Where should I go for my next duty station?

2023-05-01T15:30:15-04:00

Let me start off by saying that I am an 11B SSG with 10 years in, I'm married with four children and currently serving as a Drill Sergeant over here at Fort Jackson. My choices are Riley, Bliss, Hood, Drum, JBLM, Stewart, Campbell, Bragg, Korea, Polk, McDill, Myer, and Germany. I have been to JBLM and Carson before arriving in Jackson so I have done Stryker and BFV I would not mind Stryker and would tolerate BFV. I can say that I did not like JBLM or Carson but in reality, it was due to those units I was in, no deployments but trained so much as I have gotten older I am under the realization that no deployments are coming my way but that doesn't mean I can't be a good NCO. I am attempting to go to 51C but either way, I am ready to get back into FORSCOM, third year was not a smart decision. If there is anyone who is familiar with these locations please be sure and let me know yay or nay. Thanks

Response by SSG William Jones made May 1 at 2023 3:50 PM

2023-05-01T15:50:06-04:00

Fort Campbell would be a great choice in my opinion. It's close to Nashville, and Clarksville is a fairly good size place. Hopkinsville (KY) is also close but not as much to offer as Clarksville. Had basic and AIT at Polk in 1969, and the only place close by was Leesville aka Disease Villegas! Probably a lot has changed since then. You didn't mention Knox, and my memories of it (and Jackson) are nothing to be excited about... okay, I guess.

Response by COL Randall C. made May 1 at 2023 4:06 PM

2023-05-01T16:06:28-04:00

If you're not familiar with a base, I would suggest you visit the Military Installation page* on Military One Source. This will at least get you started with the demographics information, key population centers around it, a little bit of history and a number of "you should know this if you are being stationed here" items.

Another place that has good information is Millie*. Note: this is geared towards hooking you up with real estate agent, but it has a lot of great information about the posts for you and your family as well as allowing you to connect up with "scout" who are military spouses who's significant other works at the base (kind of a "contact-an-informal-sponsor" type thing).
-----------------------------------------------
* https://installations.militaryonesource.mil/
* https://www.gomillie.com/

MilitaryINSTALLATIONS: U.S. DOD Military Base & Installation Info

Find location, program or service and contact information for U.S. Department of Defense's installations, military bases, and state and federal resources.

Response by CPT Robert Madore made May 1 at 2023 4:19 PM

2023-05-01T16:19:36-04:00

I was stationed at Ft Bliss in '73. It is a great location for exploring the mountains and surrounding areas. I resigned my commission there, so can't say much for the command structure as a lot of officers were coming out of the supply closets, never having served in a war zone, trying to reinvent the wheels of war.
Perhaps the command has changed but it was inhabited by the 3rd Cav, which had the mentality of the Civil War Cavalry at the time I was there as a two-tour Vietnam helicopter pilot serving as the communications officer.
It is a wonderful place to explore with your kids and hunt for Poncho Villa's gold.

Response by SFC Casey O'Mally made May 1 at 2023 4:37 PM

2023-05-01T16:37:16-04:00

Spent a night at Hood visiting friends on a cross country trip. Have literally never heard a single good thing about it, and my night there did not change that outlook. I can't really claim full knowledge, though.

My knowledge of Polk comes from multiple JRTC rotations. Not a huge fan of the environment there, but I am sure things are different for permanent party, so not a lot of help there, either.

I did 3 years in Germany, and it was awesome. But they have changed pretty much everything since I was there, so I have no idea what to tell you. I still hear good things, and Bavaria is guaranteed to still be beautiful if you get stationed down there or can visit. Plus, travel throughout Europe is nice. Get your passport now!

I spen a week at Bliss on two separate occasions. Meh. Not good, not bad. Ups and downs. Of course, I obviously did not have the full Bliss experience. But there are definitely worse places to be.

Bragg... oof. They are their own world. You will love it or hate it. I was only there for a few days for a competition. I hated it. But I hear a ton of folks who can't wait to get back.

I can tell you next to nothing about Riley, Korea, JBLM, Stewart, MacDill, or Myers. Which leaves....

