closure of fort hood, texas

[will pattison]

well, i hope you weren't planning on at fort hood this weekend- it's
closed.

you heard right- the last real public riding area in central texas has
been shut down due to pressure from the state historical preservation
office. effective 3 july 1999, all areas other than 34d (basically, the
motocross track, down to the river) are off limits to off-highway
vehicles of any kind. according to dennis herbert, department of public
works, the closure is effective until an evaluation can be made.
apparently, there are archeological sites all over the reservation,
which is a surprise to me. the memo also cites trails running in an
uncontrolled fashion that is detrimental to the environment. herbert's
comment to me was that it is unlikely an area permit will be issued
again. i interpret that as permanent closure.

normally, closures like this come with some warning. in this case, the
change came virtually overnight, and herbert says that they are under no
obligation to open the issue to public hearing. however, we need to
excercise some pressure of our own.

i was given a number at the fort hood corps commander's office which is
an answering machine set up for situations like this. the sergeant at
the area access office encouraged me to use it, and i am suggesting you
do the same. keep in mind, acting belligerently will absolutely not
help at this point. call and leave a polite message from a concerned,
responsible dirt rider. the last thing we need is to perpetuate any
misguided idea that the archeologists at the shpo may have about our
rude and destructive nature.

here are the numbers:

dennis herbert: 254-287-2885
fort hood area access: 254-287-8398
corp commander line: 254-287-boss

will pattison
product development engineer
4d design
austin, texas

[Uwe Hale]

Will pattison wrote:

> office. effective 3 july 1999, all areas other than 34d (basically, the
> motocross track, down to the river) are off limits to off-highway
> vehicles of any kind.
>

Does this include the tanks and military training?

Uwe Hale - 89 YZ250WR, 99 GasGas EC200
http://www.rrdr.org
http://www.smackovermotorsports.com

[Gearhead]

>Does this include the tanks and military training?

Probably, I did drills all over that damned Fort, but we never went near the
track area or that whole area near the lake. There was probably 5 or 6
square miles of open countryside there that we never trained on. Perhaps
other units did, but our tanks did not.

Funny how I never seen a single "archeological site". It all looked like a
bunch of rocky hills or mud bogs to me. The closing is a shame, I have some
fond memories of riding down by the lake.

Joe Geary (former M1A1 driver)
waiting for my Y2K TRX400EX
NOSPA...@usaor.net
www.usaor.net/users/gear

[Ghost Rider]

On Wed, 30 Jun 1999 21:56:28 -0400, "Gearhead" <NOSPA...@usaor.net>
wrote:

>
>>Does this include the tanks and military training?
>
>Probably, I did drills all over that damned Fort, but we never went near the
>track area or that whole area near the lake. There was probably 5 or 6
>square miles of open countryside there that we never trained on. Perhaps
>other units did, but our tanks did not.
>

I too went all over that damn post, me and Cowhouse creek crossed
paths more than once!! WE used to go down to the recreation area a
good bit, it was fun down there sometimes if you had the right crowd
with you. I walked the MX track but unfortunately i never got to
ride it........ Good luck to you guys......

Ghost Rider
Thanks to:
>MX SOUTH
http://www.mxsouth.com

[Mikey]

Bummer. In 1975 I reported to Fort Hood in my 1969 Dodge Charger with
a 74 CR 250 Husky Mag and 72 Penton in tow. I signed up with the Army
because of the "Motocross" team:). A lot of good times remembered
there. Lake Whitney comes to mind too....

They haven't closed Lake Belton have they? I should have some
Strawberry Hill bottles in the trash cans there:).

Mike

[Uwe Hale]

Gearhead wrote:
> Funny how I never seen a single "archeological site". It all looked like a
> bunch of rocky hills or mud bogs to me. The closing is a shame, I have some
> fond memories of riding down by the lake.
>

When we used to be able to ride at West Ft. Hood, we ran across a couple Indian
sites that had rock carvings and stuff. We didn't ride over it. We parked,
walked and checked it out. There are some Indian burial grounds somewhere out
there too.

