- Joined
- Feb 2, 2008
- Messages
- 3,059
Truthfully most of my tours were pretty good places to live- sometimes the unit left a few things to be desired - :
tops in my book :
Hawaii- I loved it at Schofield and would have retired there but for the cost of living. The one job offer at UH caused my wife to comment that they needed to add another 0 at the end of the offer- but my Brother in law is a native Hawaiian and thru him I got to see an entirely different aspect of Hawaii than just the parts that military and tourists are familiar with. Quarters used to be horrible- but I've seen them in the last year- Uncle Sam has spent a ton of $$ on housing in Hawaii.
Navy War College: They paid you for a year of living in NewPort and reading!!!! SWEET!!!!! Why would you ever choose Carlisle or Ft Leavenworth or Montgomery if this is the alternative?
Israel: The assignment was worthless but living there was great. You could have spent every day for years just touring the countryside and meeting people - more history per square foot than anywhere I have ever been.
Korea: I loved it there (early 80's) and extended 3 times and had two commands there. Even though it was unaccompanied it was like a family affair for me- my brother and brother in law were also in the Division at the same time and I met my wife there (one of the few women in the Division at that time). I loved the Korean's- thought that they were the hardest working people I ever saw and knew that the country would be something soon rather than later. Today- it's a different place completely- an economic powerhouse but I saw it before Cars, Subways and highways.
In between: Ft Bragg- real world stuff and not a bad place to live- but gone all the time and the unit was on steroids as far as their approach to everything- no matter how little, it was always a crisis as someone was always looking to make their name- usually the guy a level or two above you in the food chain.
Ft Campbell; Ft Benning; Thailand: all of them OK. It's HOTTT and sweaty in Bangkok and had the pleasure of actually meeting a Cobra up close and personal- but getting free and going to the beach in Thailand is worth it. At Ft Campbell- the 101st was the poor step child compared to the 82d- don't think that's the case anymore- they are flat out, deployed mas o menos continually to Iraq or Afghanistan these days. Ft Benning- not much in Columbus, but close enough to Atlanta and Panama City to be doable on spur of the moment.
Bottom of the barrel ("make the pain go away mommy!"):
Syria: The assignment was worthless and living there was miserable too. Nuff said
Pentagon: Loved DC- Hated the traffic/ commute up 395 and HATED being "chogi" boy- racing out of the SCIF to upstairs to brief some ASD or DSDon something that a Captain could have approved in the rest of the world. There were 25,000 people working there and you could have chopped 20,000 of them and inside a week nobody would have noticed.
Panama: Too hot, too much jungle and too poor and too much Noriega. Leaving too soon wouldn't have been possible
tops in my book :
Hawaii- I loved it at Schofield and would have retired there but for the cost of living. The one job offer at UH caused my wife to comment that they needed to add another 0 at the end of the offer- but my Brother in law is a native Hawaiian and thru him I got to see an entirely different aspect of Hawaii than just the parts that military and tourists are familiar with. Quarters used to be horrible- but I've seen them in the last year- Uncle Sam has spent a ton of $$ on housing in Hawaii.
Navy War College: They paid you for a year of living in NewPort and reading!!!! SWEET!!!!! Why would you ever choose Carlisle or Ft Leavenworth or Montgomery if this is the alternative?
Israel: The assignment was worthless but living there was great. You could have spent every day for years just touring the countryside and meeting people - more history per square foot than anywhere I have ever been.
Korea: I loved it there (early 80's) and extended 3 times and had two commands there. Even though it was unaccompanied it was like a family affair for me- my brother and brother in law were also in the Division at the same time and I met my wife there (one of the few women in the Division at that time). I loved the Korean's- thought that they were the hardest working people I ever saw and knew that the country would be something soon rather than later. Today- it's a different place completely- an economic powerhouse but I saw it before Cars, Subways and highways.
In between: Ft Bragg- real world stuff and not a bad place to live- but gone all the time and the unit was on steroids as far as their approach to everything- no matter how little, it was always a crisis as someone was always looking to make their name- usually the guy a level or two above you in the food chain.
Ft Campbell; Ft Benning; Thailand: all of them OK. It's HOTTT and sweaty in Bangkok and had the pleasure of actually meeting a Cobra up close and personal- but getting free and going to the beach in Thailand is worth it. At Ft Campbell- the 101st was the poor step child compared to the 82d- don't think that's the case anymore- they are flat out, deployed mas o menos continually to Iraq or Afghanistan these days. Ft Benning- not much in Columbus, but close enough to Atlanta and Panama City to be doable on spur of the moment.
Bottom of the barrel ("make the pain go away mommy!"):
Syria: The assignment was worthless and living there was miserable too. Nuff said
Pentagon: Loved DC- Hated the traffic/ commute up 395 and HATED being "chogi" boy- racing out of the SCIF to upstairs to brief some ASD or DSDon something that a Captain could have approved in the rest of the world. There were 25,000 people working there and you could have chopped 20,000 of them and inside a week nobody would have noticed.
Panama: Too hot, too much jungle and too poor and too much Noriega. Leaving too soon wouldn't have been possible
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ALONG with Keflavik NAS, Iceland!! I LOVED that place!!!!!