SPY Guy in FDNF

[c.mays]

If there are any questions for SPY, Pearl Harbor or Japan, I will be more than happy to answer them.

-FC1 Mays

[FC.ENTZMINGER]

I just got orders to spy 2 C school in dahlgren what can I expect from going through this strand of my career

[FC Adamczyk]

Entzminger,

considering the delay in response to this, I'm assuming you probably won't get this message, either that or by the time you do, you'll already know how life in good 'ol dahlgren works. So, lemme just clue you in on some fun stuff to do in Dahlgren, because people seem to think there is nothing to do, when, in fact, they are very wrong.

First off, make friends with someone with a car. DO NOT BUY A CAR. You have no idea where you're gonna be stationed, if you end up going to japan, you can't bring it with you. Hawaii is expensive to ship a car there, and San Diego is a long drive. Norfolk and Mayport are the only two other places you can go as an AEGIS FC, and those aren't too far to drive, but you can't count on being stationed there. When I was in dahlgren, we had an entire SPY class get sent to Japan because there were no other orders. None of them wanted to go, but that's why they're called orders, not options.

Anyways, so, DC is an awesome city to visit and it's only about an hour and a half away. Plenty of free things to do, the smithsonian museums are really cool, there are some great art museums that are worth checking out even if art isn't your thing. Most of the museums are free or give good military discounts. There's also the Navy Yard, where you can get a tour of the old USS Barry for free. While you're up there, grab the local paper and check out the local events, there's always some kind of fesival or concert going on. Be pro-active about it, if you're not looking for something to do, you won't find anything to do. An hour and a half drive seems daunting, but the hotels are real nice up there, you can stay at a Navy Lodge, or some of the hotels on the outskirts of the city have reasonable prices.

Fredricksburg is a nice little town, too. It's only about a half hour away, there's Central Park Plaza, it's got fairly decent sized mall and a big shopping plaza across the street, you can find anything you need there. Old-town Fredricksburg is real nice, too, lots of independently owned restaurants and neat little shops, lots of cool architecture. I'm a big fan of the atmosphere.

Colonial Beach is about twenty minutes away. There's a beach. 'Nuff said. lol, but no, there's a lot more to do in Colonial Beach. They've usually got some sort of festival going on somewhere, you can go fishing on the pier if that's your thing. Lot's of great restaurants in the area, my favorite being The Riverboat on The Potomac. They have free poker nights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Cash prizes each night, sometimes they have two games. I used to go there quite often. Great food, good times.

Up route 301N you've got a whole variety of places to eat, there's a neat little coffee shop just past the intersection of Dahlgren Road and RT 301, I think it's called The Daily Grind, plus a great mexican restaurant, I can't think of the name of it. But the further you go up 301, the more things you'll encounter. There's another mall, several shopping centers, bars, restaurants, there's even two driving ranges, if you like golf.

If you haven't caught on yet, I'm slowly leading you back to base. The reason I started far away is to get you to read everything, not just the first paragraph and then walk away and not know what else there is. There are several great restaurants and bars on the road leading up to the main gate, don't go to the barber shops there, they aren't very good at cutting hair.

On base. There are so many resources on base to help you cure your boredom, it's insane. The women who run MWR work very hard to get us free or discounted tickets to concerts, comedy clubs, meal vouchers for restaurants, free movie tickets, everything. They have cookouts right outside the liberty center, everything is free. Free, fast internet with no time limit, pool tables, plenty of board games and books, I think there's almost a dozen televisions all outfitted with cable to watch whatever movie or sports game you want. Free video games, playstation 1, 2, and three, XBOX 360's, Nintendo Wii. And they have good games, too. They tabs on what the people who come in want to play. There's the bowling alley next door with a great burger place in it. The girls who work there are awesome, be nice to them.

MWR rents canoes, kayaks, all kinds of camping gear, all for dirt cheap, and it's nice stuff, too. You can go camping on base, or find a good place nearby to camp at. There's a few National Parks around there with good hiking trails and camp sites.

Extracurricular activities. Get involved. Honor Guard, Fun Club, Funeral Guard. Do them, you get half-section duty and a good eval. Plus you get go go places and see things for free. I got to meet a four star admiral and got coined by him and had my picture taken with him. Right afterward I had a master chief ask to buy the coin off of me because he didn't get coined, he wasn't part of the ceremony. Of course I didn't sell it. I also got a Letter of Appreciation from a two star admiral, which counts as a point on my advancement exam.

While you're there, look up Eagle Hill Equine Ranch. It's a horse ranch that saves, raises and sells baby horses who would otherwise be killed or die (complements of the horse-racing industry.) They accept as many volunteer workers as they can get, there's always something to do. If you go out early in the day, they'll feed you lunch and dinner, you get to feed the horses and they do riding lessons. Plus they have three awesome dogs =).

Bro, the point is, get out and do stuff, don't be one of those people who sit around and get drunk every night on base and end up going to mast for something stupid and then bitch about how much Dahlgren sucks. I had a lot of fun living in Dahlgren, and I know the people I hung out with had the same amount of fun I did. Have fun and let me know how things go for you.

FC3 Adamczyk
USS Gonzalez, DDG 66

[twidgettmom]

Great info FC Adamczyk about Dahlgren and the area. How long have you been with the fleet now? Our son did Honor Guard while he was there as well, it worked out nicely for him too.