Welcome to Fort Meade and Anne Arundel County Maryland!
Families of civilian employees and military personnel relocating to Fort Meade will find a post that covers 5,415 acres, with nearly 70 miles of roads and more than 1300 buildings. There is privatized housing, a shopping mall, bank, credit union, post office, chapels, medical and veterinary facilities, day care center, movie theater, golf courses, bowling alley, fast food restaurants, a park, and just about anything else you might expect to find in a city or town, anywhere in America.
Fort Meade has a rich history, dating back 90 years to 1917 when Camp Meade was authorized by Congress and the current site was selected. For additional information, be sure to visit the Fort George G. Meade Museum, when you arrive.
Anne Arundel County is proud to be the home of Fort Meade, and you will find that we are quite military-friendly. In fact, many long time Anne Arundel County residents are military retirees or veterans employed with the Federal Government or Defense Contractors, such as nearby Northrop Grumman. Welcome to our neighborhood!
BASE ACCESS:
Vehicles - When you arrive at Fort Meade, use the gate on Reece Rd, which is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is the only visitor access gate; the gates on Mapes and Rockenbach require DoD identification. Active duty military and their family members, retired military and their family members, National Guard & Reserve. civilian employees (CPO/NAF), and retired civilian employees and family members are eligible for DoD vehicle registration decals.
Identification - You can get an ID Card or register for DEERS at the Personnel Processing Branch, 2234 Huber Road. You should call (301) 677-3342 for current wait time to ensure service. The hours of operation are 0730-1530, Monday thru Friday, except the first Thursday of the month when they are closed from 0730 to 1215.
HOUSING:
Abrams Hall - 2793 Hawkins Dr, Ft. Meade, MD, Includes 54 units in family quarters, 191 rooms in bachelor transient quarters, 7 units in units in distinguished visitors' quarters. Reservations are accepted and confirmed 90 days in advance of arrival for TDY and PCS personnel, and seven days in advance for visitors (if space is available).
Bachelor Housing - 32 officer units, 30 senior enlisted units, and 8 centralized barracks units which house 576.
Picerne Military Housing - On-post privatized housing including the following communities: Heritage Park, Midway Common, Meuse Forest, Normandy Bluff, Patriot Ridge, and Potomac Place.
Fort Meade area off-base housing - Free subscription to daily home listings that match your search criteria in nearby Anne Arundel County communities including Crofton, Crownsville, Gambrills, and Odenton. (Information courtesy of Margaret Woda, 301-346-2923).
SCHOOLS:
Maryland schools ranked 3rd in the nation in 2007, so chances are your children will be entering a better school system than the one they left. Anne Arundel County public schools and parochial schools are nearby, and on-post day care is available.
MEDICAL CARE:
Kimbrough Ambulatory Care Center, Fort Meade, MD, (301) 677-8606
Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., (202) 782-350
National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, (301) 295-2273
Malcolm Grow Medical Center, Andrews, AFB, MD, (301) 857-5911
DeWitt Army Community Hospital, Fort Belvoir, VA, (703) 805-0510
PETS:
Family Pet Care Center, located at 5 Range Road, offers boarding, day dare, grooming, training, and pet supplies.
Veterinary Pet Care Center, located at 4550 Parade Field Lane, provides routine pet care for privately owned pets, by appointment.
Relocating with Pets (including a list of Anne Arundel County dog parks and veterinarians)
RECREATION:
Burba Park - Amenities include five picnic pavilions, volleyball courts, softball fields, horseshoe pit, a cottage, a lake surrounded by a blacktop walking path and three fishing piers, and a playground with swings and other equipment.
The Courses at Fort Meade - Two 18-hole courses courses, the Applewood and Parks, and practice facilities including a practice putting green, chipping area and lighted driving range. There's also a clubhouse with fully stocked golf Pro Shop, club storage and repair service, a spacious locker room and meeting space. The dining and lounge facilities offer food and beverage services in a relaxed atmosphere with a great view.
Arts & Crafts Center - Ceramic Shop, Wood Shop and Frame Shop, offering classes in scrapbooking, framing, drawing, painting, ceramics, and other crafts.
Gaffney Fitness Center - Cardio room, training equipment, saunas, sun deck, indoor pool, racquetball courts.
The Lanes - 36 lanes of bowling, a full service Pro Shop (#1 in the Army), and the Pin Deck Cafe.
Camp Meade RV Park -There are fifty camp sites, including three specifically designed for handicap access, and four camper cabins which each sleep six. Rates range from $25-$35 daily for Active/National Guard/Reservists/Retired/DoD civilians, and Environmental Protection Agency employees only. The Fort Meade RV Storage Lot, located at 2724 Ernie Pyle Road, is open on a space available basis to Active Duty, Reserve, Retired, and DoD Civilian personnel and their family members.
SHOPPING:
Commissary - The main commissary is located in the Shopping Center Complex. The Fort Meade Commissary opened in June 1986. Special features are the In-store Service Bakery, Deli Department and Value Mart.
