Soldier Choosing Next Duty Station

Anchorage is not a -30 place, those numbers are rare if not unheard of there. In Jan and Feb of 2024 there were about 5 days below zero. 4 of them were -17 type days. -30 is just a serious another level of cold.

Fairbanks and Greely it is standard operating procedure.

Anchorage is like living in any major New England city of similar size on the water.

Lived in Anchorage, Barrow, Fairbanks and Sitka in Alaska. Fairbanks and Sitka are favorites. Anchorage is too big for me, and I'd live in Wasilla if I was to do it again.

Was also stationed in Brunswick Maine before it closed. Great place.
 
Last edited:
Mojave said:
Not sure what your MOS is. Some of these will not be available to you.

Top IN NO ORDER US Hunting Army installations:

1. White Sands Missile Range (very limited number of active duty) oryx, deer, bighorns, peccaries.
2. Fort Bliss Texas (hunting on the New Mexico side of the range and the Texas side of the range), NM pays nonresident New Mexico rates. But you can live in Las Cruces and commute 30 miles. Oryx, deer, Barbary sheep
3. JBER, Anchorage AK can hunt on base and in the area. moose and grizzly
4. Wainright, Fairbanks AK can hunt on base and in the area.
5. Fort Greely, Delta Junction, AK can not hunt on base can hunt under very privileged subsistence rules the area.
6. Fort Carson, can hunt elk and bears on base. Close to Wyoming for non-resident antelope.
7. Fort Huachuca, AZ can hunt on base for deer and peccaries.
8. Fort Drum has hunt, not sure what the quality is like.
9. For McCoy in Wisconsin, not sure how many active duty are there awesome hunting.
10. For Campbell KY hunt on base
11 Fort Knox, KY hunt on base.
12. Fort Hood. TX hunt on base for deer, hogs and exotics.
13. Leavenworth, can hunt on base.
14. Fort Sill, OK. Elk and deer on base.
15. Fort Riley has elk and deer on base

Less desirable locations:
Fort Irwin, good shooting range and a horse farm but no hunting
McCalister, OK. great hunting but low odds of getting a tag.
Some other poor options out there.

Overseas Germany.
Any choice is good in Germany, take the German hunting class on base for $250, buy a hunting license for 180$ per 3 years and pay for your insurance for $150 for 3 years. Then find a revier to hunt and pay. Or just get invited as a junior enlisted. Hunting community in Germany is huge for military. Hit me with a PM. I am with defense in Germany.

1. Hohenfels (the best) stag and wild boar on base
2. Grafenwohr stag and wild boar on base
3. Villseck close to Hohfenfels and Graf
4. Baumholder has hunting, but isn't always released to the troops
5. Kaiserslautern, has the most mature hunting program but no land
6. Stuttgart closest to the Alps and Austria
7. Ansbach good in Bavaria.
8. Garmisch is the best quality of life, but hunting is expensive and far away. I don't know how you would take the hunting course here.

You can not hunt in Italy as part of the status of forces agreement, and you cannot get a hunting license or own a firearm.

Luxemburg and Belgium would be the same.

No hunting in Korea.

Japan has hunting, but the Army bases are not near it. The USMC, Navy and Air Force bases are thou
Send me a PM if you have questions. 20 years on active and 11 as a DOD.
Click to expand...
Was stationed at the base hospital at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. It`s located in the Mark Twain National Forest. This was in the mid-70`s. If you liked to hunt and fish, at least then, it was like dying and going to heaven. Place was lousy with good deer and turkey, and the 3 years I was there I have never seen so many wild quail in my entire life. My CO and I could leave the hospital, go to quarters, get changed, get his English setter Jake in the jeep, and we`d have birds in the air all within 45 minutes.
 
22+ years in the Army as of this year... Started as an E1 thru O3E+... I have been nearly everywhere on that list plus places your wouldn't expect to have Army personnel (surfing and hiking in Morocco is fun 😉, as well as living in Paris as a young couple...).

If you want your wife to be happy... Choose JBLM or Europe, if you have a chance. Otherwise, choose a place that will make YOU happy for your lifestyle.
 
Alaska - you either get it, or you don't. But only if you can get to JBER. Fairbanks or Greely is an entire another level of life threatening cold and not much fishing.
I lived in Tacoma (McChord) and Colorado ( Shriever). You couldn't pay me enough to get me back to either state.
I am 71 and we just sold our place and moved back to Alaska.
 
