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The new Fort A.P. Hill Hotline is 633-8600. This number is used, in addition to local media announcements, in the event of adverse weather to learn if the post is open, closed, or operating under delayed opening conditions.  Callers will hear one of the following messages:

·         Fort A.P. Hill will be open today for normal operations.  All recreational activities are operating on a normal schedule.

·         Due to weather and road conditions, Fort A.P. Hill is closed today.  Emergency personnel must report for duty.  Administrative leave is granted for all but emergency personnel.  All recreational activities are closed today.

·         Due weather and road conditions, Fort A.P. Hill is operating on a two-hour delay today.  Emergency personnel must report for duty.  All recreational activities are operating on a two-hour delay and may be curtailed.

·         Fort A.P. Hill is open for limited operations today.  The liberal leave policy is in effect, except for emergency personnel.  All outdoor recreational activities are closed today and all other recreational activities will be curtailed.

·         Fort A. P. Hill will be closing at ______ hours today due to the severe weather conditions, except for emergency personnel.  All recreational activities will cease.

·         OR, A CUSTOM MESSAGE

     This system is intended to provide a benefit to post personnel, allowing the ability to learn about Fort A.P. Hill's status without having to wait until next time the radio or television announcers read the list.

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Fort A.P. Hill Exhibits Training Area Management Concepts

By Ken Perrotte                                                              Fort A.P. Hill Public Affairs Office

FORT A.P. HILL – Artillery rounds explode yards in front of the fortified trench system housing a small group of stalwart defenders who brace for the inevitable assault. The enemy is just outside the wire – the razor-sharp concertina marking the outer edge of the camp.
     M60 machine guns and squad automatic weapons open up; flame pouring from their muzzles. Smoke begins obscuring the defenders’ views and it’s not long before they all fall dead or wounded to the attacker’s systematic blitz.
     The hundreds of spectators standing just 10 yards away from the command bunker burst into applause.
     This bit of military theater staged by members of the U.S. 3^rd Infantry Regiment has a specific purpose – illustrate how infantry units use Fort A.P. Hill, especially the environmental and terrain features so critical to combat success.
     It was all part of a field trip Aug. 24 for several hundred Integrated Training Area Management specialists visiting Virginia from throughout the world to learn of the latest in training land management and visit a field location where leading edge concepts are being deployed. Conference seminars were held in Richmond, but the Fort A.P. Hill portion of the program featured a mix of field laboratory exhibits with realistic combat infantry and Special Forces training.
     The training demonstrations were even factored into the group’s arrival for a sumptuous tactical field luncheon – an MRE. Right after A.P. Hill Commander Lt. Col. John E. Dumoulin, Jr., welcomed the group, a "hostile" force captured the entire tour and forced it to the edge of a small lake nearby.
     While the participants were listening to the paramilitary group leader rant about the United States, members of Bravo Company, 20^th Special Forces Group, silently emerged from the water and "neutralized" the captors. They captured the leader and a helicopter quickly dropped in and whisked the team and their prisoner away.
     The scenario also featured snipers and an underwater demolition charge. While entertaining, the goal was also to show training using air, land and water simultaneously.
     The field tour featured multiple stops; each designed to showcase a different component of training land management here.
     The infantry assault on the trench system took place at a pre-constructed infantry training lane, which features assembly areas, a maneuver lane and a fixed objective at the end. 1^st Lt. Chuck Thompson, Company B, explained the mission to the visitors and showed how ITAM Geographic Information System (GIS) products made mission planning easier for military trainers.
     The trench system, one of several on the post, was a 1998 ITAM-related project and is designed to replicate the fighting positions used by potential military adversaries.
     Fort A.P. Hill has more than 70 locations known as Tactical Concealment Areas, where military units camp when in the field. The areas feature defensive fighting positions, missions planning sites, largely unimproved roads and trails, and other features conducive to setting up a bivouac.
     More than 50 years of use resulted in some areas losing much of the foliage so critical to tactical concealment and Fort A.P. Hill began a program in recent years to inventory all bivouac sites, assess their condition and develop a course of action designed to ensure their viability for another 50 years. Working with the U.S. Forest Service, clearing of deadfall and diseased trees, rehabilitation of injured trees, protection of exposed roots, and planting of new trees were all part of the program.
     Visitors also got an eyeful at the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security where they toured the GIS Eastern Regional Support Center, which serves dozens of military installations from Fort A.P. Hill. In the training office, they saw demonstrations of how military training customers can sit at a computer terminal and generate custom maps. Literally hundreds of information layers reside in the GIS database. Products such as basic topographical maps, or aerial photos with topography layers are easily created.
     Soldiers at the Range Control firing desk showed off the latest tools in calculating surface danger zones for the multitude of weapons fired in the 27,000-acre range complex.
     Military training makes noise and Fort A.P. Hill is one of the Department of Defense leaders in assessing training noise and taking steps to ensure neighbors off the installation are not adversely impacted by the booms and bangs of combat.
     A key tool in this effort is the information obtained from the Blast Analysis and Measurement (BLAM) noise sensors that measure the decibel spread both on and off post. When a particularly noisy training event will take place, noise levels are monitored and then matched against atmospheric conditions. Weather is the biggest determinant in the impact of noise and vibration. Days with low overcast tend to keep the sound down near the ground while sunny days with low humidity allow sound to dissipate upward. Wind direction also has a bearing on sound. 
     Fort A.P. Hill has used data from the sensors to change the way training is conducted and works closely with units to ensure the necessary noise they make has minimal impact to the environment.
     Fort A.P. Hill is a 76,000-acre installation specializing in training and maneuver, and live fire operations. Military units from throughout the Department of Defense and allied nations, as well as other U.S. governmental agencies train year-round on the post.

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Last Updated: Friday, January 17, 2003
2000 Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia