Shelby wants to be equipment hub

CAMP SHELBY, Miss. – The Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, south of Hattiesburg, and the 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 signed an agreement with the Camp Shelby training center to help military planners understand the capabilities after researchers assessed the logistics potential and cost savings. 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).
[Central Mississippi Note: Camp Shelby is 135,000 acres and has been used as a staging area to mobilize and demobilize troops. Gulfport is home of the Naval Construction Battalion Center, and East Coast Seabees. NCBC 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.]