OEF_VET
Member
This is going to be a long reply, so bear with me.
Ft. Campbell is a good choice. As I'm sure you know, it straddles the TN / KY lines, with the majority being on the TN side. It is considered to be in KY because the post office is on the KY side of post, therefore it has a KY ZIP code.
The towns immediately outside the gates are Clarksville, TN and Oak Grove, KY. Hopkinsville, KY is about 10 miles north and Nashville, TN is less than an hour south. Clarksville has approximately 100,000 people in it, making it a decent-sized city. Oak Grove is considerably smaller, and Hop-town as it's called isn't too big or too small. Of course, Nashville is a major metropolitan city.
Both KY and TN have CCW, with KY accepting permits from all other states. The process to get a CCW is similiar in both states. Class, application, small fee, get it back pretty quickly. There is of course no CCW on post. Class III is legal in both states, and I highly doubt there will be any changes made in the laws of either state.
There are several gun shops in the area. Hopkinsville has a great one with a knowledgeable staff, decent prices, and an indoor range. There are also numerous pawn shops in the area. Also, there are gunshows in Nashville every month. The biggest PITA is the stupid requirement of most of the Clarksville dealers. By law, if you're active duty, all you need is your ID card, a copy of your orders, and a letter from your unit commander. However, most of the Clarksville dealers want to see a TN drivers license with a TN address on it. This is due to the TBI (TN Bureau of Investigations) being a PITA. Also, there is a $10 fee for the background check in TN, but none in KY.
As for hunting and fishing, the area is great. In TN, active duty military don't even need to buy a hunting license if they're on leave and have a signed DA31 with them. Also, you can hunt in both TN and KY, as well as on post. All told, if you got your limit for each season, in all areas, you could shoot something like 50 deer in a year. Obviously you don't need to, but you could.
Rent in the area is pretty decent, as is the cost of living. You shouldn't have a problem making a military paycheck last between paydays. Crime isn't too bad here, considering the size of the towns and the fact that it is a military town, which generally seems to attract crime.
There is a pretty good waiting list to get on post. They are currently building some additional houses, but that won't help too much.
As far as units go, there is of course the 101st, which is currently deployed. When they do return, I doubt they'll be going anywhere anytime soon. They've spent a lot of time deployed recently, and they'll definitly need some time to recover. Also, I believe the CoS intends to revamp them into his vision for a smaller, more mobile force. That'll take at least a year and won't even begin until they've been back several months.
There is also the 86th CASH, as I'm guessing you're in the medical field. They're a good unit, and don't deploy as a whole too often. When they do deploy, it's usually as small elements.
You could also go to selection and get assigned to 5th Group, but then you can gaurantee you'll be gone more often than you'll be at home.
And when it comes to micro-breweries, we have the BlackHorse Pub on Franklin Street. Their Barnstormer Red is great as is their food.
Hope this helps.
Frank
Ft. Campbell is a good choice. As I'm sure you know, it straddles the TN / KY lines, with the majority being on the TN side. It is considered to be in KY because the post office is on the KY side of post, therefore it has a KY ZIP code.
The towns immediately outside the gates are Clarksville, TN and Oak Grove, KY. Hopkinsville, KY is about 10 miles north and Nashville, TN is less than an hour south. Clarksville has approximately 100,000 people in it, making it a decent-sized city. Oak Grove is considerably smaller, and Hop-town as it's called isn't too big or too small. Of course, Nashville is a major metropolitan city.
Both KY and TN have CCW, with KY accepting permits from all other states. The process to get a CCW is similiar in both states. Class, application, small fee, get it back pretty quickly. There is of course no CCW on post. Class III is legal in both states, and I highly doubt there will be any changes made in the laws of either state.
There are several gun shops in the area. Hopkinsville has a great one with a knowledgeable staff, decent prices, and an indoor range. There are also numerous pawn shops in the area. Also, there are gunshows in Nashville every month. The biggest PITA is the stupid requirement of most of the Clarksville dealers. By law, if you're active duty, all you need is your ID card, a copy of your orders, and a letter from your unit commander. However, most of the Clarksville dealers want to see a TN drivers license with a TN address on it. This is due to the TBI (TN Bureau of Investigations) being a PITA. Also, there is a $10 fee for the background check in TN, but none in KY.
As for hunting and fishing, the area is great. In TN, active duty military don't even need to buy a hunting license if they're on leave and have a signed DA31 with them. Also, you can hunt in both TN and KY, as well as on post. All told, if you got your limit for each season, in all areas, you could shoot something like 50 deer in a year. Obviously you don't need to, but you could.
Rent in the area is pretty decent, as is the cost of living. You shouldn't have a problem making a military paycheck last between paydays. Crime isn't too bad here, considering the size of the towns and the fact that it is a military town, which generally seems to attract crime.
There is a pretty good waiting list to get on post. They are currently building some additional houses, but that won't help too much.
As far as units go, there is of course the 101st, which is currently deployed. When they do return, I doubt they'll be going anywhere anytime soon. They've spent a lot of time deployed recently, and they'll definitly need some time to recover. Also, I believe the CoS intends to revamp them into his vision for a smaller, more mobile force. That'll take at least a year and won't even begin until they've been back several months.
There is also the 86th CASH, as I'm guessing you're in the medical field. They're a good unit, and don't deploy as a whole too often. When they do deploy, it's usually as small elements.
You could also go to selection and get assigned to 5th Group, but then you can gaurantee you'll be gone more often than you'll be at home.
And when it comes to micro-breweries, we have the BlackHorse Pub on Franklin Street. Their Barnstormer Red is great as is their food.
Hope this helps.
Frank
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, NRA is nearby, most people I have lived by in VA had at least one gun in the house, elementary/high schools in NoVa tend to be excellent for public schools at least (don't even think of DC public schooling your kids even if you end up in DC), need salt water and fresh water fishing licenses but they're cheap, everything is taxed, lots of Civil War sites around, not really a vacation destination area unless you count the tourists in DC, think that's it, wait no, yea, ummmmmmm, yea that's about it.