Headed to Fort Bliss as an E-5 91M. Any advice, comments and/ or information fellow service members would care to share?

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:40:53 -0400

Basically as the title states above I’ll be headed to Bliss soon. Looking for any information anyone would care to share. (Would like to live off post, areas to live & avoid would be appreciated).

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 29 at 2018 8:33 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 20:33:37 -0400

Go visit Juárez Mexico, before you sign in, and they make you sign a statement up understanding, that you are for bidden from crossing the border.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 29 at 2018 8:35 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 20:35:31 -0400

prepare to hate the color brown.... the ground is brown, the sky is brown, the mountains are brown... the people are brown and they speak a different language (jokes people), Iraq was greener send me back. On a serious note, you will start to miss grass and trees.

As for venue, it's been 6-7 years since I've been there, but, I've never seen a place with so many bands that come through right outside post, the Sun Bowl at UTEP, the food is AMAZING (steaks and mexican), you have Rio Doso and Las Cuces and White sands are all not too far away, the cultural experience is pretty top notch. If anything, make sure to get out and explore or you will go crazy.

Response by MSG Dan Castaneda made Mar 29 at 2018 8:48 PM

MSG Dan Castaneda — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 20:48:07 -0400

Great place. It’s my home town. Stay out of Juarez.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 29 at 2018 9:09 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 21:09:17 -0400

Fort Bliss is a good duty station. Some of the units are..meh. The surrounding area is brown desert, so you won't really see nothing but the foot hills (mountains) and desert sand. It does get cold at night but the days are generally pretty warm, in the summer it does get hot but, not like that Georgia sweltering heat. It rains and the places generally flood and people drive crazy, lot of drunk drivers at night so be careful of that. Other than that, don't go to Mexico and you should be fine. Plus what everyone else has already said.

Response by SSG Eric Trace made Mar 30 at 2018 12:36 AM

SSG Eric Trace — Fri, 30 Mar 2018 00:36:09 -0400

As with any post it is what you make of it. That being said, there is a mall on post with a Buffalo Wild Wings, a very large commissary, plenty of sporting events to go to at UTEP and you can even take evening classes there. They even have build new houses on post and a new hospital. If you live off post be sure to use housing to get reputable landlords.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 31 at 2018 6:35 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 31 Mar 2018 18:35:16 -0400

I agree with another comment that duty stations are what you make it. I was at Bliss Feb 2015 to Aug 2016 before I dropped my Green to Gold packet. I lived in an area that was newly built in East El Paso - it was so new at the time that my phone couldn’t map it. The area was really nice and they were still building it up. El Paso is massive with a lot of things to do, but that means a lot of traffic and congestion. It’s hot and dry, and Bliss itself is also massive. My unit was on far East Bliss. This is confusing, they have a main Bliss, an east Bliss, a Far East Bliss (the newest section) and then the Hospital is separate from all of that. When you get there figure out where your unit is because if you are Far East and you live in West El Paso on the other side of the mountains - you can bet it will take an hour or so to get to work.

My unit was descent, ups and downs like all units. We trained a lot - field a lot and in the short time I was there two NTC rotations and one JRTC rotation. The field is far away, so when you go to the field you go for a few days at a time because it takes so much effort and time to get to the field. There is a highway that splits north of Bliss training area - large vehicles aren’t allowed to drive on it and they have to cross at one spot which is bridge that is about an hour from the Far East gate into the training area. In all, it usually took us about two hours to get to the big ranges and the training area.

Overall, the entire area is really new and nice, it is just really big and congested. The food is amazing in El Paso, downtown has some really nice spots and if you like music, a lot of really good acts roll through the area. Again, it is what you make it. Good luck, brother.

Response by SGT Darin Jenkins made Apr 4 at 2018 2:48 AM

SGT Darin Jenkins — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 02:48:08 -0400

Stay out of Mexico, it's nothing but trouble

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 7 at 2018 1:02 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 07 Apr 2018 13:02:42 -0400

It a great duty station