When it comes time I plan to request station in Texas. Whats your opinion on Fort Hood & Fort Sam Houston?

Austin McEwin — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 10:17:16 -0500

Response by LTC John Griscom made Dec 20 at 2020 11:01 AM

LTC John Griscom — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 11:01:41 -0500

San Antonio is a great place to be. So much to do. Never been to Fort Hood, but lately, the news has not been good.

Response by CPL Hayward Johnson made Dec 20 at 2020 11:17 AM

CPL Hayward Johnson — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 11:17:05 -0500

Ha ha just kidding

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 20 at 2020 11:35 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 11:35:10 -0500

It really all depends what’s available and what your job will be. Many jobs don’t come to fort Sam Houston. I would focus on a station of choice once you have made it through and are eligible for a assignment of choice. You have years until you hit that milestones.

Response by MAJ Javier Rivera made Dec 20 at 2020 11:38 AM

MAJ Javier Rivera — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 11:38:12 -0500

When it comes to quality of life, San Antonio. Now, requesting and getting station there is a different issue and it depends:
1. MOS
2. Rank
3. Needs of the Army (special emphasis)

Response by SFC Kelly Fuerhoff made Dec 20 at 2020 12:10 PM

SFC Kelly Fuerhoff — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 12:10:34 -0500

You've got quite awhile, if you get through IET, where you can get duty station of choice. I got it at my second reenlistment. Just saying.

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Dec 20 at 2020 1:29 PM

Lt Col Jim Coe — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 13:29:09 -0500

Personally I'd say Ft Sam. San Antonio was a very good place to live a couple of decades ago and I hope it still is. Military friendly. Large retired population. Lots to do and see in the city and surrounding area. Good climate overall--hot in summer. Very good military facilities, BX/PX, commissaries, MWR, etc. You'll need a car to get around.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 20 at 2020 1:29 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 13:29:28 -0500

Fort Hood has its moments like any other base or post I’ve been to. Obviously, Fort Hood has more eyes on it but it’s in the middle of Texas and allows your to go venture out and see other cities. In my opinion, it’s not that bad. Could be a lot worse.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 20 at 2020 2:08 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 14:08:30 -0500

Only a handful of MOS's are able to go to Fort Sam Houston. It's a moot point though, your branch manager will send you wherever they need you, and that's not going to be Fort Sam.

Further down the road if you decide to stay in, you can reenlist for a duty station of choice, but unless you're MI or a handful of medical MOS's you aren't going there.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Dec 20 at 2020 2:09 PM

CSM Darieus ZaGara — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 14:09:33 -0500

It largely depends on your MOS.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 20 at 2020 5:31 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 17:31:07 -0500

You have Ft Bliss as an option too

Response by SSgt Christophe Murphy made Dec 20 at 2020 5:51 PM

SSgt Christophe Murphy — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 17:51:57 -0500

You overestimate your ability to weigh in on where you want to end up. Entry level contracts are T the whim of needs of the service unless you have a contract that specifies something else

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 20 at 2020 6:52 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 18:52:19 -0500

As someone who’s been and currently stationed at Fort Hood for 4 years, I highly advise to look elsewhere in Texas when you reenlist for choice of duty station. Toxicity is everywhere. Soldiers missing and dying. Not to mention the mistreatment of lower enlisted. Soldiers are racially profiled, sexually harassed or assaulted and constantly talked down to or treated lesser. Females are treated poorly, and if you are a male who treats females as equals, you are also laughed or made fun of. The surrounding city of Killeen, Harker Heights and Copperas cove are terrible with a bad crime rate. Just a bad place to be at. Living quarters on post are poor and moldy, also rodent infested. Not sure if you’re married but my wife and I live in off post housing and the quality is very poor. Rodents constantly running in the walls and everything seems to break every month or so. Maintenance doesn’t help at all.

Response by PO1 Robert Ryan made Dec 21 at 2020 5:44 PM

PO1 Robert Ryan — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 17:44:52 -0500

i am not on active duty nymore, (Retired),. I utilize the facilities at Fort Sam, and BAMC. I live in onverse, TX very close to both. Fort Sam has some really good facilities. When I was on active duty, Medics were trained at Fort Sam. Now I believe they are a combined service training for Army medics, Navy Corpsman, Coast Guard Medical, and Air Force Medics. BAMC has all the services serving there. Can't go wrong with Fort sam.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Dec 22 at 2020 7:18 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 19:18:20 -0500

Generally speaking if a post has multi-layers of flag poles the tempo will be much higher. Ft Hood will generally have a much higher tempo.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 24 at 2020 5:50 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 17:50:27 -0500

I haven't heard anything negative about Fort Sam, but it is in San Antonio. The traffic around San Antonio can be very aggravating if you're not accustomed to it. Don't even mention downtown on a Saturday night. Fort Hood will depend on your MOS. Outside of the training tempo you are near many places with many things to do. Don't let the news scare you. Im pretty sure if they investigated more units across the US they find stuff at those places too.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 27 at 2020 1:08 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 27 Dec 2020 13:08:22 -0500

I love Fort Hood. Cheap cost of living, close to 4 major cities. I live about 20 minutes from post in a more quiet area.

Response by SGM Joel Cook made Jan 3 at 2021 1:50 AM

SGM Joel Cook — Sun, 03 Jan 2021 01:50:47 -0500

Fort Hood was always a good place to live if you own your own car. Very constricted if you don’t. There are no tourist attractions in the immediate area but an hours drive away there are several. Fair to good hunting and fishing areas on post with a good boat rental and fishing. Very high crime areas in Killeen, it is great place to get your vehicle stolen. My motorcycle was stolen off post from in front of a private residence while a party was going on. Don’t forget there is also Fort Bliss in El Paso but it is a desert area. I loved it there for the out of doors opportunities like hiking, biking and world class dove, quail, cottontail rabbit and several types of large game. The desert is harsh and takes getting used to but I learned to love it. As SFC Boyd mentioned your opportunities for Fort Sam Houston are extremely limited unless you are in Medical or Military Intelligence fields.