1 minute read
LIBERTY COAST
SCULPTING SOLDIERS
Camp Blanding: More Than A Training Center
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by Stephanie Thompson
Rappelling from a 60-foot tower. Hooking a tether to the underbelly of a helicopter while it’s in flight. Completing a 12-mile ruck march in just three hours. All of this is just a snippet of what it takes for Air Assault Soldiers to earn their wings. Camp Blanding Joint Training Center graduated its current class of Air Assault Soldiers on July 24, but its mission extends well beyond this course.
In addition to Camp Blanding being a state-of-the-art training venue, it also serves as an emergency office space where Florida’s governor would operate the state government from, in a catastrophic event. It is even the site where the Florida Division of Emergency Management will go to continue performance of essential functions under circumstances that require its movement from its home base.
Camp Blanding is very much an emergency management and response location, with a focus on natural disasters and state emergencies. The base hosts relevant academies, particularly for county emergency managers.
The base is able to serve as such a critical asset to the region in part because of its many strategic partnerships. It has relationships that protect and improve infrastructure, as well as to support capabilities that allow it to offer an exceptional experience to its customers. Its personnel are continually growing these partnerships in an effort to expand their capacities.
Camp Blanding is on a mission to become “the premier domestic and combat training facility in the southeast U.S with a focus on Unified Land Operations up to a brigade-sized element.” The training center currently provides a wide variety of services, from simulation platforms to maintenance and everything in between. Its customer base is just as wide-ranging, as they serve Florida’s National Guard, along with other federal, state and local entities.
For an inside look at a sampling of the settings Camp Blanding’s students train in, head to the Multijurisdictional Counterdrug Task Force Training website, MCTFT.Org.
