Your Name (if you would like it to appear): Amber Vandrey
Base Location: El Paso, Texas
How long have you been here? (give years please, ex. 2003-present) 1993-present (I grew up here and then married a soldier I met here)
What is housing like? On-post? (waiting list, conditions, etc.) Off-post? Any areas to stay away from? Average price to rent or buy? They are renovating the houses at Fort Bliss. The older on and off post housing are being torn down and replaced with new homes. The officers houses are very nice and spacious, as well as several of the enlisted soldiers housing off post. The waiting list is supposedly 6 months, but it is definitely a lot longer. Renting houses is very cheap as the cost of living is very low. The Brand new barracks at Biggs field are supposed to be the nicest in the ARMY.
Rate the PX & Commissary. The PX isn’t bad, there is a lot of variety and the people working there are generally knowledgeable and friendly. The Commissary is usually very crowded, but it is overall a good commissary.
Activities on base? Bowling Alley is the largest (supposedly ) in the ARMY, newly renovated also. There is also a Park at Biggs field which has paintball, rock climbing, and fields for base/softball, soccer, football, and basketball as well as a skate park. Waiting families is a good program, they have free dinner and bowling once a month. There is also a lot of help from the ACS as far as resources for spouses for jobs and schooling.
Active Spouses Club? NCO Wives Club, Officers Club.
Things to do in area? McKelligon Canyon, 2 hours to skiing/snowboarding, lots of shops and local restaurants, bars, clubs, minor league baseball and hockey as well as the UTEP Miners sporting events, Once a year we host the Sun Bowl which is on National Television, also host Texas Vs. The Nation football game.
School System? El Paso Independent, Ysleta, EPISD is probably the best. Lots of High Schools, most 5-A.
Any colleges in area? UTEP, several EPCC campuses, Texas Tech Medical School, NMSU is 1/2 hr. away in NM.
Jobs? (on post and off) A lot require you to be bilingual, but since they are adding another PX and all sorts of shops out at Biggs field, there are lots of available jobs on post. The Army Community Service office will help build resume’s, help find jobs for spouses and teenage dependents.
Favorite aspect of this base/surrounding city? El Paso is right on the border with Mexico, it is a culture shock when you first get here. There is a point in the city where a mountain overlooks 2 countries (US and Mexico) and 3 States (NM, TX and Chihuahua, MX). The base is growing very quickly and new businesses and things to do are popping up everywhere.
Least favorite aspect? Hot, hardly rains, very windy.
Local websites? (base, chamber, newspaper, schools, etc.) BlissMWR.com, EPConnect.net, ElPasoTimes.com, craigslist (El Paso)
Any other tips? Be open minded. It is what you make of it. It’s not hard to navigate and you can basically get to Ft. Bliss from anywhere in the city in 15 minutes. Get involved and get your kids involved. Tour the town, and DON’T GO TO MEXICO. It used to be semi-safe to go, but it definitely is NOT safe anymore, I wouldn’t even attempt it.
After visiting Ft Bliss,El Paso I thought the name Ft Bliss should be changed to Ft Blissless.. I have never heard of anyone finding Bliss a good place to be.Young soldiers disappointed in so few things available.Expensive prices for young families when it comes to things to do. Depressed families everywhere. The sad sign in Army housing -requests- donations for food items for needy Army families. I heard too much about officers saying the Army doesn’t care about it’s soldiers.Worse part soldiers aren’t treated with respect.Medical care is suppose to be the best for stress disorders and it is a joke.The care in some cases no help.US Dollars at work.Where are the checks on those in charge?? What I saw and heard depressed me!! I could continue.I hope someone looks into what I am reporting.THIS PLACE NEEDS A SHAKE UP. Hugs to all who are there.I care about you all. GO ARMY, The poor medical care for stress soldiers has been documented in El Paso newspaper investigations.
My son just got new orders for Ft. Bliss and has new wife…..we are from chicago and feel that moving there will be aweful for them…..anyone have any good news or advice as to the best case scenario for this young couple?
What is moderation mean? Does it mean someone will deem it postable?
