We finally made it through that horrendous traffic jam in Atlanta, that sprawling, rapidly growing queen of the Deep South. Who would ever have thought that Atlanta would have the nation's busiest airport? It has many claims to fame, including being headquarters to outfits like Delta Airlines and, arguably, the world's most identifiable brand, Coca Cola.
Having made it through that sprawling metropolis, it was another 150 miles east to Augusta and Fort Gordon where daughter Kara is a major at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Medical Facility.
Augusta is located on the south bank of the Savannah River that borders South Carolina. It is approximately midway between Georgia's northern border and Savannah at the mouth of the river. It is on the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, the geologic escarpment that separates the Atlantic Coastal Plain from the Piedmont. This difference in elevation is generally characterized by rapids or falls of rivers flowing from the Appalachians to the Atlantic. This created an early source of water power and was the head of navigable waters, explaining why so many eastern cities, including Washington D.C. are located along the Atlantic Seaboard fall line.
The future site of Augusta was used by Native Americans as a place to cross the Savannah River. During British colonial days, the Colony of Georgia was seen as a buffer between British-held territories and Spanish territory to the south. In 1735, James Oglethorpe, reformer and a founder of the colony, sent a detachment of troops to explore the Savannah River and ordered construction at the head of navigation to provide a first line of defense of coastal areas against possible invasion by the Spanish from the interior. Interestingly, slave labor was initially barred there. But in 1743, the ban on slavery was lifted when Oglethorpe left the colony.
Augusta developed rapidly as a market town with development of the Piedmont region. Large cotton plantations for short staple cotton were developed, and generated revenue based on slave labor after invention of the cotton gin made cultivation of short staple cotton profitable.
Augusta was eventually surpassed in development by Atlanta with its strategic location as a railroad center. It is now Georgia's third largest city, after Atlanta and Savannah.
Augusta today is a consolidated city with Richmond County, with the exception of two unconsolidated cities, Blythe and Hephzibah. It hosts the Masters Golf Tournament, one of the four major golf championships. The grounds of the Augusta National are known for being pristine, ranked in 2009 by Golf Magazine as third best in the world.
While the city has an historic past, its downtown looks to be declining. Efforts have been made to preserve it - the Augusta Downtown Historic District encompasses most of its downtown area. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
When driving through that downtown historic area, it's easy to see that with its tree-lined streets it was once a thriving area, appealing and attractive. However, there now are obvious signs of neglect and deterioration of this once-appealing downtown area.
The bustling area of Augusta-Richmond County is composed of numerous strip malls located outside of the historic downtown. With big box stores and fast food joints sandwiched between freeway interchanges, it is indistinguishable from much of urban America.
The major source of employment for Augusta-Richmond County is education, health care and hospitals and the Army. Augusta is a regional center of medicine and biotech. Augusta University is Georgia's only public health sciences graduate university, employing more than 7,000. Another 2,000 are employed by its VA hospital.
By far the largest employer in the area is Fort Gordon, with nearly 20,000. Its official name is the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon. Those familiar with military gobbledygook will appreciate the Army "shorthand" identification of USACCoE and FG.
Camp Gordon was established in 1917. During World War II the War Department expanded it to become home of three Army divisions, the 4th and 10th Infantry Divisions, and the 10th Armored. It also served as an internment camp for foreign POWs. In 1946, it was a processing center for mustering out soldiers, processing more than 80,000 for discharge.
After World War II, the Army relocated its Military Police school to Camp Gordon and established a Signal Corps training center. Its name was changed to Fort Gordon in 1956. Between the 1950s and 1980s, the post was used for advanced infantry training for soldiers scheduled for Airborne training at Fort Benning.
Today, due to increased need for cyber technology, the Army is consolidating the Cyber Command into one location, Fort Gordon, selected over Fort Meade, Maryland, in that process.
Those who have served in the armed forces a half-century ago and have never returned to visit their former "home" would be shocked at the difference in military bases between then and now. Whether it was visiting my daughter at Fort Hood, Fort Bliss, or Fort Gordon, I have always been amazed at how different these posts are from the past. In place of the old small PX are huge shopping malls that rival those of big cities. Fast food joints are scattered all over the place. No more Quonset huts serving as barracks.
I had a similar reaction when visiting MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, where I was two years with the 2nd Marine Air Wing. The only remaining familiar site was the air strip.
The world has changed, whether it's Augusta, Georgia, or the military adapting to the needs of volunteer military service. Long gone, the familiar line, "78 bucks a month, three squares, and a rack to sleep on - and you idiots are lucky to get that."
Military service was once, in effect, a rite of passage for the male half of the population. But now, with so few kids facing military service, and those few who serve facing multiple deployments and alienation from their civilian cohorts, I understand the rationale for change.
