Keesler Air Force Base FamCamp (U.S. Military FamCamp) - Biloxi, Mississippi (October 2021)

Our plans changed as they sometimes do. We were supposed to be at Foley RV/Airstream of Mississippi for some warranty work on Rosie, our Airstream trailer’s name, immediately after camping at Topsail. Then we found a rare opening at Grayton Beach State Park. This was one of our favorite campgrounds and we immediately booked that site. We called Foley RV and they kindly rescheduled our service appointment the following week. 

The problem was that we had to leave a Florida State Park on Saturday morning and our service reservation at Foley RV was for the following Monday. We needed a place to camp for two days. 

Experienced RVers know that getting campground reservations along the Florida/Alabama/Mississippi Gulf Coast is never easy especially at the last minute. During our search, we noticed several U.S. Military “FamCamps” that were near Gulfport, Mississippi. It was worth calling to see if they had an opening. 

The sign, such as it was, pointing to the campground 

What is a FamCamp? These are campgrounds operated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for people currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, retired from the military or were diagnosed by the Veterans Administration (VA) with a military service connected disability. In other words, you must have a U.S Military ID or a VA Health ID (VHIC) to get into a FamCamp. 

Campground office

This was our first time camping in a “FamCamp.” I hoped that we would not run into some old drill sergeants who forced everyone to fall out for PT (military slang for physical training or exercising) at 4 a.m. I remembered that PT always ended with a multi-mile run before breakfast. To calm that fear, no drill sergeants were spotted patrolling the campground and I somehow avoided being put on KP. 

Campground rules!

What we did find was an amazing mix of men and women who shared a common bond of serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. There was a different feeling I haven’t felt outside FamCamps. Everyone had a story and it was interesting to listen to the Veterans talk about their service to the nation. 

A group of the campers in the common area

Our original plan was to camp in the Navy's Shields FamCamp, but we would be arriving after the base Pass and ID office closed, so we had to come up with an alternative. Keesler Air Force Base was a few miles down the road and we were able to schedule our check in time, so we switched our reservations from Navy to Air Force. 

Several people talked about the new Keesler AFB FamCamp currently under construction. It sounded as if the new FamCamp would be larger with more than double the number of sites and the individual sites would be much larger than the current campground. That sounded very promising to us. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were two loops in the campground
• Our site was a back in
• Most sites in our loop could be classified as "full sun" as trees were few and far apart. The other loop had some trees
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site had a concrete pad and was level
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• The trash dumpsters were at the entrance of the campground. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There were two bathhouses in the campground. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we did not check on their conditions
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 2 bars of 4G voice and data service over our campsites 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Circle, Ion, Justice and ME-TV
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

As mentioned earlier, this was our first time camping in a U.S. Military FamCamp. We enjoyed the experience and will camp in other FamCamps. 

Rosie, our Airstream's name, in the campground