Guests

Can we bring a friend on a military base to camp with us in their fifth wheel.What are the rules and what is expected of them on base.

It depends on the campground. "Some" military campgrounds do allow sponsored guests, but not many. If guests are allowed, the rules vary on if you need to also stay in the campground at the same time. There may also be certain times of the year when guests are not allowed. Some will only allow guests if the campground isn't busy.

On the campground information pages on this website, there's a entry for "Authorized Users". If guests are allowed, it will say so there. To be absolutely sure and to find out the special conditions, I suggest calling the military campground you're interested in directly.

Yes, many campgrounds allow guests, and it is perfectly legal... but is it right? Think about it, that's all I ask.

I have made no secret of my opinion on allowing guests in a military campground - I am not in favor of it and I never do it. When you sign a guest in, particularly during busy seasons in popular campgrounds, you can easily end up denying a camping space to the very people who have earned the right to be there -- your fellow veterans. I decided I was against having 'guests' the day I watched a disabled veteran with a severe heart condition hobbling through the weeds from the dry camping area to the shower room. He was there for medical treatment, but couldn't get a hookup space because there were several "guests" in the MCG. Some of them had been there for an extended period.

In my opinion, if you want to camp with people who have not earned the right to be in an MCG, go camp with them at the KOA, state park, or whatever, and leave the military campgrounds for the people who earned the right to be there. There are lots of other options.

A couple of years ago we were at NAS Lemoore, CA RV Park and the folks in one of the sites next to us were visitors. Their single daughter was stationed there and lived aboard the base. She was scheduled to depart on an extended cruise and the parents wanted to spend some time with her. The young Petty Officer had done her homework and had made the reservations. The parents had to get temp passes for their MH and toad and also had to have temp picture ID cards for themselves. During the week of their stay there was always sites available and under these conditions I saw nothing wrong with them being there. We saw much the same situation at NAS Jacksonville, FL last year except the sponsor was married and lived in base housing.

If you make reservations and they are accepted by the Campground Manager then I would say you are good to go. However, I would not try to go “cold turkey” into a campground that is first come first serve even though they accept guests as there is also a priority system. Campgrounds off base would be the preferred way to go as it avoids having to get all the passes required to enter a base. Passes for civilians traveling with you are hard to figure out and it's best to always call ahead. We had a couple traveling with us (in our RV) a few summers ago and at Grand Forks AFB in ND we had to get them pictured ID cards with a finger print. A few weeks later we were at Ellsworth, AFB in SD and all they had to show was their drivers license.

FastEagle

I agree with Mustang03. If this is being done it leads me to believe that they are probably getting the benefit of other base facilities (i.e. gyms, someone purchasing food item for them, exchange shopping). I know some bases allow guests to camp there but these are privileges that we have earned and they shouldn't be shared.

If you are an authorized user you are almost always going to be able to sign in guests. The base commander may limit the number in campgrounds and thats his prerogative.

FastEagle