San Diego International Airport and the former Naval Training Center San Diego. MCRD San Diego's main mission is the initial training of enlisted male and female recruits living west of the Mississippi River. Over 21,000 recruits are trained each year. As of 2022, 1.5 million recruits have completed their boot camp training at the depot. It is also the home to the Marine Corps' Recruiter School and Drill Instructors School.
The Santa Margarita River which with the addition of what is now Temecula Creek, was formerly known as the Temecula River, is a short intermittent river on the Pacific coast of Southern California in the United States, approximately 30.9 miles (49.7 km) long. One of the last free-flowing rivers in Southern California, it drains an arid region at the southern end of the Santa Ana Mountains, in the Peninsular Ranges between Los Angeles and San Diego.
State Route 241 (SR 241) is one of the two state highways in California that are controlled-access toll roads for their entire lengths. SR 241's southern half from near Las Flores to near Irvine is the Foothill Transportation Corridor, while its northern half to SR 91 on the Anaheim–Yorba Linda border forms part of the Eastern Transportation Corridor system with SR 133 and SR 261.
The Las Flores Estancia was established in 1823 as an estancia ("station"). It was part of the Spanish missions, asistencias, and estancias system in Las Californias—Alta California. Las Flores Estancia was situated approximately halfway between Mission San Luis Rey de Francia and Mission San Juan Capistrano. It is located near Bell Canyon on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base ten miles south of the City of San Clemente in northern San Diego County, California. The estancia is also home to the architecturally significant National Historic Landmark Las Flores Adobe, completed in 1868.
The I Marine Expeditionary Force is a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) of the United States Marine Corps primarily composed of the 1st Marine Division, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and 1st Marine Logistics Group. It is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
San Onofre State Beach is a 3,000-acre (1,214 ha) state park in San Diego County, California. The beach is 3 miles (5 km) south of San Clemente on Interstate 5 at Basilone Road. The state park is leased to the state of California by the United States Marine Corps. Governor Ronald Reagan established San Onofre State Beach in 1971. With over 2.5 million visitors per year, it is one of the five most-visited state parks in California, hosting swimmers, campers, kayakers, birders, fishermen, bicyclists, sunbathers, surfers, and the sacred Native American site of Panhe.
Rancho Mission Viejo is an active 23,000 acres (9,300 ha) ranch and farm, habitat reserve, residential community, and census-designated place in South Orange County, California. Rancho Mission Viejo originated as a series of land grants to John Forster in 1845. The remaining part of Rancho Mission Viejo consists of a nearly 17,000-acre (6,900 ha) nature reserve and multiple residential communities slated to open in phases between 2010 and 2030. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 10,378.
2nd Battalion, 11th Marines (2/11) is an artillery battalion comprising four firing batteries and a Headquarters Battery. The battalion is stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Its primary weapon system is the M777 lightweight howitzer. The battalion was the first in the Marine Corps to fully transition from the M198 Howitzer. They fall under the command of the 11th Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division.
The 7th Engineer Support Battalion is an engineer support unit of the United States Marine Corps and is headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. The unit falls under the command of 1st Marine Logistics Group and the I Marine Expeditionary Force.
Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores was a 133,440-acre (540.0 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day northwestern San Diego County, California, given by Governor Juan Alvarado in 1841 to Andrés Pico and Pío Pico. The grant was located along the Pacific coast, and encompassed present-day San Onofre State Beach and Camp Pendleton. The site is now registered as California Historical Landmark #1026.
The United States Marine Corps is organized within the Department of the Navy, which is led by the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV). The most senior Marine commissioned officer is the Commandant of the Marine Corps, responsible for organizing, recruiting, training, and equipping the Marine Corps so that it is ready for operation under the command of the unified combatant commanders. The Marine Corps is organized into four principal subdivisions: Headquarters Marine Corps, the Operating Forces, the Supporting Establishment, and the Marine Forces Reserve.
California's 38th senatorial district is one of 40 California State Senate districts. It is currently represented by Democrat Catherine Blakespear of Encinitas.
Redonda Mesa is a mesa type formation located in the southern Santa Ana Mountains, near the Pacific Ocean in Southern California. It is located in an unincorporated area of southwestern Riverside County.
San Mateo Creek is a stream in Southern California in the United States, whose watershed mostly straddles the border of Orange and San Diego Counties. It is about 22 miles (35 km) long, flowing in a generally southwesterly direction. Draining a broad valley bounded by the Santa Ana Mountains and Santa Margarita Mountains, San Mateo Creek is notable for being one of the last unchannelized streams in Southern California.
The May 2014 San Diego County wildfires were a swarm of 20 wildfires that erupted during May 2014, in San Diego County, California, during severe Santa Ana Wind conditions, historic drought conditions, and a heat wave. The main event during mid-May was preceded by a precursor fire that ignited on May 5. The Bernardo Fire has been declared accidental, and officials believe the Cocos Fire was intentionally set. The causes of the other fires are still under investigation by multiple agencies, and a joint task force was formed to coordinate the investigations and facilitate communications. Six injuries and one fire-related fatality were reported.
The Tomahawk Fire was the second-largest wildfire of the May 2014 San Diego County wildfires, behind the Pulgas Fire. The fire, which started on May 14 around 9:45 AM, on the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach Detachment Fallbrook, scorched 5,367 acres (21.72 km2). The Fallbrook Naval Weapons Station is on the eastern side of, and provides an entry point to, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and is adjacent to the community of Fallbrook. Evacuation orders were issued for several schools and housing areas, as well as the Fallbrook Naval Weapons Station and the closed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. By 8 PM PDT on May 14, the Tomahawk Fire had reached a size of 6,000 acres (2,400 ha). On May 16, the fire had burned 6,300 acres (2,500 ha), and it was 23% contained. By May 17, it had burned 6,500 acres (2,600 ha) and was 65% contained. During the evening of May 18, the fire was reported to be 100% contained.
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Naval Hospital Santa Margarita Ranch was a large US Navy hospital facility in Oceanside, California. Located on Camp Pendleton in Camp Pendleton South, California in San Diego County. Naval Hospital Santa Margarita Ranch was the first naval hospital in the area that opened in 1943 to support World War 2 wounded. Built on Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores, near the training Center's Lake O'Neill with 1,228 beds. In 1945 the hospital expanded to 1,584 beds. In 1950 the hospital was renamed Naval Hospital Camp Joseph H. Pendleton, Oceanside. The hospital was renamed a few times before being given its current name, Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, in 1967. The 1943 hospital was built quickly, composed of 76 temporary, wood-frame buildings at first with 600 beds and opened on September 3, 1943. The hospital and support building were on 252 acres. Post war, in 1946 the hospital was reduced to 920 beds. In 1971 construction started on a new eight-story hospital, the new hospital opened in December 1974. The 1974 hospital was replaced with the current hospital in 2014. The site of the original Naval Hospital Santa Margarita Ranch is now: Lake O'Neill Campground, Camp Pendleton Youth Sports, O'Neill Fitness Center, Wounded Warrior Battalion West and the Camp Pendleton Fire Department Station 4.