Yes, sorry for the delay. I’ve been out of town for work. I have comments set to moderation to avoid spammers filling up the comments. 😉
Thanks for responding Stacey, these posts seem to be a bit old….any current news?….any advice for a good area to move to (zipcode)?…….. we hear on-base housing is a 12month wait…..any and all current info is greatly appreciated! Nice to know that there is networking for the newbies!!!
Thanks!!
Fort bliss great post they do whatever it takes to make improvements as far as customer service goes with businesses on post terrible worst ever especially burger king on biggs feild you cant have it your way its how they want you to have it. For some reason becayse your in the military the employees think your not suppose to say anything about the service we receive n we should be ok with messing up our order or being rude when we ask a question or even make them work harder even though its there job well employees i have news for you if your reading this if you provide a service shut up and do your job if its not done right im going to tell you if you dont like it quit and give somebody else the oppertunity you can throw around these famous words ” i will report you to your chain of command ” who cares and ill have some famous words for you im sick and tired of it employers need to pay more attention to who they hire just have to spill the beans on the madness
I could not agree more with most of the post here. I accidentally stumbled upon this page. I have been here for 3 years, 1 of which I was deployed, and I can honestly say that life was better down range than here in El Paso. I have lived and served at several Army post and this is by far the worst. The entire population is Mexican and they treat you on and off post as though you have invaded their country. Most of the civilians that work on post are extremely rude and very unhelpful. The PX is definitely one of the nicest anywhere in the Army, but honestly, there is nothing else here. Hell Paso is a dirty place with very little to do, unless you’re into drinking and strip clubs. The majority of the population are on welfare and it shows, there is no shame in their game. I survived 10 months down range without a scratch, 2 weeks back in Mexico I was mugged at the new WalMart on Dyer ST! Any soldier stationed here should be receiving some time of hardship/hazerdous duty pay, and I’ve had 3 years for this place to grow on me, but so far it has only confirmed my initial reaction, just an incredibly sad place to be stuck.
Hi, I have a couple questions. I’m getting married to a soldier, we have been together for almost 6 years now. He finally popped the question. So being an army wife is somewhat exciting and can’t wait. Ok, we’ll we have tried to get married at the court house at Downtown El Paso, but theirs always a bump we hit, so now he is working a lot and can’t get time off, so it isn’t easy. We Are trying to get our marriage license so we could start planning our wedding. Is their a court house at Fort Bliss on post? I hear its cheaper and less stressful than the courthouse downtown.
I have to agree with most of the stuff posted here. I have been here for almost 3 years and it has been the worst 3 years of my life. It has hurt my marriage to the point where we do nothing but fight because we are both so miserable here. I couldn’t get a job when we moved here and I was a C.N.A. Anywhere else I lived I didn’t have a problem. I couldn’t get one here because I don’t speak spanish. I have people knocking on my door that don’t speak English. They try to sell you tamales and curtains. I have never been bothered by people at my door so much in my life. They leave their dogs out to bark all day and night. They have their music thumping so loud it makes your ears ring. I unfortunately live off post so all of my neighbors are Mexican. They are rude and disrespectful. Just like someone said they act like you invaded their country. I have given up on being nice to people here. If you say excuse me they ignore you so what’s the point in trying to be nice to people that are rude to you. Nobody has manners here. I was never such an angry hateful person until I moved here. I’m just praying we get out of here soon because mentally I don’t know how much more I can take.
If you are being sent here…Good luck! If you are free to request any post….. Stay away from this one!! Its the worst. I hear soldiers and their wives complain left and right and when everyone gets a chance they get out or beg to transfer. You have been informed! You welcome
I have a son stationed at Fort Bliss. Every since he been there he has not received any of the mail that I have sent him through the usps. No one seems to know what to do and were the mail is at. I thought the simple thing as mail would be something the military would take care of for our soldiers. Some is so far from home and just simple mail is uplifting. My son has been there since Oct. Very disappointed with there mail delivery. I sent mail Dec. 6 for him and he still has not gotten it. I have called several numbers and still no one is able to help. Very sad.