Exiled on Main Street
The only town in the U.S. surrounded by a military base, Quantico is a Jarhead’s paradise of barbershops and bars. But for its civilian residents, the “Crossroads of the Marines’’ is just a dead end.
Cover Story
Where you headed?”
A sentry stands next to my car, which is idling at the entrance to Quantico Marine Corps Base. A cold March rain drips from his camouflage uniform. He’s one of two armed MPs guarding the gate—manned 24 hours a day—a few hundred yards past a minireplica of the Iwo Jima Monument. Barely old enough to shave, the MPs are empowered to do pretty much whatever the hell they want: stop, search, seize—anything short of firebombing suspicious vehicles. Mostly though, they politely direct visitors around the sprawling Potomac River base, 30 miles south of Washington in southern Prince William County, Va.
There are many answers I could give to the MP’s query: the Snipers’ School; the Drug Enforcement Administration; Marine Corps War
College; the FBI Academy, where Jodie Foster got her anti–serial killer training in The Silence of the Lambs; and the Wargaming and Combat Simulation Division, among many facilities on the 60,000-acre base.
A dozen lies cross my mind, and I’m tempted to blurt, “The Amphibious Warfare School snack bar, sir.” Instead, I tell him the truth,
“Quantico town.”
He doesn’t inquire about the nature of my visit. The base and the town are completely separate, and Quantico town means nothing more to him than a place to drink a beer, cut his hair, or get his uniform cleaned. In fact, he seems almost amused, if that’s possible for an MP standing in the pouring rain. His rigid face remains expressionless, but as he waves me on I detect a slight condescension in his “Have a good day.”... Continued 
Issue of Apr. 5 - 11, 1996
News and Features
- Exiled on Main Street
Cover Story - Republicans Support Gay Rites
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