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Stars and Stripes Europe reached out to military spouses to get their thoughts about several topics impacting military life. We received 100 responses from the spouses of six military branches, active duty and reserve, who have been dependents from just a few months to more than 20 years.
These spouses are currently stationed at locations all over the world, with 40 percent being OCONUS (outside the continental U.S.).
This month we are talking about military bases. 68 percent of spouses polled claimed that travel and new experiences excited them most about military life. However, moving with the military lifestyle can be a gamble. You could end up living next to a coastal sunny beach, in a thriving metropolis, in the freezing cold or in the desert.
Here are these military spouses’ favorite bases and dream locations to get stationed.
Top 5 Favorite/Dream Locations
1. Germany (12 percent)
2. Italy (10 percent)
3. Florida, U.S.A. (nine percent)
4. Hawaii, U.S.A. (seven percent)
5. Japan/California, U.S.A. (six percent) (tie)
When my spouse first joined the Army nine years ago, I dreamed of all the magical places we would visit. It took five tries, but seven years into his career we finally made it to one of our wish-list places: Germany. This was after going to the less “dreamy” places of west Georgia, east Georgia, South Carolina and Texas.
Every spouse thinks about where they would like to end up and appreciates the wonderful places that they have gotten to go. 30 percent of spouses polled claimed that their favorite or dream location is Europe and the U.K. Navy spouse Alexandra S. loved her time in Naples, Italy because they “had so many amazing travel opportunities as a family.”
22 percent of spouses seemed to be drawn to the sunny States of Florida, Hawaii and California. Navy spouse Tom H. claimed,
“I loved being stationed in Hawaii as I was born and raised in Florida, so the weather and environment was ideal for me. The beaches, the mountains, the ocean, and the hiking gave so many opportunities for things to do and explore. The history and culture of the Hawaiian people is also so rich and an amazing thing to be able to immerse yourself in.”
— Tom H.
Here are these military spouses’ opinions about which are the not-so-ideal military bases.
Top 5 “Least Favorite” Locations
1. North Carolina, U.S.A. (10 percent)
2. Louisiana, U.S.A. (seven percent)
3. Georgia, U.S.A., California, U.S.A., Germany (six percent) (tie)
4. Florida, U.S.A., Oklahoma, U.S.A., South Carolina, U.S.A., Texas, U.S.A. (five percent) (tie)
5. Virginia, U.S.A., Alaska, U.S.A. (four percent) (tie)
The military lifestyle giveth and taketh away. See my note above about being stationed at four different locations before our “dream” spot. While many spouses make the best of wherever they are stationed, it’s okay to acknowledge that some assignments are better than others, and sometimes people just have bad experiences at locations.
Army spouse Jessica A. said this about being stationed in Georgia: “[It had] hot humid, [weather] and massive bugs. The local community is very overtly racist, the town surrounding the base is a mess, the housing company is a disaster, on post has next to nothing going on event-wise.”
North Carolina was at the top of the “least favorite” places for many different reasons. Marine spouse Rei B. found a duty station in North Carolina to have “a lack of diverse employment opportunities, low multicultural expsure, high crime, low performing public schools, and to be poorly located from highways or busy airports.”
“You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and then you have” … a duty station
What might be considered a “dream location” for one family could be dead last on another family’s list. Germany, Florida and California made both lists. Air Force spouse Kristen T. talked about both the pros and cons of living in Germany.
“Germany has been fun because of the travel opportunities. There are many challenges to living here, though, so some days I wish we were back in the States instead. But I know that looking back at the experiences I have had and will have during our time in Germany will make all the little annoyances or challenges worth it.”
— Kristen T.
Did your favorite or least favorite base make our lists? Come back next month for the last part of the 2023 Spouses Speak series all about life outside of the military.
The views and opinions expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect those of the employees of Stars and Stripes.
