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Fort Lee considers moving Army soldiers by train to Fort A. P. Hill in Caroline County Date published: 6/19/2010
By KELLY HANNON Hearkening back to an earlier era of military transport, officials at Fort Lee in Virginia are considering moving Army soldiers back and forth to field training at Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline by train. The military train, if it launches, would carry 800 to 1,100 Army soldiers from Fort Lee to a drop-off point in Milford. Local buses would be arranged to carry soldiers the approximate three miles between Milford and Fort A.P. Hill. After training for five days, a southbound train would carry the 800 to 1,100 soldiers back to Fort Lee, said Stuart Gregory, executive officer, deputy to the commanding general at Fort Lee. The train would run an estimated 37 to 40 weeks in a year, Gregory said. Concern over the potential for crashes on Interstate 95 led the Army to consider moving soldiers by train. "The biggest reason is safety," Gregory said. Within the past three years, two motor vehicle crashes involved soldiers on their way to training at Fort A.P. Hill, Gregory said. One was a minor incident, but the other crash hospitalized several soldiers, he said. Currently, Fort Lee charters several-dozen buses to carry soldiers to training at Fort A.P. Hill. But with more soldiers being shifted to Fort Lee as part of the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission process, the number of soldiers that need to attend training at Fort A.P. Hill from Fort Lee will grow, Gregory said. "All of that plays into increasing the odds of something bad happening," Gregory said. The course at Fort A.P. Hill is called logistics warrior training, and is required for soldiers regardless of their position in the Army, said Matthew Montgomery, Fort Lee spokesman. Fort Lee is located south of Richmond, near Petersburg. It has a rail spur on the post, and it currently receives materials by freight. Fort Lee officials have been holding early discussions with Amtrak, Virginia Railway Express and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation about ways to obtain train equipment. Fort Lee recently received Army approval to operate a train. The last time Fort Lee officials believe trains were actively used to transport soldiers was in the 1960s, Gregory said. If Fort Lee's initiative is successful, the Army may expand the use of trains elsewhere, Gregory said.
hate Ft AP Hill will complain about the trains too!
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