The problem I have is that they stop the dirtbikes but tanks do much more
damage. Back in the late 80s they closed all the areas and reduced riding to
the 34 area only, because of the black capped virio and golden cheecked
warbler. The Enviro nuts came right out and told the club that they cannot
stop the military but they can stop us. That's how they justify their
existance.

That's why I'm wondering if its the same kind of crap where they ban the bikes
but the tanks continue.

[MRRMX]

I was at FT Hood in 86-87 When the Liberty hill track opened up. I tried to
get access to the old mx track on the west end of the post. S-1 (I think) told
me that area was a historic site, And not to ride there.
Thats why the Liberty Hill track was built.
I use to ride the Lake Henry trails Behind the repleling tower. It was a bear
to get in to the area. The area was off limits most of the time.

[Jeff Deeney]

Uwe Hale (ha...@texas.net) wrote:

: The problem I have is that they stop the dirtbikes but tanks do much more

: damage. Back in the late 80s they closed all the areas and reduced riding to
: the 34 area only, because of the black capped virio and golden cheecked
: warbler. The Enviro nuts came right out and told the club that they cannot
: stop the military but they can stop us. That's how they justify their
: existance.

In the California desert, tank tracks from WWII training can still be
seen. Under the Antiquities Act, they are now considered historical
treasures. Go figure.

-Jeffrey Deeney- DoD#0498 NCTR UTMA BRC COHVCO AMA
j...@fc.hp.com '85 XT600-Willy '88 XR600-Shamu
We don't stop riding because we get old, we get old because we stop riding.

[Dave Dude]

On Wed, 30 Jun 1999 17:40:05 -0500, will pattison
<wpat...@4ddesign.com> wrote:

>well, i hope you weren't planning on at fort hood this weekend- it's
>closed.

snip
Wasn't planning on a ride this weekend but that really sucks. Never
got to ride there......

Dave Dude
96yz250

[Pete Plassmann]

Wow. This blows big ones. Remember when the Fort Hood Dirt Riders were the
largest club in the country? I still remember the guy wheelying the Rokon with a
"Be all you can be" sticker on the skidplate.

I haven't ridden there since the early '80s, but I'll miss it.

Pete P.

[Bret McFarland]

Will

Hey, this smells political to me. With the Groper-in-Chief on his way
out and Algor hanging by a thread, the current administration is likley
not to risk any confrontations or bad press - certainly not with native
Americans. So here we go ... the public gets hosed again.

I thought this story might interest you: Not only do tanks practice out
there but, apparently the U.S Army was running around Fort Hood over 20
years ago on dirt bikes. According to a guy I used to work with, he was
stationed at Fort Hood in the mid-1970s with a Motorized Reconnisance
Group. The Recon group rode a bunch of Husqvarna 400s in the desert.
And just like the Army has a boxing team, they had an off-road racing
team that they sent to the ISDT!! This is really true and he had the
pictures to prove it. B/W pics of the team, their shop and the base
practice track. Imagine showing up at your local Husky dealer in Army
fatigues and a jeep!

Bret McFarland

Software Engineer
eServices Group
Frederick, Maryland

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

[Rolling Apex]

> Hey, this smells political to me. With the Groper-in-Chief on his way

Now there is a good handle, wish I had thought of it !

> out and Algor

Thats good to. yous CS background is showing.

> hanging by a thread, the current administration is likley
> not to risk any confrontations or bad press - certainly not with
> native
> Americans. So here we go ... the public gets hosed again.
>
> I thought this story might interest you: Not only do tanks practice
> out
> there but, apparently the U.S Army was running around Fort Hood over
> 20
> years ago on dirt bikes. According to a guy I used to work with, he
> was
> stationed at Fort Hood in the mid-1970s with a Motorized Reconnisance
> Group. The Recon group rode a bunch of Husqvarna 400s in the desert.
> And just like the Army has a boxing team, they had an off-road racing
> team that they sent to the ISDT!! This is really true and he had the
> pictures to prove it. B/W pics of the team, their shop and the base
> practice track. Imagine showing up at your local Husky dealer in Army
> fatigues and a jeep!

