To sustain our military force, the Army has armed all recruiters and applicable personnel (generally the dubious spouse!) with a catchy slogan: "Re-enlist Soldiers, Re-Up Families". True to its word, the Army has been pumping money into the Army Family Covenant Quality of Life efforts for over two years. Many posts have upgraded housing, built new gym and dining facilities, and dramatically improved the barracks.  We know, we know! The Army must invest in infrastructure to compensate for its generally out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere geographic locations (give a shout-out for Ft. Irwin)!

We’ve been around a while – although we’re nowhere near as old as some of the housing at Ft. Leavenworth – and we’ve decided we’re qualified to give the more famous (and infamous) posts “star rankings” (somewhat akin to those given to the Army leadership). New spouses - consider this a “heads up” when your soldier begins extolling, say, the three-wheeling opportunities at a certain Ft. Polk for which he’s recently received orders; spouses with a few moves scratched into your dining room table – tell us if you agree or if we’ve totally missed the more compelling features of Ft. Leonard Wood!


Good in the Hood (Fort Hood, Texas): With the recent significant on- and off-post infrastructure improvements, we’re going to give the Hood the whopping four-star award. (Just keep in mind that this rating system is for Army posts only, not the numerous Air Force or Navy or Coast Guard vacation locations.)Off-post, you now have access to the Cracker Barrel (Sunday breakfast anyone?), Cheddar’s, Barnes & Noble, a new Target, ULTA – retail paradise! The I35 corridor is loaded with theme parks, water parks, more shopping, restaurants – and as you’re required to drive 80+ miles an hour on I35, you’ll get to your day-trip location in no time! Although the summer heat index drives the field mice into the numerous double-wide mobile homes for much needed air conditioning - this prime real estate is developing faster than the Army's newest models of Paladin and Abrams. And, most importantly for the kids, a CAV charge with horses - awesome!


Sunning at Schofield (Schofield Barracks, Hawaii): Right – we’re cheating a bit here but did you really think we could start anywhere else?! This is the one location where wives can get a lei without having to cook dinner. Drinks at sunset? On the beach? You bet! And always start the morning off with coffee on the sea-breeze misted back porch; this is the Army's little (very, very little) piece of paradise. There are a couple of questionable features to note. First, you will have to contend with the abundance of GOs – there are more general officers per square inch of government owned land in HI than grains of sand in Pearl’s high school spring break sun faded soft yellow Corona beer bottle. And, second, you will need to cover the candy apple red Mazda MX6 convertible as the endless bright sun tends to fade red paint a bit. 

Daydreaming about Drum (Fort Drum, New York): The home of the 10th Mountain Division families’ quarters comes with snow blowers as standard issue. On the upside, there are minimal days when you’ll break a sweat working in the yard; on the downside, you’ll only see that yard for those few days. We’ll admit that we’re giving Ft. Drum three stars because awesome New York City is only 331 miles away (don’t remind us that it takes a whopping nine hours of driving to get there in bad weather!). Once there, you have the sidewalk vendors! The Rockettes! The Rockefeller Square holiday displays and ice skating! Restaurant, after restaurant, after restaurant……… And, most importantly, the more covert treats can be found right outside the Canal Street subway – where the vendors of relatively plausible designer goods have experienced greatly increased foot traffic during the recent economic downturn.


Pumped about Polk (Fort Polk, Louisiana): Google Fort Polk Louisiana and the first URL returned is “Fort Polk: Burger King Fort Polk”. Why is this? Anyone? Is the big BK the bomb at Ft. Polk? We don’t want to flame Ft. Polk unnecessarily – and are going to ask a local for some input – a lucky current resident of that blissfully soggy location, Jennifer Anotonia! Jennifer - how many stars would you give Ft. Polk and why (and no cheating just because you are always positive and your husband is a commander!)?

What Do You Think?

• Ft. Leonard Wood or Ft. Polk?
• I don't care where we live as long as I get a house_______________(on post / off post!)
• Forget CONUS assignments - I am trying to get to my spouse’s Hooch in Afghanistan!