Base wants to be equipment hub

CAMP SHELBY, Miss. – The Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center south of Hattiesburg, along with the state port at Gulfport, are being considered as a depot for the return, redeployment and disposal of military equipment from Afghanistan. The National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison signed an agreement with Camp Shelby Joint Training Center to help military planners understand the capabilities after researchers assessed the logistics potential and cost savings. According to Army officials, the Defense Department will spend $7 billion to ship nearly 750,000 pieces of equipment worth $36 billion as combat operations come to an end in 2014. (Sources: Camp Shelby, 03/27/14, Hattiesburg American, 03/27/14, Sun Herald, 03/28/14 ) Camp Shelby is 135,000 acres and has been used as a staging area to mobilize and demobilize troops. In addition, South Mississippi is home of the Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport, the East Coast Seabees. That base is a “readiness center” that stores and ships equipment worldwide. Warehouses are spread over 500 acres. The base is near an international airport, seaport, two interstates and rail systems.