What are the best and worst military towns and cities?

2013-11-19T23:48:35-05:00

I have seen a lot of posts, whether on blogs or Facebook, on the ups and downs of living either in a military town or away from one. I have active duty friends who have a hard time being hours from the nearest base and not having a local community of spouses who understand their day-to-day life. I also see friends who have lived in “on post housing” going somewhere for a B-Billet and having a hard time adjusting to living outside a base community. What is your take?

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 19 at 2013 11:51 PM

2013-11-19T23:51:10-05:00

I have not been to any place I did not like. But I did enjoy Eglin AB and the town in Kaiserslautern in then West Germany.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 19 at 2013 11:51 PM

2013-11-19T23:51:47-05:00

Since they have moved the tankers out of Knox, this place has died off

Response by CW2 Joseph Evans made Nov 20 at 2013 3:33 AM

2013-11-20T03:33:19-05:00

Fort Lewis/McChord is good, lots of local housing and a good on post area.
Fort Drum was decent at the time I was there. The number of Senior NCOs that took on post housing and forced the junior Soldiers out to the satellite communities always bothered me though.
Fayetteville and Benning... Bragg Blvd and Victory Dr. Nuff said.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 20 at 2013 9:13 AM

2013-11-20T09:13:46-05:00

Killeen is an awful place. Temple and Waco weren't far from Hood and much better areas.
Columbus GA, I don't even know what to say about this place.

Response by SSgt Troy Considine made Nov 20 at 2013 5:07 PM

2013-11-20T17:07:12-05:00

For me, it was a small air base in the north-central part of West Germany. It was called Hessisch-Oldendorf. The closest city is Hannover. We were located in the British sector of Germany, so we did not have AFN or AFRTS. We got BFBS (British Forces Broadcasting Service) and we got to shop in the British NAFI shop instead of a US commisary. We would take weekly trips up to Bremerhaven or monthly trips down to Rhein-Main to do serious American shopping. When unification happened, the air base was closed and the German government used it as a relocation facility for the East Germans coming to the West. Our old dorms were turned into apartments! LOL

Response by SPC David Hannaman made Nov 20 at 2013 6:23 PM

2013-11-20T18:23:04-05:00

I enjoyed Ft Campbell, but that was 20 years ago and I was single.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 20 at 2013 6:23 PM

2013-11-20T18:23:22-05:00

Lawton, OK, hands down, is the worst place ever. EVER. (It is close to OKC, which is its only redeemable quality.)

Columbia, SC is pretty nice since it's a state capital and a college town.

El Paso is ugly as sin, but has every amenity you could really need.

Columbus, GA is ok. Cute downtown.

Fort Lewis is awesome. The NW is an amazing part of the country, and it's close-ish to Seattle which is my favorite city in the US.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 20 at 2013 6:28 PM

2013-11-20T18:28:02-05:00

For the most part, I've enjoyed all of the places I've been to....except Ft. Bragg. With Bragg, I had a LOVE/HATE relationship....I loved the fact that I was an hour and a half from home cuz I'm a North Carolinian (GO PANTHERS!!!!!) but I hated the fact there wasn't much to do in Fayetteville AND living in the barracks there were HELL!!!!!!!

One the bright side, I never had to take leave/passes which gives me an excess in leave days currently (gotta love it right??????)

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 20 at 2013 6:42 PM

2013-11-20T18:42:58-05:00

These are the worst of times, these are the worst of times. I do not want to say mean things about the current state of affairs, but I am afraid that too much history will be lost.

Response by SFC Ricardo Ruiz made Nov 20 at 2013 9:45 PM

2013-11-20T21:45:54-05:00

I came across this website where the best 50 cities for service member are listed and I am not so sure about the first 10???

http://militaryfriendly.com/city

I'm not sure but San Antonio. I am a SPURS FAN but I just don't like the city.

City

Top 50 Military Friendly Cities® The Military Friendly Cities® list measures the number of job openings at Military Friendly Employers®, the number of...

Response by SFC James Baber made Nov 21 at 2013 1:20 AM

2013-11-21T01:20:20-05:00

I loved being Stationed @ Fort Sam and Fort Belvoir, but hated Fort Sill and Fort Riley. Had many enjoyable posts and jobs, and had places that sucked and were hard on family life as well, but it comes with the territory, and with 27 years the good and bad will be there.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 21 at 2013 5:58 PM

2013-11-21T17:58:51-05:00

Fort Bliss by far the worst. There is a reason it is referred to as Hell Paso rather than El Paso

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 21 at 2013 6:36 PM

2013-11-21T18:36:58-05:00

Worst: Hinesville, Ga.

Best: Savannah, Ga / Colorado Springs, Co

Response by SSG Dustin Perry made Nov 21 at 2013 7:23 PM

2013-11-21T19:23:17-05:00

I loved Ft. Campbell the most.. The armpit of America is Ft. Stewart Georgia!!! Worst place I have ever been... I'm currently in Fort Walton Beach Florida and I still liked Ft. Campbell better.

Response by SFC William Swartz Jr made Nov 22 at 2013 9:55 AM

2013-11-22T09:55:45-05:00

Best for me was Colorado Springs, you had everything you could want there, and Denver was only an hour away....worst would have to be Junction City, KS merely due to the fact that there is absolutely nothing there, and at the time Manhattan wasn't much better so you had to drive for a couple hours if you wanted to go someplace decent for dinner....Columbus, GA is better than I expected, once you get past Victory Drive, downtown isn't too bad and the northern part of town is a prettu decent area. Germany was great, period! Lol....Korea, not so much!

Response by SFC Michael Boulanger made Nov 22 at 2013 10:18 AM

2013-11-22T10:18:08-05:00

Function City, KS

Response by SFC Michael Boulanger made Nov 22 at 2013 10:18 AM

2013-11-22T10:18:38-05:00

Junction City, KS

Response by TSgt Kevin Buccola made Mar 29 at 2014 4:36 PM

2014-03-29T16:36:17-04:00

I have lived all over the world and I have never said this was a bad place and that includes North Dakota, Korea, New Mexico, Japan, and more. You have to make every experience the best you can.

Response by SMSgt Mark Miller made Sep 2 at 2016 5:18 PM

2016-09-02T17:18:18-04:00

Worst: Altus AFB Oklahoma
Best (if overseas counts): Incirlik Air Base Turkey; if overseas isn't an option then George AFB CA

Response by CPL Emanuel Douglas made May 16 at 2017 6:40 PM

2017-05-16T18:40:46-04:00

Washington DC best military town.

Response by PO2 Michael Shores made May 19 at 2017 4:24 PM

2017-05-19T16:24:26-04:00

San Diego is a great place to be stationed

Response by SrA Monty Jones made May 20 at 2017 12:29 PM

2017-05-20T12:29:04-04:00

Biloxi, Mississippi was bad. Also Wichita Falls, Texas. Adana, Turkey and Iraklion Crete.

Response by SP5 Michael Ronsiek made May 28 at 2017 7:36 PM

2017-05-28T19:36:41-04:00

Leesville/Sleesville Louisiana
aka Ft. Polk

Response by SSgt Thomas Hirschey made Dec 30 at 2017 4:37 PM

2017-12-30T16:37:38-05:00

Any where you leave an ex-wife!

Response by CPT William Jones made Apr 9 at 2020 12:41 PM

2020-04-09T12:41:12-04:00

My experience from about 50 yrs ago was al post are about the same and all cities close to main gate are the same,get the soldiers money but get a little ways away and things change usually for the better so it is really up to the soldier.