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Caches near Army or Naval Bases??


FamilyUnit

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Hey All,

 

Yesterday my son and I were cache hunting near Everett, WA. It was a multi-cache one of the corrds was near a Naval Base. It was on a path next an entrance to the Naval Base, there stood a few guards one was in a Hummer with a AK47 or other assault rifle. Does anyone think that this is wise to hide caches near such a place in our heighened state of alert at this time?? Or should I have toughened up and got my son and I some bullet-proof vests and poked around the bushes.. (hehe) icon_eek.gif

My son was kinda bummed that we had stop our cache and I was too. But all is well. Made nice dinner chat! icon_wink.gif

See ya on the trailhead!

FamilyUnit :

 

[This message was edited by FamilyUnit on February 12, 2003 at 06:56 AM.]

 

[This message was edited by FamilyUnit on February 12, 2003 at 06:58 AM.]

 

[This message was edited by FamilyUnit on February 12, 2003 at 10:05 AM.]

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Near is not in, and in is ok too as long as they have permision.

 

We have some in Boise near a gunnery range for tanks. Talk about cool. Driving by at night you can see the live fire and feel the concusion. But you can be there. You just can't cross the road. Every now and then a geocacher gets busted by an Apachee helicoper full of MP's. They get asked a few questions and the MP's go their way. Some of them I'm sure went on to become geocachers.

 

Now if you rushed the fence and tried to break into the base I'm sure you would learn why they cary M-16's.

 

Wherever you go there you are.

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Ok maybe not an AK47. I wanted the son to take a picture of the front but for some reason son was a little scared. He thought they would have thought was were spies or soemthing. We walked up and down the path like 7 times slowly surveying the area. I was trying to convince the g/f to drive down there last night so I can try and find it by myself. I also ran into a cache that was near a State Patrol office. Just my 2cents.

FamilyUnit

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Actually, I think they were probably in a blackhawk if they were MP's. Apaches are 2 seaters and nowhere near wide enough to allow for them to move for a minute or two after they had landed.

As for the feeling the concussion, I am from Las Vegas, NV originally, and we used to drive out to the test range dry lake when they were running live fire exercises for tanks and the Warthog (A-10) atack planes. From over a mile away, you could feel the concussion and the the sound was unbelievable! The accuracy of the Abrams tanks and the Warthogs are out of this world!

I helped build the minmum security prison that is across the highway (2 miles) from the range, and the Warthogs would fly over us and drop their ordanance and hit the targets 99% of the time!

It is truly an awesome spectacle!

 

I can go anywhere!! ... (if my wife lets me)

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I thought I would add this also.

The Apache helicopter is manufactured in Mesa, AZ which is where I lived (for 10 years) prior to moving to Colorado in 2001. While I was in Mesa I drove a 40' end dump truck and while heading out to Fort McDowell indian reservation to pick up granite for a delivery, it was not uncommon to have an Apache popup out of an arroyo just 200' from the road. The road was above the helicopter and you could see the pilots plain as day! Every Apache that comes out of the plant there gets a minumum of 25 hours of flight testing before it is actually released to the military. Watching these guys manuever (spelling?) was just as awesome as the Warthogs and Abrams! They would play hide & seek out over the reservation and While out at the FM granite pit, they even had one set down for an emergency landing. Of course the MPs showed up in about 10 minutes, but they would allow you to get within 20' or so and inspect the outside of the helicopter. It took the recovery truck almost 2 hours to arrive! That was COOL! icon_cool.gif

 

Corrected speellin icon_wink.gif

 

I can go anywhere!! ... (if my wife lets me)

 

[This message was edited by CdirtO on February 12, 2003 at 08:10 AM.]

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I just can't help it. If you think watching this at the gunnery range is fun, just imagine what combat looks like. In the last gulf war, our tanks were killing with a 1000 yard stand-off. This means the enemy rounds were falling 1000 yards short of our tanks while we were pounding them. Our entire military of weapons systems was just awesome to watch. Yes, there is a fleeting moment when you realize that men are dying on the receiving end of this. But you suck it up and drive on with the mission. In a way, I am saddened that I have grown too old and fat since I retired. But I know the training I gave them all, including my son, who is now a Cavalry scout, will be used to good purpose.

 

So... please be forgiving of civilians who do not know the difference between an AK-47 and an M-16A2, or an Apache from a Blackhawk. In fact, if you served, stand proud that they were never forced to know the difference. Not in my country, not on my watch! Sad times for old soldiers. God bless the young ones.

 

Mike. Desert_Warrior (aka KD9KC).

El Paso, Texas.

 

Citizens of this land may own guns. Not to threaten their neighbors, but to ensure themselves of liberty and freedom.

