NEW AIRSTRIP AT CAMP SHELBY MISSISSIPPI

The newly completed airstrip named Shelby Auxiliary Field 1 was open yesterday. Camp Shelby now has one of only two airfields in the world capable of handling the C-17’s short field assault landing operations. It will give Camp Shelby the capability to go from a tactical operation to a strategic training facility. The primary function of a C-17 is to serve as cargo and troop transportation for soldiers. Camp Shelby currently provides military training to more than 100,000 troops each year from all over the country.

Major General Harold Cross stated yesterday that we can now fly troops in for training and send them back to their home stations right from Camp Shelby instead of having to transport them back and forth to Biloxi, Mississippi, which is the nearest airport.

Military officials said the airstrip will also be used in natural disasters.

Camp Shelby is one of two major National Guard bases selected by the Pentagon to train its citizen soldiers from across the county. Thousands of soldiers from Alaska to Vermont have trained at Camp Shelby since the base was federally activated in June 2004.