Updated on December 22, 2015
Fort Campbell, KY
Fort Campbell, Ky- home to the Screaming Eagles of the 101 Airborne Division. When we arrived her in April 2014, Jason had just finished Chaplain Basic Officer’s Course and I was moving away from home for the first time in 30 years. To say we had to hit the ground running with this fast paced unit was putting it mildly. From the time we knew where we were heading, I scoured the internet high and low for any usable information on the base, the area or life as a military chaplain spouse. I figured someone had to have figured it all out by now if I could just find the info. Unfortunately, most of the questions I had went unanswered. However, I was very appreciative of all the wonderful military spouses here before me who had taken the time to post their thought online.
The Fort Campbell Base itself is an older base. They have recently re-done the Commissary and have been updating the Post Exchange. They have a mixture of old and new housing units and are refurbishing some of the older units at this time. I do not know as much about the specific housing units as we chose not to live on post. However, the Fort Campbell Army Wives Facebook group is a great place to get more information. The base itself is fairly spread out and straddles the Tennessee /Kentucky state line. The Commissary, Post Exchange (PX), hospital and pharmacy are all centralized at Gate 4. However, some of the other great amenities are found at other gates or even just off post. They have a Food Court in the PX, a Burger King, Taco Bell and a Starbucks as well as several food trucks at lunch time. They have multiple great playgrounds and a splash park near Gate 5 at the Starbucks. The largest playground is at the exchange and has awnings covering it. However, the kids and I love the one at the gate 5 Starbucks and also the playground behind Gate 6. It is tucked back behind a neighborhood in a wooded section. Just ask someone how to get to it the first time because it took me 30 minutes to find the entrance. The Family Life Center located at Gate 1 has lots of great classes for spouses to take and is always sponsoring good events and looking for volunteers. For Mothers of Pre-schoolers, like me, the MOPS group there is very active and its a great way to connect with other wonderful mothers when you get there. There is a horse stable at gate 10 and another Lodge Style Restaurant. There is also an on post movie theater and bowling alley.
If you chose to live off post you then have to decide between the two neighboring cities on either side of the state border Clarksville, TN and Hopkisnsville, KY and Oak Grove, KY. I found many different posts on the differences between the two and was quite confused before we came to explore. If you have the ability to come out prior to your move the I highly encourage you to. If you don’t then hopefully, this information helps. From the most Northern exit on I-24 of Hopksinville to the most Southern exit of Clarksville is no more than a 40 minute drive. Most people though live within a 20 minute interstate drive from exit 11 in Clarksville to exit 86 in Hopkinsville from my experience.
Clarksville, TN boasts many amenities like many good restaurants including the well known chains, a small mall, a great kids play place- Kids n Play, where they can climb through tunnels or play make believe in a small village set up with lots of toys and costumes, museums, art stores and several wonderful walking trails and good gyms. It is on of Tennessee’s larger cities but still has a certain small town feel to it. Thankfully, the housing market there seems to not have been hit as hard by the housing crash but they have been building lots of new homes on the south side of the city during our time here so make sure if you are looking to buy you ask your realtor about the re-sale potential of your new neighborhood as there are so many new houses available. I also read just the other day an article that stated that Google is looking to take over a large solar power plant that was built there several years ago and never used for a data Center. This would also be helpful for the housing market. Nearby Hopkinsville, KY is a small town with a quaint historic district, some fabulous steak houses, and the best meat Processing Company I’ve ever been to. If you want to freshest, tastiest meats around with the best prices you can’t beat Hampton Meat Company, don’t wait to long to try it or you will regret the lost time. There is no mall but they have some chain restaurants, car dealers and a Walmart. Both cities have their own hospitals. Oak Grove, KY is a very small town located just outside of the base. It seems to mainly be populated by Military families or retirees. There are a good number of small rental houses found there and of course, Walmart.
I’ve honestly heard both positive and negative about all three as far as places to live. Initially, my husband was really worried about the commute when we looked at housing. However, we bought off exit 11 in Clarksville and couldn’t be happier with our decision. It is about a 30-35 minutes commute to base but it is only 40 minutes to Opry Mills mall in Nashville. We also looked off exit 8 but found once we moved here that rush hour traffic keeps that exit very backed up with the current construction on it and so Jason actually has less commute than some of his colleagues and it gives him a chance to unwind or finish up work phone conversations on his way home. It is frustrating when needing to come home and get back to base in a timely manner and sometimes I wish we were on base where he could come home for lunch but for the most part I just load the kids up and meet him somewhere instead. We have several neighbors who are also military and so there is still a feeling a camaraderie. In addition, Tennessee has no state income tax so if you are a working spouse that is a consideration. Kentucky has a 6% state income tax but if you are a resident of another state including Tennessee and are only working in Kentucky because of your husbands military service then you do not have to pay KY state income tax.
We are a family who loves adventure and Fort Campbell is in easy travelling distance to lots of great places to visit. As an Army Chaplain Jason is privileged to provide retreats called “Strong Bonds” for active duty soldiers and their families. These are usually in the form of marriage retreats but sometimes single soldier and family retreats are also provided. These retreats are a wonderful way for couples to learn better communication and coping skills for their marriage. They typically run Friday- Sunday and include childcare for the event. I love helping my husband with these retreats and encourage all soldiers and their families both enlisted and Offices to take advantage of them whenever you can as they are a wonderful way to reconnect with your spouse in some amazing places with free Hotel and at least some of your food paid for compliments of the US Army. We try to take advantage of the great destinations near us and have had retreats in Nashville at the Opry Hotel and Franklin, TN, as well as Gatlinburg, TN, French Lick, Indiana at an indoor water park, Memphis, TN and Louisville, KY.
One of the nice things about the Army are four day training holidays and last year I moved to a small critical access hospital in Princeton, Ky working mainly two weekday 24 hour shifts with an occasional weekend shift each month. This allowed us the opportunity to use those training holidays to further explore the area around us. We have visited so many great places close to us as a family starting with Nashville, of course, and including Atlanta, Ga, Stone Mountain, Ga, Lexington, Ky and St. Louis, Mo. Each of these places offered fun activities for both us and the kids. I will try to blog about each trip with some ideas of what we explored there as well as things we would have liked to see but didn’t get the chance.
Kari, I think this will be very helpful to those new military families moving to Clarksville…you’ve basically given them a guided tour of the area, pointing out helpful information! I’m sure many people will appreciate your input!😊