Camp Edwards is a United States military training installation located in western Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts.

[2] In 1940, the U.S. Army leased Camp Edwards as a training facility as part of its mobilization strategy for World War II.

The Army undertook significant construction which helped to expand Camp Edwards from a rustic military post to a small city, overflowing with new GIs.

During the war, the camp functioned as a sending off point for troops as well as a training ground for anti-aircraft and amphibious units.

In September, the War Department approved acquisition of up to 200,000 acres (810 km2) on Cape Cod for the purpose of military training.

A railroad spur was built from Falmouth and a constant procession of trucks transporting material to the camp began.

Peak of construction occurred in November 1940, with 18,343 employees working three shifts, a weekly payroll in excess of one million dollars, and completion of 30 buildings a day.

The project was completed in a mere 125 days (September 1940 to January 1941) and served as the national prototype for other camps built during World War II, using the 700 series drawings.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the subsequent declaration of war by the United States, resulted in extension of federal service for the division through 1945.

It formed the core of the Antiaircraft Artillery Training Center, Camp Edwards, one of seven such U.S. Army facilities in World War II.

[1] After the Allies began the invasion of North Africa in December 1942, the US Army built a prisoner-of-war camp for captured German soldiers.

The camp, located at the south end of the runway, housed up to 2,000 POWs at a given time, many of whom were from Rommel's famed Afrika Korps.

German prisoners also assisted in salvaging millions of board feet of lumber after the Otis vicinity was devastated by a hurricane in September 1944.

[1] By June 1944, Camp Edwards had expanded to an area of 21,322 acres (8,629 ha), capable of accommodating 1,945 officers and 34,108 enlisted personnel.

[29] In its last act of the war, Camp Edwards was the location of a Temporary Separation Center for discharging returning GIs.

In 1978, the Air Force returned with the Perimeter Acquisition Vehicle Entry Phased Array Warning System, more popularly known as PAVE PAWS.

[1] In 1986, an artilleryman from the Connecticut Army National Guard overloaded a gun and the shell overshot the target by over a mile, hitting U.S. Route 6.

Since the academy's relocation and its re-designation as the RTI, all activities including the two-week training period have been conducted at Camp Edwards.

[34] Since the late 1970s, Massachusetts Military Reservation, which sits atop the primary drinking water aquifer serving Cape Cod, has been the site of the nation's largest government-mandated and -funded environmental cleanup project.

Decades of unchecked use and disposal of explosives, ammunition, fuels and chemicals, as well as sewage runoff, resulted in multiple contaminated groundwater plumes.

While the Air Force and Army are the entities charged with remediation efforts, the Massachusetts National Guard has been working to modify its systems in an environmentally responsible manner while maintaining the rigid standards and requirements of military training.

[36] In 1999, Governor Paul Cellucci proposed turning the northern 15,000 acres (6,000 ha), which includes Pine Hill, the highest point on Cape Cod, into a state conservation area.

Though the 102d AFW and its fleet of fighter jets were relocated to Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield, the retention of the entities and the continued sharing of key operating costs such as base security, road maintenance, snow removal, water, utilities and sewage treatment ensured the missions carried out at Camp Edwards would continue.

They were housed in aging but unoccupied military barracks, which were updated in short order with new mattresses, furnishings and linens, and served meals at three nearby dining halls.

[1] An example of Theater Immersion Training, TTB is designed to rapidly build combat-ready units by simulating military environments encountered during missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, or the Balkans.

Soldiers live in tents with modular units provided for shower and sink facilities, and the base is surrounded by barriers filled with dirt and barbed wire, entry control points and guard towers.

[1][39] Other recently planned, modified or additional elements of Camp Edwards' training facilities include the following: A Battle Simulation Center with a JANUS hardware and software suite, flexible room configuration, built-in PA, DVD, and power point systems; supports a wide range of tailored training including Warfighter Exercises, Virtual Battlefield Trainer (VBT) and multi-agency table top exercises.

[39] Plans are in place as of 2010 to construct a 7,540-square-foot (700 m2) Live Fire Shoot House that will permit all Massachusetts Army National Guard personnel to perform essential combat tasks that will improve their readiness posture prior to mobilization.

All members of the Camp Edwards TTT are NCOs recently returned from deployments in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, have held leadership positions, and are qualified instructors meeting all US Army standards.

[40] On 20 September 2014, three Afghanistan military officers visiting Camp Edwards went missing at Cape Cod Mall during an event where they were to be introduced to American culture.