BATTLEGROUND – When Col. Joe Land decided to move his privately-owned Camp Liberty from Marion, Alabama, he had no specific intention of moving it to Battleground.
“It was really just a coincidence that we ended up moving from Alabama to another place in Alabama,” Land said. “I was looking at places in Virginia and Florida. But this became available, and now this is home.”
Extreme Military Challenge (XMC) is the several-week-long summer experience that will be held at Camp Liberty annually. There are three different programs, to fit each camper’s desired experience.
“Over the last three years, we've had cadets here from all 48 contiguous states and Hawaii,” said Advanced Ranger – the most elite program at the camp – Grant Wideman. “Also, 11 different countries have been represented here.”
Land is careful to maintain that his camp is not a camp for delinquents or those in major trouble with the law.
“Everyone who is here wants to be here,” he said.
The camp, which is in the process of being rebranded as Camp Liberty, was previously owned by a church and was called Stony Creek. Land purchased the property from that church, as opposed to renting the space, which was the situation at this previous location in Marion.
It’s not Land’s mission to prepare those enrolled at his camp for the military, although many who attend XMC do plan to enlist.
“We’re not preparing people for war, we’re preparing young men and women for life,” Land said.
That being said, the camp pulls out all the stops to make the experience as immersive and realistic as possible.
“This is a condensed and toned down version of what the recruits would get at basic training,” Bill Owen, marketing director for Camp Liberty said. “Not watered down, but toned down. There are some four-letter words that would be used during basic training that we don’t use here, because some of those who are enrolled here are at the age of 13.”
The interesting thing about Camp Liberty is that the XMC program is only a fraction of what will be going on at the property. The camp is working on building more facilities on top of what they inherited from the previous owners.
The camp will hold anniversary events for veterans, family reunions, weddings, conferences, adventure weekends, paintball and airsoft courses and more.
“The XMC camp really will only take up about two months out of the year,” Owen said. “That leaves us 10 months where we can schedule anything from a wedding, to a veterans reunion.”
The camp has already made an international footprint, now Col. Land wants the Cullman community to understand everything that he’s bringing to the area.
“We're bringing people, we're bringing business; We're putting Battleground, Alabama on the map,” he said. “We have a business agreement with a local hotel, Comfort Suites. They give us an excellent rate on anyone coming in, any parents, for the cadet graduation. And, you know, those people eat in the Cullman restaurants, they shop in these stores.”
But above the economic impact of having a destination and attraction such as Camp Liberty, Land believes the young men and women who come into his camp leave as better people when they’re done, and that is benefiting the communities of the United States as well.
“Sometimes I think I’m training the parents as much as we’re working with the recruits,” he said. “And at the end of it all, they’re all the better for it.”
While Land served in the United States Navy, the title of Colonel is assumed solely for the purpose of replicating a military environment and is not an official title associated with the U.S. military.
Upcoming events
Camp Liberty will be hosting Freedom Fridays, with Patriotic Movie Nights, on the second and fourth Friday of each week from Aug. 12 until Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11. Freedom Fridays will start at 7 p.m. each night and will be held at the amphitheater, where a patriotic film will be shown.
The movies that will be shown are:
- 8-12 “Top Gun”
- 8-26 “Independence Day”
- 9-9 “G.I. Joe: The Movie”
- 9-23 “Armageddon”
- 10-14 “The Hunt for Red October”
- 10-28 “Red Dawn”
- 11-11 “Behind Enemy Lines”
None of the films shown will be over PG-13. According to Col. Joe Land, owner of Camp Liberty, all children must be accompanied by an adult. Freedom Fridays are free to attend, and concessions will be available for purchase.
Camp Liberty is located at 15719 Alabama Highway 157 West. To learn more, visit http://www.camp-liberty.com/ and http://www.xmccamp.com/#!location/c1jbj.
