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10 Things To Know About Being Stationed At Fort Campbell

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10 Things To Know About Being Stationed At Fort Campbell

Almost eleven years ago, our family flew into Nashville and started the Fort Campbell chapter of our lives. While my husband got out of active duty in 2014, he joined the National Guard, and we stayed put here in Clarksville, TN. I have now lived here longer than anywhere else besides where I grew up.

If you just found out you are going to be stationed at Fort Campbell, congratulations! While I can’t guarantee what type of experience you will have here, you can have an excellent one. Not everyone likes Ft. Campbell, some people hate Ft. Campbell, but others love the place and plan to stay here long term.

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So if you plan to move here soon, here are just a few things to know about being stationed at Fort Campbell:

1. Fort Campbell is on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky, literally

Fort Campbell is literally on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky. Being from California, which is such a huge state, going out of state still seems so funny to me, and yet, here, I do it all the time. If you have a baby at Fort Campbell, their birth certificate says, “Fort Campbell, Tennessee” even though that doesn’t exist. Officially, Fort Campbell is considered in Kentucky, but some of the military post is actually on the Tennesse side of the line.

2. Don’t listen to people who say there is nothing to do; there is plenty to do

Often I hear that there is nothing to do here. Not true. There is plenty to do. I think what they mean is that there is not a lot of big-city things to do which is true, but I will talk about that in #3.

They also might not have kids. I could see feeling that way if you didn’t have kids, maybe. But between the post and the local communities, there is always something going on. And they keep adding more and more things to do. Of course, during COVID, many things are limited.

3. Don’t expect big city life, you will need to head to Nashville for that

Growing up in Southern California, this place seems a lot less exciting. So for people who are used to that, it can feel like this is a small town. I think I have gotten used to that, but I know it can be frustrating for others. Luckily, Nashville is just about 45 minutes to an hour away, and they have a lot going on.

There are a lot of chains here, from Target to Starbucks to Dollar General, which they seem to have everywhere. But that doesn’t mean there is nothing local to enjoy, there is. There are restaurants and stores that you can’t find anywhere else. I am a big fan of Miss Lucille’s Marketplace which is an indoor antique mall with a small cafe.

10 Things To Know About Being Stationed At Fort Campbell

4. Housing is a toss-up

I have never lived on post at Fort Campbell, but I have visited friends that have over the years. I think housing is overall a toss-up. Some places seem pretty nice, are close to Starbucks and parks. Other neighborhoods seem more lacking. It just depends.

5. Traffic sucks

If you try to go to the mall at 2 pm on a Saturday, good luck. That is probably the worst time of day for traffic around here. And when traffic is bad, it is very very bad.

Traffic gets even worse when it snows. Yikes! And this is not a very walkable area either. You also might live five minutes from post, and it can take you 30 minutes to get home because everyone is trying to do the same thing.

6. The weather is crazy

We have hot and “don’t want to go outside” humidity in the summer, we have rain and tornado season in the fall and especially in the spring, and winter is all over the place. We had a snow week in January, but also 65-degree weather just a few weeks later. A couple of days ago things felt like spring around here, and I found snow on my car this morning. Fun times.

As far as the snow goes, if you are from California, Hawaii, or Florida, it snows a lot. If you are from New England, Minnesota, or Alaska, you might wonder why everyone is freaking out. The whole city might shut down with just an inch, make sure to stock up on your bread and milk.

7. You can buy a house for under $200K

Coming from California, housing here is really cheap. You could easily find a home for under $200k, and if you have $300K to spend, you are looking at an amazing house. One of the main reasons we stay.

10 Things To Know About Being Stationed At Fort Campbell

8. Everything you need on post is pretty close

The nice thing about Fort Campbell is that everything the military family needs is pretty close. From the PX to the Commissary to most of the housing. It’s all right there. Which makes getting from place to place much easier. 

Off post is a completely different story. Clarksville is pretty spread out which I am still not used to even after all this time. I wish things were a little bit closer together.

9. You can live in Kentucky or Tennesee, your pick

If you decide to live off post at Fort Campbell, you can choose whether you want to live in Kentucky or Tennessee. Most people do pick Clarksville to live in, but some enjoy living in Oak Grove or Hopkinsville in Kentucky. There are plenty of options for off post living here.

10. They need more bookstores

This whole area needs more bookstores. That is my personal rant. We do have a Books-a-Million which actually has a great selection and a lot of amazing deals. But adding another one, plus another library would be great.

