The headquarters for the Desert Training Center was Camp Young where General Patton's 3rd Armored Division was stationed.

Camp Ibis was constructed between November 8, 1942, and March 28, 1943, to help support troops training to fight in the North Africa campaign during the war.

Major units trained at Camp Ibis included the 4th Armored Division (under MG John Shirley Wood) from November to June 1943, followed by the 9th U.S. Armored Division (under MG John W. Leonard) from July to October, 1943.

When completed the camp had 42 shower buildings, 173 latrines, 234 wooden tent frames, and a 50,000-gallon water tank tower.

Its 4,500 foot runway was made of steel landing mats running north–south, parallel to Highway 95 on its west side.

985 DESERT TRAINING CENTER, CALIFORNIA–ARIZONA MANEUVER AREA (ESTABLISHED BY MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON, JR.) – CAMP IBIS – Camp Ibis was established at this site in the Spring of 1942 – one of eleven such camps built in the California–Arizona Desert to harden and train United States Troops for service on the battlefields of World War II.