Camp Laguna

The Camp Laguna was a sub camp of the US Army, Desert Training Center in Riverside County, California. The main headquarters for the Desert Training Center was Camp Young, this is where General Patton's 3rd Armored Division was stationed. Camp Laguna is 16 miles (26 km) miles northeast of Yuma, Arizona, off of U.S. Route 95. Trained at Camp Laguna were the 3rd Armored Divisions the 9th Armored Divisions, the 79th Infantry Divisions, 80th Infantry Divisions and 8th Infantry Division. The camp is named after the nearby town of Laguna, Yuma County, Arizona on the Colorado River. Camp Laguna was first World War II training camp built in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, it trained thousands of troop for war. Most of the land that was Camp Laguna is now part of the vast Yuma Proving Ground.

Camp Laguna was built in April 1942. The Desert Training Center was built to prepare troops to do battle in North Africa to fight the Nazis during World War II. At the camp's railway station were two large stone columns marking the entrance to the camp. When completed the camp had shower buildings, latrines, wooden tent frames, water storage tanks and water treatment plant. The camp was closed in April 1944.