Camp Debert was an army facility capable of accommodating division-size units where personnel received training prior to deployment to Europe.
The temporary relocation of NSAC resulted from a major fire that had occurred at the principal campus in Bible Hill, which destroyed many barns and academic facilities.
A new lease on life was given to the military facility in the early 1960s when Camp Debert was chosen as the location for a Regional Emergency Government Headquarters, also known as a "Diefenbunker".
In 1971 the aerodrome and training facilities were declared surplus and were purchased by the provincial government to create the "Debert Air Industrial Park" as well as a municipal airfield.
A significant Paleo-Indian site was discovered on the grounds of the old military camp by a private contractor who was preparing a plot of land to be used as a tree farm.
Debert has a humid continental climate (Dfb) with warm, wet summers with cool nights and long, cold, and very snowy winters.