I am currently on assignment to Fort Bliss for February 2020. UIC is WAEL01. How is it there?

2019-05-29T19:07:16-04:00

Ready to make the best out of this assignment.

Response by SSG Brian G. made May 29 at 2019 9:09 PM

2019-05-29T21:09:16-04:00

If you love Mexican food, are tolerant to heat and the extremes thereof and are not a barracks rat then you are going to love it. It's had a major overhaul and is fantastic.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 29 at 2019 10:00 PM

2019-05-29T22:00:06-04:00

Unbiased Truth:
Bliss is really not that bad. EP has a lot of places to eat and drink. Bad things about EP is that the drivers are by far theeeee worst I have ever encountered. EP is isolated from all the rest of the bigger cities so if something new opens up, be prepared to wait in long lines, for example the Dave and Busters or Cracker Barrel. San Antonio, Dallas and Houston is about 10 hours, California is 10 hours, Phoenix is about 5. EP is very big. The west side is more of the upscale living (sort of), then you have Dyer where it's on the borderline of "ghetto" then you have the far east where all the newer homes are being built. If you live on one side of EP be prepared to be in slow or stuck in traffic to get to the other side. There are sometimes cool events happening, like the beer fest, El Paso Neon desert festival, EP Comic-con etc.. See El Paso 411 website. EP is becoming somewhat up-to-date with things but I think in my opinion still has a lot of work to do but it tries to be current and some people try to be "hoity toity". What makes it really bad to me is that it is literally on the border of Mexico and immigrants and non driving A-holes makes EP look bad and it keeps the some areas looking poor. However, crime is virtually low. It is the lowest in the country per capita but just like everywhere else, there's always crime.
If you're married, expect your spouse to have a hard time looking for a job if s/he doesn't speak Spanish. But by all means, you don't have to know Spanish to get around. If you're single, the women there are hot with a ratio of 4 to 1 of women but use protection. LOL. If you dig motorcycles , EP is a great advocate of motorcycle riding but they don't have many bike rallies for some reason. Barrett Harley is the biggest in the US. Lots of great tattoo shops and gun stores.
School districts are good. Just like anywhere else in the US, you'd just have to see which is right for your kid(s). Weather wise, summers are hot obviously. There are sand storms sometimes and it gets windy too. It does rain but rainy season doesn't last long. Great scenery in the mountains, perfect for a little date night view, especially during a full moon.
If I was to rate the big bad EP aka Hell Paso, I'd say 6.5-7 stars out of 10 because its trying to be better, build newer homes and have great events but the fact that people from Mexico come to EP and ruin everything is why it gets a lower score.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 30 at 2019 5:34 AM

2019-05-30T05:34:13-04:00

I will not re hash what other people said here just point out a few things I left there in 2010. Bliss was in the mist of a huge make over, expecting 2 full BDE last I heard. I. Sure they are there 9 yes later. But The PX, Commissary ,a new Hosp and new housing was being built. Lots of activities. If you choose to or age going to live off post find a place with "refrigerated Air" not a swamp cooler. That was my mistake. Does this place have AC? "Well yes" was the answer. So not true. It doesn't work the same as an actual AC unit and the house is always damp.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 30 at 2019 3:38 PM

2019-05-30T15:38:51-04:00

Ft. Bliss from when I was there (2006-2008) was pretty good. The Mexican food was excellent and the night life was very fun. As someone else stated, the drivers are very bad. Ensure that you have uninsured motorist on your policy. New Mexico has some nice places to visit and there is plenty of outdoor stuff to do if you’re into that. The base is as good or as bad as you make it. Also, be sure to stay away from Juarez. Its probably still off limits and extremely dangerous with the cartels that run that town.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2019 12:58 AM

2019-06-01T00:58:29-04:00

I've been here going on 3 years. It's not bad. Get used to never seeing water, the nearest body of water is like a 2 hour drive. Everything nice and enjoyable is about 2 hours away. The best housing is either about 20 minutes away from post, or on post. Everything else is either overpriced or super old/rundown. The Mexican food isn't as good as people tell you, I actually don't know more than two people that like it. Even people from El Paso say it sucks. If you're lucky you'll not have to spend too much time here, most units spend a lot of their time deployed so you can be "at" FB for 2 years, but only have really been here a few months.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 2 at 2019 1:37 AM

2019-06-02T01:37:48-04:00

Pretty sure that UIC is just the replacement detachment. I could be wrong. Overall, the installation itself is.... unique. Depending on which Bliss you work on, East or West you'll have relatively easy access to Bdubs, Tex Roadhouse, Dennys, Chipotle, etc all at Freedom Crossing/PX. On East Bliss they have another mini PX with the usual food court options. If you work on Far east Bliss by 1st BDE or Divarty, it takes about 15-20 minutes to get to main post depending on traffic. Other than that, Bliss offers easy routes to most of the southwestern US and cheap flights leave out of ELP regularly if road tripping isnt your thing. Hope you enjoy loooong trips to the training areas also, especially Dona Ana and Oro Grande Haha. Overall, it's a good place as long as you keep yourself active in your spare time.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 7 at 2019 3:24 PM

2019-06-07T15:24:57-04:00

I'm actually in Fort Bliss right now. What can i say about it. First of all it is better a ln than a lot of places that I've been before because there is a lot of things to do. Also you should know that Fort Bliss is stretch from Elpaso all the way to New Mexico it is not a bad place to be. I'll take Bliss any day over Hood... since I'm here on ground if you need to ask any specific questions I'll do my best to answer.