Camel Expeditionary is this month’s sponsor

Camel Expeditionary is sponsoring Saturday’s Veteran’s Breakfast at the Jacksboro First Baptist Church. County Mayor Jack Lynch, County Vice Mayor Randy Brown and Campbell County Veteran’s Affairs Director Shane Prater visited Camel on Tuesday to tour the facility. County officials are pictured with Camel CEO/President Mark Riffle, pictured center back row) and Camel managerial staff.

By Charlotte Underwood

PIONEER, TN (WLAF)- This Saturday marks the 40th Veteran’s Appreciation Breakfast, a monthly event started by the county mayor’s office and sponsored by local businesses and organizations.

Camel Expeditionary is sponsoring this Saturday’s Veteran’s Breakfast which will be held at the Jacksboro First Baptist Church at 8 am.

Veterans and their families are invited to attend the event.  According to organizers, there are usually over 100 veterans that attend each breakfast, and the hope is to have more come each month.

“This is our 40th Veteran’s Appreciation Breakfast and since Camel does so much with the military, and has sponsored a breakfast before, we wanted to say thank you to them and also get the word out that it’s our 40th and have a great crowd on Saturday, said Campbell County Vice-Mayor Randy Brown.

Camel Expeditionary managing staff, Company President/CEO Mark Riffle, center, and Campbell County officials stand inside one of the largest tents designed and manufactured by Camel.

Campbell County Mayor Jack Lynch, Vice-Mayor Brown and Campbell County Veteran’s Affairs Director Shane Prater stopped by Camel Expeditionary in the Collins Industrial Park on Tuesday morning to “say thanks” and tour the facility.

“There’s probably Veterans that have slept in Camel tents at some point,” said County Mayor Jack Lynch.

Camel Expeditionary started over 100 years ago in 1917, according to company President/CEO Mark Riffle, who said Camel had just recently made a “quarter of a million dollars investment” in equipment and that it would soon be investing in a new roof.

“There’s a whole lot of investment going on in our shop,” Riffle said.

The company currently has around 60 employees.

“They just called this the tent factory when I was a little boy, now, this is technology, the industry has really changed,” said Lynch.

Riffle said Camel used to do business mostly with the Department of Defense, but now Camel “builds tents for almost every other tent manufacturer” and that they do “build and print work” for industry leaders.

County officials stopped by Camel Expeditionary to tour the factory on Tuesday morning and to thank the company for sponsoring the upcoming Veteran’s Breakfast on Saturday. Pictured left to right is Campbell County Veteran’s Affairs Director Shane Prater, Campbell County Vice Mayor Randy Brown, Camel CEO/President Mark Riffle and County Mayor Jack Lynch.

“We’re now the manufacturing arm for about five different tent manufacturers; since the volume has decreased instead of being good at just building those tents, we have created operational excellence so I can make it cheaper than they can,” Riffle said.

He also said that the company was proud to sponsor community events like the Veteran’s Appreciation Breakfasts.

“We are glad to have them in our community, and we want to thank Mark and the whole company for sponsoring the Veteran’s Breakfast,” Lynch said. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-09/03/2025-6AM)

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