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What is it like living at Fort Bliss?

T-Minus 42 days (more or less)
Resumes Sent: 3
Pounds lost: -1
House Cleaned: No.
Ever since we learned that we were headed to Fort Knox, I've been busy researching the area and trying to figure out where we should live, where we should enroll the kidlets in daycare, etc. I've been fairly frustrated by the lack of information. Most of the post reports that I've ready have more soldier-oriented information than family-oriented.

I can't change what is available for Fort Knox, but I can describe life at Fort Bliss. I'll try to be as comprehensive as possible (UPDATE: Maybe I was TOO comprehensive. My first draft is already up to five typed pages, so I think that I will post this in “parts”), but if you have specific questions, feel free to ask!

PART I:

OVERVIEW

Post Name: Fort Bliss, Texas

Location: El Paso, Texas

El Paso, Texas is located at the convergence of the border of Texas, New Mexico and the Republic of Mexico. You can literally see another country as you drive along the highway (or up in the mountains). Directly across the international border is Ciuadad Juarez. Juarez has been famous for the past few years as the "Murder Capital of the World" (which it turns out not to be) and its strong association with drug cartel activity (which is undeniably true). As of the date of writing, Mexico is strictly off limits for active-duty military by General Order and it is strongly discouraged for any Americans to travel there.

 El Paso has a very mild climate with an average of 302 days of sunshine per year  - undoubtedly why El Paso is known as “The Sun City”. Summers can get extremely hot (regularly at or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit), although this is when El Paso can expect most of its 9 inches of rain per year.

 Geographically, El Paso’s southern border is the Rio Grande River. Although this means “great” or “large” river in Spanish, at El Paso it is typically no more than a muddy ditch. “Release dates” in the summer and fall (when dams upstream are opened) is the only time you know for sure that it will have any water at all. The city itself is bisected by the Franklin Mountains. When people say “East Side” or “West Side” they are talking about which side of the mountain they live on. This can be important, because there are only two main (and one minor) routes across/around the mountain to get to the other side of town (I-10, Transmountain Road and Rim Road (the “minor” one). This can be a BIG problem if construction and/or wrecks shut them down.

 The ethnic population of El Paso (outside of Fort Bliss) is over 90% Hispanic. It is not uncommon for you to hear Spanish spoken in stores and offices, although government offices and major chains will always have English speakers available as well. There is a Spanish-language newspaper (El Diario), and there are multiple Spanish-language radio and television stations.

 Life On Post

Access:  Fort Bliss is made up of the original post (with buildings dating back to the 1800’s!) and the “new” area which was formerly known as “Biggs Army Airfield” and now called “East Bliss” (download a map here). There is only one way to get from Old Bliss to East Bliss without going outside the gates, and it is so inconvenient that you usually go off and back on to get from one side to the other.  Most of the post facilities (PX, Commissary, MWR, etc.) are on Old Bliss. The Sergeant Major Academy, new offices for 1 AD, 1 AD headquarters and new housing are on East Bliss. The post hospital, along with additional housing, is a completely separate fenced-off area called “Beaumont”.

 The “main” gates are the “Robert E. Lee” gate, which is at the southern end of Old Bliss, the Cassidy Gate (at the west side of Old Bliss), the Sergeant Major Gate (at East Bliss), Constitution Gate (at East Bliss) and the Fred Wilson Gate at Beaumont. These gates are typically open 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. Supplemental gates are Pershing (my favorite- a sleep gate on the west side of Old Bliss that has almost zero traffic), Fred Wilson (onto Old Bliss, confusing because it has a similar name to the Beaumont gate), A gate whose name that I don’t know, but which goes out the south side of post. Chaffee (which dumps out onto airport road on the east side of Old Bliss), Biggs Gate (in between SGT Major and Constitution on loop 375), one at the far end of Loop 375 whose name I don’t even know, and a back entry to the hospital (only open weekdays during the day). The hours of the additional gates vary.