 

They are not assault weapons anymore... they are HOMELAND DEFENSE WEAPONS!

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There's a cache in a wooded area in Fort Dix right across from Army housing. In an emergency situation, the whole area would be closed off so no geocaching would be possible anyway but I got the impression that it is okay at other times. It's really situational. If you're that close to the guards, perhaps asking them if it is okay to be there would be a first step.

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I work on a base and have planted near but not THAT near NOR do I WANT too in these times of trouble. Leave caching to the woods and parks and NOT in other spots that you may not want other cachers to stumble into. It is a courtesy to your fellow cachers NOT to lead them into a situation they may have to explain themselves out of in their innocence and the hiders ignorance.

 

Wags, Russ & Erin

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There are numerous caches NEAR military bases. Some that I have found include Fort Drum, Fort Polk, Carswell NAS and Fort Hood. Believe it or not there are a lot of active duty types in the sport, not just us retired types.

 

Come to think of it though, I did have the cache container remover from my The Other Wall cache just outside camp Lejune. But this happened just after 9/11, so I converted it to a virtual.

 

As long as you do not wander onto the base, or a restricted area, the security people will not be much more curious than any local law enforcement agency. (see previous posts about hanging around children's playgrounds)

 

Hiemdahl

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Just hit a cache on what was once the world's largest inland naval base, the Navy Air Station in Millington, TN. It has since been downsized to a Naval Support Activity facility.

 

The cache is in a public use area, but the base police did look at us a little funny as we were trying to figure out the optimal parking location. icon_smile.gif

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There is one in NJ very close to the Picitanny Arsenal. Being that it's where many of today's high-tech weapons systems are developed, it's a pretty high security base.

 

On the way to the cache, trail splits and one branch has a sign that says something like "trail closed, Government property. Do not pass this point". The cache is within a few hundred feet of this split.

 

I didn't see any guards at the trail split, but I'm sure if I took 10 steps up the closed trail, I'd have been surrounded by armed MP's within seconds.

 

A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away. -Barry Goldwater

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quote:
Originally posted by BrianSnat:

I didn't see any guards at the trail split, but I'm sure if I took 10 steps up the closed trail, I'd have been surrounded by armed MP's within seconds.


You might be surprised. I can’t speak for every location and obliviously some locations will be locked tighter than others, but I have sure seen some serious holes in security at some bases. For example, I am familiar with a certain military instillation near me. Just last week (when we went to condition orange) they installed bunkers with armed troops at the main gates to augment the normal gate guards checking id’s. However, if you were to visit a nearby state park (which has a cache, mine icon_smile.gif) you would be able to walk right onto this base with only a sign to stop potential intruders. There’s not even a fence. I just hope that any potential terrorists remember to use the front gate and don’t notice the back door open. icon_redface.gif

 

Sorry for ranting, back to the topic. icon_biggrin.gif

 

I am only vaguely familiar with the area around the Naval Station in Everett. Since the threat level only increased last week, I would not be surprised that what now is a heavily armed detachment of several troops was just a couple of guards standing watch at the gate last week. Personally I would not have a problem searching for a clue (written on a sign or tag) in a location like this. I would feel a bit more conspicuous looking for a micro cache.

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~whidbeywalk/

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The cache has been archived. I went do the cache that FamilyUnit speaks of today. The cache is about 10' from the fence, maybe 30 - 60' from an armored personel carrier with someone on it in an armed and ready postion who is gaurding the gate. I did not dive into the bushes. I thought about approaching the gate just to let them know what we had, but thought better of it as I did not wish to spook them.

 

Great spot but these are the wrong times for a cache like this. My apologies to the cache hider, but I had to make a phone call. We need to keep in mind what is going on right now, and no matter what your take on it is, no one needs another problem.

 

4497_300.jpg

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Hey, I think the REAL point here is, it does not matter if you feel the concussion, see the blast, hear the bang... know your AK47 from your M16,,,, don't place caches near military or other sensative goverment installations - believe me it is NOT A GOOD IDEA!!! Heightened security or not.

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quote:
Originally posted by gm100guy:

quote:
I helped build the minmum security prison that is across the highway (2 miles) from the range, and the Warthogs would fly over us and drop their ordanance and hit the targets 99% of the time!


 

I guess you wern't there that 1 % of the time, when they missed.

 

icon_eek.gif

 

gm100guy

http://members.rogers.com/gm100guy/cachepage.htm


 

Actually, The prison was being built as the Warthogs were being rolled out and at the time, most of the flights we were able to watch, were new trainees, so daytime runs only for them. Some of the people I know from Nellis AFB were the mechanics and trainers for these aircraft and pilots. The trainers continually were getting mad at the trainees (and let me clarify, these were experienced pilots, just learning a new way to drop ordanance) because they would continually grab at the stick while the computer was trying to do its job of fly and drop. Even a light touch on the stick at that time would cause a miss. And as we all know, a miss is as good as a mile.

