Powellville community leaders, at the time the camp was opening, learned that the men from Patapsco included a black CO, and warned CPS officials not to transfer the man.  The rest of the men told the American Friends Service Committee that they would not go to Powellville on those conditions.  At the request of the black CO, the AFSC transferred him to a detached service training school unit Cheltenham, Maryland before the camp made the move.  (Goossen p. 40).

Orientation programs for the base camps evolved over the years.  Interestingly in the first year of Pokomoke, camp leadership instituted an extensive safety education program followed up with a bi-weekly safety newssheet called The Poco-Note. 

In 1944, when the Mennonites began operating the camp with a new group of men, they instituted a three-phase orientation program.  The first consisted of three days covering information on camp procedures and discussions about the camp.  The second, a five-day training period the last week of the first month in camp, delved into issues about which the men now had some experience.  The third and final part included weekly discussion periods for three months. 

During April 1943, a group of CPS men acting independently of the religious agencies and against the express prohibition of Selective Service called a Chicago Conference on Social Action.  Planners intended to provide opportunity for men to exchange views about and consider action regarding their common problems in areas of the nature of CPS work, opportunities for greater service, training programs and what COs should do about conscription, as examples.  General Hershey directed all camp directors to “grant no furloughs” for assignees to attend, as Selective Service had not approved the conference in advance. 

At Powellville, sixty-seven of the seventy-two men pledged individual non-compliance with the order as a denial of civil liberties.  High level meetings between the religious agencies and Selective Service officials failed to remove General Hershey’s ban.  The conference went forward with very small attendance, and those who attended were given a customary three-day furlough penalty for each day A.W.O.L.  Neither CPS men nor many of the Historic Peace Church leaders were happy with the outcome.   However, the incident and the aftermath demonstrated the restrictions under which COs labored in Selective Service, and the limits to civil liberties in protests of conscience. 

Naomi Brubaker organized a cooking school at the camp in 1946.  These schools scheduled for a few weeks, included instruction and apprentice work in the various areas of camp food planning, preparation and management.  Participants came from other camps as well.

Mennonite Central Committee began assigning pastors to the base camps to assist with religious life near the end of CPS.  At Pokomoke, Harry Shelter served as the camp pastor for a time and T. A. van der Smissen came from CPS Camp No. 31 at Camino, California on January 1, 1947.

During 1945, MCC held a series of short institutes at regional camps.  The first conscription institute at Powellville, on February 24-25, 1945, attracted fifty-five CPS and MCC delegates to explore “the Christian attitude” toward conscription in peacetime as well as during war.  In addition, during the institute, participants reflected on the CPS experience and planned follow-up discussions for local camps and units.  The presenting group at Powellville included J. Winfield Fretz, Irvin Horst, H. S. Bender, Orie O. Miller, Albert Gaeddert, Robert Kreider, Elmer Ediger and others who had been involved in the early development of the CPS program. 

During the period that the Friends operated the camp, the men created a number of publications.  They began The Peacemaker in December 1942, with Vol. 2. No. 20 archived in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. They published Social Action News from May through August of 1943.  The Socialist C. O. began publication in early 1943 and continued to publish periodically through May of 1945.  From July through December 1943, the men cooperatively published The Open Ballot with CPS Camp No. 108 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  They produced Powellsville News and Comment from February through June of 1943. Co’ok’s Tours, actually published in CPS Camp No. 2 at San Dimas, California, appeared in September 1943, attributed to the Powellville men.  From September 1943 through April 1944, the men published five issues of Pokomoke Opinion.  And, they produced School of Industrial Relations Bulletin, June through November in 1944. 

After the new group of men arrived in November 1944, they published a camp paper The Dove-Tale from February 1945 through September 1946. 

Of all the National Service Board for Religious Objectors base camps, only Powellville remained at the time CPS concluded.