Last Modified Date:
13 October 2009

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Army troops first came to the U.S. Department of the Interior's game management land in the Hoffman area in 1941 during the Carolina Maneuvers. That area is about 40 miles west of Fort Bragg on the west side of Drowning Creek. During the 1920s, the Baltimore Barber Steamship Company established a hunting preserve there. In 1922 they created Mossgeil Lake and constructed a log cabin on the east shore. It became the commander's house during World War II. In 1924 a second cabin was built on the west shore which served as a briefing room during the war and is now the Range Control Office. In 1930 DuPont Corporation purchased the property and added a lodge which became the Camp Mackall 's Officers' Club. That building burned in 1968, but the chimney remains.

On November 8, 1942 , construction began on the Hoffman Airborne Camp on 56,002.91 acres obtained from the Department of Interior and purchased from local landowners. There were over 1,750 buildings erected mostly of the Theater of Operations (T/O) type. The one-story T/O buildings were the most temporary construction with rough plank siding covered with tar paper. A heavier grade tar paper served as roofing material. Construction included seven service clubs, two guest houses, three libraries, 16 post exchanges, 12 chapels, a hospital, 65 miles of roads and three 5,000' runways in a triangle. Those buildings included headquarters for the U.S. Army Airborne Command, the garrison command and the division headquarters. There were also numerous service buildings.

The camp's cantonment area was constructed with a north and south area separated by about a mile with the Station Hospital in between closer to the north area. The south barracks area was for troops in training and contained all the services necessary to sustain them. Those troops began arriving in January 1943. They were to receive basic training there in addition to perfecting their parachuting and gilder skills.

On February 8, 1943 , General Order Number 6 renamed the facility Camp Mackall in honor of Private John Thomas (Tommy) Mackall. He was born May 17, 1920 in Ohio and grew up in Wellsville , Ohio . He served in the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment. During the Allied invasion of North Africa in the airborne segment called Operation Torch, he was mortally wounded in an attack by French Vichy aircraft on his aircraft as it landed near Oran . Seven paratroopers died at the scene and several were wounded, including Mackall. He was evacuated by air to a British hospital at Gibraltar where he died on November 12, 1942 .

Tommy Mackall's mother and two brothers were among family members attending the camp dedication on May 1, 1943 . A bronze plaque recalling the event which injured Mackall was unveiled at a ceremony that day and installed at the division headquarters building. It was later removed when the camp was dismantled. In the 1970s it was misplaced and never found. A granite monument now stands at the camp entrance.

The U.S. Army Airborne Command was moved to Camp Mackall in early 1943 from Fort Bragg . While the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions remained garrisoned at Fort Bragg , they were trained under the Command at Camp Mackall before leaving for assignments elsewhere that year. Some of the regiments attached to the divisions trained at Camp Mackall . The first airborne division headquartered at Camp Mackall was the 11th Airborne Division reporting on February 25, 1943 . The 17th Airborne Division was activated there on April 25, 1943 . The 13th Airborne Division was activated on August 13, 1943 , and moved from Fort Bragg to Camp Mackall in January 1944.

Three Airborne Divisions were formed, (in the following order), on Camp Mackall in 1943.

11^thAIRBORNE DIVISION (“The Angels”)

• Formed on 25 February 1943
• Landed (Beach Assault) on Leyte Beach , Luzon , Philippines (Operation “Table Top”)
• Parachute Assault;  Tagaytay Ridge, Los Banos(rescued 2147 American Prisoners held by Japanese) and Aparri
• Used Gliders at Aparri ( only time used in Pacific Theater)
• First foreign troops on Japanese soil in over 2000 years
• Deactivated in July 1958

17^th AIRBORNE DIVISION (“Thunder from Heaven”)

• Formed on 25 April 1943
• Participated in the “ Battle of the Bulge” winter of 1944
• Parachute Assault Wesel , Germany (Operation “Varsity”) 24 March 1945
• Only Combat Jump across Rhine River into Germany itself
• Lost 430 men KIA plus 50 Air Corps Crewmen in only 12 hours
• Jumped with British 6^th Airborne Division who lost 590 men KIA in same 12 hour period
• Between two Divisions used 1305 Gliders of which only 172 was salvageable
• Deactivated in September 1945

13^thAIRBORNE DIVISION (“Golden Unicorn”)

• Formed on 13 August 1943 (Friday 13^th)
• Did not see Combat in WW II
• Throughout their existence were depleted of trained Soldiers to provide replacements for 82^nd, 101^st, and 17^th Airborne Divisions (on one occasion sent all Privates and Lieutenants)
• Deactivated in August 1945

In coordination with the 1st Troop Carrier Command stationed at Maxton-Laurinburg Army Air Base in Scotland County, paratroopers and glider troops stationed at Camp Mackall jumped into fields at Camp Mackall and loaded, flew in and unloaded gliders. Such troops were also air-landed during maneuvers in transport planes. With the rigorous training came risks. In one incident, on February 16, 1944 , eight paratroopers drowned in Kenny Cameron Lake at Camp Mackall when their pilots miscalculated the drop zone. A monument has been placed at the lake in their memory. A quick-release harness being considered at that time was not yet issued. Whether or not it would have made a difference in that case was inconclusive.

 During the war, a prisoner of war camp for German prisoners was located outside and between the south cantonment and Drowning Creek. The POWs lived in Winter Rise (framed tent) structures as did their military guards. They worked at the camp and local farms for which they were paid. Although the camp had a capacity of 500, there were usually only 250 to 350 POWs.

 With the end of World War II, Camp Mackall was used mostly for outdoor recreation for military personnel. The game management areas of the Department of the Interior that had been under the supervision of the state of North Carolina before the war were given to the state with the stipulation that the Army would retain maneuver and firing rights on the land. The present Camp Mackall contains land the War Department obtained from the Interior Department and purchased from local landowners.

In 1952, the newly established U.S. Army Special Forces began training at the camp. During the 1970s, anti-terrorism teams trained there. Since then, the camp has developed what is known at the Colonel James "Nick" Rowe facility. Rowe, a Special Forces officer, was a POW for five years in Vietnam . He was murdered by terrorist in the Philippines in April 1989. Camp Mackall also houses the 19-day course in Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) established around 1967.

 The Rhine , Luzon and Oran Drop Zones at Camp Mackall are active facilities today. The Camp Mackall Airfield and unimproved landing strip in the middle of the Luzon Drop Zone are regularly used by the armed services.