You can't go wrong with Manheim or Wurzburg. I was betweeen Manheim and Heidelberg and you can go 10k in each direction and get to some very fine climbing. Manheim is on the Rhein plain so it's flat there, and sandwiched between to Mtn ranges. You can choose between 5 miles at around 10% or 3 mile climbs at 13%. There are a pile of riding clubs in the area and I could go on forever. Springs can be rather wet and gloomy, but the saunas and swim places have nude times so it's a wash.

Germany= cold and mud.

I can recall REFORGER. It was a nightmare. We got infilitrated into some godforsaken place called "Detachment 'S'" where ever the hell that was. It was horrible. We lived in snow holes for days. I have never been colder for longer in my life. It took days to finally get warm. We had the best equipment and we were still wet and cold during the entire recon. It was super high on the suck scale.

Ft. Campbell: SF Group and SOAR. Now that is Sierra Hotel. It has got to be warmer too.

Hey man, it doesn't matter too much where you go. When the President dials 911, you're goin where he sends you.

Good luck man. Thanks for your work.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

The mission at Ft Campbell is pretty cool....like you said, the 160th is there, along with the 101st. I jumped into there once when I was a Captain / ALO with the 3rd Ranger Battalion....C-130 ramp jump at dusk...pretty neat. Got some extremely hair-raising MH-60 rides at night, with another helo about a rotor disk away.

Still wouldn't mind being stationed in Europe, though...could be a nice end to a career.

Spot

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Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

GO NAVY!

Hmmm....not sure the Navy is an option, unless they had a need for me to fly in the backseat of a Super Hornet. Now, that wouldn't suck.

Spot

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Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

Heh, I've heard some Soldiers shout that when the pt formation executes the hamstring stretch standing (bend over and touch your toes) :-)

SPOT - You can retire to Kentucky, Tennessee, or anywhere else in the states you would like to live. When is the next time you are going to have a chance to get paid to live, travel, and train in Europe?

David

I've been Campbell twice and loved it both times. Clarksville is a nice area with pretty much everything you want right there. Nashville is only 45 minutes away to make up for the few things Clarksville dosent have. If you havent been to Nashville before, it has that 'small town feel' for a big city. As Tom mentioned you have the SF units there, but there are also 3 infantry brigades. I've been in 2 out of 3, most recently with 3rd BDE for OIF 1. Great unit with great people.

Wheeler? Are you referring to Wheeler AAF in Hawaii? I spent 5 years across the street at Schofield and what more can I say then dude, you'll be in Hawaii. The 25th dosent have near the air package that the 101st does but again, you're in Hawaii. The only bad thing I would say about being stationed there is island fever does set in. The longest drive you can take is 4 hours and that will take you all the way around the island. Luckily, I was able to head state side at least once a year so I didnt have it too bad.

Another thing you may want to look at is the latest list for the next OIF rotation. That may influence your decision somewhat.

Excuse me?

Flyboy trying to become a ground squirrel as an ALO?

PM me..

- kd

(USAF also)

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kestrel driver


DonorsChoose.org (!!!)
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Hey , I'm USAF also.

There seems to be a bunch of us.

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I think just to get a rise out of the non-military types - we should put together a ST Mil Tri-Team and then stage our own ST Challenge?

Location? Ventura Ca? The Great Floridian Course? Hawai'i even?

Thoughts? $hit, I would come out of tri-retirement just for that.

- kd

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kestrel driver


DonorsChoose.org (!!!)
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Ft.Campbell--I was there from 86-87...Coming from a big city like Los Angeles..what a culture shock...I lived in St.Bethlehem which is out of the city in the rolling hillls off HWY 40..Really nice landscape though..Gets real cold in the winter and very hot and humid in the spring and summer months..If u like walking around and going to bars and going to the lake and cruising this is the place for you...Good experience but would not go back...Air Assault school, Jungle School, if your Co. get's to go. and lots of deployments....The one that comes to mind is West Point in the Summer of 86..That was real cool Got to mess with cadets while they cried about the couple of days they had to spend in the field...Booo Hooo...I couldnt believe that some of the cadets where actually going to command a platoon one of these days...If u are from West Point that jab is all in fun...Sam

76-ARMY ROTC [I did Ft Knox that summer, OUCH!!!] switched to USAF after college.