 

Of course, I have to agree with some of the other posts. At this time, I would stay away from any base that might be on heightened alert. Better safe than sorry.

 

I am sure after an explanation, they would leave you alone, but, what if they decided to drag in first!? (doubt it, but, you never know!)

 

I can go anywhere!! ... (if my wife lets me)

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I'm glad I wandered into the forums today, as this is a timely topic for me.

 

I'm an occasional geocacher, and the Geographer / GIS Technician on a military base. Just the other day, I found out that there were two caches just over the border of our base.

 

I'm attempting to work with the owners of the caches, and asking them to remove them for now.

 

One of the caches was located about 50 feet over the boundary line. The owner was nice enough to go ahead and remove the cache.

 

The other cache is located in an area of the base that we lease out to do farming. Someone that found the cache has been very vocal, telling me that I'm out of line for asking for it's removal. The land is owned by the base, and even if you don't recognize it (although the law does), it is still private property to the agriculatural interest.

 

The arguement is that the boundary line is not demarcated, so therefore, we're out of luck.

 

I haven't heard from the cache owner, to see if they would be willing to move the cache.

 

I am certainly open to suggestion - if I was being mean, I would have asked our security forces to just remove the caches, and that be the end of it. But, I really am bending over backwards to be accommodating.

 

I'd suggest if you're interested in having caches located on a base, you contact the Community Affairs / Community Liasion person on base. I'm sure the commanding officer of the base would probably refer you there anyway. You may have to do some explanation, but, it's an opportunity to discuss what Geocaching is, where you plan on doing it, and what it's purpose is. I've given both cache owners the contact information for the CA/CL officer on my base, in case they want to discuss it further.

 

Unfortunately, in "atmosphere" that we're in, why be troublesome? Make things easy. Keep our guys in mind, and keep your own safety in mind.

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quote:
I am certainly open to suggestion - if I was being mean, I would have asked our security forces to just remove the caches, and that be the end of it. But, I really am bending over backwards to be accommodating.


How about having your security troops put mine field markers all around it and post a sign that unexploded ordinance has been found in the area.. that'll scare the cachers away! kidding>

 

In all seriousness, since the unit IS on private property and you HAVE contacted the owner, I'd say it's fair for you to discuss it with your commander or base security. Once an official decision has been made by them, you can just go out and pull the cache (did you already "find" it? Did you log your find?!?! Lol) and then leave it at your local MP shack and email the cache owner to come pick it up.

 

Additionally you could / should email the GC admin on this one to advise them to archive the cache.

 

Cheers,

 

Rob

Mobile Cache Command

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This cache sounds like it's on the base. I really don't think it's there anymore but no one has logged it since May. My travelbug went here and has not been heard of since.

 

Can't say that this was a bright idea and I was very surprised to see that it was approved.

 

Something hidden. Go and find it. Go, and look behind the Ranges -- Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you . . . Go!

- Rudyard Kipling "The Explorer"

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Well here is another twist for consideration. Death Valley Rocks cache is not on the Ft. Irwin reservation. I was with the owner when we placed it in Death Valley. A simple transposed number posted the cache many miles from the actual location. Usually a FTF attempt would have discovered the error but since there are no public roads in the remote Ft Irwin area no one was interested in chasing after it.

 

Death Valley Rocks and companion Panamint Rock Cache were an attempt to place caches in Death Valley National Park respectful of park rules. The caches are made out of native rocks and contain only rocks as trade items. We were wondering why people were hitting one cache but not the other. Cacher mrcpu's intent to bring our attention to this error produced immediate results. Thanks.

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quote:
Thanks Lefty Skywalker for causing me to revisit my details page for Death Valley Rocks. I noticed, as you pointed out that it is located on Fort Irwin property. That ain't where I placed it. Upon deeper study I noticed I had mistyped one digit! N 35* instead of N36*

 

No wonder nobody has found it during the past year. icon_redface.gif

 

Thanks


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I corrected my typo in the coordinates and resubmitted it.

 

Got shot down because the policy now is, and maybe always was... No cache in National Parks.

 

Oh well. I know where it is and all it was was a pile of rocks rearranged by my own hands.

 

Death Valley Rocks will out last us geocachers and the Park Service too. Rocks have persistence, expecially those that reside in Death Valley.

 

Cache on

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quote:
Oh well. I know where it is and all it was was a pile of rocks rearranged by my own hands.

 

If it's just a pile of rocks (no container), then wouldn't that be a virtual? If so, as far as I know, virtuals are allowed in National Parks.

 

A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away. -Barry Goldwater

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