Camp Dunlap was a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

base in

Imperial County Imperial County is a county located on the southeast border of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 179,702, ranking as the least populous county in Southern California. The county seat and largest city is ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The camp was named for Brigadier General

Robert H. Dunlap Robert Henry Dunlap (December 22, 1879 – May 19, 1931) was a general in the United States Marine Corps. Military career Born in Washington, D.C., Dunlap was appointed a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps August 8, 1898. He served with di ...

. The 250,000 acre camp was used to train

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

and anti-aircraft units of the

Fleet Marine Force The United States Fleet Marine Forces (FMF) are combined general and special forces within the United States Department of the Navy that perform offensive amphibious or expeditionary warfare and defensive maritime employment. The Fleet Marine ...

. The base was located at the present-day location of

Slab City Slab City, also called The Slabs, is an unincorporated, off-the-grid alternative lifestyle community consisting largely of Snowbird (person), snowbirds in the Salton Trough area of the Sonoran Desert, in Imperial County, California. It took its ...

. Construction of the camp was done by Vinson & Pringle and

Del E. Webb Construction Company The Del E. Webb Construction Company was a construction company that was founded in 1928 and developed by Del Webb. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, it became the Del E. Webb Corporation a publicly traded company on the New York ...

out of

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. The same company contracted to build Marine Corps Air Station El Centro and Marine Corps Air Station Mojave. Camp Dunlap opened on October 15, 1942, to serve as a training facility during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The facility contained five different tent camps within its boundaries and eight different artillery ranges. During the war, the 10th, 11th, and 13th Marine Regiments trained there before departing overseas. The facility was also used as a bombing range for planes flying from nearby Marine Corps Air Station El Centro. The Marine Corps began dismantling the camp in December 1945 and finally closed it in March 1946. The base was turned over to the Naval Real Estate Board at that time. On August 29, 1951, the

California State Lands Commission The California State Lands Commission is a unit of state government that is responsible for management and protection of natural and cultural resources, as well as public access rights, on some of California's publicly owned lands. The members o ...

approved the sale of the to the Navy at per acre, with the state retaining the mineral rights, and with the understanding that the land would revert to state ownership once the Navy had abandoned it.Associated Press, “Army, Navy Get Desert Tracts”, ‘’The San Bernardino Daily Sun’’, San Bernardino, California, Thursday 30 August 1951, Volume LVII, Number 312, p. 2. In October 1961, the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

conveyed the land on which Camp Dunlap was situated back to the

State of California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Notes

References

;Bibliobraphy * United States Marine Corps bases Closed installations of the United States Navy {{ImperialCountyCA-geo-stub