A former Yugoslav artillery outpost and 79 parcels of private land, the area was taken over by U.S. Marines and used as a base of operation during the Kosovo War of 1999.

Initially occupied by U.S. Marines, over the past seven years successive rotations of U.S. Army soldiers have used the camp as part of NATO’s KFOR.

The base camp originally consisted of one main building, used as a command post and makeshift interrogation center, as well as a few small outbuildings that had been stripped by retreating Yugoslav forces.

Initially the United States Marine Corps occupied the land during Operation Joint Guardian setting up camp around the main building in tents and in their vehicles, and patrolling Gjilan and the surrounding villages.

In July 1999, U.S. Navy Seabees, along with Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), began construction of more permanent structures, with plumbing and electricity including a vast number of semi-permanent barracks known as South East Asia huts (SEAhuts).