If you do get orders to Fort Campbell, do some research on housing, look into things to do and know you can have a pretty amazing experience here if you want.

What is Fort Campbell Really like?

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What is Fort Campbell Really like?

In March, we will have lived here in the Fort Campbell area for TEN years!

I can’t even wrap my mind around that. Since I left my parent’s home for college in 1997, I have never lived anywhere that long.

When I tell people I have been here for almost ten years, they look a little shocked and wonder if it is because my husband has been stationed here for all these years…

He was, from 2010-2014 he was stationed at Fort Campbell but ever since he has been in the National Guard, and we stayed in the area. We did this for a few reasons.

One of the biggest is that we can’t go back to where we are from. California is way too expensive, and it just doesn’t seem like that option is ever going to work out. Another reason is that we are just not sure where we want to settle for the long term.

We have so many thoughts about that, and we are just not sure. The third is that we have three boys in schools here, one with special needs, and we overall like how things are going. We don’t want to mess with that.

So how long will we stay in the Fort Campbell area? We are not sure. We have to see what the future brings!

There are active duty families that have been here for a long time. This seems to be the place that can happen sometimes. On the other hand, I have known a lot of people who have just come through here for two or three years, so you never know.

So, being here so long, you might want to ask me, what is the Fort Campbell area like? Is this place a good place to get stationed? Should we put it on our list that the Army may or may not go by?

Well…one thing to know about the Fort Campbell area is that different people have different opinions about the place. If Fort Campbell comes up in a Facebook group, I will read the replies and agree with some of them and wonder how the person came to that opinion with the others.

It seems like Fort Campbell is a different place for different people, so that is something to keep in mind when you look into moving here.

Where you can live

We live in Clarksville, a lot of people who live off post here live in Clarksville, on the Tennessee side. However, some people live in Oak Grove, Kentucky or further away from post, Hopkinsville, Kentucky or even up to Madisonville, Kentucky.

Where you decide to live can make a big difference in what you think of the area. There are active duty military families that live up by Exit 11 that can get to Nashville in about 30 minutes and others that live 30 minutes from Fort Campbell in the other direction, in a much more rural area.

The great thing about that is that you do have options and choices based on what you want to do. Want to live on post? You can. Want to live in a regular old neighborhood 10 minutes from post? You can. Want to buy property in a very country like area? You can. Fort Campbell is pretty flexible that way.

Where you can shop

Fort Campbell does have quite a few options for shopping. We have a Target in Clarksville, and many other stores you are familiar with. But we are also missing other stores such as Macy’s, Costco, and Trader Joes. The good news is, you can find a lot of what you are missing in Nashville. The bag news is, you have to actually go to Nashville and that isn’t going to be a quick trip.

Where you can eat

Clarksville does have its share of local restaurants. They try, they really do and we have a few favorites. However, the Fort Campbell area isn’t going to be the best place to find all the different types of foods you might be used to if you come from a bigger area. You might be missing something.

We have too many fast food places, and they seem to keep adding them. When a new building goes up, we hope for a new sandwich shop or cafe and get an Arby’s or a Taco Bell. That can be a bit frustrating.

Community life

One of the reasons Fort Campbell can be a good place for you is that overall they are pretty family-friendly. This is, however, an area where people disagree. Some people think Fort Campbell and Clarksville are family-friendly and others don’t.

The schools are a big hot button issue. We have always had a good experience in the off-post schools. Others feel very differently about that. The best thing to do is to check out what people are saying about the school but also keep an open mind. Talk to people who have had good and bad experiences to get the bigger picture.

Clarksville has a lot of community events you can take part in. From Easter Egg hunts to Halloween fun. There seems like there is always something going on. They are also trying to work on their downtown area and in the last few years, they have really added to it with new restaurants and the Downtown Commons which turns into an ice skating rink in the wintertime.

Traffic

If there is one thing I hate about this area it is the traffic. Being that I learned to drive in Southern California you would think it wouldn’t be that big of a deal but for some reason, the traffic around here gets under my skin. But I try to avoid the worst areas during the worst times.

A lot of the issue, at least in Clarksville, is that there are just too many people trying to go to the same place at the same time. Clarksville is spread out but there are only so many places to go on a Friday night.

Weather

You might be wondering about what Fort Campbell is like when it comes to the weather. The weather is really all over the place. In the fall, the weather can be nice but doesn’t stick around for very long. We can get a lot of rain, straight-line winds, and tornado weather.

