Can someone tell me about their experience at Fort Lewis?

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 22:48:45 -0400

Can someone tell me about their experience at Fort Lewis? Like what is it like, how is the weather and what is there to do around JBLM? Is it better to live on lost or off post? Are the Engineer units good?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 24 at 2020 11:10 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 23:10:30 -0400

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.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 25 at 2020 1:43 AM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 01:43:58 -0400

JBLM is both beautiful and has a decently high Optempo. Mt. Rainier is such a wonderful sight to see every morning. Do not judge the post on just one unit. It is in a great region of the U.S. and while I was only there for 2 years, I wish I could go back. Point Ruston, Gig Harbor, Olympia and Seattle offer so much entertainment. Explore absolutely everything you can. It does rain a little more in this region than most others (even through winter). Opportunities are endless and the diversity of MOS’s here help you meet characters from many backgrounds which offer nothing but experience and resources. 1st, 160th, 75th, etc. Just don’t waste your time couped up inside every day.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 25 at 2020 8:54 AM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 08:54:22 -0400

I lived off post in Lacey and loved the area and all that there is to do but the weather truly sucks. Enough to make me not ever want to go back.

Response by MAJ Jason Sierakowski made Jul 25 at 2020 12:04 PM

MAJ Jason Sierakowski — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 12:04:17 -0400

Sounds like your going to 555th engineers (triple nickel). This in North Fort Lewis..... West side of the base, don't understand the naming. Everything all folks said is true. Loving depends on what you can afford. Your a Specialist so I assume your not in the market for a house. Some of the apartment are in less desirable areas. If you can get a house, the city of Dupont is just south of the base. Expect to get what you pay for. Lots of outdoor activities. Seattle is a large city approximately 45 minutes from the stadium exits in Seattle. Vancouver British Columbia is about a 2 to 3 hour drive. Portland, Oregon is a 90 minute drive south.

Like anywhere in the military, it's what you make it. If you choose to sit at home all day, don't complain that there's nothing to do. It you choose to go somewhere each weekend, then you will enjoy wherever your at!

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 25 at 2020 1:09 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 13:09:24 -0400

Definitely better to live on post, off post is either too far away, too expensive, or high crime. The Engineer units here are terrible, you get about 3 months of nice weather and then rains the rest of the year, there’s some cool hiking and sites but that’s about it. 0/10 highly do not recommend, I’ve been here for 4.5 years and I’m looking forward to Korea just to get away from this unit

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 25 at 2020 1:43 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 13:43:30 -0400

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.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Jul 25 at 2020 3:34 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 15:34:54 -0400

I lived out near Bremerton for 28 years and had to go to Lewis for my SCIF work with PACOM. It has really built up over the years with newer on base housing and barracks. Base facilities like gyms, BX, etc. are on par with its population. I knew the senior civilian facilities guy who noted the facilities budget improved a bit with the AF merger. Madigan hospital is convenient, but is frequently crowded with retirees as they're much more capable than the Navy Hospital at Jackson Park. Being on base is good because the freeway is a parking lot during the commute hours which are ever longer each year. As a tour, it's OK, but I would never live in WA again, except for maybe the eastern side of the state. It's much too Californicated otherwise. Although there is no income tax, the B&O tax imposed on businesses is taking its toll. Best of all worlds is to live south near Vancouver WA and enjoy no income tax while hopping into Oregon for no sales tax. It's too far for a daily commute though. When this Chinese Virus thing is more in the rear view mirror, taking the train from Tacoma up to see the Seahawks and other activities abound. JBLM hosts an annual statewide Special Olympics event which I refereed soccer. Rewarding volunteer work. People usually want to get back to the base once they've experienced it.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 25 at 2020 5:15 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 17:15:50 -0400

JBLM is one of the best in the country. They are in the last phase of a complete overhaul. Many of the barracks are new, the PX is almost completely rebuilt and the mall is moving tenants in this month.

The only thing that sucks is traffic. The base is split by one of the more heavily trafficked interstates in the country and the congestion is a real issue to deal with if you are off post. There is a highway expansion/ traffic flow improvement project that is about 75% complete that should help by next spring.

Things to do nearby. Hiking, hunting, fishing, mountain climbing, boating, ...

Two nearby concert venues when concerts come back. I've been told there is a large ocean nearby too.

As far as your unit.. That's subjective. Most units are as good or bad as their leaders. But, I Corps has a tradition of being a great organization, I imagine they keep their support units busy and in good shape

Response by 1SG Leroy Lucero made Jul 25 at 2020 7:44 PM

1SG Leroy Lucero — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 19:44:16 -0400

You would hate 555the engineer group. They suck ass

Response by CPT Catherine R. made Jul 25 at 2020 7:48 PM

CPT Catherine R. — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 19:48:11 -0400

I live in North Lacey which is about 10 miles south of JBLM main gate. We PCS'd here in 2000, and stayed when we both got out as we love it here. The weather - mild all year. Doesn't get really hot, nor does it usually snow. Today its about 80 degrees which is nice. In February 2019 we had a crazy snowstorm which closed the state but that's certainly not the norm.

