What was your favorite place or places to be stationed and why?

SSgt Paul Esquibel — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 09:18:23 -0500

In my 15 years of active service I had the opportunity of spending most of my time overseas with 13 years and 6 overseas locations. I would say Okinawa at Kadena Air Base was my best tour, the weather was awesome, the Okinawians were the best, we worked hard but played harder, I had a second family where we all took care of each other, work will always be work but the people I met and formed life long relationships with made it the best. What about ya'll?

Response by SFC Stephen King made Dec 5 at 2015 10:00 AM

SFC Stephen King — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 10:00:26 -0500

As a dependent I too enjoyed Okinawa. It was very peaceful.

My wife and I enjoyed Colorado Springs, CO. The Garden of the gods was one our favorite places to go.

Response by CPO Andy Carrillo, MS made Dec 5 at 2015 10:42 AM

CPO Andy Carrillo, MS — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 10:42:39 -0500

Honolulu, HI was one of the best years of my military experience as it was there that I met some wonderfully loving and caring people at Tripler AMC who literally saved my life. I love and miss the aloha spirit to which I was introduced.

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Dec 5 at 2015 11:19 AM

Capt Seid Waddell — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 11:19:57 -0500

Eglin AFB FL. Great job (land test ranges), great opportunities for off-duty enjoyment - flying, scuba diving, fishing, deep sea fishing, hunting... the list was endless.

Response by Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 5 at 2015 2:53 PM

Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 14:53:09 -0500

Ft Clayton, Panama...I love that place one of my kids born there when I stationed in the 90's

Response by MCPO Katrina Hutcherson made Dec 5 at 2015 3:31 PM

MCPO Katrina Hutcherson — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 15:31:04 -0500

Governors Island, NYC. It was a seven minute private ferry ride from south Manhattan. I lived in a 4 bedroom, 3 bath townhouse on a 175 acre island. Many of the islands buildings were on the National Register of historic places. It even had a fort complete with a mote and drawbridge that had been converted into apartments. There was a 9 hole golf course with an amazing view of NYC. It was a. stones throw from the Statue of Liberty. There was an elementary school on the island that both of my children attended. You could enjoy all that NYC had to offer and go to sleep without locking your doors at night!

Response by MCPO Roger Collins made Dec 5 at 2015 3:43 PM

MCPO Roger Collins — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 15:43:37 -0500

Never stationed there, but one of my favorite port calls. Naminoue was the only word you needed to tell the cab driver.

Response by PO1 Brian Austin made Dec 5 at 2015 4:12 PM

PO1 Brian Austin — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 16:12:50 -0500

Single: Subic Bay Philippines. Aside from insane night life, it's also a very beautiful country out in the provinces away from the cities. Very nice people too, big difference from the city dwellers.

Married: Japan. Lived in Yokohama, about a 15 minute walk from their baseball stadium. China town was very close too. Both my son's were born in Yokosuka N.H. We enjoyed Japan a lot, traveled a lot and loved the food! My daughter speaks fluent Japanese to this day. Our Japanese neighbors were really nice, had two kids just a little older than mine. Almost every Sunday we had a cook out, they'd bring fresh seafood and Saki, i'd bring beef and Heineken. Kampai! Good times!

Response by SFC Terry Fortune made Dec 5 at 2015 6:55 PM

SFC Terry Fortune — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 18:55:39 -0500

I favorite duty station was in Germany. Was station there for 2yrs and enjoyed every minute there.

Response by MSG John Melville made Dec 5 at 2015 7:12 PM

MSG John Melville — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 19:12:16 -0500

I really liked Fort Sheridan,, IL, which closed in 1995. It was nestled North of Chicago along Lake Michigan. USAREC was headquarted there at the time. I liked it because the installation was small, I could walk along the lakefront, and everything I needed was at the PX or just out the gate off post.

Response by MSgt Bj Jones made Dec 5 at 2015 7:25 PM

MSgt Bj Jones — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 19:25:33 -0500

Lajes Field, Azores, Portugal. It was laid back, and there was some great camaraderie there.

Response by SrA Matthew Knight made Dec 6 at 2015 10:51 AM

SrA Matthew Knight — Sun, 06 Dec 2015 10:51:56 -0500

Well, so far the only bases I have spent enough time at to sort of form an opinion would be Keesler, Scott and then here (Whiteman).

I would say Scott was probably my ultimate favorite simply because I had a lot of friends around there, a great Church family, and I loved the area. So many restaurants, shopping centers, etc. to spend time at. The best part was Scott had of course the cities to the west with St. Louis and it's surrounding towns and then to the east was open country which made for some good drives on days I was bored and just wanted to hit the road for a while. It had something for everyone.

My next favorite would probably be here at Whiteman. I'm from a small town in North Dakota that is smaller than Knob Noster even so this suits my personality and life perfectly with all of the small communities. My apartment, though it is technically a part of Warrensburg, sits outside of the city limits back in some trees. It's just three duplex apartments so I only have 5 other people around me and it's always nice, quiet and private. I am a close driving distance to Scott if/when I want to go visit some people and I also have decent drives to family of mine in Nebraska and my drive back home is only a one day trip now. I also enjoy the work I do here far more than I ever did the work that I did in the HUB at Scott.

Keesler would be third. I honestly think if I would have been there outside of AETC I would have actually rated it higher but because I was stuck in the AETC Tech School setting it loses a lot of it's luster. The area was great though. Another great Church family, plenty to do around the base with the casinos and shopping and all that. Plus even though the Gulf of Mexico isn't exactly picturesque down there it was still cool for me to be on the coast. First time I had ever been on the coast of the U.S. Might not seem like much to most people but from someone who lived in the state that holds the town with the "Geographical center of North America", in other words as far from the coast as you can literally be in any direction, it was cool to see the open water and know that I was on the edge of the States.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 6 at 2015 1:25 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 06 Dec 2015 13:25:04 -0500

My favorite duty stations are Vilseck, Germany (2003-08) and Yongsan Garrison/Seoul, South Korea (2013-14). I just love the culture and foods and beer.

Response by MSgt Mark Bucher made Aug 8 at 2016 5:07 AM

MSgt Mark Bucher — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 05:07:01 -0400

Soesterberg AB, the Netherlands. I lived in Amsterdam.