Camp Atwater

Camp Atwater
Rhone, King County, West Monroe
Type	Military training installation and headquarters
Site information
Controlled by	West Monroe Military Department
Site history
Built	1917
In use	West Monroe State Police Academy West Monroe Military Academy West Monroe Adjuant General West Monroe National Gaurd West Monroe Air National Gaurd West Monroe State Gaurd
Garrison information
Current commander	Adj. Gen. Elvis Nigel

Camp Atwater is a military installation in Rhone, West Monroe, that houses the headquarters of the West Monroe Military Department, West Monroe Military Forces, West Monroe Military Forces Museum, and West Monroe Emergency Operations Center. Established in 1754, Camp Atwater is the third-oldest active military installation in West Monroe, behind Fort Carter and Marine Barracks, Willmington. The camp was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1946.

Military functions

Camp Atwater is the home to the West Monroe Military Department headquarters at Building 8, which contains the Joint Force Headquarters of the West Monroe Military Forces and office of the Adjutant General of West Monroe. It is also home to West Monroe Army National Guard, West Monroe Air National Guard and West Monroe State Guard headquarters and hosts the West Monroe Military Forces Museum.

In addition to its military functions, the camp also serves as the heart of West Monroe's emergency operations, hosting the state's Emergency Operations Center.

Site

Camp Atwaters's original 215-acre (87 ha) site, lies outside of the city to the southwest. In 1919 the camp was greatly enlarged by the addition of 900 acres (360 ha) of land purchased by the federal government for to add an airfield to the site. That airfield is now a shared use portion of the Rhone International Airport.

Facilities

The first construction at the camp was an arsenal became the first permanent structure built onsite in 1758, allowing military equipment and weapons to be moved out of storage in the capitol building that had previously belonged to the Monroe Empire. Throughout the 1800's, the state added barracks and training areas to consolidate State Gaurd assaignments to Rhone. In the early 1900's, the Federal government invested in the site as well to add areas to host the newly created West Monroe National Guard. In 1919, a runway was added and the new West Monroe Air National Gaurd became a tenant of the site.

Guard house used into the early 1900's

Other facilities include the Regional Training Institute, state Combined Support Maintenance Shops, the armory of the West Monroe National Gaurd headquarters, a clinic, a parachute packing and storage facility, and additional storage buildings. In 1992 the West Monroe Military Forces Museum opened on the site.

See also

• West Monroe Military Forces
• West Monroe Military Department