History of Camp San Luis Obispo, California

A World War II panoramic photograph of the Camp San Luis Obispo Amphitheater during World War II. The photo was taken by Lennie Imbrugia who operated the Post Exchange's photography concession, Lennie's Studio. California Military Department Historical Collection No. 2021.2532

Cal Guard's 2021 Best Warrior Competition kicks off today until April 2 at Camp San Luis Obispo. The event determines the Top NCO and Soldier who will represent... California at the Regional BWC later this year. Good luck to our 115th representatives who will be tested mentally and physically! (U.S. Army National Guard video by Staff Sgt. Eddie Siguenza) 340th Brigade Support Battalion 340th BSB, Det 1 340th BSB HSC, 340th BSB 223rd Military Intelligence Battalion 1040th Quartermaster Company 349th Quartermaster Company 49th Personnel Company 49th Personnel Company 250th Expeditionary Military Intelligence Battalion See more

Camp San Luis amphitheatre nurses singing

US Army Recreation Camp at Pismo Beach Effie McDermott last edited Feb 2, 2019 The US Army Recreation Camp at Pismo Beach was established for the soldiers and... sailors who poured into the Central Coast for training during WWII. Nearby military operations included Camp Cooke (now VAFB), Camp San Luis Obispo, Camp Roberts, the Naval Amphibious Training Base at Morro Bay, and the Arroyo Grande Defense Command, that included a horse brigade stabled off The Pike for patrolling the beaches. Many young recruits headed to Pismo Beach for R & R when they were granted leave. The camp entry was on Highway 1, across from where the Monarch Butterfly Grove now stands. The railroad tracks were in front of the entry. The site of the camp was in what would become Grover Beach, and belonged to the Bagwell family, who were prominent in real estate. The camp is believed to have been approximately 45 acres. It included what are now several blocks of residential lots laid out from Atlantic City Avenue to the Pismo Lake Ecological Reserve, and from Highway 1 to Fourth or Fifth streets. An assessment of the site was conducted by the Defense Environmental Restoration Program in 1997-99 and did not find any deeds or official records outlining the boundaries. Nor were there any Department of Defense structures remaining at that time. Serving as guides for the assessment team were Charles Bagwell (who had owned the land), Margaret Price (who had worked at the camp), and Jean Hubbard (local historian), when the assessment team visited the location. Ural Foresee, a young sailor from Arkansas during WWII who came back to make Pismo Beach his home, also recalled the camp extending from Highway 1 to what is now North Fifth Street. The camp operated from approximately March 1941 to October 1945. It was used by soldiers on leave and may have also been used briefly for rehabilitation/recreation for soldiers returning from war. It included up to 40 buildings, including a mess hall/recreation hall, as well as barracks to house as many as 800 soldiers on weekends. Some of the barracks and buildings used to establish the camp were moved from Arroyo Grande’s Civilian Conservation Corps camp on Vernon Street, where the Arroyo Grande Woman’s Club is now located. Captain Albert R. Etzweiler, who was placed in charge of the camp, was a veteran of WWI, whose military and civilian career centered around music. Etzweiler conducted the 158th Infantry Band for a number of years, during which he provided music and recreation to active duty armed forces in the war theater in Europe. Afterwards, he served in the reserves. In civilian life he was very accomplished and highly respected. He had a doctorate in music education, authored a text for music educators, was president of the Arizona State Music Teachers Association, and much more. Etzweiler had originally married a French woman named Yvonne during WWI, who accompanied him back to the US. In 1927 he married his second wife, Beula Irene Shutt, a Pennsylvania woman who was a school teacher and well-traveled artist. They settled in Phoenix where he was the high school music director. When WWII broke out, Etzweiler returned to active duty. Reactivated on April 2, 1942, he soon found himself in Pismo Beach. Albert and Beula were joined by local residents and businesses in providing a place for soldiers and sailors on R & R to have a place to stay overnight and have home-cooked meals. There was, no doubt, music. In addition to access to the nearby town and beach, the camp featured a theater, service club, auditorium and company day rooms. According to Ruth Graham, a concerted effort was made to entertain and feed the men in the camp to keep them away from the prostitutes and con men who congregated outside the gates. Numerous local people donated food, money and their time. Ruth Graham, Barbara McCoy, Ole and Florence Gullickson, Ruth Paulding, and others are known to have volunteered. Every Sunday morning they made a homemade breakfast for the troops. Sometimes they gave the soldiers a ride back to base. Except for two months in the summer of 1944, when he took an offsite assignment, Captain Etzweiler ran an efficient operation at Pismo Beach through the war. Afterwards, he remained briefly on active duty. He returned to Arizona. He died in Phoenix Jan 31, 1973 at age 83. In addition to the memories Captain and Beula Etzweiler left with the soldiers and sailors in Pismo Beach, he left a legacy in military band concepts that has been passed down to modern military top bands. It is reflected in the military musical ensembles that serve as musical outreach ambassadors performing at special events in communities around the world. Nothing remains of the US Army Recreation Camp at Pismo Beach, though it is easy to imagine what its entry must have looked like somewhere there in the eucalyptus along the railroad tracks by the butterfly grove. Sources: Foresee, Ural Van. As told to Effie McDermott. Hall-Patton, Mark, Pismo WWII Camp known for its breakfasts, South County Tribune 1990. Madsen, Peter T. Colonel (P), U.S. Army, Commanding, U.S. Army Recreation Camp, Grover City, CA, Site No. J09CA709500, survey and findings of fact, 28 Sep 1999. Accessed Feb 1, 2013. ftp://swrcb2a.waterboards.ca.gov//CA%20/INPRs/CA7095A1.pdf SCHS Print and Photographic file 1986.003.001, quotes from Florence Gullickson and Barbara McCoy. Wolff, Lon, Albert Ross Etzweiler, Arizona’s Music Man, The Journal of Arizona History Summer 2009, The Arizona Historical Society. See more