- John Waelti of Monroe can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Fridays in The Monroe Times.
Having made it through that sprawling metropolis, it was another 150 miles east to Augusta and Fort Gordon where daughter Kara is a major at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Medical Facility.
Augusta is located on the south bank of the Savannah River that borders South Carolina. It is approximately midway between Georgia's northern border and Savannah at the mouth of the river. It is on the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, the geologic escarpment that separates the Atlantic Coastal Plain from the Piedmont. This difference in elevation is generally characterized by rapids or falls of rivers flowing from the Appalachians to the Atlantic. This created an early source of water power and was the head of navigable waters, explaining why so many eastern cities, including Washington D.C. are located along the Atlantic Seaboard fall line.
The future site of Augusta was used by Native Americans as a place to cross the Savannah River. During British colonial days, the Colony of Georgia was seen as a buffer between British-held territories and Spanish territory to the south. In 1735, James Oglethorpe, reformer and a founder of the colony, sent a detachment of troops to explore the Savannah River and ordered construction at the head of navigation to provide a first line of defense of coastal areas against possible invasion by the Spanish from the interior. Interestingly, slave labor was initially barred there. But in 1743, the ban on slavery was lifted when Oglethorpe left the colony.
Augusta developed rapidly as a market town with development of the Piedmont region. Large cotton plantations for short staple cotton were developed, and generated revenue based on slave labor after invention of the cotton gin made cultivation of short staple cotton profitable.
Augusta was eventually surpassed in development by Atlanta with its strategic location as a railroad center. It is now Georgia's third largest city, after Atlanta and Savannah.
Augusta today is a consolidated city with Richmond County, with the exception of two unconsolidated cities, Blythe and Hephzibah. It hosts the Masters Golf Tournament, one of the four major golf championships. The grounds of the Augusta National are known for being pristine, ranked in 2009 by Golf Magazine as third best in the world.
While the city has an historic past, its downtown looks to be declining. Efforts have been made to preserve it - the Augusta Downtown Historic District encompasses most of its downtown area. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
When driving through that downtown historic area, it's easy to see that with its tree-lined streets it was once a thriving area, appealing and attractive. However, there now are obvious signs of neglect and deterioration of this once-appealing downtown area.
The bustling area of Augusta-Richmond County is composed of numerous strip malls located outside of the historic downtown. With big box stores and fast food joints sandwiched between freeway interchanges, it is indistinguishable from much of urban America.
The major source of employment for Augusta-Richmond County is education, health care and hospitals and the Army. Augusta is a regional center of medicine and biotech. Augusta University is Georgia's only public health sciences graduate university, employing more than 7,000. Another 2,000 are employed by its VA hospital.
By far the largest employer in the area is Fort Gordon, with nearly 20,000. Its official name is the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon. Those familiar with military gobbledygook will appreciate the Army "shorthand" identification of USACCoE and FG.
Camp Gordon was established in 1917. During World War II the War Department expanded it to become home of three Army divisions, the 4th and 10th Infantry Divisions, and the 10th Armored. It also served as an internment camp for foreign POWs. In 1946, it was a processing center for mustering out soldiers, processing more than 80,000 for discharge.
After World War II, the Army relocated its Military Police school to Camp Gordon and established a Signal Corps training center. Its name was changed to Fort Gordon in 1956. Between the 1950s and 1980s, the post was used for advanced infantry training for soldiers scheduled for Airborne training at Fort Benning.
Today, due to increased need for cyber technology, the Army is consolidating the Cyber Command into one location, Fort Gordon, selected over Fort Meade, Maryland, in that process.
Those who have served in the armed forces a half-century ago and have never returned to visit their former "home" would be shocked at the difference in military bases between then and now. Whether it was visiting my daughter at Fort Hood, Fort Bliss, or Fort Gordon, I have always been amazed at how different these posts are from the past. In place of the old small PX are huge shopping malls that rival those of big cities. Fast food joints are scattered all over the place. No more Quonset huts serving as barracks.
I had a similar reaction when visiting MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, where I was two years with the 2nd Marine Air Wing. The only remaining familiar site was the air strip.
The world has changed, whether it's Augusta, Georgia, or the military adapting to the needs of volunteer military service. Long gone, the familiar line, "78 bucks a month, three squares, and a rack to sleep on - and you idiots are lucky to get that."
Military service was once, in effect, a rite of passage for the male half of the population. But now, with so few kids facing military service, and those few who serve facing multiple deployments and alienation from their civilian cohorts, I understand the rationale for change.
- John Waelti of Monroe can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Fridays in The Monroe Times.
