Training Area C, Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area |
In early 1942, as the United States prepared to deploy clandestine operatives into occupied territory, Colonel William J. Donovan began searching for a secluded yet practical location to train his newly formed Office of Strategic Services. His requirements were exacting: the site had to be remote enough to conduct demolitions and live-fire exercises without endangering civilians or attracting attention, but also close enough to Washington, D.C. to allow for rapid communication with the President. Electricity and running water were considered essential, even in the most rustic setting.
In the northeastern sector of Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area (Now Prince William Forest Park), clandestine radio training is established by Office of Strategic Services officers Goodfellow and Williams in mid-April 1942. This training is centred in two adjacent cabin camps located within approximately 1,600 hectares of densely wooded terrain. Due to its function as the site for communications instruction, and as the third Office of Strategic Services camp to be established in the park, the area is designated as Area C.
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Training Area C |
Although the terrain is not considered ideal for wireless communication instruction due to signal interference and geographic constraints, the area offers a high degree of security. Its isolation allows for constant monitoring, with all access routes placed under round-the-clock guard, ensuring the confidentiality of training activities.
At this stage, the Office of Strategic Services Communications Branch has not yet been formally established, it would not be created until September 1942, so the training in Training Area C begins under informal organisation. Area C operates under the administrative oversight of the Special Operations Branch, which manages the camp and its infrastructure, while the Commo Branch controls all aspects of the training programme. Courses range in length from nine to thirteen weeks and cover a highly technical syllabus: telegraphy, short-wave radio operation, codes and ciphers, and the use and maintenance of Office of Strategic Services-specific equipment. Trainees also receive physical and mental conditioning, along with instruction in weapons handling, demolition techniques, fieldcraft, and close combat.
At full capacity, Area C accommodates 357 individuals, including cadre and trainees. Major Albert H. Jenkins, a reserve Marine officer and First World War veteran, commands Detachment C from December 1942 until February 1945.
Area C comprises two cabin camps located approximately 400 metres apart in the northeast section of the park, between Quantico Creek and the Dumfries-Manassas Road). The main gate stands off Dumfries Road and is heavily guarded; access is restricted to authorised personnel. Taxicabs from nearby Triangle often deliver Office of Strategic Services staff and trainees, but are not permitted beyond the gate.
The physical layout of the Area C camps mirrors those in the western part of the park: clusters of rustic cabins are grouped around a lodge, dining hall, and office. The Office of Strategic Services quickly insulates buildings for year-round use and upgrades the kitchens in 1943, adding a 1,900-litre hot water tank and heater, gas ranges, a commercial-grade electric baking oven, and steam tables. New electric equipment is also installed, including coffee grinders, urns, meat slicers, food mixers, and a powered dishwashing machine. A swimming pool is constructed in the summer of 1944, supporting waterborne training.
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C-1 (Area C-1) |
Before the war, Cabin Camp 1 serves as a boys’ summer camp for African-American youths. It consists of four building clusters, A, B, C, and D, and a central administrative area. During the war, the Office of Strategic Services redesignates it as Area C-1. It serves primarily as headquarters and accommodation for Major Jenkins and the cadre, but also hosts brief communications courses for Special Operations and Special Intelligence personnel preparing for deployment who have yet to complete their basic training. It also functions as a holding area for graduates awaiting overseas assignment or returning veterans. In 1945, C-1 becomes a training site for Korean and possibly other Asian recruits, in preparation for Office of Strategic Services operations planned for 1946 against Japanese forces in East Asia.
Several new wooden buildings are erected at C-1 during the war. These include a radio repair shop, the largest structure on site, a 5-metre-square portable plywood classroom, a radio transmitter building, and two guardhouses: one at the main gate, the other at the northern boundary.
C-4 (Area C-4) |
Cabin Camp 4, formerly a summer camp for African-American girls, becomes the main Office of Strategic Services communications school. Beginning in the winter of 1942–43, it is transformed into an intensive training centre. Here, young men in Army fatigues spend two to three months mastering the skills of clandestine radio operation. Instructors teach the operation and repair of radios, wireless telegraphy equipment, and field base stations. Trainees learn coding, decoding, and the rapid transmission and reception of Morse code messages.
