Army Bases close by Washington DC

It’s no secret that my husband and I are geo-graphical bachelor and bachelorette. So while I KNOW there are many more military bases here I am just going to cover the Army ones. I have been here in the NOVA area awhile and here are the bases that Army related…hence the name Army Tankers Wife. Yes it has taken me this long to get those names LOL…I want to thank SargesList for helping me get introduce to all these bases, without them I wouldn’t know where to start.

Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall
I pass by this base every morning on the wait to work. It is a Joint Base meaning they have combinded Marines (Henderson Hall) and Army (Fort Myer) together to get this! Fort Myer – Arlington, Virginia {it is really close to Arlington National Cemetery} Fort McNair  is in Washington DC (South of the SW Waterfront) and major units include the 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard), 1101st Signal Brigade, HQ, Fort Myer Activities, HHC U.S. Army Garrison, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command and 501st M.P. Company. 

Walter Reed Army Medical Center
8901 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland. The U.S. Army Medical Department serves more than 150,000 active and retired personnel from all branches of the military. I go here a lot with my children you all know Cat has Juvenile Arthritis and Juvenile Diabetes. I took this photo, actually Cat and I got lost going to get food one day, and we ended up here at this and I thought it was COOL LOOKING

Fort Meade
I haven’t been to this one yet. I just had a friend PCS up there from Ft Belvoir. Ft Meade is located in Maryland, Located 25 miles north of Washington, DC, near Columbia, Maryland. Provides a wide range of support to partner organizations from all four services and to several federal agencies. Major tenant units include the National Security Agency (NSA), the Defense Information School, the Defense Courier Service the U.S. Army Field Band, the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, First U.S. Army (East), the Naval Security Group Activity, the 694th Intelligence Group (U.S. Air Force) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Center. 

Fort Belvoir
This is the base I go to, and it is located 20 miles south of Washington, DC, near Mount Vernon, Virginia (by the way which is really cool to go too). There are a mix of military stationed here.  9 different Army major commands, 16 different agencies of the Department of the Army, eight elements of the U.S. Army Reserve and Army National Guard and nine DOD agencies. Also located here are a U.S. Navy construction battalion, a Marine Corps detachment, one U.S. Air Force unit and an agency of the Department of Treasury. 

Aberdeen Proving Ground
My husband went to school here at APG. I really wanted to get stationed here but it was really far from DC. It is located in Aberdeen, Maryland. North of Baltimore, about 80 miles from Washington DC. They mainly do research, development, testing, and training facility for military weapons and equipment. 

Fort Detrick
is located in Frederick, Maryland which is about 50 miles northwest of Washington DC. Army Medicine Installation – home to the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (MRMC), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and several other organizations. 

Fort Lee
Virginia. Located two and a half hours south of Washington, DC near Richmond, Virginia. Provides support to U.S. Army Joint and Coalition operations around the world. Home of the Combined Arms Support Command, U.S. Army Garrison, Army Logistics College, Quartermaster Center and School, and the headquarters for the Defense Commissary Agency. We pass by here all the time to Fort Bragg, and sometimes we stop off they have nice looking housing from the road..not sure what it looks like on the inside.

Fort Eustis
Newport News, Virginia so not really close to DC at all and it is about 165 miles south really close to Williamsburg, Virginia. Home of the US Army Transportation Corps, which includes the Transportation Center and School, the Aviation Logistics School, and the Non-commissioned Officer Academy.

Fort A.P. Hill
Port Royal Virginia, Located 80 miles south of Washington, DC, Near Fredericksburg, Virginia. A training facility and sub-installation of Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Ok so I said I wasn’t going to cover any other bases but I had to put this one on here. I attended the MSOY event last year there, and OMG it was the most patriotic base I have ever been too, and I believe every Friday they have parades.. talk about pomp and circumstance, and Quantico well because they have a USAA Full Service ATM there, and I really like their Base Exchange and Commissary.

Marine Barracks
8th & I Streets, SE, Washington, DC
Home to more than 1,100 Marines, Sailors and civilians, the Barracks supports both ceremonial and security missions in the nation’s capital. The building is the oldest Marine post in the U.S. and the oldest public building in continuous use in Washington DC.

Marine Corps Base Quantico
Quantico, Virginia, Located 36 miles southwest of Washington DC near Triangle, Virginia. Training site for Marines and home to the Corps’ Combat Development Command.

Have you ever seen the Toyland Section at the PX?