 Housing: Fort Bliss is one of those posts where, the higher your rank, the worse your house will be (with some exceptions, noted below). Commanders Row (O-5 and O-6), along Pershing Road on Old Bliss, has the biggest, but also the oldest houses. Some of the houses are interesting ( General Pershing and General Patton (before he was a General) both lived there at some point, but they are generally small, pokey and outdated. Prospects are brighter for O-1 to O-4. The new housing on Old Bliss, East Bliss and outside the gates at Cavalry Circle are spacious, bright and comfortable. The worst houses for officer families are on Beaumont. Avoid. CWO’s and E-7,8,9 also live in Cavalry Circle and in similar houses on East Bliss near the Sergeant Major Academy. Junior Enlisted and mid-level NCOs have more of a toss-up. Their best option is Paseo Del Norte (brand new townhouses on Old Bliss) and newer areas on East Bliss. The worst-case scenario is Old Bliss near Colin Powell elementary, but the houses in Upper and Lower Logan (known collectively as Logan Heights) is also undesirable. I am told that there is a strong sense of community in Logan Heights, but it is outside of the fenced area of post, so they have a lot of problems with “interlopers” and more crime, etc. than true “on-post” options. There are also some bungalows in the central part of Old Bliss which are available to Junior Enlisted and E-4 to E-6. They are super cute, but small (and the central location can be bad if you have little kids who want to play outside, because people speed like crazy past those houses). The “older” houses don’t have nearby playgrounds or greenspaces, but all of the new developments have an average of one playground for every two blocks (nice, new equipment covered by a canopy to keep it from being too hot to play on). There isn’t any place on post that I would classify as “far” from shopping or the CDCs, but Logan, Cavalry Circle and Beaumont residents will have the hassle of coming through the gates.

 Day Care: Fort Bliss has ample, beautiful, brand-new CDC facilities on Old Bliss, East Bliss AND in Logan Heights. My daughter was enrolled there during the summers, and we have nothing but praise for the staff and facilities. I understand that there is not currently a waiting list for spaces, and they have transportation from nearby schools to the facilities for after-school care. As with all CDCs, the cost of childcare is based on total family income. The CDC provides summer care for school-aged children and at least once per month they have a “parents night  out” with evening babysitting so that you can go on a date with your soldier.

 Shopping: Fort Bliss has a brand new PX, Commissary AND a “mall” called Freedom’s Crossing in  Gamestop and the UPS store. A mid-sized Class 6, Optical Shop and a large Clothing Sales store are also located there. Apart from Freedom’s crossing, there are numerous Shopettes located around all areas of post (including one in the “off post” housing area near Cavalry Circle).
the heart of Old Bliss. There is ample parking. The “mall” is mostly restaurants, but there are stores as well. Current tenants are Agaci, Under Armor, Things Remembered,

 Restaurants: Most of the restaurants on post are at Freedom’s Crossing. They have Buffalo Wild Wings, Sushi, an Irish Pub, Texas Roadhouse (opening soon), Denny’s and a variety of fast-food restaurants like Baskin-Robbins, Dairy Queen, Smashburger, Burger King, Einstein Brothers, Starbucks, Subway, Anthony’s Pizza, etc. Post also has the typical Buger Kings, a stand-alone Dunkin Donuts and Subway stores in a few of the shopettes. One unique restaurant on Fort Bliss (which may be closing soon, since the German Air Force is scheduled to leave Fort Bliss later this year) is the German Club which serves German food (and, on weekends and after house: beer) and is located on Old Bliss.

 Recreation:  The main recreation area on post is Biggs Park, located on East Bliss. It features picnic areas, a rock-climbing wall, sports fields and a water park. Cardholders can also use Replica Pool (a HUGE indoor aquatic center on Old Bliss), the pool at the old O-Club, numerous gyms (the biggest and best is Soto Gym on East Bliss), visit the Old Fort Bliss Museum (a cheesy but interesting replica of what the post looked like in the 1880s), run around the Walking track (a 2.5 mile course that weaves down Commanders Row, past the Old Fort Bliss Museum and back. This route is only partially shaded, so make sure to go early or late and take lots of water!), catch a movie at the Grande theater (brand new, state-of-the-art theater at Freedom’s Crossing) or go bowling. Additionally, MWR brings in a lot of performers to give free concerts at Freedom’s Crossing or Biggs Park. MWR also does the usual “Easter Egg Hunt, Trick-or-Treat, Fireworks, Visits with Santa” stuff as well.