1934 Photo of Captain A. J. Smalley and the Members of Company G, 185th Infantry at San Luis Obispo, Ca.

Another highly successful monthly work period conducted by the California State Guard's Museum Support Unit at the Camp San Luis Obispo Museum Support Center. ... Present over the work period were COL(CA) Kirk Sturm, LTC(CA) Erik Brun, SGM(CA) Dan Sebby, SSG(CA) Jim Yellis and SPC(CA) Brent Ogden. Over the past two days over three dozen artifacts were processed to be transferred and displayed at the Headquarters, 40th Infantry Division located at the Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos. Most of the artifacts were small arms to be displayed as part of an improved Korean War exhibit. Work was also completed on the MSU's virtual/augmented reality project. We also want to thank the Camp San Luis Obispo Directorate of Public Works for fabricating and installing a new sign on our building.

Photos of the 1941 185th Infantry Regiment Unit Yearbook. California MIlitary Department Historical Collection

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40th ID conducts joint operations in the Pacific from Camp San Luis Obispo: https://www.dvidshub.net//40th-infantry-division-conducts-

A NEW ARTIFACT ACQUIRED BY THE CALIFORNIA MILITARY DEPARTMENT HISTORICAL PROGRAM. A 10x42 inch panoramic photograph by the California Panorama Company of Los An...geles showing the joint maneuvers with the National Guard of California and the Regular Army held at Camp Atascadero from 12 to 26 August 1904. This was the first of a series of such maneuvers help at Atascadero in 1904, 1908, and 1910; and near Salinas in 1912. This exercise was overseen by the Commanding General of the Pacific Division, Civil War Medal of Honor recipient Maj. Gen. Arthur MacArthur, Jr., father of future General of the Army Douglas MacArthur. This rare photograph will be framed under Ultraviolet protective glass as part of preparing it for display. California Military Department Historical Collection No. 2020.29.63 Camp Roberts Historical Museum California Army National Guard California National Guard The History Center of San Luis Obispo County

1941 San Luis Obispo Army Training 40th Division

Class 20-003. Congratulations graduates, welcome to the 88M MOS. 223rd Regiment - RTI

