Military families make their homes in Prince William County

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Published: July 31, 2008

QUANTICO MARINE CORPS BASE
Established in 1917, the Quantico Marine Corps base is the national hub for professional military education and development. It spans more than 60,000 acres in the counties of Stafford, Fauquier and Prince William.

The base is home to the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, whose mission is to manage the Marine Corps’ combat development process. The command is comprised of Training and Education Command, Capabilities Development Directorate and Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory.

The presidential helicopter squadron, HMX-1, is based at Quantico, as well as the Manpower and Reserve Affairs Department, the Marine Corps Recruiting Command and the Marine Security Guard Battalion.

The Marine Corps University, which includes the School of Advanced Warfighting, the Amphibious Warfare School and the Officer Candidates School, is also located there.

All new lieutenants in the Marine Corps receive training at The Basic School on Quantico’s Camp Barrett.

Also on the Marine base are several federal facilities including the FBI Academy and the FBI Laboratory, as well as a number of the department’s other units, such as its Behavioral Science Unit. The Drug Enforcement Administration also has its training academy aboard the base.

About 6,100 military personnel are assigned to Quantico. The base employs nearly 7,200 civilians. The Base Realignment and Closure process will bring between 3,500 and 4,000 additional people to work at Quantico.

About 2,600 Marines and their families live aboard the base. Family housing is provided through a partnership between the Marine Corps and Lincoln Military Housing. There are currently 911 housing units on base.

About 800 students are enrolled in the middle/high school and three elementary schools on the base. A 22,850-square-foot Child Development Center on Purvis Road cares for about 300 children.

For Marines and their families, Quantico has a commissary and large Marine Corps Exchange complex with a florist, barber and tailor. A Health Care Clinic on Barnett Avenue offers care to military families and retirees.

The base also has a golf course.

The National Museum of the Marine Corps, located across from the base’s main gate, opened in November 2006.

The base’s Web site is http://www.quantico.usmc.mil. Quantico’s information number is 703-784-2121.

FORT BELVOIR
Fort Belvoir, an Army post in the Mount Vernon area of eastern Fairfax County, is a strategic support center for more than 120 Department of Defense organizations, employing more than 25,000 service members and defense civilians.

Fort Belvoir houses the Army Material Command, Defense Logistics Agency Headquarters, the Criminal Investigation Command and the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command as well as the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate.

The post also is home to Davison Army airfield, DeWitt Army Community Hospital, golf courses and two wildlife refuges.

The J.S. Mosby and the Col. David M. Scales U.S. Army Reserve Centers are at Fort Belvoir also with the Army Management Staff College, the Defense Systems Management College and the Defense Mapping School.

The Base Realignment And Closure process is anticipated to bring 21,000 new military and civilian employees to the post.

Included in the new tenants are the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and select medical activities from Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

To accommodate growth and modernize patient care facilities, DeWitt Army Community Hospital will be moving to a new, state-of-the-art hospital facility on post. In addition to the new hospital, Fort Belvoir also has been designated as the site for the new National Museum of the United States Army.

The post has a support center that includes a post exchange and commissary for military personnel and their families. Fort Belvoir has benefited from the privatization of housing with the creation of the new Town Center, complete with “main street” shops including Starbucks, GNC, dry cleaners, a barber shop and day spa. The privatization program has delivered nearly 800 new homes for service members and their families and has renovated more than 100 historic homes.

For more Fort Belvoir information, residents can call public affairs at 703-805-5001 or at its Web site: http://www.belvoir.army.mil.