No worries.. the USAFA grads bust my balls everyday for USAFA losing the game (vs ARMY 24-27) last weekend.

- kd

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kestrel driver


DonorsChoose.org (!!!)
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mannheim has got a well known triathlon-team, which starts in 1. league in germany and normann stadler is a member of this team.....

I vote Campbell. The mission there will be much better.

Speaking as somebody who recently lived in Germany, the tri-scene there is great. I'm not sure about the Mannheim area, but I lived relatively close to it in a town called Kaiserslautern. The hills and roads for cycling are awesome - German drivers are much more courteous to cyclists. The forest trails for running (and mountain biking) are even better!

Getting into races can be tricky - the only way I found to get a DTU (Deutsch Triathlon Union) license to race was to join the local tri-team. Luckily, there were a couple people on the team that spoke excellent english (as with most Germans) and they helped me out a lot. My biggest problem was their rules are a little different than USAT rules (i.e. you must wear a shirt) and sometimes I had referees yelling at me during the race . . . and I never understood what they were saying! :)

As Tom D points out, the winters are not much fun. Lots of rain. It doesn't get cold enough most times to snow (only had snow on the ground maybe two weeks a year while I was there), but it does hover in the mid-30s. Combine the temp with the rain and winters can get long and dreary. I never rode my road bike in the winter - I stayed off the roads on my mountain bike bundled in multiple layers (and STILL had cold, wet feet).

But would I go again?? ABSOLUTELY!

I will second what jase714 said (even if he is a Rakassan ;-) ) Campbell is a great post and seems to get better each time there. I was in 1st BCT for two tours and left there a little over a year ago. Nashville is an awesome city and is closer than you think. The entire division just returned overseas to OIF so if your goal is to get back downrange quick, depending on your timing, you couldn't go wrong.

I can't remember the details but remember reading recently that a good portion of Wurzburg, if not all of it, was closing up shop and returning to the Germans. I was stationed for 3 years 40 mins down the road in Schweinfurt but since our hqs was in Wurzburg got there frequently. If you're looking at Wurzburg, then you're probably considering 1st ID - Big Red One is another super division. You can't go wrong with either one; 101st or 1ID. Again, goes back to your OIF goals. Would you rather patrol with HMMVs or Bradleys? That should be an easy question ;-)

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R-L-T-W

I spent 4 years in the Army in Germany (Vilseck and Bamberg) from '98 to '02. Wasn't in to cycling then, which seems a shame looking back.

Yes, the winters suck, but IMO the summers make up for it. Beautiful weather, light from 4:30 am to 10:30 pm and tons of stuff to do outside. It's also a fantastic place to live if you like to travel. With 4 day weekend training holidays you can drive to about a dozen different countries and see most of Europe.

Definitely a great experience despite all of the shivering I did at Graf and Hohenfels!

Gents -- important to remember that Spot is in the USAF. They're not into the shivering cold thing.

(Sorry Spot, couldn't resist!)

Exactly, my point! We USAF folks stay in hotels. If we can't find one, we use MILCON dollars to build one. When it gets too cold, we go home - to warMER climate.

- kd

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kestrel driver


DonorsChoose.org (!!!)
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I recently joined the Air Force as a direct officer accession, and am hoping to go to Germany in the next few years. I can't wait to train and race overseas, maybe do a few European Ironman races!

There's a very inconvienient thing called "military training" that really gets in the way of IM training...

But as an ALO, even at the old Division level, for all intents and purposes, you're Army. Out in the field, you live as an infantryman, though at that level, that means living out of a HMMV or in the Div/BCT TOC. You just don't get to wear the cool ACUs! At least you won't be stuck in the green zone.

I'll second that,

four-star hotels only please, and when we travel we carry laptops and expect wi-fi hotspots or there will be hell to pay!

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I was just about to post that, you CHAIR FORCE guys crack me up, freaking SPOILED :))))))

Were you the guy posting a while back looking for a flying job, if so did you find one????? PM me if you need some help :)))

Dan

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I have horrible back problems but I have zero problems staying in an aero position for 180k. Why? Because I ride steep and because I train regularly in that position. Simple as that.....Gerard