Area C-4 is larger than C-1 and comprises five sub-units, A through E, each with its own lodge. A central administrative zone and dining hall serve the entire camp. During winter of 1942, 1943, all buildings are winterised. Kitchen upgrades match those in other parts of the park. Building 78 is converted into the Office of Strategic Services code room. Latrines and the infirmary are expanded, and a large multi-purpose building is constructed with Donovan’s personal approval. This building serves as a venue for training films, lectures, and social events, and still stands today.
For weapons and tactical training, Office of Strategic Services builds a series of target ranges approximately 180 metres east of Sub-camp C at C-4. A pistol range with six stationary silhouette targets is initially constructed, but is later relocated to make way for a rifle range with eight targets. Both are directed away from the camp and terminate at an earthen embankment across Quantico Creek. A “utility range” is located another 180 metres southeast, across a ridge and in a creek valley. This site is likely used for grenade and demolition training. Recruits assist in clearing brush for the ranges and for a new obstacle course, and help install electronic equipment used in radio instruction.
Unlike the more combative training conducted at Area A, Area C is devoted primarily to communications. Marksmanship is taught at firing ranges, but no structures are destroyed during instruction. Only two buildings are lost during Office of Strategic Services occupation of the park: one cabin is destroyed by fire, and part of the motor pool burns down in a separate incident. Both are rebuilt.
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History |
Throughout the war, Area C maintains a station complement of approximately 75 personnel and can accommodate around 200 students at any given time. As the demand for trained radio operators grows, particularly by late 1943, the Communications Branch temporarily opens an additional, smaller school, designated Area M, at Fort McDowell, Illinois, to support the expanded need for qualified personnel.
Until January 1943, administration of Area C remains under the Special Operations Branch. However, following the formation of the Schools and Training Branch, that department assumes administrative control. Despite this change, Area C continues to be used by Special Operations on occasion, either as a holding facility or for the specialised training of foreign nationals.
Towards the end of the Second World War, Training Area C at Chopawamsic began to host groups of Asian-American trainees, primarily of Korean descent, as part of the Office of Strategic Services’s preparation for final operations in the Pacific theatre. These individuals were selected for their language skills and cultural knowledge, and were trained to operate within the Office of Strategic Services communications system. Their instruction at Area C included telegraphy, shortwave radio, encryption, and secure message transmission, skills critical to the coordination of Allied intelligence and resistance networks in East Asia.
Following their graduation from Chopawamsic, many of these operatives were deployed to China and Burma, where they joined Office of Strategic Services detachments already operating behind enemy lines. In these theatres, they played a vital role in establishing and expanding intelligence-gathering networks directed against Japanese forces.
Instruction in clandestine communications remains under the direct oversight of the Office of Strategic Services Communications Branch until the end of the war, and Area C serves as one of the principal centres for training radio operators tasked with vital wartime intelligence and resistance coordination.
Training |
Over the course of the war, more than 1,500 communications personnel undergo training at Area C. These recruits attend intensive technical courses lasting two to three months, focused on the core disciplines of clandestine communication. Instruction includes telegraphy, shortwave radio operation, and cryptographic techniques such as coding and decoding secure transmissions. Between 1942 and 1945, every Office of Strategic Services agent assigned to communications passes through this site.
Unlike traditional military camps, Area C fosters a more flexible and collegiate atmosphere. Each day begins not with a bugle, but with music. At precisely 06:15, trainees are awakened by songs of their choosing, often popular contemporary hits such as “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” or “There’s a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere.” This small freedom reflects the Office of Strategic Services’s focus on initiative, adaptability, and personal responsibility, traits vital for the independent work its agents are expected to perform.
The training programme resembles a university in its structure, offering a wide range of specialised subjects tailored to the demands of irregular warfare. Instead of philosophy or natural sciences, the curriculum includes courses such as “Elementary Principles of Explosives,” “Lectures on Street and House-to-House Fighting,” and “Compass Problems.” Trainees select from an extensive catalogue of instruction, allowing them to shape their education according to their likely field assignments.
At Area C, the atmosphere is both rigorous and innovative. The training combines technical precision with practical fieldcraft, preparing operatives to deploy advanced communications equipment in hostile environments, evade enemy detection, and transmit intelligence crucial to Allied operations.