The legendary Camp Blanding, one of the ‘must do’ venues for serious paintballers, is now closed until further notice to paintball and airsoft events.

The Camp Blanding MOUT training site is mainly used to train soldiers to function in an urban environment. However, the government has opened up the facility for use to paintball game producers and airsoft event producers.

A game promoter who was inquiring about having an event at Camp Blanding later this year received notice today from Camp Blanding officials that Camp Blanding was closed to public events until further notice, due to increased military operations going on. A contributing factor to this decision has been cited that it has taken too long to clean up the facility after a paintball event.

The construction of the buildings on the Blanding MOUT facility make them susceptible to staining, since the concrete blocks that make up the construction of the facility aren’t sealed, and the wood timbers used in the construction of various parts of the roofs are extremely dry, and are prone to soaking up liquids introduced to them.

We contacted Camp Blanding MOUT facility NCOIC SFC Scott Hall today to inquire about the reasons for the closing of the facility, but he referred us to the civilian liaison for scheduling events at Camp Blanding and declined to comment any further. Calls to the official in question haven’t been returned as yet.

In another conversation with SFC Hall, the NCOIC confirmed that the facility is still not cleaned up and does not meet the standards for clearance 4 days after the end of the event. Typically a game producer is given 2 days to fully clean the facility. It’s not known at this time when or if the facility will meet the standards for clearance. We understand that a contractor is in the process of being hired to pressure wash the facility.

From previous experience at Camp Blanding, we know that the government prefers that specific colors of paintballs and their fill be used on the facility to prevent staining damage to either the buildings or the surrounding forest. However, it’s not been verified that there’s a clause in the contract for promoter’s paint specifications. However, the custom has been to use a “Blanding Ball” formulated with a gray shell and a very runny, gray or off-white fill.

More as it develops, if any further information develops.

UPDATE: Below is an email exchange that SFC Hall shared with me.  In it Mr. Pinson responds to a player’s concerns about Blanding being shut off to the paintball world:

—–Original Message—–

From: Stefan D [email address redacted ]

Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 5:13 PM

To: Pinson, Richard S Mr NGFL

Subject: Recent blanding game

Mr. Pinson,

I attended the weekend paintball event at the MOUT site at Camp Blanding. I heard a terrible rumor in the paintball forums that due to the type of paint used by the event producer, Joe Moffo, the Military has decided to ban paintball events at this site permanently. Is this true? I guarantee had we known the paint chosen flew in the face of military specifications given to Mr. Moffo then we as a paintball community would have burned it in a bonfire in front of his registration building.

-Stefan [full name redacted]

Team [team name redacted]

—–Original Message—–

From: Pinson, Richard S Mr NGFL

Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2010 12:03 PM

To: Stefan

Cc: Delance, William F MSG NGFL; Hall, James S SFC NGFL

Subject: RE: Recent blanding game (UNCLASSIFIED)

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

Caveats: NONE

Currently all paintball activities are cancelled at the MOUT Site. We are reviewing paint specifications and required clean-up time for the events. We will provide additional information at a later date.

Richard Pinson Jr

CBJTS-SAC

Office: [ phone number redacted ]

Cell: [phone number redacted]

UPDATE 3/1/2010

We just received word from SFC Scott Hall, NCOIC Camp Blanding MOUT that the site has been officially cleared for military use as of around 3PM today.