Quantico outlines future projects, challenges for current, transitioning Marines

Quantico Marine Corps Base is a buzz with activity as the small city of 26,000 people continues to build for the future.

During a community briefing on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2022, Base Commander Col. Michael Brooks and his staff provided details on a new wargaming training center, water treatment plant, visitor control, and child development centers, to name a few.

The Marine Corps Wargaming Activity Center is a 100,400-square-foot facility with classrooms and conference center space that will train Marines for battlefield combat. The simulations produced at the center will offer Marines a glimpse of future working environments.

Construction is expected to wrap up in July 2023 after about two and a half years of work.

A new water treatment plant will replace a 104-year-old facility dating back to the first days of the Marine Corps Base. The project will increase the base’s water capacity to five million gallons daily. The base is also responsible for providing water to Quantico town, the only civilian village located within the confines of a military base in the U.S.

Work on a new visitor control center will begin in Spring 2023. The 3,400-square-foot facility will be used to check in visitors and inspect trucks.

In January 2020, Quantico, along with military installations across the U.S., tightened base access policies after a U.S. airstrike killed Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian military commander. Instead of showing a state or military ID, irregular visitors must complete a multi-pronged sign-in process and be accompanied by a government sponsor while on base.

Once open to the public during the years leading up to the airstrike, the officers club is now restricted to military personnel.

A new child development center will replace the base’s existing school and will sit near base housing and the base’s main gate. Construction will be complete in 2026.

Col. Brooks stressed the need for childcare during the brief, stating the service is critical to Marines and their families.

The base will also open a new fire station west of Interstate 95 later this fall. The new station will allow fire crews to improve response times, getting them to seven minutes or less.

Quantico fire crews also help in surrounding counties like Prince William and Stafford. So far, emergency services crews from the base have responded to more than 1,700 calls for “mutual aid” assistance to surrounding jurisdictions. Last year, the base received nearly 2,200 calls for mutual aid.

While the base commander is working to improve the installation, he’s also focused on helping Marines leave the Corps and transition to civilian life. On average, nearly 150 people a month begin their transition from serving at Quantico to looking for a job outside the military.

A survey conducted between January and August 2022 showed a majority of those leaving plan to remain in the Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. areas. Brooks encouraged the local government officials to continue working with the base to find job opportunities for transitioning Marines.

Quantico works with local chambers of commerce, police departments, libraries, and others to help Marines find work.

For Marines still on the job, housing continues to pose challenges for servicemembers and their families. There are enough houses on base for just 20% of the 6,500 Marines who serve aboard Quantico. The percentage is based on a U.S. Government study.

The majority of Quantico families living off base face a shortage of single-family homes, which many desire, base officials said. Families are forced to look at posh, expensive apartments surrounding the base, some of which are out of reach for military families.

Officials added that the homes.mil website has helped some families headed toward Quantico find housing before moving to the area.

There are 27 tenant commands at Quantico, from Officers Candidate School, which trains new officers, to weapons training, cyber operations, the Marine Corps Air Facility, and the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), supporting nearly 46,000 jobs.

Overall, Quantico injects $5.88 billion into the region’s economy. The base considers the counties of Fairfax, Fauquier, Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania, and the cities of Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park in its economic region of influence.