NOW I normally don’t put wacky stuff out there but I just have to let you know this….Why does the Fort Belvoir Post have such a small toy section? With the label TOYLAND. It looks like the elves went on a strike and stopped making toys for the PX. Yesterday I was on a mission to find an outfit and I told my son, hey if you are super we will stop by the toy section and pick something out. Too bad I left my phone in the car, or I would have taken a pic. First of all the PX is HUGE! They had some great deals on a few nice COACH bags….but then again while I was in TJ MAXX THEY HAD A Dooney and Burke, bucket purse on sale for $79.00, if I wasn’t on a mission to find some banging shoes I would have scooped that purse right up.

Secondly, I see one side and I am like come on kids, I see the toy section and we get to the back of the store, and it is just half an isle with the words Toyland on top. PITIFUL…I MEAN JUST PITIFUL….mostly the items were for infants, my son was like mom really these toys are for babies, I really do like the xylophone but it wasn’t the Super Mario toy I wanted.

They even have a sign up saying, “it is always a tax free holiday in the PX” well there is nothing for my kids to get in the toy section,so it looks like a trip to Walmart.

So I was talking to a friend, and was like why in the world would they have no toys on the base? For sure they have children over the age of 1. They even have an elementary school. Thank GOODNESS I wasn’t in a hurry and needed to pick up a last minute toy for a birthday party b/c I would have been pissed off.

I think I am going to go back and take a picture. I can’t even imagine what this isle looks like for Christmas..just pitful

Couponing? Do you do it? Is it worth it?

So after talking to everyone from last year to now about couponing I can tell you I love to save money but I don’t have the time to coupon. I have been couponing since like 2000 before it was even a HUGE thing, and I remember a couple of friends would do this and make money off of it, especially my coupon savvy friends at Bragg.

So the commissary has discouraged the use of extreme couponing however they have this GREAT website called CommissaryShopper, check out my review right here..

Extreme Couponing follows savvy shoppers as they plan and plot their way to unbelievable savings. Witness amazing shopping skills and shocking stockpiles of merchandise, as everyday people go to extremes in pursuit of extraordinary deals.

DID YOU KNOW that the average American family spends between $500 and $1,000 every month on groceries, toiletries, cleaning products, pet items, and clothes. You know you can make some sacrifices to get from the high-end of that range to the low-end.

So after doing some research and market studies did you know there are LEVELS to couponing? OMG I didn’t even know. So I have branded these people my way and how they fit into the levels…

First Level: Basic Coupon Clipper: This is me, I fit this category..Most of the time, I will pay for a whole cart full of groceries while handing over less than 10 coupons. I end up normally saving a few bucks off the entire order. 

Second Level: Buying the Generic Store Brand over the Name Brand: This is the category that my grandmother fits into! She used to be a name brand shopper but as times have gotten tight she solely shops for generic brands, and she saves about $200-$300 per month without clipping a single coupon. The problem for me here is that I prefer the name brand over the generic – it just tastes different to me and let me tell you I have tried to pass over a few items and my mom is SPOT on and can taste the difference right from the start (#nopullingthewooloverhereyes).

Third Level: The Savvy Shopper: This is my friend Jackie, she fits into this category perfect. Saving at this level requires a little bit of effort, you must clip and organize your coupons, and be patient. By spending about 2-3 hours per week, you can save 75-95% on all you buy at the grocery store and the drug store. She can go into Walmart or Harris Teeter and get just about anything for one penny or free. When the conditions are just right, people can save even more money buying the name brand products than the generic brands. Items often go on sale, and when they do, the Savvy Shopper capitalizes on the opportunity. They’ll join a store sale with a manufacturer’s coupon, and get the item for pennies or even for free.

Fourth Level: Extreme Couponer:  I have only met a FEW people who fit into this category, they are shopper SAVVY! Did you know that you can use a manufacturer’s coupon and a store coupon on the same item? Well, you can. Did you know that you can use two coupons on a buy-one-get-one-free sale? Well, you can. Setting up bigger and better deals is what the Extreme Couponer does. They take the same measures as the Savvy Shopper but then they look for several deals. Why get just one deal when you can get three or four all at once? To this end, it’s not odd for an Extreme Couponer to have 4 Sunday newspapers delivered to their home.  This is where you start to buy things in volume, the more coupons the more you can save.

Coming up in a few weeks check back on my ways on how to Coupon 101. In the meantime I have GREAT COUPONS on ATW COUPONS