Can someone tell me about their experience at Fort Lewis?

JBLM is beautiful and the weather often sucks. But, the incredibly beautiful summer makes up for the overcast other nine months of the year. It’s definitely one of the best posts I’ve been to, and this is my second time. The first time was in the 90s and as a young soldier living in the barracks, compared to now as a parent owning a home, both experiences are very different but good.
If you’re married and the sole income, at your rank you will want to live on post. Houses usually rent for $1500-2000 a month here and they will require first month, last month rent, and a month rent security deposit. Plus there’s utilities. That’s a lot for any E4 to come up with. When I moved here I had to take out a loan to cover the cost of moving in until my DLA got paid.
There’s tons to do here. I’ve been to other posts that have a small town nearby or everything around there is focused on the Army. Not here. You can drive five minutes in any direction and be surrounded by people who aren’t Army. There is culture, music, comedy clubs, art, mountains, water, fishing, mountain biking, hiking trails, and any other thing you might be into, whether it’s indoors or outdoors.

The weather does suck. I arrived here from Okinawa in May. Everywhere else I’ve been stationed, May is when your winter clothes go away. So we arrived here in T-shirts and it was 55 degrees. It’s usually chilly enough at night to need a light jacket. It is frequently overcast when it’s not summer, and when it’s overcast it’s chilly and wet. But when it’s sunny you can see for miles. You can see the Olympic mountains about 50 miles away, and Mount Rainier looks almost close enough to walk to on a sunny day.

As for the units, experiences vary. My first time here was in the 75th Ranger Regiment. It was fun and I loved it. I came back two years ago and went to a Stryker Brigade and everyone hated it. They were constantly either gone at training or playing OPFOR or supporting another unit at training. If you’re in the 555, I don’t know what it will be like for you.

It's been a few years, but I was at JBLM for my residency. JBLM consistently ranks among the most requested posts in the Army. You're located just south of downtown Tacoma, with Olympia and Seattle each just short drive up the road. If you enjoy the outdoors, it's hard to beat. Beautiful mountains that have some of the best skiing or snowboarding in the country, lakes and inland waterways for fishing, boating, great hunting, great hiking, and you can easily take weekend trips out to the coast or down to Portland. During the summer months, the weather is perfect. That first day you wake up and see Mt. Rainier in the distance is pretty amazing...then you can go hike some of it if you want. The rest of the year can be kind of dreary. It is often gray and rains a lot. A light, drizzle type rain usually. And being between the mountains, it doesn't snow as often as it does out east, but you'll still get snow. Food is great, especially if you like seafood.

The post itself is pretty nice. I can't tell you much about on-post housing except that I always heard good things. Someone else might have more useful information on that. And the units there all have good reputations, but I'm medical, so someone in the engineering career would be more helpful to you for that info as well.

I'd go back. Great quality of life there and tons to do.

I’m a reservist, who happens to be a native of the Portland area just a couple hours down the road, and JBLM is home for me in the Army. 12 years I’ve been on/around base, and it is spectacular. If you are outdoorsy, you’ll find Washington has almost anything you can do outdoors. And a couple hours away is Portland and the Columbia River Gorge. If you prefer to be around people, the base is literally surrounded by small and large communities, Seattle is an hour away, Tacoma and Olympia are closer, and as I said, Portland is 2 hours south.

The downside, as has already been mentioned, there are only 2 seasons, summer and rain. Typically the only way you can tell winter has come is the rain gets colder. But summer is what makes that side of the Cascades worth it.