Need for post brought home strongly
North Augusta Chamber members tour facilities
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Sgt. 1st Class Roderick Mack shows how computers are used in military communications during the chamber members' tour of facilities at Fort Gordon.
Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker
Knowing there will be another round of base closings in 2005, some of North Augusta's business community took a field trip May 20 to learn about how important Fort Gordon is to the military and the area.
Nearly 40 members of the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce took a tour of the fort, visiting with members of the installation's command group and also touring facilities at the post.
"We'd be foolish to talk about it and say the base doesn't impact us," said Victoria Hann, the president of the chamber. "I hope they learned something today. I think people really had no idea of how complex the base is."
The tour members visited satellite communications training facilities and the Center for Total Access Mannequin Lab.
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"There are a lot of things going on here that I had no idea about," said Amy Sykes, of CVS, after seeing the lifelike medical training mannequins. "I was impressed."
Staff Sgt. Michael Payne gives a tour of the hardware outside the School of Telecommunications Technology to members of the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce. A satellite dish looms behind the group.
Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker
The group also met with Brig. Gen. Janet Hicks, the commander of the post, and Brig. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the commander of Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center.
Brig. Gen. Hicks explained the Base Realignment and Closure process to the group as cleaning out a junky attic.
"The structure of the military is costing the Department of Defense a lot of money," she said. "I'm convinced the secretary of defense plans to proceed with the process."
"My part in all this is to make sure the leadership and my boss (Gen. Kevin Byrnes) fully understand the potential for Fort Gordon to take on missions. We've got room to grow."
Brig. Gen. Hicks said community and business leaders, including the CSRA Alliance for Fort Gordon, are making sure the community understands the importance and value of the post.
Thom Tuckey, the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce's military affairs liaison and former garrison commander at Fort Gordon, was scheduled to speak to the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday about the dollars-and-cents economic impact of Fort Gordon on North Augusta.
Reach Jeremy Craig at (706) 823-3409 or at jeremy.craig@augustachronicle.com.