Exchange Services - A large shopping center complex houses the Main Exchange Store and a variety of concessions. These include a beauty shop, barber, shoe repair, jeweler and watch repair, flower shop, tailor service, optical shop, video rental, laundry and food court.
Branch Exchanges, Annexes and Activities - NSA Annex, Building 9810
PXTRA, Building 2790
Trading Post Shoppette: Building 8601
Meade Shoppette, Building 4706
Service Activities - Car Care Center, Building 4587
Military Clothing Sales Store - The Army Military Clothing Sales Store (AMCSS) is located in Building 392. The Uniform Deferred Payment Plan (DPP) and Will-Call are offered.
Post Thrift Shop - Building 2206 (Corner of 1st and Chisolm). Consignments are accepted on Tuesday and Thursday, 9:00AM-12:30PM, from active duty personnel, retirees, family members with valid I.D. cards and civilian employees assigned to Fort Meade. Items of every description from uniforms, clothing, small appliances and furniture are available.
DINING:
Club Meade
The Courses
Pin Deck Cafe
Anthony's Pizza, Building 2790
Dunkin Donuts, Building 2790
Robin Hood, Building 2790
Frank's Franks, Building 2790
Charlie's Steak and Sub Grill, Building 2790
Burger King, Building 2794 (located behind PX)
This information barely touches the surface of what to expect when you arrive at Fort Meade. You'll be near Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Annapolis, and enjoy opportunities to explore all they have to offer in the coming months. Check out my Visitor's Guide to help you plan outings to the many museums, monuments, theaters and concert halls that will bring history and the arts to life for you and your family while you're at Fort Meade.
Thank you for your service to our country! I look forward to having an opportunity to serve you and your family.
As a Navy wife, I experienced several PCS moves myself - not to mention finding, buying and moving my family into a new home while my husband was deployed. I "get" military pay and how the various allowances impact your qualifying to buy a home. And I know how to help military families move into their own home without any cash "up front" - something you cannot do as a renter.
I serve military families throughout the, D.C. - Baltimore - Annapolis area, specializing in Anne Arundel, Howard and Prince George's Counties, Maryland. You can contact me online or by cell/text at 301-346-2923 to help your family relocate to Fort Meade, Andrews AFB, the U.S. Naval Academy, or any other military installation in D.C. or Maryland.
18 Comments on Fort Meade - What to Expect When You Arrive
FEB
10
2008
Margaret~You so inspire me. If I were in the military I would look at this and be in awe of the incredible amount of information that is right before my eyes. You are amazing my friend.
Julie, thank you! This is the kind of information that I always wanted, when my husband got orders. It's already available online, but I wanted to gather as much together in one place as possible.
Katerina. Aren't they cute? There are a lot of young people at Fort Meade, as well as homeland security professionals working on base and in the area for Northrop Grumman, NSA and employers.
Jan, It's a lot of work, but hopefully it will help someone who will, in turn, contact me for help in finding a home.
Sharon, Thank you. I do suspect this will help folks relocating to Fort Meade. I've had 2 ActiveRain consumer contacts today, and I suspect that posts like this are making that happen.
MARGARET - You did such a thorough job on this post. It is clear that you are an expert in military relocations. I'm sure that anyone reading this would appreciate it, as it makes the process of settling in that much easier. Nice post.
Adam, thank you! Relocating to a new place is nerve-wracking, to say the least. The more info you can gather up front, the better! It's so convenient to Crofton thaat we used Fort Meade daycare a few decades ago and we shop there now - even though we were Navy and not Army or stationed there.
Thesa - Thanks much. The information is already available online (that's where I got some of it), but not in one place like this. I just know how stressful moving is, and how helpful I would find it to have so much info together like this.
Mike - Now THAT is funny! Don't know when you were here, but this area is a ball of energy, with so much preparation for so many more people coming this way. 22,000 by 2011!
Gosh, you're good! Awesome. I know the military community is going to LOVE what you are doing. I remember going to visit my husband and being so nervous of the unknown.
The write-up was well thought out and very well written. I have lived on Fort Meade for 7 years, and reading this made me feel great about where I live, and gave me insight to some things I still hadn't discovered. Keep up the great work.
Dawn, I have to chuckle at what you said because putting this together reminded me of some wonderful things about Fort Meade that my family enjoyed many years ago, just living nearby when my husband was deployed and the kid were little. I had to ask my husband why we don't continue to use some of these facilities, now that he's retired. 'Glad you enjoyed it, and hope you'll tell other folks about this and the entire relocation package! When you move on from Fort Meade, be sure to check out the Army PCS Relocation Directory I put together.
Real Estate and community information for homebuyers, sellers, and rookie agents in Bowie, Crofton, Crownsville, Davidsonville, Fort Meade, Gambrills, Odenton, Millersville, and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. Proven systems - combining local expertise, professional experience, and technology - to give you a competitive edge when you buy or sell a home.
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Welcome to Fort Meade and Anne Arundel County Maryland!
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