A 1942 Lennie Studio postcard showing a shipment of newly arrived M-2 Half-Tracks under guard at Camp San Luis Obispo. California Military Department Historical Collection No. 2020.31.23 The History Center of San Luis Obispo County

Two circa 1950 Lennie Studio postcards depicting M4A3E8 "Sherman" tanks of Monterey's Company A, 149th Tank Battalion, California Army National Guard passing in... review during the 49th Infantry Division's annual field training at Camp San Luis Obispo. This unit is now the 340th Brigade Support Battalion, headquartered on the former Fort Ord. California Military Department Historical Collection Nos. 2020.31.1 and 2020.31.22 California National Guard 340th BSB The History Center of San Luis Obispo County

You just can’t miss the mountains, hills and SLO skyline? My Mom and some of her Co-workers at Camp. Camp San Luis, 1944

FROM THE HISTORICAL COLLECTION OF THE CALIFORNIA MILITARY DEPARTMENT. Today we highlight our Imperial Japanese Army Type 1 47mm Anti-Tank Gun. This particular ...gun also saw service with the Korean People's Army and was captured from North Korean forces during the Korean War. This gun is part of the Bataan Memorial at Camp San Luis Obispo that honors Salinas's Company C (former 40th Tank Company), 194th Tank Battalion that was captured on the Bataan Peninsula. This gun, made at the Osaka Arsenal, was acquired from the then General George S. Patton, Jr. Museum of Cavalry and Armor at Fort Knox, KY and is part of the United States Army's National Collection. Per Wikipedia: The Type 1 47 mm anti-tank gun (, Isshiki Kid yonjynana-miri sokushah, "Type 1 mobile 47 mm rapid-firing gun") was an anti-tank gun developed by the Imperial Japanese Army and used in combat during World War II. The Type 1 number was designated for the year the gun was accepted, 2601 in the Japanese imperial year calendar, or 1941 in the Gregorian calendar. The Type 1 47 mm AT gun was introduced to combat service only in 1941, with the intent of it replacing the Type 94 37 mm (1.5 in) anti-tank gun. It was very effective for its role, with American personnel calling it "an excellent weapon, with mechanized carriage and a high muzzle-velocity" that "proved most effective in combat", though it was not always available in sufficient numbers. It had a high rate of fire and with AP shells were capable of perforating the front armor of the M4A6 (a slightly more heavily armored variant of the M4 medium tank[citation needed]) at 800 yards (730 m), though the standard doctrine was to wait until tanks got closer if possible to ensure good shot placement. The weaker APHE shell, while incapable of penetrating the M4 Medium's 93 mm (3.7 in) of effective front armor, could still penetrate the tank's side (3845 mm (1.51.8 in)) of vertical armor), the most likely part of the tank to get hit, at a distance of more than a kilometer. It was issued to armored units as well as independent anti-tank units, and was fielded in a wide variety of areas, but most notably the Philippines and Okinawa, and continued to be used with diminishing effectiveness until the end of World War II. After World War II the Type 1 47 mm AT gun was used in the Indonesian National Revolution by the Indonesian Army. In the Battle of Surabaya Dutch forces and British forces suffered moderate casualties among their convoy which consisted of M3 Stuarts and M4 Shermans California Military Department Historical Collection No. 2007.1.1, United States Army Collection Control No. 452079

California National Guardsmen from the 49th Infantry Division's 579th Engineer Battalion supported by the 49th Separate Infantry Brigade's 256th Engineer Compan...y performing infrastructure improvements at Camp San Luis Obispo during the 49th Infantry Division's 1967 Annual Field Training. California Military Department Historical Collection 579th Combat Engineer Battalion California Army National Guard The History Center of San Luis Obispo County

Program for the dedication of Camp San Luis Obispo's Memorial Amphitheater of Memorial Day, 1943. Although not used for many years, it still exists in the creekbed behind O'Sullivan Army Heliport. California Military Department Historical Collection No. 2020.27.46.... The History Center of San Luis Obispo County California National Guard