# How does a U.S. military "Camp" become a "fort"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-u-s-military-camp-become-a-fort/417421 "2007-08-29T22:14:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-u-s-military-camp-become-a-fort/417421/21 "2007-08-30T21:32:11Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] I might buy that if it weren’t for [Fort Jackson](http://www.jackson.army.mil/). I assure you, Forest Acres, SC, does not need that much guarding. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but there’s three awesome restaurants by the back gate that I want protected with all of the Army’s might. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-u-s-military-camp-become-a-fort/417421/22 "2007-08-30T22:07:00Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] [Camp Pendleton](http://www.pendleton.usmc.mil/) is temporary? [Camp LeJeuene](http://www.lejeune.usmc.mil) is temporary? Edit: The Marine/Army distinction makes more sense. [/QUOTE] “Permanent” and “temporary” are elastic terms. The Navy operated out of Main Navy, The Munitions Building, and the W Building for years and they were temporary structued erected during WWI to conduct that operation. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-u-s-military-camp-become-a-fort/417421/23 "2007-08-30T22:32:02Z")
[QUOTE=David Simmons] “Permanent” and “temporary” are elastic terms. [/QUOTE] Oh, don’t get me started. My undergrad advanced comp professor took issue with my use of the term “permanently mounted” in referring to the built-in furniture in my dorm room. IIRC, his exact words were, “Let’s see how permanent they are if you give me five minutes and a sledgehammer.” Oh, and allow me to be the first to point out that I misspelled “Lejeune” in the original post. Missed the edit window. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-u-s-military-camp-become-a-fort/417421/24 "2007-08-30T22:47:17Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Oh, don’t get me started. My undergrad advanced comp professor took issue with my use of the term “permanently mounted” in referring to the built-in furniture in my dorm room. IIRC, his exact words were, “Let’s see how permanent they are if you give me five minutes and a sledgehammer.” Oh, and allow me to be the first to point out that I misspelled “Lejeune” in the original post. Missed the edit window. [/QUOTE] Are you actually trying to tell us that professors can be pedantic at times? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-u-s-military-camp-become-a-fort/417421/25 "2007-08-30T22:50:25Z")
I would never suggest such a thing. This guy was just a prick. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-u-s-military-camp-become-a-fort/417421/26 "2007-08-31T10:56:55Z")
Thanks for all the info and guesses. And the breastworks. Fort A.P. Hill IS in the mountains. I found this site for the fort and it mentions that it started as a “Military Reservation”, It later became a “camp” and was that when I traveled on a state road thru it when finding an alternate route to I-95 in my periodic trips between Georgia, the Carolinas, and New England in the '80s. I noticed on roadmaps later that it was now a “fort” vs. "camp. The training or no trining is not a factor in the designation as Hill is a training facility as are many, as cited above. I’ll search the miitary websites. Hill also hosts the Boy Scouts Jamboree. Thanks again. > **[Fort A.P. Hill](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/fort-ap-hill.htm)** > > Fort A.P. Hill's 76,000 acres are dedicated to training active and reserve-component units, along with federal and state agencies ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-u-s-military-camp-become-a-fort/417421/27 "2007-08-31T11:02:41Z")
And speaking of breastworks, when I was enrolled in a Naval “A” school at Bainbridge, MD Naval Training Center (many years ago), I ran into a female Drill Instructor of the WAVES (female US Navy recruits) boots that I had gone thru high school with in Mass. a few years earlier. (I guess I can hijack my own post.) ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-u-s-military-camp-become-a-fort/417421/28 "2007-08-31T11:25:19Z")
[QUOTE=Ignatz] Fort A.P. Hill IS in the mountains. [/QUOTE] Which mountains would they be? I’ve driven route 301, which nearly bisects this reservation, and I might characterize the terrain as hilly, but far from mountainous. In fact, I can’t think of anything east of the entire length of I-95 that I’d call a mountain. Or am I missing a big whoosh here?? Oh, and Navy facilities aren’t all bases - I spent many years working aboard the Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, and the Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, and the Naval Air Station, Pensacola. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-u-s-military-camp-become-a-fort/417421.md?page=1)