Living off post will be tough on SPC pay. The areas covered by your BAH rate aren't in the best part of town, and if you go out of those areas then rent is high. It's doable if you want to but it will be a sacrifice. We lived on post for a while until we purchased a home but that was years ago. The on-post housing was fine though. If you have children, really pay attention to school districts when deciding where to live. They all have pros and cons but some are certainly better than others in the surrounding area. I'd also recommend looking at the counties if you plan on registering cars here - Pierce county (which is where JBLM is) has much higher taxes on vehicles than Thurston County (Directly south) - and I mean it could be hundreds of dollars different!

If you like the outdoors then you'll love it here - hunting, hiking, kayaking, exploring all within 10-15 minutes of JBLM. Like any base, it is what you make of it. My friends and I were kayaking with otters last weekend 5 minutes from my house and later today I'm going to walk to a beach and skip rocks. There are lots of other things to do here too - Seattle has cool museums and isn't far, you can do whale watches off the peninsula and it's the prime location to take an alaskan cruise from. Not many parts of the world that you can be in a Desert, at the Mountains, the Ocean or a Rain Forest all within a few hour drive.

I really can't tell you much about the units here since it's been a while. As I'm sure you know, your leadership can make or break a unit anyway and thats ever changing.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 25 at 2020 8:20 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 20:20:48 -0400

JBLM was my first unit - and hopefully will be my last. Second time here. Honestly yeah summers here are way better than where I'm from in the Midwest and the east coast. It's humid and hot as hell out there. Like 70s, 80s...rarely it gets to 90. The winters it rains and it's cold but not much snow. I hate snow so that's a plus.

My first unit I was in an EN BN S2 for 4 1/2 years and I deployed with them twice. (I'm a 35F not an engineer). At the time I was in it, I liked the people I worked with and 21B (or 12B or whatever the hell they are now) were pretty cool then. That unit has changed significantly since I left since it's a BEB now. I don't know about the other EN units here.

If you have dependents, live on post. I live on post and it's 10 min to work - plus I don't fight traffic in the morning or the end of the day. Daycare is up the street from me. I don't know what the junior enlisted housing is like...I lived in the barracks first time since I was single no dependents. Came in as a SPC, left as a SSG.

I got assigned here again because they were the only ones to take my daughter's EFMP. They do have almost everything pediatric at Madigan minus nephrology which Seattle takes care of.

I mean I don't mind it. You might end up with a shitty unit or shitty leadership but that's at any base. I really like the weather here and I don't even mind the rain. I'd rather rain than snow. There's a lot of things to go see with nature - especially now that we have all the social distancing need. There are a lot of beaches, forest, mountains, etc. I wish I would have had the chance to do more last time I was here and had no kids.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 26 at 2020 2:26 AM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 02:26:21 -0400

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.

Response by SPC Miguel Rosario Cruz made Jul 26 at 2020 7:14 PM

SPC Miguel Rosario Cruz — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 19:14:39 -0400

I was there in 89 and I have a wonderful time there

Response by SPC Kevin Moon made Jul 27 at 2020 4:28 AM

SPC Kevin Moon — Mon, 27 Jul 2020 04:28:28 -0400

Stay out of tillicum

Response by SPC Richard Stevenson (Munden) made Jul 28 at 2020 6:04 PM

SPC Richard Stevenson (Munden) — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 18:04:18 -0400

Honestly, the best thing to do on weekends is drive up to Seattle. Especially in the summer, when the weather is gorgeous and there's a lot going on.

Lewis itself is a great place to be stationed, especially if you're into the outdoors. Lots of camping, hiking, fishing, and the like. It's a beautiful base, and despite what others might say I actually really enjoyed the weather. The light drizzle that comes down for much of the year is far preferable, at least to me, to being in the desert.

I was a 12B, and I was with the 14th for a few years and it was pretty fantastic. But this was years ago and you're gonna have a whole new bunch there. Others with more recent experience would be better suited to answering that one.

Response by SP6 Zach Boyle made Nov 18 at 2021 12:52 AM

SP6 Zach Boyle — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 00:52:52 -0500

I loved the weather, I'm from upper Michigan so instead of snow you get misty weather most winter, you have mountains with skiing about 45 minutes from base, I didn't like my unit because we weren't really attached to anyone and did a lot of stupid post details. Also the fishing and crabbing was excellent.