Yeah, at the time there was a draft too. Can you imagine a better way
to spend your required uncle sam time ? Probably had mechanics & track
builders etc. What a deal, and the US gov. footing ther bill. I'm
almost surprized they didn't have H.D. bikes though.

[Uwe Hale]

Bret McFarland <bmcfa...@esrv.com> wrote in message
news:7m2c65$chk$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...

> And just like the Army has a boxing team, they had an off-road racing
> team that they sent to the ISDT!! This is really true and he had the
> pictures to prove it. B/W pics of the team, their shop and the base
> practice track. Imagine showing up at your local Husky dealer in Army

When the FHDR pretty much disbanded in the late 80s (started again early
90s), my buddy grabbed one of the photo albums. Lots of cool pics of stuff
like Steve McQueen riding a ISDT 2 day qualifier at Hood. Don't know what
happened to my friend or the photo album. Always thought it should have
been sent to something like the AMA museum.

Uwe Hale - 89 YZ250WR, 99 GasGas EC200

http://www.smackovermotorsports.com

[Bret McFarland]

> When the FHDR pretty much disbanded in the late 80s (started again
early
> 90s), my buddy grabbed one of the photo albums. Lots of cool pics of
stuff
> like Steve McQueen riding a ISDT 2 day qualifier at Hood. Don't know
what
> happened to my friend or the photo album. Always thought it should
have
> been sent to something like the AMA museum.
>

Yea ... the photos I saw were real good quality. Like Army
photographers took them. I'd like to track this guy down and get him to
post some stories on RMD. He had some good ones. Funny thing, I just
remember his name was Dave and he was the phone guy at a bank
operations center I worked at in '91.

Bret McFarland
98KDX220

[sarg...@gmail.com]

Yes the Army had a 6 day Team Team Army, I was on it 78,79 sponsored by US Suzuki. That bike in Dirt Bike Mag was from the interview with the 4 man team Jan 1974, has we test Pomeroys Bultaco on cover, the skid plate on the bike from the Team Army interview said Pick Ft Hood, it was a 400 Husky not a Rokon
Sgt B Sanders

[sarg...@gmail.com]

I was a member of Team Army in 78 and 79,we were actually a 6 day Team. Ft Hood hosted a 2 day trial qualifier back in the day, yes we raced MX but the 6 day was the main thing

[jdhall]

On Monday, August 31, 2015 at 8:26:08 AM UTC-7, sarg...@gmail.com wrote:
> I was a member of Team Army in 78 and 79,we were actually a 6 day Team. Ft Hood hosted a 2 day trial qualifier back in the day, yes we raced MX but the 6 day was the main thing

Hi Sarge, This group gets very little traffic - most folk have migrated over to that newfangled web stuff many years ago.

Thanks for your post. I think I knew Fort Hood did a bunch of dirtbike stuff back in the day, bit it's is nice to hear from someone who was there. Good job on making the 6 day team as well. And thank you for your service.

Jim Hall

[sarg...@gmail.com]

Yes Jim the post in the 70s had alot of open riding areas, there was the MX track at Cow House Creek that we used mostly for testing, and a area out near Belton that was the special test area for the 2 days. Alot of people get us confused with the Cav Scouts, they had green Suzuki TS250 Savages, basically trail bikes. We had pretty much the best of everything. I always said ï had the best job in the Army. On my first trip we went to California for 40 days, covered the whole state then went to Suzuki School at Carlsbad, rode with Mark Blackwell, Akira Watanabe, had a hell of a,good time.

[dedp...@gmail.com]

My name is Dave, and as a young E6/SSG in 1974 to 1976 was NCOIC of the United States Army Motorcycle Racing & Recruiting Team which was attached from Ft Sheridan, IL, USAREC (Recruiting Command) to Ft. Hood, TX.. 1Lt Bill Hoffman was the Team OIC.. The team consisted of 6-7 Military members (Including Bill & myself) whose job was to put a face, through Motorcycle Racing, to the United States Army. We traveled the USA racing the 2 Day Qualifiers for ISDT selection and National Enduro's.. Mixed into the racing schedule were numerous meet and greets with local area recruiting offices at local motorcycle shops.. As a sideline the team also tested motorcycles for eventual use in forward recon roles within the US Army.