Camp Merrill's cadre and their families live in the community. That won't change. The Army does a lot of business with the local community with an estimated economic impact of $9,235,266 annually.

Camp Merrill is home to the 5th Ranger Training Battalion - with Porter Village about 12 miles away in the city of Dahlonega. Douglass said the Army built 40 houses at Porter Village in 1995.

Army officials at Fort Benning, Ga., said that 115 men in the class had moved on to Ranger School’s second phase — mountaineering at Camp Merrill, Ga. — but that eight women and 101 men will ...