From the Jacksonville (NC) Daily News:
Organizers for the annual Vietnam Memorial motorcycle run expect a robust turnout this weekend — though the bike ride will be about 20 miles shorter than usual.
Kenji Horn, organizer of the run, said he was told in August that the run would not be permitted to ride through the Camp Lejeune back gate from N.C. 172, across the base, and through the front gate, as it has for the past three years.
Horn said he had to do some fast recalculation.
The motorcycles will begin their run at New River Harley Davidson and finish at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial with a brief ceremony of remembrance.
Since the event can draw up to 800 bikes in good weather, he tries to stay away from secondary roads and keep the route free of U-turns or other complex maneuvers that can tie up traffic or disrupt communities.
“We already had a point A, B and C; and trying to figure out a route that didn’t take us off the main highway was difficult,” he said.
The result: a truncated run of about eight miles, rather than last year’s 25, which will bring riders from New River Harley to the memorial site via U.S. 17 and the N.C. 24 bypass.
1st Lt. Nicole Fiedler, a spokeswoman for Camp Lejeune, said that Base Operations had determined it could no longer support the run.
Fiedler said the base can only accommodate special requests like that for the run if doing so does not affect mission readiness, does not imply endorsement from the base and if all similar requests receive equal support.
“The base can’t offer Vietnam Memorial motorcycle runs to come through and deny all other runs the same thing,” she said.
At the end of last year, Fiedler said, concerns were also raised by the Department of Public Safety about the effects of the run on mission readiness, since military police were posted along the route and the base appointed one of its squad cars as an escort.
Horn said he doesn’t expect the shortened route to detract from the event’s main message.
“It’s not about the ride; it’s about supporting the memorial,” he said. “I think everybody pretty much just enjoys the getting together and supporting it. We always have good food and good prizes; it’s pretty much a good time.”
"One" squad car, and an unknown numbe of MP's along the route. How long is that route? I haven't measured it, but I'd guess about 12, or so, miles.
Wonder what else these MP's will be doing to maintain a "state of readiness" since they won't have to stand a post for that 20 minute ride.
This goes under the "you've gotta be kiddin' me" category.
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