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Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune is near Jacksonville, North Carolina, on the Atlantic seaboard of the United States.
Camp Lejeune is home to the U.S. Marine Corps's II Marine Expeditionary Force, 2nd Marine Division, three other major Marine commands and a Naval hospital. As of the early 2000s, the base population is 143,491 of which 43,100 are in uniform.
The base occupies 246 square miles (637 km²) and contains 6,946 buildings. The base's 14 miles (23 km) of beaches make it a major training area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports allow for faster deployments.
The main base is supplemented by four satellite facilities. When added to the main base and MCAS Cherry Point, they make up the largest concentration of Marines and U.S. Navy sailors in the world. These satellite facilities are: Camp Geiger, Stone Bay, Courthouse Bay, and Camp Johnson, home to the Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools.
History
In April of 1941, construction was approved on an 11,000-acre (45 km²) tract in Onslow County, North Carolina. On May 1 of that year, Lt. Col. William P. T. Hill began construction on Marine Barracks New River, N.C. The first base headquarters was in a summer cottage on Montford Point then shifted to Hadnot Point in 1942. Later that year it was renamed in honor of the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps, John A. Lejeune.
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