Posted on Jun 26, 2014
Most Annoying Base in the military and why was it so?
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I am currently at Fort Stewart, GA, for some training. Shout out to those Dog Faced Soldiers! But I have been to many bases and I have never heard so many bugle calls in my life, this also includes the playing of the 3rd ID song every morning. I swear I have seen people just sprint off when they hear a call because they don't know what to do. So far I have found that this post does 13 bugle calls. Fort Bragg got nothing on this place.
Posted in these groups: 
Tradition
Military Life
Tradition Military Life
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 138
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What was the most annoying base in the military and why was it so? That is a very interesting question since I firmly believe that the is a unit at the Five Sided Play Pen (AKA The Pentagon) who has the sole mission of choosing the sites for new bases every morning they report for work then they get blind drunk, put on a blindfold and then they throw darts a giant map of the world and they keep a list of sites for potential new bases. I know it might sound strange but it is the only explanation I can come up with.
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**AT THE TIME**, Naval Submarine Base, King's Bay, Georgia was the worst. There was nothing on base, but in true Navy fashion, they opened it anyway and stationed people there. The base had an ornate main gate and welcome/visitor center and a clinic the size of a 7-11. Then, you drove five miles through alligator-infested wilderness to get to "lower base" where the subs were. Nothing had been built yet. The "base" was basically the submarine tender USS Canopus, a floating dry-dock (USS Alamagordo or USS Oak Ridge), and a really large/old/pockmarked pier. "Barracks" was a WW2 vintage berthing barge with little to no A/C.
Not sure of its original name, but King's Bay was an Army supply dump that the Navy bought in 1982-ish for the purpose of turning it into a sub base. Smart/cool/nice idea, but in Navy fashion, they start moving ships and personnel in before they have anything built. Then bitch when things don't go well. We would have widespread equipment shutdowns due to the swamp conditions (high temperatures and bug life!) and our BX became the only one in the USA that carried Avon Skin So Soft as it was the only thing that would kill/repel bugs. We also had "screen doors" on our submarines as the gnat, mosquito, horse fly population would clog equipment filters! There was no natural or man-made cover, so the intelligent Naval high command would send fact-finder officials to find out where all of the sun-stroke, heat-stroke victims were coming from.
One of the DC dumb asses in their dress blues passed out waiting to be signed on board. He then "decreed" (only because his dumb life had been affected) to the base commander (by phone [as he was too smart to leave the ship...]) to have an awning and "sun shade" constructed. "No can-do. Not enough ships in harbor to warrant the construction so says your manual." He was livid and threatened to fire someone "once he got back to Washington..." Went away and never saw him again. Got a new squadron commander who came from somewhere up North and he actually used his flag rank to improve the base radically. Paved the parking lots to keep "sand storm" dust from blowing everywhere, hired bug spray companies and built a garage to house all of the supply stuff which was sitting outside in the 3000 degree heat.
Even the local prostitutes refused to come on base due to the desert/jungle conditions. One of the newer boats arrived with their gleaming crew and new wives and that captain's wife threatened to have her National Geographic sister come down and film the horrendous "prison yard" conditions. Plus, she didn't like the fact that she was in Charleston and her hubby was in Georgia. Next thing ya know, long weekends are implamented and we're allowed liberal time-off to go home to Charleston. A few wives would pool together and get a hotel room. The local hotels figured out this was a good thing and soon, cheap rooms were advertised and we'd go off base every night. A shrewd CPA figured out how to get that out of the government and the infamous Cold War "FBM deduction" was invented. Basically everything the wives/girlfriends spent was deductible.
The Navy went livid and soon had to pull its head out of its ass and actually make a real base. They started building base housing, expanded the Marine Corps area, built a working hospital, etc. When I left in 1988 they had just finished a "club" that we could drink/eat at. Prior to that we were all relegated to having to drive/walk downtown to hit the clubs there. Shrewd clubs would even come and pick us up. I went back in 1998-ish to visit a shipmate and I was impressed with the changes. But to be fair, it should have been that way back in 1983 when the first sub pulled in.