 Schools:  Fort Bliss does not have traditional “Department of Defense” schools. Instead, the post is partnered with the El Paso Independent School District to provide services to dependent families. There is one elementary school on post, Colin Powell Elementary, and Chapin High School is housing-area adjacent. There is a school-liaison office which can help answer questions about student-placement and has good information about school performance and resources.

But for the grace of God...

T-Minus 43 days (more or less)
Resumes Sent: 3
Pounds lost: -1 (UGH, CURSE YOU EASTER CANDY)
House Cleaned: Close enough.

I am assuming that anyone reading this blog is, most likely, a service-member spouse, parent or close friend. That being the case, I am sure you have imagined the "worst" at some point in your life: What might happen to your loved one when they are deployed.

As I mentioned ealier, I am HotLT's second wife. He and his first wife were together for the ten+ years that he served as enlisted (infantry) and during his numerous deployments. In his second-from-last deployment, he was in a helicopter crash that broke his jaw and seriously injured his back. Thankfully, he made a recovery, but I'm selfishly glad that I wasn't the one who had to get the phonecall that he had been hurt.

Still, I think about it. Even training can go wildly wrong - which is why my heart hurts for my friend Bryan Forney, his wife Jenny and their kids.

Bryan is a close friend of my ex-husband. He was actually best man at our wedding. He's been a Marine for as long as I know him and - according to my Ex - wanted to be a Marine for his entire life. Until last month, he was  a Marine Corps CH-46 pilot serving with HMM-262 in Okinawa. Then, during yearly training operations in Thailand, everything changed. He was critically injured with severe burns when the helicopter made a hard landing.

Bryan's wife and family are updating everyone on his progress at http://www.facebook.com/TheForneyJourney. They had a Fundrazr set up to help with transportation costs (specifically for caretakers to go to Okinawa to stay with the kids while Jenny met Bryan at the hospital in Thailand and accompanied him to BAMC in San Antonio). They are no longer in need of financial assistance, and Bryan is improving a little bit every day, but I am certain that they would still appreciate your prayers.

10 Tips for a Military Move

 T-Minus 44 days (more or less)
Resumes Sent: 3
Pounds lost: 0
House Cleaned: Ish.

So, still waiting on orders.  HotLT has completed his checklist to have them cut, so hopefully it won't be long. His first stop after orders are in hand is to go to Transportation to arrange for our move. I don't know if all posts are this way, but Fort Bliss is rather notorious for a Transportation backlog.

I mentioned earlier that this will be my first PCS as a military spouse. However, because I work with so many Army civilians (and three of my best friends are Army wives with at least 15+ years and countless moves each),  I've received a lot of advice about preparing for a military move.

Here it is:

1) Document all of your belongings. Make a list of all of your valuables, including serial numbers. Supplement this with photographs (showing the serial numbers where available), demonstrating that the items are in your home and that they are undamaged (if items are damaged, you need to document that too). Keep the list in a safe place and make sure that it is travelling with you.

2) Be prepared to live without your stuff! Make a separate stash of items that you are going to bring with you. Realize that it may take quite a while for the moving company to deliver your belongings (good friends of ours were in Charlottesville for 45 days with three toddlers and no belongings). Think about the absolute essentials that you need to get through your daily routine. Remember to pack clothes for various types of weather, a pot, a fry pan, a spatula, a serving spoon, a bowl, and plates and utensils for all members of your family. Pack blankets, pillows and sheets for everyone in your family. Of course, don't forget your clothes/personal hygiene items, pet supplies and towels! Some people bring mattresses with them, but we are going to buy an air mattress when we arrive in Kentucky. Yes, I realize that we could stay in Post Lodging until our stuff shows up, but I have heard horror stories about that too. I would prefer to "camp out" in my new home.

3) Bring "priceless" items with you. Sending your jewelry, paintings, baby pictures and/or grama's antique vase with movers is asking for trouble. For example, HotLT and I have a collection of authentic WWII recruiting posters that it would break our hearts to lose. They are riding with us in the Jeep.