Drum. It is flipping COLD. Like trees EXPLODE cold. Like, "I'm sorry, it is too cold to run a truck, you have to stay in the field an extra 24 hours" cold. It is also more or less in the middle of nowhere. Which is a blessing and a curse. If you like outdoorsy stuff - hunting, hiking, fishing, skiing, etc. - you'll love it. If you like high society culture - museums, theater, music, etc. - or even grunt culture - strip clubs, bars, and gun shows - you'll hate it. NYC is 6-7 hours away, so you CAN get to the high society stuff, but it is tough. Syracuse is a little over an hour to the south, and Kingston is a little over an hour to the north - in Canada. Both can feed your grunt culture, but driving back an hour to an hour an a half after a night on the town ain't fun. And is expensive as hell for an Uber. Drum, more than any other place I have been is a "what you make of it" post. It has the potential to be the best place you have ever been or the worst. AND.....

Campbell. I literally have nothing bad to say about the place. Clarksville is a great town - and growing (which MAY be a bad thing if you don't like cities). Nashville is an hour away and has a surprising variety of entertainment - from clubs, to museums, to sports (NHL, NFL, MLS, minor league baseball, and an SEC school), to the music scene, and more. And some seriously good eats, too. Campbell's support staff (finance, MWR, DEERS, AAFES, even CIF) treat the Soldiers (and families) like VALUED CUSTOMERS instead of the normal treatment like you are interrupting their more important work. They have a large veteran community - and growing (myself included) because the surrounding area has embraced them. Great place to live, great place to work, great place to retire. I was planning on retiring near Knox - own a home there and everything. Then I got stationed here and, well......

Hope that is at least mildly helpful.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made May 1 at 2023 4:40 PM

2023-05-01T16:40:42-04:00

Many years back,

Bragg was a good place, I was there in 1972/74/75, HY-95 would take you anywhere on the east coast, Key West Florida, to Maine lobsters.
The DMZ Korea was great 1973, if you like being in a hostel fire zone, being there was a deferent attitude of thinking, then, being in a mainland post. That's what I liked the most, a combat way of thinking, being 11 Bravo.
Good thing about Bragg, if you want to go SF, it's right there at Smoke Bomb Hill, as well as, if you like to run.
One of the best SSG I've met and known, was a veteran in the 101st Inf in the Nam, he sure knew his stuff, and then some. Great teacher of the field, and survival for his men under his command. That's him, on the right in my picture, with me at his 6, he was 2nd squad leader, but everyone wanted to be under his command. That's how much respect he got, from others, being such a good leader.
The 4th squad leader was nicked name, "Sweet heart", not our nick name, but the SF training staff in Panama gave that nick name to him, no one wanted to be under his command.

49 years later, he still lingers in my thoughts, as a great leader of men, in the infantry. Don't remember his name anymore, but that's how it was then, you didn't keep names, you just knew if they were good solders or not. Oh, yeah, his first name was "Staff Sargent", that's all what was needed then, we would follow him to hell and back.

So, I gave you a fine example of a good SSG, and the worst SSG, it's all up to you.

"All the Way"

Response by 1SG Frank Boynton made May 1 at 2023 6:18 PM

2023-05-01T18:18:29-04:00

Are they now giving Drills a choice of duty stations as they come off the trail? If they are it’s about time. I completed 3 years on the trail in 1984. They didn’t give us a choice.

Response by 2LT Brian L. made May 1 at 2023 7:17 PM

2023-05-01T19:17:53-04:00

I would strongly vote Germany. You are already familiar with Stryker's so why not go shine there? Also, you and your family get paid to live in Europe. Your family will love the experience.

Response by Maj Kim Patterson made May 1 at 2023 7:28 PM

2023-05-01T19:28:29-04:00

SSG Private RallyPoint Member have the children ever been overseas? Fort Riley is huge but it’s fairly close to Kansas City and Lawrence so ther are lots of options for day trips.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 1 at 2023 10:51 PM