Winter can bring snow, however, we usually don’t get very much. Usually no more than an inch or two at a time. However, we do have a lot of snow days. We have had years where we have had over 10 snow days and years were we haven’t even had one. Last year we might have had one, so I am guessing this year we could end up with a snow week, we will see.

If you live on post, the schools there do not close as often as they do in Clarksville. The post itself has closed for terrible weather but that doesn’t happen very often. It gets cold here if your idea of cold is anything under 30 degrees, which it is for me. If you are used to negative degree winters and snowstorms, you will think the winter is quite mild.

Spring brings a lot more rain and more of a chance of tornado weather and straight-line winds. One year, we lost power for 37 hours. Yikes! You do learn to adapt to this but it can still make me quite nervous.

Summer can be pretty humid starting in June and by August you will just be over it. However, you probably will have to wait until mid-September, or even October to really cool down. This year was the worst. We were still in the 90s when October started.

As I think back to my time in the Fort Campbell area, it has overall been a good experience. I am not sure I would have handpicked this area out of the entire United States, but the Fort Campbell area works for us for now.

Although we are a National Guard family now, we have a lot of the perks of the military. We can shop at the Commissary and a lot of the people I meet are connected to the military in some way. We don’t have to go far for the military community, which is nice.

If you have just received orders to Fort Campbell or wondering what Fort Campbell is like, feel free to reach out. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have 🙂

Have you ever been stationed at Fort Campbell???

5 Things to do in the Summer When You Are Stationed at Ft. Campbell

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5 Things to do in the Summer When You Are Stationed at Ft. Campbell

We are just three weeks away from another summer being just a memory. School will start for my boys and although the weather will still be hot and the bugs will be loud, the pool will be closed and we will be looking ahead to the fall.

This summer has been low-key but also a lot of fun. We did not go on any vacations although my oldest went to summer camp. We had a lot of family time in June since my husband was home with a broken arm. I wanted to share 5 Things to do in the Summer When You Are Stationed at Ft. Campbell.

If you don’t know, Ft. Campbell is on the Tennessee and Kentucky border. Literally. Some of the base is in one state, some in the other. While officially the installation is considered Ft. Campbell, KY, if you have a baby here, they will have Ft. Campbell, TN on their birth certificate. Even though that doesn’t really exist. You can choose to live on post, on the Tennessee side in Clarksville or the Kentucky side in Oak Grove. There are also people that live a little further away in other towns too.

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Stationed at ft. campbell1. Liberty Park

Our family loves Liberty Park. Located at 1188 Cumberland Dr, Liberty park has a ton of things to do. You can walk along the river, let the kids play at their amazing playground, let your dog play at the dog park, grill, fly a kite or just relax on the grass. You can also fish in the pond or if you have a boat you can use the marina.  A lot of people take advantage of this park and there is no question why. It’s a beautiful place to go. They also have a restaurant, the Liberty Grill which is pretty good and if the weather is nice you can sit outside by the water.

 

Clarksville, TN pools2. The Pool

We love the pool and go there often. There are quite a few options for going to the pool here if you don’t have one of your own. The two main places are on post or the city pools in Clarksville. The on post pools are very nice and one of them even has a splash park attached to it. The off post pools are bigger and we have gone there the last few years since you can get a summer pass. The pass for a family of 5 is about $110 using the military discount. You can also get swim lessons for $15 a session if you have the discount. Last time I checked they were $60 on post, so quite a big difference. We have done lessons at both places and I think both are great but one is a lot cheaper than the other.

 

stationed at Fort Campbell3. Splash Parks

When we first moved here they only had one splash park on post. It is right next to a Starbucks and a regular park and we love going there. There is also a smaller one across the post and they now have 4 in Clarksville. They opened a new one this year. Splashpads are a really popular place to meet up with friends and when your kids are small, going to a splash pad is a lot easier then a pool when you are by yourself.

 

Tiebreaker4. Tiebreaker

I grew up going to Wild Rivers in California so the first time we went to Tiebreakers I was very underwhelmed. However, the kids love the place and it can be a fun to spend the day there during the hot and humid summer. Located in Kentucky, this is about 15 minutes from post. They also have a military appreciation day and buy one get one free on Mondays. They have a couple of slides, a lazy river and a fun water playground to play in.

 

Movies at the prark 5. Movies in the Park

Movies in the Park is a lot of fun. They show movies in a couple of the parks after dark on Saturdays. You can bring your own food or buy snacks. Last year we saw Back to the Future one and two and this year we watched Independence Day. They have a mix of family-friendly and other popular movies starting in May and going through October.