My take (having lived in all 3 states and Army) it would be easier to learn western hunting in Colorado. Just easier overall from a logistical standpoint, time and money. Can hunt deer and elk on Carson and tons of road access all over the state. The best thing you can do to learn western hunting is to pick up backpacking- multi night if possible. Also hiking with Binos and start learning to glass. Easy to have your spouse come along too.

Your wife will definitely like Colorado.

I moved to Anchorage from Colorado (western slope) and hit the ground running. I grew up western hunting and had already made multiple DIY trips to AK prior to the move.

Hunting in AK is extreme- takes time , money and a lot of knowledge and equipment to do it successfully year after year. It would be hard to do it without any knowledge or connections.

My wife wants to move back to Colorado every winter 😂 (which can be 9 months out of the year according to her) realistically its not any worse than New England weather wise, just darker and longer

I don’t have much to say about western Washington, just that the politics and culture there aren’t to my liking. And I don’t care for hunting blacktails and Rosie elk in the thick stuff (and poison oak)


I say Carson first then JBER next!
 
I was at Benning, Bragg, and Vicenza, Italy. Italy is a great duty station, but you have to resign yourself that you’re probably not hunting and fishing while you’re there. I know some of it goes on, but I believe it involves a lot of red tape and I think you pretty much need to be a person of means. Still, the Alps are beautiful and there are other outdoor things to do.

I’d say Alaska, but I wouldn’t turn my nose up at Hawaii. Wild hogs, wild goats, Axis deer, and surf fishing sounds fun.

Oh, regarding my opening line, it is Fort Bragg and saying it’s Fort Liberty is just going to make me call it Fort Bragg all the more.
 
Wildwilderness probably has the best perspective. I love Alaska but Colorado might be a better place to learn western hunting. The hunting near JBER isn't great so you'd burn up a lot of time getting to better places. That plus the military lifestyle plus winter sounds like a miserable wife. On Colorado you could drive out of the winter on a long weekend to hunt or fish somewhere else or go to Utah for some desert fun (more than a weekend but accessible). Find a place you both enjoy. Alaska isn't going anywhere I waited till I was in my 30s to get here.
 
Not nor ever was in the military. So I can only speak as a hunter and fisher. Alaska hands down...But maybe you list of animals isn't the same. mine Sheep being at the top of the list along with Brown/grizz...probably a once in a lifetime chance and more than likely you have an end date in sight where you'll only be there x amount of time anyways.
 
Hnthrdr said:
Carson is home to 4ID
Click to expand...
I though
BRTreedogs said:
Its gonna take a real ride or die woman to survive military marriage.

If she's not willing to go where ever, when ever.
She mite not be the one.

Good luck
Click to expand...

So this is a thing.

A couple of things happen.

1. They miss their home, their parents and their friends.

2. They resent you for moving them someplace that is not their home town.

3. They cheat, they screw half the town or they find someone they have more in common with and leave you.

4. They spend an entire year or two years alone, and they miss home or figure out some other reason to hate you. Because you are deployed.

5. You find after a lot of time apart you and her do not hav the same goals.

Or:

Alaska is fairly easy, especially JBER. A lot of places in the lower 48 have worse and longer winters. But this is not combined with the short winter days that wear on people.

Fairbanks is not a small place. Weather is worse.

Alaska is not Outer Mongolia or Antarctica. No matter what people tell you. Yes most of it is really remote, but the cities are no different than other cities of similar sizes in the West.

Access to hunting and fishing is expensive in Alaska. Most people do not realize how difficult this is.

I would still pick Alaska as my next duty station, honestly I will be in the same boat when this gig in Germany is up in a few years. I am already Alaska bound, I just haven't packed for the move.
 
If you move somewhere your wife is happy, everything else will fall in place.

Would you rather come home from an awesome hunt and have your wife pissy because she’s bored or unhappy, or would you want to come home from that same hunt and she barely noticed you were gone because she had plenty of things she was interested in doing?

JBER is an easy spot to launch from for some of the best hunts and fishing that people spend their lives wanting to do. There’s a military resort down in Seward for salmon, halibut, and all kinds of rockfish and crab…even if you don’t take that assignment, I’d look into it, usually have to book about ~8-10 months out. (Kings usually run in June).

Home

www.sewardmilitaryresort.com www.sewardmilitaryresort.com

JBLM is an easy spot to launch from as well, you can access the Olympic and Cascade mountains easily, plus you’ll have Mt Rainier in the backdrop all 37 days a year without clouds. The east side of the state has everything from sand dunes to alpine lakes to good hunting on the flats, plus everyone is just normal people as the crazies mainly stay within the I-5 corridor. You’re also about 2 hours from Oregon, 3.5 hours from northern Idaho, and about 3 hours from the border with British Columbia, all of which offer great hunting and fishing as well.