4) Use up as much of your food supply and cleaning items as possible. Fresh and liquid items cannot be transported. There will be another blog entry on this later, but let it suffice to say that HotLT and I have been suffering through some truly heinous meals in my attempt to use up a forgotten stash of fish sauce, dried pasta, bizarre soups and an ill-advised "bulk buy" of pork chops that have been mummifying in our freezer. Amusingly, a fair share of the gross stuff was given to us by PCSing friends.

5) Re-evaluate your needs.  Everyone frets about coming in under weight.  I have never known anyone to go over, but the psychological pressure of knowing you might have to ax something at the last minute is a good reason to start shedding excess items now.  A lot of military families simply pass their extra stuff along to friends. Keep in mind, however, that there may be some good options for donating your items on post. Bliss has an Enlisted Soldier Center that will pass along used furniture to young families who are just starting out, and the USO can take used games and movies. Extra clothes can go to Goodwill (or the consignment shop on post. One of my friends left a lot of clothes there with instructions for any money received to go to Operation Purple).

6) Ready your pets for the move. My dog's next set of shots won't be due until we get to our next post (the vet recommended that I wait, since he may need a license/tag in his new town), but I had a check-up and obtained a prescription for anxiety medicine (Mackie hates car rides). We checked to make sure that he still fits comfortably in his kennel cab and has a few favorite toys and a used towel (he loves our used towels) to ride along. If you are travelling overseas (or to Hawaii), you may need to see the vet early in order to avoid the need to quarantine your pet when you arrive.

7) Think about what to do with your plants. HotLT and I have a huge container garden in our back yard and some coffee plants that we keep indoors. Transportation will not move plants and we don't have a lot of room in the Jeep and my car that will be leftover after the necessities from item two and Mackie. We had to pick our favorites. We also had to take into account the different climate in Kentucky. We have a gorgeous desert pink fairy duster that I love, but I realize that it won't survive out our new home, so I am leaving it with my paralegal. We are also leaving the roses, since those are easy to obtain almost anywhere. Ditto the gardenia, but we are taking our Lemon tree and plumerias with us (to live indoors).

To prepare the plants for a move, we are taking them out of the containers and thoroughly moistening the soil. We will wrap paper towels around the root ball and then wrap the whole thing tightly in plastic wrap. The leaves of the plants should be gently pushed toward the plant (up or down, depending on how they are naturally growing) and secured with twine or more plastic wrap. Finally, our more delicate plants are going into cardboard lamp boxes to minimize the amount of jostling that they receive during the trip.

8) Plan your route. Since the drive across Texas is SOUL CRUSHING (those of you who have made the journey know that I am not employing all-caps lightly there) our first impulse was to go for the shortest distance and try to push through the whole way from El Paso to Texarkana in one, horrific day. However, we reconsidered. The military standard (used to compute your per diem and your soldier's travel days) is 400 miles per day. What is the disincentive for taking your time and seeing a little bit of the country along the way? We have wanted to see the Big Texan Steak Ranch ever since its appearance on Man v. Food - and this is probably going to be the only chance we have to "pass through" Amarillo. I've never been to Oklahoma. I don't have anything I'm desperate to see there, but it scratches another state off the list (and probably beats spending two and a half days still trying to make it to the other side of Texas). There are websites and apps that can help point out interesting things to see along your route. Best Road Trip Planner is one. Road Trip America is another.

9) Double check everything! Expect Murphy's law to be in full effect. The movers will be late. They will break things. It will take longer than you expected for your household goods to arrive. Plan for contingencies and wiggle-room.

10) Take a deep breath and realize that it will all be over soon. You may get lost. It will take a long time for your stuff to arrive. Things will get broken, but after a few months, things will settle down and your new digs will feel like home. On the outside chance that doesn't happen, just think: in two-to-three years, you will do it all again!

Finally, here is a great FREE GUIDE with tips, forms and additional information about entitlements, policies and other things you need to know!

Making Money on the Move

T-Minus 44 days (more or less)

Resumes Sent: 3

Pounds lost: 0

House Cleaned: Yes (yay!)

 One of the hardest things to wrap my head  around about the upcoming move is the fact that I have to quit my job. I have a great job that I love. It is challenging, educational, inspiring and even a little big glamorous- but I can't take it with me when we leave.

