162 A BICENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI CAMP SHELBY Camp Shelby military base is the largest state-owned and operated field training site in the United States. It opened July 18, 1917, as a National Guard training post during World War I. The base named in honor of Isaac Shelby, the first governor of Kentucky who was a military leader in the Revolutionary War and War of 1812. Kentucky National Guard units trained at the site in World War I and World War II. The military base is made up of more than 134,820 acres in Perry, Forrest, and Greene counties about twelve miles south of Hattiesburg. Since World War I, training for the Army Reserves and active members in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force has taken place at Camp Shelby. The site serves as the annual training location for National Guard and Reserve units in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. It supports battalion level maneuver training, is home to the 177th Armored Brigade, and is the training ground for the M1 Abrams tank, Bradley Infantry fighting vehicles, and the M109A6 Paladin Howitzers. PHOTOS COURTESY OF MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY, COOPER POSTCARD COLLECTION