Camp Gonsalves is a 20,000-square-acre (78,332km²) United States Marine Corps camp located on the Japanese prefecture island of Okinawa (near Okuma spread across the villages of Kunigami and Higashi). Established in 1958, the camp is part of the larger Camp Butler that is spread throughout Okinawa. Formally named the "Northern Training Area" until 1998, the camp was renamed the "Jungle Warfare Training Center" (JWTC) and teaches jungle warfare and skills, combat tracking, medical trauma, survival evasion resistance and escape (SERE) course, and is currently developing a squad leader's course. The type of environment in the camp is primarily single and double canopy jungle with very steep cliffs and a number of streams. According to the 2004 commanding officer of the camp, Lt. Col. Antonio B. Smith, "The terrain is very demanding and challenging. You're not going to find anything like this anywhere else in the Marine Corps." Okinawa Island (沖縄本島 Okinawa-hontō, the main island of Okinawa) is the largest of the Ryukyu Islands at the edge of the East China Sea, helping to define the seas boundary with the open Pacific Ocean. ... The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States military responsible for providing power projection from the sea,[1] utilizing the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. ... The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States military responsible for providing power projection from the sea,[1] utilizing the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. ... The term prefecture (from the Latin Praefectura) indicates the office, seat, territorial circonscription of a Prefect. ... This article is about the prefecture. ... Okuma can be a place name: ÅŒkuma (大熊町; -machi), a town located in Futaba District, Fukushima, Japan. ... Categories: Move to Wiktionary | Stub ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler (usually Butler Marine Base in Okinawa) is a United States military Marine base located in the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean by UNESCO. [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... Jungle warfare is a term used to cover the special techniques needed for military units to survive and fight in jungle terrain. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Squad Leader game package. ...

After the jungle warfare training grounds in Fort Sherman, Panama closed in 1999, JWTC on Okinawa became the only jungle training grounds in the entire Department of Defense by default. In 1995, a formal agreement, the Special Actions Committee on Okinawa, was made to eventually return Camp Gonsalves (and other Japanese US military installations). 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The United States Department of Defense, abbreviated DoD or DOD and sometimes called the Defense Department, is a civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Special Actions Committee on Okinawa is a formal agreement made between the United States Government and the Government of Japan. ...

The camp is named after U.S. Marine Pvt. 1st Class Harold Gonsalves, a World War II Medal of Honor recipient in the Battle of Okinawa. Private First Class Harold Gonsalves (1926-1945) was a United States Marine who sacrificed his life to save fellow Marines in the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. For his heroism on this occasion, he was posthumously awarded the highest military honor of the United States — the Medal of...

References

• Premiere training ground lies in Okinawa's thick jungle, Okinawa Marine, February 24, 2004
• Camp Gonsalves / Okinawa Northern Training Area, GlobalSecurity.org
• Welcome to the Jungle (Flash, PDF, HTML), Bob Houlihan, All Hands, August 2003