Camp Pendleton is a large base by any standard with an area of 124,ooo acres of land. It was established in 1942. The purpose of the base was to train Marines to fight in WWII. You can see the practicality of situating the base on the west coast when you look at the conduct of operations in the Pacific at that time. It was a good logistic location because it was right on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Troops would simply have to be transported to ships by bus and loaded up.

The base has a daytime population of over 100,000 this is large by any stretch of the imagination. Many cities are not this large. It is the primary training area for amphibious warfare although amphibious warfare training is not the only type of warfare training conducted there.

The camp is the home of the 1st Marine Division. It is also a basic training base and many trainees will purchase their Marine Corps basic training rings upon graduation. Many of them will purchase an additional USMC ring later on in their careers because there are so many more military experiences open to them. This is also the area where we sell many 1st Marine Division rings.