2023-05-01T22:51:47-04:00

Germany

Response by SPC James Neidig made May 2 at 2023 1:55 AM

2023-05-02T01:55:56-04:00

My Son Was Stationed At Hunter Airfield Which Is Part Of Ft Steward Command And I Lived In The Area For About 2 Years, There Are A lot Of Recreation Activities Around The Area You Have Fresh And Salt Water All Around If You Like Fishing And Boating, There Are Beaches Close By, Lots Of Hunting Areas Around, Great Southern Food And Housing Off Post Is Not That Expensive , Plus It’s Not That Far Of A Drive To Florida For All The Recreational Activities There ,
My Son Loved It So Much When He Retired He Stayed In The Savannah Area.
Ft Bliss Is On The Border In The Middle Of Desert I Was Stationed At Bliss For 2 Months For Advanced Driver Training And Couldn’t Wait To Get Back To Ft Irwin , Go Figure But It Was That Bad, My Wife’s Cousin Lives In El Paso And Is Selling Their House Because It Has Gotten So Bad In The Current Environment There With All The Illegal’s Streaming Across The Border, The Crime Rate Has Soared And Car Theft And Burglaries Increased Tremendously In The Past 2 Years, Plus Not A Whole Lot To Do With Families In The Area.
At Ft Irwin You Are A Few Hours Drive From Vegas And The Beaches Around Los Angeles And Lots Of Family Recreational Activities In California.

Response by CPT Lawrence Cable made May 2 at 2023 5:45 AM

2023-05-02T05:45:32-04:00

I liked Germany, Warner Barracks, Bamberg, but I haven't been there since the early 90's. The only downside to Ft. Campbell is that the 101st deployment schedule used to be very busy, so you spent a lot of time other places. Haven't followed their recent activities. Oh, and a lot of the base facilities are relatively new, a lot of it built since 2001.
Riley is out in the middle of nowhere. Nothing bad about the base, but nothing thrilled me about it either.
Warner Barracks closed, but I would still recommend Europe.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made May 2 at 2023 6:27 AM

2023-05-02T06:27:21-04:00

Wow my friend you put down alotvof options. I recommend you follow the Col thought and visit the homepages for each. Narrow a bit in your own, check schools kids programs, daycare etc.

I am biased Germany isba Gem, but also has its drawbacks. Great travel and vacationing, great schools, Stryker is happening and a riatation/deployment to Poland or other is likely. Training is full spectrum, not only roll out the gate for training, but including all aspects of vehicle/equipment prep. Raul planning and management all while training for a rotation. Graf is out the gate from the MP and HTA is a rail away.

There are literally hundreds of sites and activities within hours drive making for awesom family weekends and Vacas.

The food, the culture, the beauty of it all. You can stay in the Alls at a military rate and enjoy summer and winter fun.

Anyway, do sone more homework.

Response by SFC Marc W. made May 2 at 2023 4:57 PM

2023-05-02T16:57:54-04:00

I don't know a lot of your career goals or what skills you have (airborne, air assault, ranger etc), but with that:
Honestly, Germany was a dream for travel, but if you don't intend to travel around, probably not worth dragging everyone out there for 3 years.
If you're focused on training and progressing, 10th Mtn at drum is great for that; they also have a great pre-ranger program if that's on your list. Plus adds light infantry time to your experience. There is still plenty to do up there, despite what people say. Canada is 30 minutes away, and Syracuse is 1.5 hours.
I enjoyed Korea, but again travel. I also feel like your career would stagnate a bit unless you took on civilian education, no real military schooling out there.
Bragg would get you some airborne time, always looks great on the ERB plus jump master will boost you moving forward as well. Also a good pre-ranger program.

Those are the ones I have personal experience with, and the best I can give you for a short list of things to think about.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made May 2 at 2023 10:44 PM

2023-05-02T22:44:20-04:00

I was in Germany back in 08'-10', pre-family. I have four kids now as well, would love to go back. Get paid to live in Europe, there's lot of fun to be had. Can't speak to the unit climate though, been too long.

Just came from Campbell. Worked with everyone except the armor guys. I can tell you there are no good times in that division. You'll meet plenty of great NCOs, you'll get plenty of high-profile missions, but you will face task saturation, mission-creep, weak/selfish leadership, and some of the craziest/dumbest decisions ever made by Joe and Jane. If you're synced up with the line units, you will spend a lot of time in the field.

Schools on post at Campbell we're good. My kids had great teachers.

