Army Bases close by Washington DC

It’s no secret that my husband and I are geo-graphical bachelor and bachelorette. So while I KNOW there are many more military bases here I am just going to cover the Army ones. I have been here in the NOVA area awhile and here are the bases that Army related…hence the name Army Tankers Wife. Yes it has taken me this long to get those names LOL…I want to thank SargesList for helping me get introduce to all these bases, without them I wouldn’t know where to start.

Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall
I pass by this base every morning on the wait to work. It is a Joint Base meaning they have combinded Marines (Henderson Hall) and Army (Fort Myer) together to get this! Fort Myer – Arlington, Virginia {it is really close to Arlington National Cemetery} Fort McNair  is in Washington DC (South of the SW Waterfront) and major units include the 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard), 1101st Signal Brigade, HQ, Fort Myer Activities, HHC U.S. Army Garrison, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command and 501st M.P. Company. 

Walter Reed Army Medical Center
8901 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland. The U.S. Army Medical Department serves more than 150,000 active and retired personnel from all branches of the military. I go here a lot with my children you all know Cat has Juvenile Arthritis and Juvenile Diabetes. I took this photo, actually Cat and I got lost going to get food one day, and we ended up here at this and I thought it was COOL LOOKING

Fort Meade
I haven’t been to this one yet. I just had a friend PCS up there from Ft Belvoir. Ft Meade is located in Maryland, Located 25 miles north of Washington, DC, near Columbia, Maryland. Provides a wide range of support to partner organizations from all four services and to several federal agencies. Major tenant units include the National Security Agency (NSA), the Defense Information School, the Defense Courier Service the U.S. Army Field Band, the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, First U.S. Army (East), the Naval Security Group Activity, the 694th Intelligence Group (U.S. Air Force) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Center. 

Fort Belvoir
This is the base I go to, and it is located 20 miles south of Washington, DC, near Mount Vernon, Virginia (by the way which is really cool to go too). There are a mix of military stationed here.  9 different Army major commands, 16 different agencies of the Department of the Army, eight elements of the U.S. Army Reserve and Army National Guard and nine DOD agencies. Also located here are a U.S. Navy construction battalion, a Marine Corps detachment, one U.S. Air Force unit and an agency of the Department of Treasury. 

Aberdeen Proving Ground
My husband went to school here at APG. I really wanted to get stationed here but it was really far from DC. It is located in Aberdeen, Maryland. North of Baltimore, about 80 miles from Washington DC. They mainly do research, development, testing, and training facility for military weapons and equipment. 

Fort Detrick
is located in Frederick, Maryland which is about 50 miles northwest of Washington DC. Army Medicine Installation – home to the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (MRMC), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and several other organizations. 

Fort Lee
Virginia. Located two and a half hours south of Washington, DC near Richmond, Virginia. Provides support to U.S. Army Joint and Coalition operations around the world. Home of the Combined Arms Support Command, U.S. Army Garrison, Army Logistics College, Quartermaster Center and School, and the headquarters for the Defense Commissary Agency. We pass by here all the time to Fort Bragg, and sometimes we stop off they have nice looking housing from the road..not sure what it looks like on the inside.

Fort Eustis
Newport News, Virginia so not really close to DC at all and it is about 165 miles south really close to Williamsburg, Virginia. Home of the US Army Transportation Corps, which includes the Transportation Center and School, the Aviation Logistics School, and the Non-commissioned Officer Academy.

Fort A.P. Hill
Port Royal Virginia, Located 80 miles south of Washington, DC, Near Fredericksburg, Virginia. A training facility and sub-installation of Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Ok so I said I wasn’t going to cover any other bases but I had to put this one on here. I attended the MSOY event last year there, and OMG it was the most patriotic base I have ever been too, and I believe every Friday they have parades.. talk about pomp and circumstance, and Quantico well because they have a USAA Full Service ATM there, and I really like their Base Exchange and Commissary.

Marine Barracks
8th & I Streets, SE, Washington, DC
Home to more than 1,100 Marines, Sailors and civilians, the Barracks supports both ceremonial and security missions in the nation’s capital. The building is the oldest Marine post in the U.S. and the oldest public building in continuous use in Washington DC.

Marine Corps Base Quantico
Quantico, Virginia, Located 36 miles southwest of Washington DC near Triangle, Virginia. Training site for Marines and home to the Corps’ Combat Development Command.

Race Cars, a Hero and a home, melts my heart

Ok Readers!!! I have been MIA for a while the entire month of MARCH has/was a transition from NC to VA. Finally we are moved in! Today I want to write about a special person. This really warmed my heart too. Now I am not much of a big NASCAR fan watching it on TV BUT I LOVE TO WATCH IT IN PERSON. When I was little my grandparents took me to the Daytona 500 and we got to ride around the track, it was pretty special. I was recently contacted by Lionel NASCAR® to blog about this story, and I am so amazed, and excited to be doing this blog post. Did I mention we are coming up to my favorite times of the year the most Patrotic holidays are in the summer!

April 1 was a HUGE DAY not only did I move in but also on April 1st at Martinsville Speedway, reigning Daytona 500 champion Matt Kenseth raced a special car that honored an American hero. Kenseth’s No. 17 Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers/Gary Sinise Foundation Ford Fusion is a personal tribute to United States Marine Cpl. Josh “J.B.” Kerns, who grew up just a few minutes from the track. Just one year ago, Kerns was injured by an IED explosion in Afghanistan in which he lost both legs and one arm. Now, with the help of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation and the Gary Sinise Foundation, Kerns will soon have a brand-new “smart home” in which to complete his recovery.

Also, a large portion of the proceeds from each No. 17 Tunnel to Towers/Gary Sinise Foundation Lionel NASCAR die-cast will go directly toward funding Kerns’ smart home.

The track is in Henry County, near Ridgeway (VA).  I have some great photos of Kerns from an event at Roush Fenway (Kenseth’s team) earlier in the day. “Photos provided courtesy of Lionel NASCAR all rights reserved”.

  

  Here is a excerpt from his Press Release about the event,  “JB Kerns, a combat engineer, was on a mine sweep in a safety zone, on April 7, 2011 in Afghanistan. In one second, his third tour of duty took a catastrophic turn; JB lost three of his limbs and sustained other serious injuries to his chest and groin areas from shrapnel from an IED that detonated. Since that explosion, JB was brought back to the United States for treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. He has undergone extensive surgeries and strenuous daily physical and occupational therapy.  JB’s Aunt, Jennifer Hall, shared that, “He loves America. Josh has always fought for what he thought was right.” To the hundreds of motorcyclists, and the residents of JB’s hometown who greeted him with waving flags, JB told them, “It feels really good to be home. It is an honor.”

So are you interested in the house at all? As for the house – the foundations have purchased land for Kern’s house but have not started building it yet.  It will be a log cabin with a wrap-around porch.  The house will be technologically advanced to make living easier for him.  The houses the foundations have built in the past have had features like counters that raise and lower automatically, doors that open automatically, etc. 

For more information please visit: (http://www.lionelnascarcollectables.com/).

“Photos provided courtesy of Lionel NASCAR all rights reserved”.