Fort Rucker?

FraggleChic · March 2012

Hi ladies, I was wondering if you could tell me anything about Fort Rucker, positive or negative? My husband is looking at re-enlistment options and was offered an AMCOM position there. With a new baby on the way, I have to say the stability looks very appealing. We've been at Fort Drum and Fort Lewis so the idea of a warm climate is also sounding pretty good right about now! Thanks for all your help.

meltoine · March 2012

I've never been but I know three families who just moved there and they all love it. Supposedly th on-base housing is really nice. It looks that way from photos I've seen.

erindahlin · March 2012

My heart is all a twitter thinking about Ft. Rucker! We were there for two years and just moved to Ft. Riley at the very end of October. We absolutely loved it there!! My husband calls it the most magical place in the Army.

The new housing is really nice. We lived in the remodeled older homes in Allen Heights and in our Army experience they weren't bad at all compared to post housing at other posts. In all the neighborhoods there is about 1 playground per block. I am not even exaggerating. I believe after this summer all the neighborhoods will have their our neighborhood center complete with a pool. The neighborhood centers are extremely nice and if you live on post you can use the space for free to have parties, showers, and such. The neighborhood centers also host neighborhood events like movie nights at the pool and there are monthly organized yard sales.

Because the post is so small they regularly have post wide events. There is a yearly chili cook off, a pet day, and 4th of July is awesome there! The post is very different from a lot of places because it is mostly a school post. They have SERE school, warrant officer school, flight school, and a couple of NCO schools. Because of flight school, at most of the post events they will bring out all of the helicopters for families to check out and sit in. Some events you can even pay for helicopter rides.

I love that the post was small. It is really easy to find your way around. At every other post I've been to, if you are trying to get paperwork done you are going to a few different building to do everything. At Ft. Rucker everything you could ever need (ids, jag, spouse work support) is all in the 5700 Blg right in the middle of post.

Now as far as surrounding areas and recreation are concerned I think you will be please. There is a small lake on post that has a swimming area with slides. They also have a lot of recreational rentals at the lake. They have affordable boat rentals, rv rentals, and have 2 bedroom cabins on the lake for just $65 a night. We used the cabins a couple of times for family that was visiting. Around Ft. Rucker there are also several walking trails and a mountain bike trail.

Enterprise, AL has a good variety of restaurants and a few clothing and gift stores. They have put a lot of work into their downtown and it's really nice. Dothan has a small mall and a lot more restaurants. If you live on post, you might be like me and go to Ozark for your Wal Mart trips. I think Enterprise and Ozark Wal Marts are about the same travel time from post. I went to Ozark because it was almost never busy and I didn't have to wait in line. One thing I have to mention is that there is a drive in movie theater between Daleville and Dothan. It is awesome! With military discount tickets are $5 a piece and it is always a double feature with 4 screens to choose from.

Our favorite place to go was the beach. You are an hour and a half from Panama City Beach, FL and about 2 hours from Destin! Get ready for blue water and white beaches! And because of the warm weather you can go to the beach from March til October. We did any serious shopping down there since PCB has a really nice mall and Destin has an outlet mall. We never used it but MWR has some rentals for military not far from PCB.

The last thing is that a lot of my girlfriends like Ft. Rucker because there is not a hospital on post. Meaning if you plan on having children there you get to be referred to a doctor of your choice in either Enterprise or Dothan. That's a luxury you don't usually get using Tricare Prime.

Sorry to overload you on information! I hope this all helps! The only negatives we ever heard anyone have about Ft. Rucker was that they felt is was a little rural. But those were people used to living in huge cities like Atlanta and Chicago. Anything would be rural compared to that!

FraggleChic · March 2012

Thank you for the information. From the people I've spoken with, it sounds like Rucker is a great place to be stationed. I'm sure it will feel rural to us as well as we are at Lewis in the Seattle-Tacoma area now. We have a baby on the way and have no idea if this possible PCS will happen before or after I deliver. I'm currently on Tricare Standard now because I hate the MTF here so off post care will definitely be a plus for me there. Is there a Target in the area? I really dislike Wal-Mart. We used to go to the drive-in all the time when we were at Drum and have missed it since moving. That sounds fun!

1.5 hours to PCB and 2 to Destin sounds absolutely amazing!

erindahlin · April 2012

There is a Target in Dothan which is about 30 min from post. It is not a Super Target though. If you do get to move before your due date. Most of my friends delivered at Flower's Hospital in Dothan and had great experiences. Cleveland and Gilcrest is a really great OBGYN practice in Dothan. The practice has 3 doctors, the third is Dr. Marker who I saw a couple of times and thought she was great. Good luck with the move if it's what you decided to do! I think you will love it there

Fort Rucker?

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