The Fort Gordon Compatible Use Study (FG-CUS) Implementation is a collaborative planning effort among a variety of regional stakeholders to identify and address compatible use and communication with and around Fort Gordon, Georgia. The purpose of FG-CUS is to implement key recommendations from the 2019 Fort Gordon / Central Savannah River Area Joint Land Use Study to prevent encroachment, improve agency communication and determine extent of nighttime artificial illumination. This planning effort is funded by a grant from the Department of Defense Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation and by contributions from the local CUS sponsor, Central Savannah River Area Regional Commission (CSRA-RC) – a public sector, non-profit planning and development agency that serves a 13-county region in the eastern portion of Central Georgia.

Compatibility, in relation to military readiness, is the balance and/or compromise between community and military needs and interests. The goal of compatibility planning is to cultivate an environment in which both entities can coexist successfully. The specific planning goals of this FG-CUS effort are:

The FG-CUS is important to protect the long-standing, and continued presence of Fort Gordon in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA). As the region’s largest employer, the Fort is critical to the regional economy, generating 31,874 military, civilian, and contractor jobs, another 63,748 indirect jobs, and $2.4 billion in annual economic impact. The FG-CUS serves to reinforce the close relationship between military and civilian communities as well as implement measures to prevent or mitigate incompatible development that could negatively affect Fort Gordon’s continued regional presence and economic impact in the future.

In addition to the economic impact above, area school districts receive over $1.2M annually in impact aid from the U.S. Department of Education to compensate for federal employees who do not pay property or Georgia state taxes because they live in government housing or are out-of-state residents. To learn more about the economic impact of Fort Gordon, click here.

Similarly, Fort Gordon service members and civilian employees enjoy the region’s great quality of life, benefiting from access to amenities found in large metropolitan areas, but without the congestion and high cost of living. This interdependence, however, poses the challenge that is central to this collaborative effort.

The FG-CUS can directly benefit both the military and surrounding region by:

• Protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public and of military personnel;
• Preserving long-term compatibility between military installations and the surrounding communities to support existing and future; military operations;
• Sustaining the economic vitality of local communities;
• Enhancing communication and coordination between military installation and community officials and staff; and
• Providing tools that support informed decision-making.

Fort Gordon is home to the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence (CCoE) and is a large, multi-mission, multi-service military installation providing base services and support across a spectrum of training, operational and Service Member sustainment needs. The installation supports Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Department of Defense personnel performing world-wide missions that include communications training and operations, military intelligence, cyber operations, medical and dental care, force integration and mobilization.