Use of Military Bases

Many of us perceive military bases as the stronghold of our national security and rightfully so. Men and women who serve in our military get accommodation, training and everything else needed to make them protectors of the United States from such facilities. Unlike other parts of the country, military bases are extra-legal facilities, meaning that civil law is not applicable here. In its place is military law. Some of the names used on military bases include airbase, shipyard, garrison, barracks, armory, caserne, proving ground or dock among others. Although the term military base can be used for an organized establishment housing the police, militia, constabulary or even guards in other countries, the term is used solely to refer to an establishment used by the army in the US.

Because the public is restricted from getting into military bases, those who have family members are usually very curious to know what is contained in such bases. The military bases usually have adequate housing, sanitation facilities, dining halls, hospitals churches, gyms and other recreational facilities for use by authorized military personnel and their families

Most military bases in the country provide accommodation to more than one military unit. This is in addition to being used as a proving ground, a training ground or a command center. All military bases are funded by the government and hence the huge budgets allocated for military use each year.

As command centers, military bases serve as the central place where orders are issued, intelligence analyzed and field reports issued. For this to happen effectively, the military base must be in constant touch with people on the fields. The role of such is to report what is happening to the base. Depending on the goal that was set before taking up an activity, military personnel operating from the command centers are able to analyze the progress and issue further orders when necessary. Such command centers are manned by military officers in the ranks of major to colonel.

As a training or proving ground, the military bases are used for weapon installation or reservation. Such are easily identifiable because of their names. They include the Yuma Proving ground in Arizona, Sandy Hook proving-ground in New Jersey, Jefferson Proving ground in Indiana, Pacific proving ground in Marshall Islands, Dugway Proving ground in Utah and Aberdeen proving ground in Maryland. Of these, pacific, Jefferson and Sandy Hook are no longer in active use. Outside its borders, the United States maintains more than 1,000 military bases. Of this, 200 are in Germany.