Unfair, unreasonable and ridiculous

You're absolutely right oldchief. I enjoy the military campgrounds because of the comraderie. Also, we need to remember that most of these campgrounds were built with non-appropriated funds, i.e. the money we spent on MWR and at AAFES. We bought and paid for these campgrounds each time we made a purchase.

wow
i have not posted here befre, but this got me thinking a bit
as luck would have it i am visting one of my old stomping grounds next wwek, it used to have folks living there year round unless the river flooded.
then they changed policy and it was EMPTY.
but now they have a new one up near the PX and gas station
I would hope as with most base rv parks we visit they make the "long Termers" move off prime sites during the busy seasons

but we all know from being active duty. EVERYTHING is waiverable
some folks might need to live on base at the rv park for extended periods. you just never know

anyway thanks for such a great place to visit

If you actually sit and talk to a host/hostess, many of them will tell you that some of the people who stay for longer tracks of time are repeat visitors that are fairly reliable. Or, that a few homesteaders keep a steady revenue for them to continue reliable services. For example, Fort Huachuca's Hostess will voice that the request has been submitted to expand the campground on post to increase accommodations - however, it's not a priority as set by the Commander. Building new training facilities, etc. to support "GWOT" would be the answer. So they recognize in desirable places that people want to be able to visit without a 4 month reservation in advance. In light of that, funding for MWR was cut recently to divert funding to more essential tasks; several programs were just dropped completely while others have to be more self-sustaining. It's sad that it's happened, but it's just a part of change.

If homesteading upsets people that much, simply tell the host/hostess and file an IG complaint on base/post to draw attention to the problem. Calling the Base Commander or your Congressman will probably result in very little other than a polite brush-off. The IG takes care of problems like these and if nothing else, will cause the staff to scrub through their homesteaders and evict those that have no valid reasons.

Also, just to give insight, I've stayed for two 5-month stints at FAMCAMPs, but provided a memo to the host and requested an Exception to Policy as I'm still active, been told I have 3 PCS moves this year, and will deploy at the end of the year. My neighbor was re-called from retirement (from a better paying job) and told to report while he was living happily with his family with a job in Indiana. His family stayed in Indiana and he came up with a cheap solution to try and make ends meet while he fulfills his now active time until he goes back into retirement. So in some cases, a few longer term residents have good reasons - however, nothing excuses having an unkempt, eye-sore of a sight with toys/tools/trash piled around...it's still a military post with expectations of cleanliness.

zeemonster
Nice post, and welcome aboard, I hope you continue to contribute.
It is a breath of fresh air to read a post that was well written and not blasting someone. I feel that there should be exceptions to the lenght of stay policy, and a letter to the post commander should be required, and permission from him/her should be the final answer. Active duty and medical issues should be the main reasons, but not a guarrantee. Active duty should utilize the post/base housing if they are going to be attached permanently, but temp duty would be a valid reason to stay.
All in all, each case should be looked at and decisions made on a case by case basis.
Highly agree that regardless of the issue, the area should be well kept, not over-run with trash, toys, tools, etc.
Frank

I guess that I need to stick my two cents in here too. Almost everyone has a story about why they are at a particular famcamp for any length of time. In late 2001 my oldest son, who is active duty air force, was stationed in Key West as a dive insturctor at Sigsbee NAS. He divorced and was given custody of his children, but he needed a full time caretaker for them. My husband and I sold our ranch and took our 5th wheel down to Key West so that we could care for the children. We could not live in base housing with him as we were not his dependants. With the cost of real estate the way it is in the Keys, our option was to stay at the famcamp on base. Sigsbee's policy is for two weeks in full hook-ups, and you can stay longer so long as there is no one new coming in. If you want to stay longer, you can move into overflow without hookups and get on a list to rotate back to hookups. Needless to say, during the winter months, Sigsbee is full to the brim with Snowbirds, but during the period from April to mid October or so, there was little occasion to move. I also must add that I never saw anyone turned away during our stay. We were very thankful to the folks at Sigsbee who helped us with our stay there for the next two years so that our son could retain his custody of the children. And I must add at this point, when he received orders to go to England, we obtained a visa, and went with him for three more years. The whole point of being part of this military family is to help one another in our times of need. While my husband and I have no financial concerns, I do know that many retired people do, and the famcamps provide a service. It is not our business to question the needs of others. If you have a question about the policy of the fam camp, check with the MWR commander. I'm sure there are some very legitmate exceptions to every rule. In the meantime, my husband and I are going to take advantage of our benefits, and continue to travel the country for as long as our health holds out.
Happy camping everyone.
Floozie

As always, there should be exceptions to any rule under proper and approved circumstances ... other than that, we should all, as a general rule, have access to every CG the military offers. In other posts I've expressed this opinion and will continue to agree that certain active or medical situations should most certainly be individually reviewed.

It's the normal, healthy and fit, retired "hanger-ons" that abuse the CG and its sites to the deprivation of others that have earned the same privileges to use the facilities equally with everyone else ... and in general, those same individuals as often as not, make the sites look like a ghetto ... and that is where I will always take exception, when I can and to the proper authority when it's practical to do so -- otherwise, I just move on because this battle is too huge to wage alone ...