Inre: This Forum

[Tulecreeper]

As much as it is appreciated that RV_ posts the updated Military Brief and Breaking News daily - and I know it is probably a tedious job - are there ever any actual discussions between military veterans, retirees, or Active Duty on here?  I'm retried from the Navy and I know I would love to have discussions with other military members regarding their travels and RVing experiences.  I'm not talking about war stories, we all have those.  Thanks...

[2gypsies]

I would guess all travel and have the same RV experiences as anyone here.  The posts would be under the appropriate headings.

[Tulecreeper]

13 minutes ago, 2gypsies said:

I would guess all travel and have the same RV experiences as anyone here.  The posts would be under the appropriate headings.

Since this forum is simply titled "Veterans", I'm looking for posts solely made by and for other veterans.  Otherwise why have a special forum for them?

[RV_]

14 minutes ago, 2gypsies said:

I would guess all travel and have the same RV experiences as anyone here.  The posts would be under the appropriate headings.

X2

[RV_]

1 hour ago, Tulecreeper said:

Since this forum is simply titled "Veterans", I'm looking for posts solely made by and for other veterans.  Otherwise why have a special forum for them?

It is an open forum. Why not just make posts solely by and for other veterans yourself here?

20 or so years ago, I forget, most of us were on the road and traveling and most of us were SKP club members and got the magazine too. I kept our Escapees club membership for several years after we came off the road full-time in late 2003 and kept two part-time fivers from 2004 to 2018. Several of us discussed having a Vet's forum I asked Mark Nemeth, then the SKP Forum Admin, for a Veteran's forum to help Vets get registered with the VA and to know how to get benefits they earned. Because those questions and answers were all over the place. He did a survey and found plenty of interest back then.

That was back in the days we did a lot of SKP hugz and We also had a lot of FamCamp personal reviews and opportunities on bases and facilities open only to DOD card holders which could be retirees, medically retired personnel, and DOD civilians as specified in the FAMCAMP directories. One guy started a "Sound Off" thread that we all posted what branch we served in, years we were active or reserve, and where we were assigned.

The SKPs forums were a lot more active back then.

Are you a member of the Escapees yet? We were for about ten years. If so you can post your SKP number in your sig block as they do not retire them, even after you stop renewing your dues.

When traveling we found the Magazine alone was worth the price of admission.

Welcome to the forum.

Edited April 25, 2023 by RV_

[Tulecreeper]

23 minutes ago, RV_ said:

It is an open forum. Why not just make posts solely by and for other veterans yourself here?

15 or so years ago, I forget, several of us discussed having a Vet's forum I asked Mark Nemeth, then the Forum Admin, for a Veteran's forum to help Vets get registered with the VA and to know how to get benefits they earned. Because those questions and answers were all over the place. He did a survey and found plenty of interest back then.

That was back in the days we did a lot of SKP hugz and We also had a lot of FamCamp personal reviews and opportunities on bases and facilities open only to DOD card holders which could be retirees, medically retired personnel, and DOD civilians as specified in the FAMCAMP directories. One guy started a "Sound Off" thread that we all posted what branch we served in, years we were active or reserve, and where we were assigned.

The SKPs forums were a lot more active back then.

Welcome to the forum.

That was kind of what I was looking for - posts from veterans and retirees about their experiences specifically regarding military RV parks.  I have noticed that there are only a few forums on this site that are regularly active.  Some will sit for days or weeks without anyone adding a new post.  So I'll start with a new one.

[Kirk W]

6 hours ago, Tulecreeper said:

are there ever any actual discussions between military veterans, retirees, or Active Duty on here?

There used to be but not so much anymore and the veterans who served but didn't stay to retire have not always felt welcomed. And the share of the membership that are veterans is declining just as is true of the country's population. 

5 hours ago, Tulecreeper said:

Otherwise why have a special forum for them?

5 hours ago, RV_ said:

The SKPs forums were a lot more active back then.

There was a time that all parts of the forums  were far more active but that is true of most RV forums. With the Escapees RV Club the average age kept going up, even though the membership was still growing larger, but the rate of growth was slowing. The club began with a group of traveling working folks, mostly in construction and following the jobs, back in 1977. At first it was only a mimeographed newsletter. As the group got larger and families left home the members began to look for places to congregate between trips and so the Petersons raised the money to get the first co-op park started and it eventually lead to what we see today. When Travis left the Army and joined the club management he was assigned the job of finding a way to attract the younger, still working RV folks and in that effort he created Xscapers, now the most rapidly increasing part of the club. But few of them join the forum for several reasons. (My son is military retired and a still working SKP, yet he rarely visits this forum.) They tend to be more active on other forms of social media and dominate the Escapee Facebook pages, which you must be a club member to join. Another reason I believe is that the vast majority of members here are parents of the Xscapers or old enough to be. There is also a growing number of younger members who travel with children, as the Peterson's wee when the club began. Today there are probably less than half the number of RV related internet forums and most of those have lower participation than in the past. I hate to see it happening but I assume that it is just a sign of the times. Most veteran's organizations like the VFW, American Legion, and DAV are also seeing declining numbers with few of the younger vets joining. As far as vets discussing the military RV parks, remember that veterans who didn't stay in to retire are not allowed to use them so only the retired vets are able to join in. Also more and more of those who are retired military members of these forums are getting to the age where we no longer are fulltime and some are not RVing at all. 

