Keesler Air Force Base FamCamp (U.S. Military FamCamp) - Biloxi, Mississippi (May 2024)

This was the third time we camped in Keesler Air Force Base’s FamCamp.  As with the two previous times, Keesler was a convenient location instead of a destination type park. We needed Airstream service on several items and Foley RV/Airstream of Mississippi was less than 20 minutes away from this campground. Camping here allowed us to be at Foley RV in time for an 8 a.m. appointment for Rosie, our Airstream trailer. 

We made a detour while heading to Keesler. Our route passed a few miles from our son's home. We could not be that close and not stop to say hello and to hug everyone. Rosie was blocking one lane of the road in front of his house, so we could not stay too long.

We stopped to see our son and his family while heading to Keesler

We arrived at this campground on a Sunday afternoon. The camp host, who was very helpful and friendly, quickly greeted us and gave us our assigned site. That site was full sun and the next site over had some shade. We asked the camp host if we could move over to the shaded site. He checked and said that it was open until the next day. That was perfect because we planned to leave no later than 7:30 the next morning. 

The office at Keesler AFB FamCamp

A camping neighbor from Battleship Row in Pensacola said that he was heading west and would stop for a few days at Keesler. We rode our bikes around this campground and found his RV. We enjoyed talking to him about things to do around Keesler's FamCamp.

This campground is near Keesler's on-base married housing. They must have been having an outdoor event with a live band that afternoon. Thankfully, the band stopped playing around dinner time.

Rosie at Keesler AFB FamCamp

Enjoying the limited shade at our site

We did not unhitch to speed up the exit process the next morning. All we had to do was take down the water feed and the electrical connection. While doing that the next morning, I started noticing dozens and dozens of "bugs" on Rosie's aluminum exterior skin. I had an idea as to what those bugs were, but I walked over to the camp host's trailer. He was sitting outside and he quickly confirmed what I thought. The bugs were termites and they were swarming. 

I was able to use the hose to rinse the termites off Rosie. 

Our visit to this FamCamp was again very short, but it allowed us to show up on-time for our service appointment at FoleyRV/Airstream of Mississippi in Gulfport.

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• Our site was a pull-thru
• Most sites could be classified as "full sun" as trees were few and far apart. Our site had shade
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with concrete 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 was a bathhouse in the campground 
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 2 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, Bounce, Circle, Court-TV, ION, LAFF and ME-TV
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

Keesler Air Force Base FamCamp (U.S. Military FamCamp) - Biloxi, Mississippi (March 2023)

This was our second time camping in Keesler Air Force Base's FamCamp. The first time we selected this campground because it was close to Foley RV/Airstream of Mississippi and we had a service appointment early the next morning. 

Office at Keesler AFB FamCamp

We reserved here once again because it was convenient. Our original plan was to spend the night in Keesler then head to our destination, which was the rendezvous campground in Louisiana for the Airstream Club's Cajun Caravan. Sure, we could have pushed it and made it to Louisiana in a day, but there were advantages to stopping for a night at Keesler's FamCamp. 

When we made this reservation, the first and best reason was that stopping in Biloxi allowed us to spend a few hour in Mobile to watch our grandson play baseball. 

The second reason is well known among RV'ers. Highways I-10 and I-12 are horrible in Louisiana. Several rivets popped and the leg on our main table broke the last time we drove on those roads. We could not come up with an alternative route, so we decided to take our time and to keep our speed to no more than 55 mph. Stopping for the night in Biloxi meant we could take it easy the next day heading to join the Cajun Caravan. We didn’t need any additional reasons to stop at Keesler for the night. 

Of course, our priorities changed when we discovered we had a problem with Rosie’s hot water heater. (Rosie is what we call our Airstream trailer.) We were able to add an additional day to our Keesler reservation so that we could arrive at Foley RV/Airstream of Mississippi early Monday morning. Once again, our reason for stopping at this campground was to arrive early Monday morning for a service appointment at Foley RV. 

We arrived at Keesler after the office closed for the day. That meant the camp host checked us in and guided us to our site. We appreciated his professionalism and willingness to help extend our reservation for an additional day. 

Rosie in Keesler AFB FamCamp

Our site was intimidating in that there were two trees on either side of the site’s access. To make things more difficult, the rig across the street was too big for that site and spilled over onto the road. 

After several failed attempts to back into our site, a fellow camper walked over and suggested that we go around the campground and enter the site by driving over the grass behind our site. Then he added that most people assigned our site give up trying to back in and park by driving over the grass. We did and it was easy to park Rosie. 

As we we’re setting up Rosie, we noticed an Airstream trailer parked several sites away. It appeared suspiciously as if the people in that trailer were also heading to an Airstream caravan. 

It turns out that we were correct. They were heading to a caravan in Louisiana, but not the one we were heading to. 

We noticed the sounds of several trains that passed near the campground. The train was far enough away that the soft sounds in the distance were pleasant to hear. 

It turned out that Keesler was a good choice for our stop near Foley RV. We were able to arrive at Foley RV a little after 8 a.m. on Monday and they were able to fix our problem. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• Our site was a back in
• Most sites could be classified as "full sun" as trees were few and far apart
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with asphalt and we needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean in Rosie, our Airstream trailer. 
• 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 was a bathhouse in the campground 
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 2 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, Bounce, Circle, Court-TV, ION, LAFF and ME-TV
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

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