__Also if you live on Elmendorf rather than Richardson you cannot cary a gun on the base even though you may encounter moose black bear and also grizzly bear. There are also rumors of a wolf pack that killed a jogger several summers ago. Definitely pack bear mace if hiking here and do NOT approach Moose should you encounter them. They may look calm and cute. The can and Have Killed people. I recently saw a couple and their preteen daughter out of their car photographing a Cow and her twin calves just outside a base gate. They were less than twenty feet from the animals and I ended up sitting in my car preparing to drive between them and the danger should the moose suddenly charge. Fortunately the people still unaware of their deadly ignorance left before any attack occured. Whethere you live off base or on please make sure you learn the appropriate way to deal with the wildlife here. Even longtime residents are injured here. They also grit icy roads rather than salting them. BE Aware of this as maneuvering on the grit is not nearly as preferable though it does cutt back on vehicle decay. Studded tires and/or 4WD/AWD is very preferable. Also try researching what you can about the dangers of exposure. 

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I have four children and until the housing opened up to include Fort Richardson we were only eligeable for four bedroom housing as five bedroom was only offered for Army. We were offered housing right away as the list for four bedroom housing seems suspiciously short. I instantly learned why. There is an older housing neighborhood called Chugach or 'hospital housing' by some. It is all four bedroom houses split level with very small bedrooms and some odd use of square footage. Our laundry room is bigger than what they laughingly call the 'master' bedroom. All rooms are small and bathrooms sometimes painfully so. The second bathroom downstairs no one wants to use. While sitting on the toilet one's knees may hit the wall and when you stand you are in danger of hitting your head on the towel bar. Water drainage seems oddly slow and when they replace items such as fawcetts the new item tends to fall apart very fast. I've lived here less than two years and my kitchen fawcett has been replaced twice and repaired approx. six times in addition. There is no seal on the door leading from the house to the garage and the gap between the bottom of the door and the floor is more than one inch. We can not park in the garage without carbon monoxide lingering in the entire downstair area for several days. Unfortunately this is where three of my sons are forced to sleep and in the winter it is far too cold to open windows to vent the fumes out. We now use the garage for storage only. Last week our toilet back up(again). When my husband couldn't get it to drain he called maintanence. *They do tend to come for these calls fairly quickly and most are nice though I've met one that was downright Rude. The worker(for the toilet) accidently cracked the bowl and was forced to remove the toilet and said he would come back the next day. They left and open pipe to the sewer and only stuffed it with some paper towels. The next morning I went downstairs and nearly threw up at the smell. I quickly went online and discovered that the fumes that were filling my house were not only potentially deadly in their own right if the air/gas ration got to the right mix it could blow up our house which is actually a unit in a fourplex. After three to five heated phone calls with housing i drove to Ace hardware and purchased a six dollar plug to stop the gasses. ++Find a place off-base if you can.

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Abby says:
June 26, 2011 at 3:00 pm

We were stationed at Elmendorf AFB in 2004-2007. As you probably already know Alaska is a whole different kind of experience. If you can get used to the cold, 20 hours of darkness in the winter and 20 hours of light in the summer you should be good. It is very expensive to live in this area as well you will definitely want to live on base.

The schools on base are great as well as the Middle School of Science for 7th & 8th graders but I did not care for the high school thankfully he only had to attend it one year. REALLY big school that your child can get lost in.


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Roxanne G says:
June 7, 2011 at 2:47 pm

Also under Richardson:
JBER-Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson. Alaska, USA. Air Force. The base is huge, they have plenty of lakes and cabins on base. They also have a ski slope where you can ski, snowboard and tube and there?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s an ice rink. The bx is nice, as well as the commissary. It is one of the best bases I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve been to. There is wildlife on base, so you have to be cautious but it is a great experience.
http://www.simon.com/mall/?id=231
http://www.koots.com/
http://www.reindeerfarm.com/
http://www.alaskawildlife.org/
http://www.alaskazoo.org/
http://www.dimondcenter.com/
http://www.alaska.net/~design/scenes/portage/portage.html
http://www.glacierbrewhouse.com/
http://www.platinumjaxx.com/
http://www.alyeskaresort.com/



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susanna says:
December 31, 2010 at 7:56 pm

Recommended eats in Anchorage:
Moose?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Tooth,
China Town,
Suite 100.


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Lori says:
June 1, 2010 at 10:01 am

Love Elmendorf! If you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re Air Force and a stay at home mom, here?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s some tips:

1. Go immediately to Fort Rich and enroll in their CYS programs. AWESOME stuff for military families and way better than what Elmo has. Their hourly care program is simply the best.

2. If Elmendorf?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s swim classes are full don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t forget to check out Ft. Rich?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s! I think Elmendorf?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s are better but Fort Rich has a better pool for kids.

3. Playgroups at both bases are great. 4. Air Force?¢‚Ǩ¬¶don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t forget to stop by the family readiness center (used to be known as family support). Take in your orders and they?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ll give you a certificate for 10 FREE hours of childcare when you come in?¢‚Ǩ¬¶very useful when you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re trying to unpack boxes. When we got here I had a 2 year old and was 7 months preg?¢‚Ǩ¬¶can?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t tell you how those hours came in handy.

5. Get connected quickly. There?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s groups for everything and everybody. And don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t forget the local community!


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Aimee Blaess Guyett says:
May 31, 2010 at 11:59 am

We drove back and forth several times, beautiful. I would recommend getting the ?¢‚Ǩ?ìAlaska Milepost?¢‚Ǩ¬ù it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s a great resource to have. Used it on the many trips we took in Alaska during our 8yr stay. It gives valuable resource on gas, lodging, attraction during the drive through Canada and throughout Alaska.


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Katie Moore Freeze says:
May 31, 2010 at 11:47 am

Elmendorf is located in Anchorage, AK?¢‚Ǩ¬¶the largest city in Alaska. The winters are long, summers are short and people tend to be constantly going durring the summer to make the most of it. Anchorage has come a long way in the past few years opening many of the same stores/resturants that you see in the lower 48.


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