Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, Famcamp

WP had a golden opportunity to run the place right and improve upon it. Nope.

Every year we go back we notice that the place is slowly getting worse and worse.

As far as the office manager goes, try not to talk to her too much. Complaints/suggestions go nowhere. Everything is a big deal to her. She puts orange cones everywhere. No one who camps there has any idea what the cones mean placed in spaces. They are not reserved spot.
The bathhouse is dirty. Hookups for the spaces are broken. Trees growing in the “clay pots” where the water hook up is.


She charges an ADDITIONAL fee for ANY item put out in the tent area. A young family was camping in the tent area.

They put up a screen house over the table and a small, very small tent for their kids. Ann went over and threw a fit. She demanded that they pay for the screen house and the kid's tent! So the cost of tenting there for this young family was 3x the going rate.

She will not permit tent campers to use the shower facility in the RV park. If anyone needs the shower that is a tent camper.

She has told people on the phone "we are full, and hang up on them." One couple, who was told this, came to the camp ground to find it about 2/3rds full. And, on the other hand has told people “we have plenty of spaces.” When they show up at the office she has a dumb look on her face saying “we have been full for weeks.”

She will not permit dry camping in RVs despite having a large grass area close the camp ground. MWR could make money off dry campers waiting for a spot to open up.

Tons of notices put up in the laundry room by her...most of which make no sense at all.

When the base has an exercise she goes completely nuts with putting notices up and knocking on people’s doors telling them "be ready to move at any notice." No one pays attention to her.

During the USAF Marathon she will put notices all over the place stating “RVers are not allowed to drive on base.” This is a false statement. Many areas of the base are open during the Marathon. I.e. and commissary, hospital, lodging etc. But again she makes things far worse than what they really are.

Geez....This is how NOT to win Friends and impress the RVing/tenting community....

What you need to do, if you haven't already, is 1. to do an ICE report on this person....As a camp host we know this goes from the top of command down...not the other way around....2. review this in the campground section here....Others will read and also report. People like this give us all a BAD name.



PS: Upon reviewing the comments of this CG...they are mixed...good and bad.... but you really should do a review, too....people need to know this....I also notice no link to ICE there, so the next best thing would be to write the Base Commander and the Director of MWR....voicing your concerns....good luck and keep us posted...

Comments via ICE have been submitted in the past. Also, calls to commander's hot line, MWR director's office have been made.

After reading Blackhawk's post above (#8101), I am frankly, extemely disappointed in both WP's MWR and the ICE program. We stopped at that Famcamp twice several years ago (2006 - 2007) and found all the issues discribed by Blackhawk. After our second visit, I submitted a report through ICE, and received a very nice response back from someone at WP. Her letter answered, or at least touched on each of my concerns. Additionally, she asked me to respond back to her on several concerns of her own, which I did. Now, several years later, I am dismayed to find NOTHING done to correct anything I identified years ago! At the very least, the lady "acting" as the FamCamp manager should have been let go years ago. MWR at many military facilities has become a joke as those in charge (usually civilians) have come to view the MWR system in general, and FamCamps in particular as cash cows!

Unfortunately, unless we agressively express our views on the FamCamp operations; poor management / upkeep, homesteading, ever-increasing prices, sites occupied by trailers for TDY personnel, PCS personnel as permanent residents, etc, nothing will change. Do I express my views on the operation of the various FamCamps as we travel about - YES! Hopefully, all of us do the same, because that, in my humble opinion is the only possible means available to change the way these recreational facilities are operated.

OK, rant off - VBG

John

John, nope nothing has changed at WP Famcamp. Except downhill and lack of care for the facility over the years!

We saw the Bass Lake Fam Camp area open up brand new. The same woman has ran the place since then. And it shows!

I know people who stayed there this summer and they told us they WOULD NOT be back.

Best I can recommend to anyone is to do like you and I have done: let the command know.

WPAFB isn't the only FamCamp with a manager problem. But they are civilians and civilians seems to be a protected class of individual on military bases. A group of RVers at another FamCamp went above the manager's head and were told that 'they' were tired hearing complaints about him. They were told that if they had a problem with the manager, they needed to work it out with the manager and not bother anyone else with it! What has happened to Customer Service at MWR? Any rational person would think that numerous complaints about the same individual, perhaps something needed to be done. :dry: