The resort town was located on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean several miles south of Cape Henry, at the entrance to the bay.

The reason for this mass assault in a bean field 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Norfolk was that, early in World War II, Navy planners saw a necessity for landing large numbers of American troops on foreign shores in the face of enemy gunfire.

Training would be needed before sufficient men were proficient in the complicated art of the amphibious assault, which would enable U.S. troops to drive to the heart of the enemy.

Camp Shelton was an armed guard training center for bluejackets serving on board merchant ships as gun crews.

The Frontier Base was the forwarding center for amphibious force personnel and equipment destined for the European theater.

Shortly thereafter, however, the bases at Little Creek, because of their central location on the Atlantic coast, excellent and varied beach conditions, proximity to the naval facilities of Norfolk, berthing facilities for amphibious ships through the size of LSTs, and other advantages, were consolidated into the present installation and renamed the Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek with a commissioning date of August 10, 1945.

Today nearly 13,000 sailors, Marines, and civilian employees are assigned to the various stations or attend schools at the Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek in support of the Navy/Marine Corps team.

See: Ferry Road bisecting NABLC This article incorporates material from Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek’s History Archived 2013-06-26 at archive.today, a United States Government web page whose contents are in the public domain.