Community Forums

Finhawk · 01-09-2011, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alageezer

Prior to 74, you had to volunteer to be a DS, and they weren't getting enough to sustain the force, and those that were DS couldn't get out. DA decided to start drafting from the other branches, and giving them a two year assignment. I was in the first group to go thru DI school in 74. I was in Aviation, 67G, but they got folks from everywhere. I did make E-7 off the secondary list just after I went to Wood. With the promotion and knowing I'd only be there two years, made it bearable. I must say I did enjoy it though.

I know the humidity of Ft Benning well, we came back here when I retired in 86. My wife is from this area.

I went to DSS at Fort Knox in "66". No choice at all! No one asked me at all. Maybe it was different at Benning.

alageezer · 01-14-2011, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alageezer

You wouldn't believe the money that is being spent on post right now, everywhere you look they're building something new or expanding.

Short update in case anybody is interested. Local news just did a piece on Ft Benning. They reported that they are budgeting $3.5BILLION in expansion over the next four years.

Ray,IN · 01-14-2011, 05:50 PM

alageezer I suppose all that evergreen forest that used to be Harmony Church area will be returned to barracks and training areas now that the Armor branch will be training there. My first DS assignment was to a Harmony Church training company, in the old WW II wooden barracks.
Finhawk, some of my commanders(and comrades) thought I was nuts (they may have been right) to keep requesting a DS assignment, because of that problem of getting adequate soldiers to fill DS school slots. My reward-so to speak, from those years as a DS was the day when a really sharp-looking, squared-away 1SG walked up to me, snapped to attention,looked me in the eye and asked if I remembered him.

alageezer · 01-15-2011, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

My reward-so to speak, from those years as a DS was the day when a really sharp-looking, squared-away 1SG walked up to me, snapped to attention,looked me in the eye and asked if I remembered him.

Being a DS was a tough job. A lot of long hours dealing with pure meatheads. But an incident as you described made it all worth it, and it usually only takes one

DOXMOM · 01-15-2011, 08:31 AM

===Short update in case anybody is interested. Local news just did a piece on Ft Benning. They reported that they are budgeting $3.5BILLION in expansion over the next four years.

==
Hi All, My Hubby Doug and I are retired Army living in the south metro Atlanta area. We'll be making regular trips to Ft.Benning as Ft. McPherson and Gillem (except for a few Activities) will close as of 1 Oct 2011. That expansion sounds amazing. We have a 1 yr old, basic Viking PoP Up (Epic) that we use for Nascar Races and other Camping. We also each have Cruiser Motorcycles. Combining camping and riding may be in our future. Our one Auto is a Volvo xc90 awd, so limited to what we can tow. I've been looking for a small Toy Hauler option (if I trade in the PoP Up). Seeing some interesting lite Sport Utility Trailers (Quicksilver ). If we get any first hand info about Camping at Benning, we'll pass it on. It's a nice area south of Atlanta to take the back roads State Rd Ga 85 from our home to Columbus. Might be a nice thought to put the Camper down there, return home and ride the Bikes down separately.
Doug was Active Duty, MI Warrant Officer and after 28yrs retired and did a contractor short stint,and then 5 plus years as a DA Civilian at Ft. Mac. I was Active Duty, MI for 8 yrs then went into the Reserves and combined that with Dept of Army Civilian career. Believe I had the best of both worlds and gave us a lot of options for moving around together. We've been retired for 3 1/2 yrs so camping, taking care of our older Doxies, and home improvements keep us busy enough. I have not posted a lot on this forum, so hope I have not been too long winded. This is a very friendly bunch, so chiming in with my 2 cents..lol. I've been doing a lot of "research" on where to Camp next year so this thread discussion about Benning got me thinking again about a relative close spot to camp.

Karen

alageezer · 01-16-2011, 07:38 AM

Welcome DOXMOM. If you need to know anything about the Ft Benning area, let me know. The FamCamp is not located on the main post proper, and can be got to without going thru the main gates.

Ray,IN · 01-16-2011, 05:27 PM

Hi DOXMOM; The owner of U.S. Military Campgrounds and RV Parks does a great job of keeping Military RV park information up to date, including current directions into the park (FAMCAMP). This website is a great source of Military camping information for us retired folks. Hope you find it as useful as I.

DOXMOM · 01-17-2011, 07:34 AM

Ray, Thanks. I'm registered with them. Next trip to Benning we'll have to go by the FAMCAMP to check it out. Karen

DOXMOM · 01-17-2011, 07:39 AM

Alageezer, Thanks. We havn't been to Ft. Benning for quite awhile. Just pass through Columbus with our trips back and forth to Florida. With our Pharmacy closing at Ft. McPherson this year, we will be checking out the situation at Benning. As we're retired, a day trip is no problem. When on-post, we stop by the Commisary/Class VI; we don't make a special trip with all the Warehouse Stores available in Atlanta. Karen

two-niner · 02-13-2011, 12:30 PM

Ray: Way to go. I put the campgrounds & parks into favorites.

Purchased the Military Camping book sold in the BX several years ago. That baby is really outdated. I should also say a lot of it is still valid.

Kerry