Military

Courthouse Bay
Marine Corps Engineering School (MCES)

One of Camp Lejeune's outlying "suburbs," Courthouse Bay, is currently home of the Marine Corps Engineer School and the 2d Assault Amphibian (AA) Battalion. The complex was originally used during World War II, however, as a Barrage Balloon School (a history "memorialized" in the continued use of the letters "BB" preceding the numerical designation of buildings here). Because it was far from the main area at Hadnot Point, Courthouse Bay was built as a semi-independent village with its own water supply, recreation facilities, mess hall, barracks, and officers' quarters. The Engineer School, which during the war had been in the 4th Regimental Area at Hadnot Point, moved to Courthouse Bay in 1945. Here, officers and enlisted personnel are given instruction and hands-on experience in a variety of engineer fields to prepare them for service with the Fleet Marine Force.