What should I know about going to Alaska and being in the military?

Bears are faster than humans.

Get engine block heaters for your vehicles.
Your first winter is going to SUCK. After that, 40 degrees will be a heatwave.
Housing has underwent a major reboot at JBER (Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson), I can't say about JBEW (Joint Base Eielson-Wainwright)
The drop zones aren't bad in Alaska. If you aren't Airborne, disregard.
Anchorage is the hub for just about everything in Alaska (Krispy Kreme will (FINALLY) be there in 2016). It's often called "Seattle North."
It's SNOWMACHINES not snowmobiles
The Saturday Market in downtown Anchorage is a MUST!
If you are going to do "murder runs", take battle buddy. (Murder runs are when you immediately leave work to go catch salmon during the late Summer-early Fall and don't come back to work until first formation. Not recommended unless you have that battle buddy.)
Moose are all over the place. DON'T SCREW WITH THE MOOSE!!
Everyone slips on the ice. Only the Cherries turn around to see who's looking at them
And finally...
GET OUT OF THE HOUSE AND SEE ALASKA!! It is beautiful and I wouldn't be surprised if you'll want to "throw your boots over the line" once you do.

Alaska is a great assignment! I am on my second tour here. Your question would be answered better if we knew exactly where, so I will say a little about everything. (I am assuming you are going to Wainwright as it is posted in our group)

Anchorage is great if your going to JBER. Winters are cold enough but not too cold compared to Greely and Wainwright in the interior. There are all of the local amenities there for the family shopping and eating out. There is a great amount of hiking, fishing, and sightseeing near by. The place is downsizing a bit though, military wise. No big secret there. The summers are great there. You wouldn't be too far from Seward and other attractions.

Fairbanks, FT Wainwright, is cold. But the summers have awesome weather comparable to Virginia. So it will be about 85..... all day long.........even at 0300. The people are great here if you choose to make some friends out in the community. Many are odd but good people! We have a small population of 'Slednecks" here. There is a lot of hiking, fishing, and outdoor activities here, but we are a few hours from the Alaska range and Denali. Shopping is alright, but if you want to eat out there are only local restaurants, no chain sit down places. We do have the usual fast food places. That isn't a bad thing in most cases.

Fort Greely is small, Cold, Windy, and has a small population. But the view is amazing as you are right at the mountains! There are few base amenities but you would only be about 2 hours from Ft Wainwright. Seriously it is windy and cold......and you are outnumbered by the moose.

As far as training, no matter where you go we have good training areas and lots of ranges.

So "What should I know about going to Alaska and being in the military?".... Bring your family, have fun, train hard, and know that you can always go to another assignment in a few years and be able to say that you lived where many saved for years to vacation once in their life.

Like Gump said, that's all I have to say about that.

Message me if you have any specific questions, I love to help new people find their way around the process of coming here and can answer a lot of your other questions.