Camp Gillespie was established in 1942 as a 688 acre parachute training facility for the newly organized Marine Corps Parachute battalions. In September 1942, Camp Gillespie was completed to train the “Paramarines”, as they were known as. The facility was built to house 600 officers and men as well as support two runways, a combat training pool and three 256 foot high towers from which the paratroopers practiced their jumps. The need for a Marine parachute corps was re-evaluated later in the war in light of the cost and lack of logistical support. In December 1943, the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment was disbanded and officially ceased to exist in February 1944. In total, 3,000 Marine and Navy parachutists graduated without a single fatality during the 16 months of Camp Gillespie’s existence. While Marine parachute battalions fought in several campaigns in the South Pacific including Guadalcanal, no combat parachute drops were ever made. After the program was cancelled, the parachutists present at San Diego joined the 5th Marine Division and eventually took part in the invasion of Iwo Jima. One of the former parachutists was Ira Hayes, the Native American who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi.
In February 1944, the camp was repurposed and was commissioned as Marine Corps Auxiliary Airfield Gillespie under the command of Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. MCAAF Gillespie was responsible for transitioning and training several Marine and Navy squadrons. Aircraft flown here included the SBD Dauntless, the TBM-3 Avenger, and the F4U Corsair.
After WWII, the airfield was turned over to San Diego County and became a general aviation facility.
The area just to the west of the cache location was the original drop zone for those Marine Corps parachute trainees. After the base was decommissioned, this portion of the original base became the Cajon Speedway in 1961, featuring a 0.375 mile oval track for stock car racing. The last race was run in 2004. The raceway was torn down after the lease expired in 2005 and the land has been vacant, awaiting the development of the 70 acres as an airport expansion. It will include new aircraft hangars, related aircraft businesses and taxiways to connect to the active runways.
Congrats to dm92 for FTF honors!