fort hood recreation area

Fort Hood Recreation Area - From I-35, take US-190 west to Loop 121 (less than a mile) North through the one stop light at the northwest high school. Turn left (west) at this light onto Sparta rd and follow this road for 5 miles, you will cross the cattle guard to FT Hood. Continue straight for another 2 miles and turn right onto Cottage rd at the Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area sign

My family camped here for memorial weekend. We ended up near the entrance gate with full hitches for our trailer. Where we are doesn't matter where we are. The only thing I wish is that the place could be better maintained. The playground has grass and long grass growing inside the playground. The trees around…

Fort Hood Recreation Area

The accommodation is good, but the small bathroom needs to be renovated. The place is family and singles friendly. Some campers are very polite.

Controlled Burns On Fort Hood To Generate Smoke

The campsite is beautiful. We pitched our tent by the water in section 3 and the whole site to ourselves. The lake is perfect for boating and has a beautiful view at sunset.

The toilet is so far away that we have to drive every now and then and it doesn't rain, so this… Fort Hood, Texas, Oct. 19. (Photo Credit: Blair Dupre, Fort Hood Public Affairs) ORIGINAL VIEW

FORT HOOD, Texas - Soldiers of the 36th Engineer Brigade conducted a blasting project that benefited Fort Hood and the Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area, while blasting the BLORA water park here, Oct. 19 and Nov. 4.

The BLORA water park, opened in 1986, has been inactive since 2017. The 36th Engineer Brigade removed the water park that was not in use, in order to include training time and open space for additional possibilities in the recreation area.

Make A Difference

"Having the soldiers do this saves the III Corps and the MWR (Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare & Recreation) a lot of money. Those funds can be turned by the MWR into other things that not only benefit the soldiers and their families, but also the people in the area. If so, it's like paying, not just for our unit, but for all the people who live here," Capt. Jared Whitaker, 937th Clearance Company, 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Bde., said.

He added, "Besides, it's a good opportunity to train the company's soldiers." Leaders get training in project management because, at the end of the day, it's still a construction project. Our machine operators get a lot of time to stay with the machine and understand what it takes to achieve this type of goal where we have to move a lot of land. When we break concrete, we use tools that have not been used for a long time because they have a specific plan. Our combat engineers get a chance to score and make a rare charge. So, there are different types of training for every job in the company. "

Soldiers from the 36th Engineer Brigade install a water slide with detonation cables at the Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area at Fort Hood, Texas, Nov. 4. The water park opened in 1986, but has not been used since 2017. (Photo Credit: Blair Dupre, Fort Hood Public Affairs) FIRST VIEW

The planning process began in July with the unit looking at safe detonation distances, hazardous areas and determining the right type of explosives for the job.

Mt. Hood National Forest

"We will go down two slides, each 120 feet long. To achieve the desired effect of cutting the slide into 10-meter sections for easy removal, we will use linear flexible charges made of detonation wire," said 1st Lt. Ben Lessard, 36th Engineer Bde., explains. "To do this safely, we calculate the minimum safe distance and explosive weight to stay within the approved window."

There are many challenges to the months-long process of pulling off a water park, from planning to execution, but at the end of the day, it's worth doing.

"This project is probably the company's flagship and important for the team this year, in my opinion. It's the biggest job we've done in a long time and probably one of the most unique things that Soldiers will do or have done. First day it's really hard and I don't think all the companies have done a very good job of it right now. Getting everybody out here with different (different) technologies," Whitaker said. "You have the 12B combat engineers who specialize in explosives demolition and you've got the earth-shattering work done by the 12N machine operators. The Survey and Design Division of our Headquarters Company has been helping this project from the start.

The captain said that the soldiers quickly took to the program and, while the work was great, he was happy to see the progress of the soldiers.

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A large explosion caused a water slide at the Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area during a demolition project for the 36th Engineer Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas, Nov. 4. (Photo Credit: Blair Dupre, Fort Hood Public Affairs) ORIGINAL VIEW

"It's great to see leaders and young soldiers in the company participating in a mission like this and the company as a whole, coming together to complete this incredible mission. It's good to see the company leading the way," he said. "They see this as an opportunity to learn and show their skills. I have noticed that our NCOs (non-commissioned officers) have found this a great opportunity (to step up). Especially if someone can't go out on a certain day or has received something else that had to be handled administratively back to the company. (He) showed, not only the platoon leader, but to me, the first sergeant, and the troop that he was an outstanding NCO.

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