I must admit that there are times we wonder just how much longer this forum will survive and when/if it will become a part of the RV history, as many others already have. 

Edited April 26, 2023 by Kirk W

[bigjim]

I agree there seems to be a lot less activity on the forum.  I have been an skp since 1997 but did not participate in the forum at all until about 2002 or so.  I have no way of knowing but I have felt like we may have less veterans than we did in the earlier days.  I am a vet and still a member but travel much less and at the moment not at all. I mostly work camped and I can only vaguely remember staying at one famcamp. Some of the places I might have wanted to they were mostly on base and that made it a bit of a hassle getting on and off base as I preferred.  Especially after 9/11. I did work camp on a bombing range in Florida the winter of 99-2000 and that was great.

[Kirk W]

The only military RV park that I know anything current about is the one at Ft. Knox, KY.  Camp Carlson Army Recreational Area is on the base but not inside of the gates and is next to US60 as it crosses the less developed area. They are open to Active-duty military, retired military, National Guard, Reserves, DoD Civilians, but not to ordinary veterans who didn't stay to retire, even with a VA medical ID. We have stayed there many times as guests of our son who was stationed there and has since retired there. It is a very nice park, quiet and attractive. It is located about 10 miles from the business section of Radcliff, KY and probably 5 miles from the main gate of Ft. Knox. 

[Second Chance]

There is a web site dedicated exclusively to information on military FamCamps and RV parks: MilitaryCampgrounds.us

Rob

[Kirk W]

One thing that I don't believe was mentioned is that if you join the Escapee RV Club and are assigned an SKP number and then drop out, you will keep that same number if you later rejoin but you would need to let them know of your previous membership and if possible what your number was. The software that they use isn't the best at avoiding duplicate member numbers so even if you have not been an active member for years, let them know what your member number was. We have active members on these forums who have not been current for more than 20 years but even those numbers could be reactivated if the owner chose to do so. 

[Tulecreeper]

Thank you all for the input.  I rather figured it was this way.  I'll keep checking, though, on the off chance someone checks in.

[Tulecreeper]

50 minutes ago, Second Chance said:

There is a web site dedicated exclusively to information on military FamCamps and RV parks: MilitaryCampgrounds.us

Rob

Yes, I've seen this.  Thank you.

[Chalkie]

3 hours ago, Kirk W said:

The only military RV park that I know anything current about is the one at Ft. Knox, KY.  Camp Carlson Army Recreational Area is on the base but not inside of the gates and is next to US60 as it crosses the less developed area. They are open to Active-duty military, retired military, National Guard, Reserves, DoD Civilians, but not to ordinary veterans who didn't stay to retire, even with a VA medical ID. We have stayed there many times as guests of our son who was stationed there and has since retired there. It is a very nice park, quiet and attractive. It is located about 10 miles from the business section of Radcliff, KY and probably 5 miles from the main gate of Ft. Knox. 

While I am not totally sure about that I think that with the Purple Heart and Disabled Veterans Equal Access Act of 2018 that will have changed. That act added several new categories of persons allowed to use MWR facilities. Now Medal of Honor and Purple Heart recipients, former POWs, disabled veterans (I think they need to be 100%) and veteran caregivers (enrolled in the VA Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers program) are allowed without having to be retired.

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, Chalkie said:

While I am not totally sure about that I think that with the Purple Heart and Disabled Veterans Equal Access Act of 2018 that will have changed.

I got the list of who is allowed use of Camp Carlson from their website.

Quote

We serve all Active-duty military, retired military, National Guard, Reserves, DoD Civilians and their Families.

As of last year they still would not allow holders of this ID card.

That is the card issued to those who have been enrolled in the VA healthcare but are neither retired or disabled. There is a newer one now that also doesn't work.

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by Kirk W
Update immage

[Chalkie]

4 hours ago, Kirk W said:

I got the list of who is allowed use of Camp Carlson from their website.

As of last year they still would not allow holders of this ID card.

That is the card issued to those who have been enrolled in the VA healthcare but are neither retired or disabled. There is a newer one now that also doesn't work.

 

I know what the website says, and I also know that since it is MWR it may or may b=not be up to date. As to the ID card above, I did say disabled. Not being the VA system I have no idea what the difference is between cards for disabled or not, if any. Best solution would be to call them and ask directly which I will do tomorrow if I remember.

 

[Ray,IN]

The final authority over famcamps, admittance to them, and the MWR funds is the base commander. That is why military campgrounds.us lists details of every famcamp known.

[RV_]

I remember one in California that did not allow retirees only their own active duty and DOD civilian personnel so the Base commander still had discretion at Moffit Field I think it was. It is always best to check.As well I have necountered several we expected to stay atr cl;osed like Tinker AFB in Oklahoma was for two years way back.