By
Theodore Fischer, Sidewalk
For
an armed camp, Fort Meade is a pretty friendly place. Unlike other
military installations in the area, Maryland's Fort Meade stations no
sentries at the gates and demands no identification from visitors seeking
admission. Just drive right in, look around and spend some time – and
maybe a little money.
Fort Meade, named in honor of Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade, a hero of
Gettysburg, opened in 1917 as a cantonment for World War I draftees. It
trained some 3,500,000 troops during World War II, became headquarters for
the consolidated First and Second U.S. armies in 1966 and in 1990 sent two
of its active-duty units – the 85th Medical Battalion and 519th Military
Police Battalion – to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield/Storm.
Situated a bit closer to the Baltimore end of the Baltimore-Washington
Parkway, Fort Meade today is home of the National Security Agency, Defense
Information School, the Defense Courier School, the U.S. Army Field Band
and sundry other units. Some 9,000 military personnel and 25,800 civilians
work in the 1,418 buildings within the base's 5,406 acres. Resembling a
huge college campus, the sprawling base has 65½ miles of paved roads,
including open stretches of four-lane highway with 45-mph speed limits. Go
to the Fort Meade Web site for a map to help
to you find your way around.
Of course, since Fort Meade really is a military installation, certain
behaviors and activities are definitely off-limits. A sign at the entrance
sternly forbids demonstrations, picketing, distributing fliers and
soliciting on the base "without prior approval of the garrison
commander" (fat chance!). Day-trippers can't roll lines at the
state-of-the-art 36-lane bowling center or tee off on the fort's two lush
18-hole golf courses. And nobody gets into the Post Theater cinema; it's
closed for the duration.
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However,
visitors are more than welcome to examine the planes in Vigilance Park,
which honors casualties of aerial-reconnaissance crews. The C-130
aircraft has been refurbished to resemble a plane downed by Soviet MiGs in
Armenia on Sept. 2, 1958. The sleek RU-80 is the kind of aircraft that
spearheaded U.S. Army airborne intelligence operations in Vietnam.
The Fort Meade Museum (pictured at top) may be closed until further
notice, but it's besieged by a military sculpture garden. There's an M-47
Patton tank and M-4A3 Sherman tank, a 100-round-per-minute 105-mm howitzer
that formed the "backbone of the Army during World War II" and a
World War I German howitzer. You may tempted to climb on and play soldier,
but don't. According to posted signs, it's forbidden – and the MPs are
watching.
Civilians
are also welcome at Burba Park, where there's a bucolic lake
and playground equipment. Some 17 tennis courts are scattered throughout
the post, and the hills of Fort Meade are laced by a network of
well-marked running trails.
Town Center Mall, Fort Meade's main shopping area, is lot like any
other suburban mall, except that the people are more neatly dressed and
more polite. Those lacking proper IDs can only dream about the bargains in
the AAFES BX/PX, but anyone can buy a haircut or a snack. Inside
the mall, self-service choices include Dunkin' Donuts, Anthony's
Pizza, Frank's Franks and Robin Hood, a quasi-healthful Subway
imitator. A better bet is Donna's Pit-N-Beans, a barbecue shack on
wheels parked just outside the mall entrance.
Other Fort Meade dining options include the Pin Deck Cafe in the
Bowling Center, a Burger King behind Town Center and the
cafeteria-lounge in the Golf Course Complex clubhouse, where lunch
specials are offered from 1100 to 1300. The restaurant at the Sports
Zone has a soup and salad bar and, from Tuesday through Friday,
"attitude adjustment hours." The poshest place on the base is
the Fort Meade Officers Club, which features good-deal specialty
nights (beef and burgundy, Mongolian barbecue) and a Sunday brunch that
deserves some kind of medal.
Details
• Fort Meade, east of
Baltimore-Washington Parkway (Route 295) off Route 32 or Route 175, Fort
Meade, Md., (301) 677-1573
• Vigilance Park, beside the parking lot near the Canine
Road entrance
• Fort Meade Museum, Griffin Avenue and Simonds Street,
(301) 677-6966
• Burba Park, Roberts and Llewellyn avenues
• Town Center Mall, Mapes Road and Rose Street: Dunkin'
Donuts, Anthony's Pizza, Frank's Franks, Robin Hood, all (301)
621-7332; Pin Deck Cafe, Bowling Center, (301) 677-5541
• Burger King, behind Town Center on Rose Street, (410)
674-7908
• Fort Meade Golf Course Complex, Mapes and Taylor roads,
(301) 677-5326
• The Sports Zone, McGill Community Activity Center, 8452
Zimborski Ave., (301) 677-7697
• Fort Meade Officers Club, Mapes Road and Leonard Wood
Avenue, (301) 677-5298
See also: The National Cryptologic Museum
shares its secrets
Photos/images
by Theodore Fischer, Sidewalk
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