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Posted on Jan 28, 2019
What are some recommendations for off-post living at Fort Jackson?
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Got snatched up for Drill Sergeant at Fort Jackson starting in July. Anybody have any recommendations on areas to live/stay away from off-post? Trying to get a nice head start on this process.
Drill Sergeant
Fort Jackson
Columbia
House Hunting
Posted 7 y ago
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Look for an area where I-77 can be easily accessed. Start close and move down the corridor to the distance you wish to drive. Three major highways in the area, with 77 running directly adjacent to Fort Jackson, I20 accessible and running into 77 northeast of Jackson and I26 running into 77 southwest of Jackson. Several decent areas with 10-15 minutes outside of the main gate, the Percival Rd gate as well as the rear gate not requireing interstate travel. This is kinda vague, but gives you an idea of the layout.
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15 minutes from Gate 4, 10 minutes from the Sandhill Shopping Complex, and right next to the Sesquicentennial State Park.
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All depends on what's important to you. I bought a home father away in a great school district. If being close to work is key for you, and being a Drill takes a lot of time away , then a closer commute would be better. Stay away from apartments that are really cheap as you get what you pay for. Percival Rd, Forest Acres, Summit, Irmo, Blythwood are all great locations to rent and buy.
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Depends how far you want to drive every day.
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I mean, I know that Drills work awful hours so I would probably say no further than 30 minutes away. I don’t want to end up like that guy who drove into a basic training formation because he was tired.
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The hours aren't really different than what a lot of NCOs do at their regular jobs. It's just what you do during those hours that make up the "grind"
In any case- on post was great because the max it would take me to get to work on one of those days where everything was going wrong and I woke up late than I should, 15 minutes.
Off-post, I live about 25 minutes from door to door and the drive is decent, save those days that traffic is backed up. Northeast (that's the name of the region) is really popular and Lake Carolina is also very popular amongst drill sergeants out here. 20-35 minutes to post.
Keep in mind that the infrastructure here is a bit outdated, so if there is a surprise road closure (which happens) or any traffic obstruction, you're automatically throwing 10-20 minutes onto your drive time.
The Forrest area is close to Jackson, but the area isn't all that great from what I can tell. I mean. it's not that bad, either; just more people tend to end up in the Northeast/Blythewood/Lake Carolina area. That's also specific for those buying/renting houses. If you choose to go the apartment route, I don't have any real information on that, but I assume that the area information I provided would apply, regardless.
In any case- on post was great because the max it would take me to get to work on one of those days where everything was going wrong and I woke up late than I should, 15 minutes.
Off-post, I live about 25 minutes from door to door and the drive is decent, save those days that traffic is backed up. Northeast (that's the name of the region) is really popular and Lake Carolina is also very popular amongst drill sergeants out here. 20-35 minutes to post.
Keep in mind that the infrastructure here is a bit outdated, so if there is a surprise road closure (which happens) or any traffic obstruction, you're automatically throwing 10-20 minutes onto your drive time.
The Forrest area is close to Jackson, but the area isn't all that great from what I can tell. I mean. it's not that bad, either; just more people tend to end up in the Northeast/Blythewood/Lake Carolina area. That's also specific for those buying/renting houses. If you choose to go the apartment route, I don't have any real information on that, but I assume that the area information I provided would apply, regardless.
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