MDing on active military installations????

[Suckerpunched]

Are there channels you can go thru to get permission to hunt military bases or is it just a flat no-no?
Thanks and HH.....TC

 

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[rjw4law]

I have hunted about 20 active military sites....some are like crazed when they see ya....others couldn't care less. The Airforce generally has more security and stricter than the others...especially if they are a Stealth base....my God, they got postings up the wazzu about photos and the bases are difficult to get on. Usually closed bases are good starts.
I would start in the Command HQs with an adjutant....the MPs do not want to be bothered and just say go play somewhere else....get a letter from an officer if you do it on the Base, make it clear what you are doing, and that you are responsible for damage...even with permission....fastest way to lose it is to metal detect during business hours when the High brass and High ranking enlisted are present,,,,with or without letter, they love to make sure you will never return.

 

[Johnnysan]

Years ago, after 9-11, I asked to tag along with news crews at a local Air Force Base and do a little amateur photography. I even told them they could take the film and remove anything they thought would be too sensitive. After about a month they said no. And I had low-level security clearance for a nuclear weapons training facility that was nearby.
9-11 has changed everything.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

rjw4law says about some military bases: " ......... others couldn't care less " Well how much do you wanna make a bet, that if you asked (at those very bases) that you/he might not have gotten a "no"?

Here where I'm at, there are various military bases, both active and in-active (or I've hunted them before, during, and after). And yeah, sometimes you may get someone to "tell you otherwise". And other times you can go till you're blue in the face (as long as you're not some sort of nuisance - making messes etc....) and no one seems to care (assuming it's an "open base" to begin with).

They're probably like a lot of city parks, schools, etc...: Ie.: no one may care "until you ask". And it may also depend on if you're in a historically sensitive area, to begin with, and whether or not you're inside (verses outside) posted abandoned buildings, etc....

 

[DOGMAN ( U.K )]

I would of thought the old saying 'Trespassers will be shot, survivors will be shot again' springs to mind around bases?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Dogman, a person would not be "trespassing" to go on a military base here in the USA. Except maybe a few of ours (with top-secret stuff or whatever), most of ours are "open-bases", which are sort of like a small city. People come and go all the time. Yes they may have a "check-point charlie", and you just tell them you're going to the PX, or to visit a friend, or whatever (they're just there to see if your license and reg. are current). Others are just simply open, and you drive right on. So there are no "trespassing" issues, unless you're on one of the closed bases.

 

[Jason in Enid]

There is no such thing as an "open" base any more. Every military installation has a security gate, and nobody gets on without proper ID.

Just part of the new world we live in.

 

[Suckerpunched]

Thanks for all the info,,,,,I called the security police desk and asked and was told no problem, go for it. However I did get the airmans name. Went out today and hunted an old housing area that was torn down years ago. SPs drove by couple times and just waved.
HH TC

 

[cillosis]

There is no such thing as an "open" base any more. Every military installation has a security gate, and nobody gets on without proper ID.

Just part of the new world we live in.

I second that. I'm in the Navy and all of our bases have a security gate and without a current military ID or an escort with one, you aren't getting in. I know people who have lost their ID out in town and tried to come back on base and weren't allowed. That being said, if you have an escort or a current military ID you should be able to detect on some bases. I used to do it on the Damneck base in VA. I used to find all sorts of shell casings on the beach.

Another good thing to bring up is some bases have a LOT of history and you may dig up something you don't want to be digging up such as unexploded ordnance. So be careful!

 

[rjw4law]

Clarification for the "others couldn't care less" Depends on where you are at and how you present yourself. I have found that if You are open and honest about the hobby some couldn't care less, just don't leave a mess. Hardest bases to get on are: Sensitive, some historical, Air Force, Navy/Marine....Army a lot easier. I have hunted many many bases pre 911 and post. All on the up and up.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

To go further on the "others could care less" comment, (speaking in the context of pre 9/11 days) to say that some could "care less", isn't to say that if you kept asking high enough, at enough desks, that you might not have gotten someone to tell you "no". Of course, this is true at any city, school, park etc...: Ask enough persons "can I?" and invariably, someone in the chain will say "no". The bases I had in mind, we just helped ourselves (open bases in the pre 9/11 days), and no one said anything.