Response by MAJ Byron Oyler made May 2 at 2023 10:49 PM

2023-05-02T22:49:24-04:00

Places I have been stationed on your list and how I would rank them: Germany, Bliss, Hood, and Korea. Bliss comes out ahead of Hawaii and is a hidden gem. It has a ton of outdoor options to include playing on BLM land and heading to the mountains 1.5hours north. Grew up in KS near Riley and did NG rotations there as a teen. I would have done Riley if given the chance. Lewis is beautiful and reminds me of Germany. All the craft beer there really makes me think of Belgium. Attached to the 10th in Afghanistan and could not stand them. I started life as a 91B medic in an engineer bn and have more than a few nights sleeping under the stars in Central America. Stateside Bliss has been the best location for my family and I. Huge youth wrestling there and so much for your children to do. Get the wife involved with family support groups, gives her a great social outlet and being senior in my unit (SR rated by brigade level) I often found her knowing as many or more of the senior folk than I did. Made the social events so much more enjoyable for both. My wife was on a first name basis with two of my O-6 raters' wifes.

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made May 4 at 2023 1:43 PM

2023-05-04T13:43:51-04:00

I was stationed at McDill for 3 years. Base is nice and facilities are good for you and family. Very limited on base housing. You’ll probably want to live north or east of Tampa. Small towns and suburbs are good but can be expensive. Anticipate a 45 min to 1.5 hr commute. McDill has mostly joint headquarters and one USAF flying wing. Not sure what E6 in your MOS would do. Maybe staff job at CENTCOM.

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2023 2:07 PM

2023-05-09T14:07:02-04:00

Good Afternoon SSG Private RallyPoint Member. Personally, I would look up each location with your wife and see the pros and cons of each such as housing, schooling, civilian jobs (for spouse if applicable), etc. That is what my wife and I did when I got my list of potential next assignments. The first thing we did was rule out any locations we knew that we didn't want to go immediately. I hope that helps. Good luck.

Response by MSG Donald Montgomery made May 19 at 2023 2:46 AM

2023-05-19T02:46:05-04:00

go oversea enjoy a littl;e go to hI

Response by SGT Ruben Lozada made May 19 at 2023 4:42 PM

2023-05-19T16:42:26-04:00

Good afternoon SSG Private RallyPoint Member. Excellent post. Thank You for sharing this.

Response by SGT Ruben Lozada made Jun 20 at 2023 5:55 PM

2023-06-20T17:55:21-04:00

Good afternoon SSG Private RallyPoint Member. Excellent post. Thank You for sharing this. The posts that You have mentioned I have heard of. Only posts that I'm familiar with are Ft. Knox a I was stationed there from 2010-2013 when I used to be an 11Bravo and that's when 3/1 BCT used to be there.I think they either relocated to Campbell or Riley, as I can be incorrect here. But, I have visited Ft. Stewart as 3rd ID is there (AKA Broken TV patch). I'm familiar with Ft. Moore (Previously Benning as I went to OSUT there). I have been to Ft. Polk for training and didn't like it there. I would have to say Germany.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 20 at 2023 6:48 PM

2023-06-20T18:48:04-04:00

Ft. Bliss is your best choice. Mountains within the city limits with over 100 miles of trails for mountain biking or hiking. The food is fantastic and the people are awesome. No better place to be

Response by SGT Preston J made Aug 14 at 2023 2:09 PM

2023-08-14T14:09:00-04:00

Stay away from Fort Hood now Cavasos because you can google the problem they have there. Campbell is a good place to go if you want to always be training, and be in the field plus you will 100% go to Air Assault school if you do not have it, and as a SSG you better pass it first time (it is not hard idc what anyone says). Fort Stewart I was there rom 2011-2013 coming from Campbell so long time ago, and they were 100% by the book there, and this was with deployments going on. I have friends from high school who have been in the Army almost 20 years who have 3 kids and have been in Germany since 2020 also 11 series and they love it because they can travel around in their off time to other countries. I would take Germany if you, and your wife want the kids to experience a part of the world on the government dime, but do not go there with a ton of consumer debt. However, if your goal is to become a 51C contracting NCO I would do whatever it takes to get into that first then make my move because with that MOS you can go all over the world then when you get out of the Army any defense contractor or government agency will pick you up after retirement starting at 100k plus if you have your last 10 years or more of experience in that job. As to the rest I can not speak to them personally other than I did JRTC rotations at POLK and I would stay away, Korea doesn't sound too kid friendly, JBLM everyone enjoys but its a HCOL area, and Carson seems to be a fan favorite but also a HCOL. great options, and I hope this message didnt find you too late as I did now know I even had a RP account.