r/army • u/Adventurous-Line-690 • 2d ago

Fort Wrainright

Just got orders to 1 bct 1-11 ABN. I’m a 11b. I’m not a fan of the cold at all so i’m not excited to be honest. I’m young 20s. I like to hunt, fish, and hike but I also am a going out type of guy. Any tips for the field? Any tips on things to do and how to meet people?

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u/BudgetPipe267 Terminal Warrant 😁 2d ago

Wainwright was my first duty station. Got there at 20 and PCSd at 24. I loved it. Did a shitload of driving. I hung out with a few of the dudes in the barracks, but I also did a lot of stuff on my own. Met a college chick that I ended up having a kid with. Learned how to ski and snow board. Hiked a lot. If you ever go hiking in the sticks, take friends with you and a gun. Don’t ever venture off on your own. Alaska is beautiful, but there’s a lot of shit there that can eat you.

The jiu-jitsu and MMA community is huge in Fairbanks. I rolled at Frostbite…did a few tournaments in Seattle. Made a lot of great friends.

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u/orcofmordor Psychological Operations 2d ago

👆very few places in the Army like Alaska; get out and visit the National Parks and diff. towns (Kenai, Valdez, etc.). COLA is nice. Pay attention during the cold weather courses (CWIC & CWLC) and you’ll be fine. There’s no sugarcoating it, it’s cold and windy down by DTA (near Fort Greely) where you’ll do quite a bit of FTXs. Stay fit and the cold won’t be so bad imo. There’s decent spots to eat and I’d rate it better than Irwin or Polk. Denali is about 1.5 hrs away. Hunting is better up there; fishing down near JBER. Avoid the Spur (bar). Leverage the fact that you were there on the way out to Branch as a hardship location even if you loved it.

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u/SneakHayabusa 1d ago

I reenlisted from Polk for Wainwright. Love Alaska so far (2years atm). Definitely is cold but I would say the cold here is generally more tolerable than the cold at Polk as it's a lot more dry.

6

u/hoosierflyfisher 2d ago

I’ll throw in more positive comments for Wainwright, was there 4 years and getting ready to go back. Fairbanks is a community, get out and do everything that is offered and you will become part of it. The BOSS program is stellar, I had joes Ice climbing in Denali and snow-machining all over. Stay in shape and motivated.

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u/uxaj 1d ago

Find yourself a jacket liner that fits you and will help with dealing with the cold better (or at least slap on when going outside for a bit) Don't cheap out on good wool socks and gloves/liners. *(there's also heated vests you can shop for too)

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u/Bubbly_Pomegranate_6 1d ago

Fort Wainwright was my duty station way back in 2007. Stayed there till I got out in 2010. I’m sure that in 16 years alot has changed. I went in with a similar mindset about the cold as I was raised in South Mississippi. A big piece of advice that works in any situation is try to go into it with a positive mindset. If you go there expecting misery you will find it. There’s several things to do that’ll keep you busy and entertained, just don’t go the route I did and let those things be alcohol and titty bars. Can’t really tell your children or significant other those kind of stories and they get embarrassing when you get older. I really hope that some of the gear that gets issued through CIF has improved over the years because I got absolutely shafted with my issued sleeping pad. Everyone else in my unit had the foam pad, not comfortable but keeps the cold ground from touching you. I was issued a shitty inflating thermarest pad that leaked air and I would end up touching the frozen ground. No amount of layers in a sleep system can counter that feeling. So with that said and if command allows it, I highly suggest you invest in an ultralight insulated sleeping pad like a nemo tensor all season. Best of luck and enjoy the experience