Does anybody know what base the Unit Identification Code (UIC) of ALAB is in Alaska?

Better pray for JBRE. Wainwright is in the middle of nowhere and real miserable for seven months a year.

1SG (Join to see) - I disagree. The base that's in the "middle of nowhere" is Ft. Greely, outside of Delta Junction. . . There are two types of servicemembers who get stationed in Alaska: those who really love it and those who really hate it. There is no grey area in between.

My husband, SFC Charles Drushal, USA RET, was stationed at Ft. Richardson in the mid-1980s, when Anchorage had a "home town" feel and Ft. Wainwright/Fairbanks was a remote assignment. Now, Anchorage is more like suburban Seattle. We were both stationed at Ft. Wainwright in the early-1990s. He retired there in 1994. We moved back to Fairbanks after I was injured and medically discharged at Ft. Hood in 1995.

Between Jan 1992 and Jun 2012, we spent approximately 16 years in the Fairbanks/Ft. Wainwright/Eielson AFB area. Fairbanks has the "home town" atmosphere that Anchorage lost. There is a great deal of new construction in town too. The addition of a Walmart after 2000 brought with it a lot of retail stores and restaurants. Fairbanks Memorial Hospital has been adding a great deal of services and state-of-the-art equipment. Fairbanks International Airport built a completely new terminal. Fairbanks also has the hub campus of a state university system. I earned three degrees through that campus and I taught there for seven years.

Ft. Wainwright itself is not nearly as "miserable" and desolate as you make it sound. Since 2000, there has been a whole lot of new construction there too. This includes a lot of new barracks, a new club, a new hospital, a ton of new family quarters, a new MOUT course, and two remodeled hangars.

We were stationed out on Adak in the mid '80s and would hear that city commonly referred to as "Los Anchorage". Best people watching spot was the airport baggage claim area. You would see all types.

CAPT Kevin B. - Wow, Adak. That's remote! . . My son, daughter-in-law and their two (soon, to be three) daughters live in Eagle River. My daughter-in-law is Inupiaq, born and raised in Fairbanks. (Her mother is from the Native Village of Wales.) She was 25 before she ever moved Outside. She lasted four years in Arkansas before moving back to Alaska.