Carson is centrally located, you’ll have a wide selection of activities right out your back door, and you can get to basically any western hunting state of value within a half day drive in any cardinal direction.

If you go the Euro route, go for the culture and for your wife. The units are marginal, you’re going there for access to the continent and to travel. Croatia during the summer, Austria in the fall, Oktoberfest in Munich, northern Spain in the spring, and the Portugal coast is worth the trip. You’ll do 10 years of traveling in a 3-4 year tour, plus there are some hunting options, albeit awkwardly European ones.
 
Last edited:
3325 said:
I was at Benning, Bragg, and Vicenza, Italy. Italy is a great duty station, but you have to resign yourself that you’re probably not hunting and fishing while you’re there. I know some of it goes on, but I believe it involves a lot of red tape and I think you pretty much need to be a person of means. Still, the Alps are beautiful and there are other outdoor things to do.

I’d say Alaska, but I wouldn’t turn my nose up at Hawaii. Wild hogs, wild goats, Axis deer, and surf fishing sounds fun.

Oh, regarding my opening line, it is Fort Bragg and saying it’s Fort Liberty is just going to make me call it Fort Bragg all the more.
Click to expand...
There is more trout fishing in northern Italy than you could possibly hope to uncover in the 36 months you have on station. A Tessarino (fishing license) costs €32.50 and there are lots of places you can fish with just that. Some waters are controlled and regulated by local angler associations but day permits can be had for less than €20 normally and they cover a major river and most tributaries. I pay for an annual permit to two rivers and have hundreds of miles of river to fish. Slovenia has amazing fishing (the only place you can catch marble trout and huchen on the same day) and costs about €20 for a day permit. It is also less than a 3 hour drive from Vicenza. The Italian Alps from Turin to Udine have thousands of kilometers of fishable trout waters. There’s largemouth bass, wells catfish, and pike fishing in several lakes and rivers within 20 minutes of Vicenza (public waters, no daily use permit required). There’s miles and miles of saltwater shore fishing available free of charge (the Italian government doesn’t require a permit to fish from the shore in tidal waters). The fishing red tape is very easy to cut through and you can purchase most day use permits to restricted waters online or through a couple different apps. I was catching 24” brown trout in an old Roman aqueduct less than 45 minutes from Vicenza on Saturday. Austria and Switzerland are nearby and you can fish in both but I haven’t bothered to look at whether it’s worth the trouble. You can spearfish in Italy (with very few stipulations) year round and without a license in saltwater. It’s not the easiest spearing but if you’re adventurous and into being exhausted at the end of the day, it can be a lot of fun.

Hunting in Italy….isn’t going to happen in Italy and I haven’t even bothered to see if I am legally able to take the hunting exam in Germany without residing in Germany. I suspect I can’t and I don’t really want to drive 8 hours to do it when I can fly fish to my heart’s content near home.

To the OP, you never stated your MOS that I saw but if the soon to be wife isn’t interested in Alaska, I’d likely pass. My wife puts up with enough of my bullshit and that’s why I am currently in Italy. This will likely be my last operational assignment before I retire. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk offline.
 
We have been in Europe for 8 months this tour.

In that time we have been to:
Luxembourg on day trips to go shopping 3 times
Switzerland to visit chocolate and cheese factories once
Austria 5-6 times to go hunting, ski towns, and tour
Finland to spend a week in a cabin fishing and doing the Santa Claus village thing in Rovaneimi with he Kids.

In 5 years in New Mexico prior we had been to Wyoming 3 times to visit family and go hunting.
Lots of short 1 day trips to Texas to go shopping.
Arizona multiple times for vacation.
California for Disney and family.
Florida for Disney

Travelled more in 8 months than I have in the past 5 years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

COJoe
Weather Station ideas?
Replies
16
Views
946
mikefromcanada
M
M
Picking up hitchhikers
5 6 7
Replies
130
Views
7K
GunsAreFun
G
Jpsmith1
Urban optics?
Replies
2
Views
134
Jpsmith1
Jpsmith1
L
Gatlinburg vacation
2
Replies
38
Views
914
lmeyer
L
C
How to set your baby up for the future hunting?
Replies
17
Views
778
mtnbiker208
M

Latest posts

Featured Video

Latest Articles

Back
Top