Another Garand photo from the Camp Elliott rifle range.

[John HOLBROOK]

This was taken of my boot camp class Company 50-116 during the summer of 1950. I am somewhere in the mix!!! Man it was HOT!!! The chief standing behind us was named Bozeman a Chief Boatswains Mate.. A salty looking bunch, huh? The whole class went to destroyers being taken out of mothballs for the Korean War, except for 5 of us that went to NATTC Memphis for Aviation Training!!!! I spent the Korean War at Guantanamo Bay towing targets for fleet gunnery practice!! It was a tough job, but someone had to do it!!!

But they found me when the Vietnam War came along!!!!!

[Bill D]

That looks familiar. I was there 8 years later but nothing much had changed. It was hot when I was there too. I learned one thing - don't join the Navy in July.
I went aviation, also. Went to Norman, Oklahoma for six weeks of aviation prep then to NATTC Millington, Tennessee for school to be an AT.

Bill D

[John HOLBROOK]

In 1950, AN(P) and all A and B Schools were at NATTC Memphis (Millington). Norman was not open yet....


Here is a shot of me on the wing of an F6F-5 Hellcat at Memphis during the winter of 1950 while in AD(A) School... Note the snow, it was COLD that winter!!!!

[SloopJohnB]

Camp Elliot looked pretty much the same when I was there in 1956. Being Navy, we didn't spend to much time there. Good thing, as it was hot in August as well!

[Bill D]

Left Norman, OK on a bus and arrived at Memphis (Millington) on Thanksgiving day. Just a touch of snow and some wind. The next day wasn't a bit warmer and some power that was decided that we should go northside and do familiarization with the 1911A1. As I recall, about two dozen of us crowded into the line shack and a second class PO held up a .45 and asked if anyone could identify it. Sombody could so they sent us back to the baracks. I think that's the coldest I ever was and I am a Colorado native.
BTW, if you relocate in Montana, avoid Cutbank liike the plague. As far as I know, it's the only place in the lower 48 that's colder than Fraizer, Colorado.

[Griff Murphey]

I used to shoot in the Naval District matches there in '75-'76. By that time the berms between ranges had begun to erode exposing the carcasses of 1930's cars which were under that dirt. It was then the Navy's Private Shooting club. I offended the GMC in charge of it by trying to shoehorn my wife into a high power class they were holding. I won the match one month and the GMC said: "Well the turnout was so small I'm not going to send out the bulletin to the commands this month."

One of you gentlemen will know for sure but I think this range initially was turned over to the local Sheriff's Dept. then closed for good by the early 80's.

[Bill D]

Camp Elliot looked pretty much the same when I was there in 1956. Being Navy, we didn't spend to much time there. Good thing, as it was hot in August as well!

I used to shoot in the Naval District matches there in '75-'76. By that time the berms between ranges had begun to erode exposing the carcasses of 1930's cars which were under that dirt. It was then the Navy's Private Shooting club. I offended the GMC in charge of it by trying to shoehorn my wife into a high power class they were holding. I won the match one month and the GMC said: "Well the turnout was so small I'm not going to send out the bulletin to the commands this month."

One of you gentlemen will know for sure but I think this range initially was turned over to the local Sheriff's Dept. then closed for good by the early 80's.

I wouldn't know what happened to the range. After leaving San Diego in 1958, I had no interest in ever returning. I did do a two year tour of shore duty at NAF Monterey later.

[Bob S]

Griff:

I fired the 11th ND match there in 75 or 76 ... don't remember which. I do recall the GMC that you mention. I was the only guy on the line with a cal .30 m1, and he had to go scrounging around for .30 cal ammo. When he came back out ... I got to shoot .30 Match, while everyone else shot 7.62 ball on the short lines. Didn't help my scores much!

[Mark in Rochester]

One of you gentlemen will know for sure but I think this range initially was turned over to the local Sheriff's Dept. then closed for good by the early 80's.

Following WWII, the property served a variety of temporary uses including use as the headquarters for the National Guard 251st Group as well as an illegal immigrant detention camp operated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. With the onset of the Korean conflict, the Navy reactivated Camp Elliot as Naval Training Center Elliott Annex. It served as an auxiliary training center from 1951 to 1953 for additional recruits from NTC San Diego. In 1960, the Camp was decommissioned and was divided between NAS Miramar and the Air Force for the creation of the Atlas Missile test facility. Sycamore Annex was developed by General Dynamics under direction of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a high security testing area used in the development of the Atlas and Centaur missiles. In 1966, the facility was transferred to NASA and by 1969, the site was classified as surplus property and title was transferred to the General Services Administration. In December 1972, the parcel was transferred to the Navy, to be included in the NAS Miramar property.

http://wikimapia.org/4480679/Camp-Elliott-site