Anyone been station at....

Ft. Carson, CO; Ft Riley, KS; Ft Benning, GA; Ft Gordon, GA, Ft Stewart, GA; Ft Bragg, NC; Ft Lewis, WA; Ft Leonard Wood, MO; Ft Polk, LA; or Ft Wainwright, Alaska???? These are possible options for next year that I really know nothing about. We'll find out in September which ones are open and I'd like to know something about them before then. Thanks!

Sara

[DCJenn]

Hey Sara-

Ft. Carson, CO- yup, have a friend who is a ped there- but currently in Iraq- she loves Colorado though- her husband is ex-AF doing a psych residency in Denver.
Ft Riley, KS- have a co-worker from residency currently there, haven't heard anything
Ft Benning, GA- My husband was there while enlisted. It's hotter than the fires of hell as is Ft Gordon, GA and Ft Stewart, GA; We had friends who were at Ft. Stewart and really liked it.
Ft Bragg, NC- again, hubbie was there as an E0 so I'm sure his view is somewhat skewed!
Ft Lewis, WA- That's a possibility for us as well. Hubbie rotated through during med school. It was gorgeous scenery and he really like the people he met.
Ft Leonard Wood, MO- have a co-worker from residency currently there- back from Iraq. Big time hunting and fishing I understand. (not a whole lot else, either)
Ft Polk, LA- A ghost town like Ft. Carson these days due to the guys in Iraq. I drove through there on a business trip and my only thought was thank GOD we didn't end up here. Our friend was the only Ped after everyone else was sent to Iraq. But the Army just made up for it and sent him to Italy for 3 years. Sooooo jealous. But I'm still not sure I could have hung in there. We spent the better part of 2 hours looking for a place to eat breakfast and have a quick work meeting. Nada.
Ft Wainwright, Alaska-buddy of hubbies from enlisted days ended up a helicopter pilot there and LOVED it. He and his wife were planning on retiring up there- but he made Major and was told he had to stop flying so he left the Army and went to the AF and is now in New Mexico, flying his helicopters. We wanted to visit but timing was never right.

I can find out more from the people that are still in the various locations, if you'd like.

Jenn

Jenn,
Thanks for the info! Of course I've heard nothing but great things about Ft. Wainwright (how bad is the cold?) and Ft Carson. I know nothing about GA & NC whatsoever. I know they call Ft Leonard Wood..."Ft Lost in the Woods".

Sara

[DCJenn]

GA and NC are hot in the summer, pretty nice in the winters, but occasionally (esp. NC) get slammed with nasty ice storms.

We're looking at Ft. Lewis, Ft. Sam Houston, Tripler (HI) or staying here at Walter Reed. We both would prefer Ft. Sam again. I loved San Antonio.

Jenn

Sara,

I live about 45 minutes from Ft. Bragg. The area is beautiful, but sort of out in the boonies. Ft. Bragg is in a decent sized town with decent shopping and restaurants, but you would have to drive about an hour to get to a large city like Raleigh if you want more of a selection. Jenn's right, NC is very hot in the summer (it's been in the 90's for the last several weeks with major humidity) and cool in the winter (average daytime high is about 50 degrees although we had a few days where we dropped down to 0 degrees last winter!). Housing is VERY affordable around Ft. Bragg. Let me know if you have any other questions about NC.

Jenn - I LOVE San Antonio as well & hope we end up back here in the future!

Erica - Do you know anything about Ft Bragg housing (good/bad, wait times)? What about schools on & off base? I'm hearing that Ft Bragg schools are good (base), but the outside schools are terrible & crime is horrendous (at least in Fayetteville)...is this accurate?

Thanks for the info...we'll find out in about 4 weeks what's available next summer.

Sara

Sara,
Unfortunately I don't know anything about the housing or the schools on base, but as far as outside schools, my guess would be that they are pretty bad. There is a lot of crime in Fayetteville and some of the surrounding communities.

You can also check into living in Pinehurst or Southern Pines. We are in Pinehurst and the US Open was just held here so you may have seen it on tv. The crime is a lot lower here and we have excellent public and private schools. But house prices are a lot higher than in Fayetteville...decent houses start around $200k. Pinehurst is about a 45 minute drive from Fayetteville, but only about 20 miles as the crow flies. It takes so long because we have to make a big loop around the base (they used to let the public drive through the base, but after 9/11 they started searching all vehicles going through there). But since your husband is military, he might be able to make it there in 20 minutes since he can just cut through the base....I'm not totally sure on this so you might want to ask someone who works there. We have several military people in town and I think this is what they do.

UPDATE!

We got our list sooner than expected and need to get our list ranked in the next 2 weeks. Here are the ones we'd like to consider:

Landstuhl, Germany
Ft. Campbell, KY
Ft. Bragg, NC

Others we may rank lower:

Ft. Riley, KS
Ft. Hood, TX
Ft. Leonard Wood, MO

If you know anyone at these places or have been there yourself, please pass along some info. Thanks!

Sara

[Cumberland]

I know about Fort Gordon if you want to PM me.

[mommax3]

My husband's partner was at both Ft. Campbell and most recently at Ft. Bragg. Ft. Bragg is extremely busy, lots of deployments all the time. They did not have a good opinion about the schools in the area. They didn't live on post.....they lived on a lake.

Ft. Riley is near Manhattan, KS, where Kansas State University is located. Manhattan is close enough to the post that you could live in Manhattan. On the map, Ft. Riley looks like it is in the middle of nowhere, but Manhattan is actually a pretty nice place, with better shopping than you would expect from somewhere so small, probably because it is a college town. The schools there have an excellent reputation. Topeka isn't far, either, (about 45 minutes I think) and Kansas City is 2 or 2.5 hours away. My in-laws live there (FIL is a dean at the University) and we always enjoy our visits there. We tried to get the Air Force to "loan" DH to the Army so he could do his payback time at Ft. Riley, but it didn't happen. Ft. Hood and Ft. Leonard Wood I would avoid like the plague. I would actually avoid Ft. Bragg, too, but that may be close to family for you or something.

Hope that helps!

Sally

Actually, that does help. I definitely need more info on Ft. Campbell & I'm not hearing great things about Ft. Bragg so far. I drove through Ft. Riley in June and really liked it & the area around Manhattan. DH would be the only ENT surgeon there, however, & I think he's hoping right out of residency to not be alone. I've also been to Ft. Hood (we are in San Antonio) & hated it. :! It's only 1 hr to MIL which is why DH has kept it on the list. I'm pushing for Landstuhl as I've heard nothing bad about it so far and loads of fantastic things...just not sure what the hospital environment would be like for DH with the war.

Sara

[SuzySunshine]

I will second what Sally said on Ft. Riley. I'm not military so I don't know anything about the base but Manhattan and the small towns that surround it offer a lot. K-State is an excellent university (even though I went to the rival KS school). Topeka is also a great city though it is a little farther away. I have a lot of family that live in St. Marys, a small town about 45 minutes due east of Manhattan. I also have a friend whos husband is finishing residency and will be joining a urology practice in Manhattan. They are excited to be moving there. Smaller than KC but close enough to the essentials to enjoy a little less hectic life.

Good luck!