CAMP McGRADY, S.C. — Located in the backwoods outside of Columbia, Camp McCrady was not what I expected.
What I expected was Fort Jackson, a large sprawling Army post which graduates an Army basic training class every week and that 35,000 potential soldiers pass through each year. Instead as we drive through the security gates, I saw an unassuming base centered on a quad where the Navy trains sailors bound for the war zone.
There were no marching soldiers or convoys and the traffic (both afoot and vehicular) was light. For a brief moment, I wondered if we were just passing through, until Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg, my military escort, circled a small building with a giant anchor out front and pulled into a parking spot. The sign said “Expeditionary Readiness Combat Center – NIACT.” I had arrived.
Read more at NavyTimes.com http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2015/11/08/small-navy-outfit-steels-sailors-warzones/73238940/