Not sure of its original name, but King's Bay was an Army supply dump that the Navy bought in 1982-ish for the purpose of turning it into a sub base. Smart/cool/nice idea, but in Navy fashion, they start moving ships and personnel in before they have anything built. Then bitch when things don't go well. We would have widespread equipment shutdowns due to the swamp conditions (high temperatures and bug life!) and our BX became the only one in the USA that carried Avon Skin So Soft as it was the only thing that would kill/repel bugs. We also had "screen doors" on our submarines as the gnat, mosquito, horse fly population would clog equipment filters! There was no natural or man-made cover, so the intelligent Naval high command would send fact-finder officials to find out where all of the sun-stroke, heat-stroke victims were coming from.
One of the DC dumb asses in their dress blues passed out waiting to be signed on board. He then "decreed" (only because his dumb life had been affected) to the base commander (by phone [as he was too smart to leave the ship...]) to have an awning and "sun shade" constructed. "No can-do. Not enough ships in harbor to warrant the construction so says your manual." He was livid and threatened to fire someone "once he got back to Washington..." Went away and never saw him again. Got a new squadron commander who came from somewhere up North and he actually used his flag rank to improve the base radically. Paved the parking lots to keep "sand storm" dust from blowing everywhere, hired bug spray companies and built a garage to house all of the supply stuff which was sitting outside in the 3000 degree heat.
Even the local prostitutes refused to come on base due to the desert/jungle conditions. One of the newer boats arrived with their gleaming crew and new wives and that captain's wife threatened to have her National Geographic sister come down and film the horrendous "prison yard" conditions. Plus, she didn't like the fact that she was in Charleston and her hubby was in Georgia. Next thing ya know, long weekends are implamented and we're allowed liberal time-off to go home to Charleston. A few wives would pool together and get a hotel room. The local hotels figured out this was a good thing and soon, cheap rooms were advertised and we'd go off base every night. A shrewd CPA figured out how to get that out of the government and the infamous Cold War "FBM deduction" was invented. Basically everything the wives/girlfriends spent was deductible.
The Navy went livid and soon had to pull its head out of its ass and actually make a real base. They started building base housing, expanded the Marine Corps area, built a working hospital, etc. When I left in 1988 they had just finished a "club" that we could drink/eat at. Prior to that we were all relegated to having to drive/walk downtown to hit the clubs there. Shrewd clubs would even come and pick us up. I went back in 1998-ish to visit a shipmate and I was impressed with the changes. But to be fair, it should have been that way back in 1983 when the first sub pulled in.
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PFC Jennie Mathis
Was there as a teenager when my dad was stationed there from must have been when it first opened to 95. I guess as a kid ,moved when inwas in 5th grade, I didn't realize it was that bad. As a teenager though I thought the base looked good. Granted, I had no other bases at the time to compare too.
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PO3 Donald Murphy
Kings Bay was opened in '83 but base housing wasn't built until 88. My last patrol out of there was Nov 88 and at time the sub families were still stationed in Charleston, SC. Now from a Marine standpoint, they had a different chunk of the base. But as of 88, they were still on the tender USS Canopus.
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PO1 Tom Walker
The base is only there to provide a staging area if the nuke accidentally dropped by the B-47 in the Ga swamps is ever found!
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PO3 Donald Murphy
Forgot about that one! My USAF dad used to tell me tons of "broken arrow" stories.
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Wow suddenly all of my postings don't seem so bad. Keesler AFB, Griffiss AFB, Minot AFB, Air Force side. As well as Camp Eagle ROK, and Ft Campbell. Army side
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PO2 Orlando Sims, MPA
I was stationed on Naval Station Pascagoula in Pascagoula, MS. I used to live in Biloxi, MS while I was active duty. Keesler AFB was a breath of fresh air on the amount of amenities that were superior to the ones on Naval Station Pascagoula.
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I have been told Yuma Proving Grounds outside of Yuma, Arizona isn't exactly pleasant.
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Gitmo. Was there in 86. If your ship was there for training it was a miserable place.
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Maj Robert McKeand
GITMO. Was there as Air Force SP working for an army battalion for the Haitians and the Cuban boat people when they were rioting. Lived in a GO medium tent on the end one of a High School football field. Miserable! Between the tarantulas and giant crabs and iguanas and no A/C it was miserable! Then we got to move to old portable morgues, at least they had A/C!!
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