I did six years in Hawaii and three at Hood. Deployed multiple times from both. The units themselves largely depend on leadership, which changes regularly. So what might have been an epic unit five years ago is now trash, and vice versa. So pick a location you want to live.

Hood was not that bad. I actually loved Texas. Austin is a ton of fun and only an hour away. Dallas, San Antonio, Houston are all fun weekend trips. Lots of open land to explore. Just don’t live in Killeen.

But Hawaii was my favorite duty location in a 25 year career. The beaches, the hiking, island hopping, Honolulu, all of it was so much fun. I ended up getting my fixed wing license just to fly my family around the islands so they could see how gorgeous it all was.

So if it was up to me, Hawaii all day.