Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast (West Coast of the United States) base of the United States Marine Corps and serves as its prime amphibious training base. It is located on the Southern California coast, in San Diego County, and bordered by Oceanside (Oceanside, California) to the south, San Clemente to the north, and Fallbrook (Fallbrook, California) to the east.
The base was established in 1942 to train U.S. Marines for service in World War II. By October 1944, Camp Pendleton was declared a "permanent installation" and by 1946, it became the home of the 1st Marine Division (1st Marine Division (United States)). It is named after Marine General Joseph Henry Pendleton, who long advocated setting up a West Coast training base for the Marine Corps. Today it is the home to myriad Operating Force (Fleet Marine Force) units including the I Marine Expeditionary Force and various training commands.
Birth Location: San Diego County, California
Coordinates: Coord3320N11725W dim:30000_region:US-CA display=inline,title
Image2: Location map
Mark: Locator Dot.svg
Marksize: 30
Lat: 33.36
Long: -117.41
Caption2: Shown within San Diego County, California
Type: Military base
Built: Start date19423
Used: September 25, 1942?present
Controlledby: United States Marine Corps
Garrison: I Marine Expeditionary Force
Current Commander: Colonel Nicholas F. Marano