My husband was enlisted for more than ten years before we met (his five deployments were on his ex-wife's watch (and NO, I did not even know him before he got divorced - don't look at me like that!) which is another reason that I sometimes feel like an Army Wife faker when people ask how long my husband has been in...but I digress.). He is coming up on thirteen years in. Since we expect to be at our new post for three years (and, honestly, may try to extend), we have started thinking about where we want the "last assignment" before he makes his 20 to be.

My dream (a dream that is, no doubt, shared by many military wives) is for Hawaii. That is actually semi-realistic based on his current career track, but if we go there, I will once again face the problem of finding work.

Our upcoming PCS is to Kentucky. That is the state that I am from, the state where I went to law school, and the state where I am barred. Apart from the crappy job market for lawyers, it is actually the best-case scenario for me to find a new job. The same is NOT the case for Hawaii. They don't allow people to transfer their license without re-taking the bar exam. Unless Congress gets its act together and lifts the Federal hiring freeze (SURELY they will in the next four years, but you never know), my chances of a lawyer job are slim. That is one reason that I am trying to develop a "portable" income.

What is a "portable" income? One that you can earn just as easily at Fort Bliss, Fort Wainwright, Fort Shafter or Paris, France. I already have ONE online revenue stream (which I will discuss in a later post), but I am attempting to develop new ones (hence the ads on this blog...could you please click one for a good cause? ;)). As a recurring feature on this blog, I will test-drive some money making ideas to determine whether or not I can recommend them for fellow military wives.

My first experiment will be with online survey-taking. Am I going to get rich doing it? Absolutely not - but it might be enough money to make enough money to contribute a dinner out, a movie or a tank of gas to the family finances.

Based on recommendations from around the web, I'm going to sign up for the following survey companies:

Cashbackresearch
I Say
Toluna

I'll try to take as many surveys as I am eligible for and report back this time next month.

T-Minus 45 (give or take) days....

Dependapotamus: Traditionally a service-members dependent who is a "stay at home mom" that doesn't do a damn thing all day besides sitting on the couch looking remarkably similar to jabba the hut leaching off of military benefits and eating anything that gets too close. "Dude what the hell is that on your couch?" "Thats my wife!" "You need to do something with that dependapotamus."                                                                         - Urban Dictionary Resumes Sent: 3 Pounds lost: 0 House Cleaned: More or less   Welcome to the Army, Mrs. L! Technically, I've been an Army Wife for over three months now (such a vast amount of time), and "with" the Army for more than three years (my civilian job is how I came to be thrown into the path of a hot lieutenant to begin with), but I've never thought of myself as truly an "Army Wife" until now. Claudia Joy Holden I am not - Well, except for being gorgeous and stylish, of course...and the fact that I also am (was?) a lawyer. Being the successful woman behind a successful guy has not really been my zone in the past. I've been an attorney for the past twelve years and an independent, I'll-take-care-of-myself-thanks type of gal since I turned eighteen. That is why, the change occurring in 45 days (give or take) is so scary for me. My husband (the aforementioned hot LT (hopefully soon-to-be hot CPT)) has orders to PCS. Of course, I'm going with him, but that means leaving my lawyer job (and a big chunk of my identity) behind. I've figured out the money end of leaving my job (things will be tight, but do-able), but I haven't quite figured out what to do with myself yet. I am starting this blog for a variety of reasons: First, for something to do with my time. I don't expect to manage a lot of entries until we settle down in our new home. When we get there, I am going to have to cope with a novel concept called "free time" for the first occasion since 2000. Second, I want to "keep myself honest" by making a public record of my attempts to find new employment and improve myself. The title of my blog "InDependapotamus" isn't going to be funny to everyone. The "D-word" is a MEGA insult in the Army world, since it implies (as indicated by the Urban Dictionary definition above) a helpless monster who sits on the couch and mooches off her husband. That's the EXACT opposite of what I want to be- which is how I decided on the name. I'm an independent, resourceful woman...and I intend to stay that way! I just need to figure out a new path...which brings me to the final reason for this blog.    I would like to help others. I know that I'm not the only "new Army wife" out there trying to learn this thing as I go along. I'll try to pass along tips and information as I figure out my new role in life.