There are of course a lot of other things you can do in the summer at Ft. Campbell. There are events going on both on and off post, many parks to choose from, you can easily get to Nashville and Land Between the Lakes is only an hour away. Check out Groupon for any deals in the Clarksville or Nashville area.

Not stationed at Fort Campbell? Here are some posts by some of my blogger friends about other duty stations 🙂

Fort Stewart Fort Leonardwood Air Force Locations  Fort Bragg

And don’t forget to check out my Duty Station Guest Post list for information on a lot of different duty stations 🙂

 

 

What You Should Know About Being Stationed At Ft. Campbell

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What You Should Know About Being Stationed At Ft. Campbell

We have lived in the Ft. Campbell area for over five years now. Although this part of the country is not home to me, there is a lot to like about it. I am still learning about the city of Clarksville and everything is has to offer.

Ft. Campbell is on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee, about 45 minutes from Nashville

If you end up here you have a lot of choices on where to live. You can live on post of course but you can decide to live in Clarksville on the Tennessee side or Oak Grove on the Kentucky side. Some people live further out in either direction and commute to Ft. Campbell for work. Some want to be closer to Nashville and others like living out in the country.

We live off post about 15 minutes from Ft. Campbell. This allows us to be somewhat in the middle of everything. We can enjoy some of what the post offers but also live in Clarksville so our kids go to the city schools and we can be a little more involved in that community. Clarksville is much bigger than Oak Grove. Since it is a different state, taxes are different which is important to keep in mind, especially if you have a Direct Sales business and sell both on and off post.

What You Should Know About Being Stationed At Ft. Campbell

The area is really spread out. It would be hard to live here without a car. I have gotten more used to this but when we first moved here I couldn’t believe how far it seemed to be from the post to the mall. There is a lot of open spaces and don’t be surprised if you get caught behind an Amish buggy or a tractor of some kind slowly moving along to its destination.

There are a lot of parks in the city of Clarksville, however they are not really all that easy to get to from the neighborhoods. You do find that on post so it would be good to keep that in mind if you have toddlers and walking to a park is important to you.

What You Should Know About Being Stationed At Ft. Campbell

Since we are just 45 minutes from Nashville, there is more to do there then closer to post. Nashville is also where you will find the airport you would use to fly home if you need to.

Ever since we have moved here, we have seen more and more growth. More houses, more restaurants, more Dollar Generals. Seriously, they keep adding new ones which seems a little strange to me. We have two movie theaters, plus the one on post. We have 4 Walmarts in the area but only 1 Target. We have a lot of the basic restaurants you would find in this part of the country. Several Starbucks and other little coffee shops to try. We have one city library and several city pools. We have gyms, walking areas and regular events such as Movies in the Park in the Summer and Holiday events by the river in the winter.

What You Should Know About Being Stationed At Ft. Campbell

The weather here can be a little frustrating sometimes. Summer can get very hot and humid but you can also have rainy and stormy days mixed in. You can go weeks with rain happening at least once during the day. Fall is nice but it never last long enough and the colors are simply beautiful. Winter is also very interesting to me. It gets cold and we do have snow and ice which can shut school down for a week. However, if you are from the North, you will laugh at the snow levels and wonder what the big deal is. Spring is a nice season but we tend to get a lot of rain and some really bad weather like tornadoes. It really depends on the year.

If you are getting ready to move here, know that there is a lot to get involved in

Post has PWOC, MOPS and lots of activities for young kids through the MWR and YMCA programs. Off post has its share of programs too and we have been overall pleased with the school system however it is not without its issues. It does seem like different people have different experiences with the same schools. Make sure to double check on the school if you are looking for a place off post, not everyone in the same neighborhood is zoned for the same school and it can get a little confusing sometimes.

The post itself is rather large but a lot of it is training areas. They built a new Commissary a few years ago and we have a PX with a little mall that contains a few stores, my kids are big fans of the Game Stop. We have a foot court that doesn’t feel as exciting as the foot courts in Germany did simply because you can get other food off post.  It is nice to have if you want to meet your spouse for lunch or take the kids for some ice cream.

There are always people deploying and coming home here. There are always people PCSing to and from. There are always new people to meet and get to know.

Have you been to Ft. Campbell? Getting ready to PCS here soon?

 

Want to write a guest post for me about where you live? Email me for more information 🙂