Rachel aka montanagal2005 says:
August 9, 2010 at 7:20 am

The base has a very nice gym to go to, including a parent/child area with an enclosure for the younger kids to play while the parent can watch them while they work out. There is also a Fun Zone where the kids can run around and play indoors. There is an on base pool, as well as a public pool and water park in town. The base has a craft center that, though I have not taken any yet, offers a variety of classes to take.There?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s also a bowling place on base, and an auditorium where they show free movies on the weekends. They also have a small library and offer a child story hour once a week.

Great Falls is not a large city, but is located on the Missouri River and offers fishing and boating. There?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s also the dams which are beautiful in themselves. You can hunt many things from deer to big horn sheep. There?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s a bike/walking trail that follows the river through town and out to Giant Springs State Park. Giant Springs State Park has a trout hatchery and a beautiful spot on the river to have a picnic or gathering. There are several museums around town to go to, including a Children?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Museum. The Montana State Fair is being held right now, and offers concerts, rides, exhibits, and a rodeo. In the summer there?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s a farmer?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s market every saturday with not only fresh produce, but a variety of stall selling homemade wares.

I don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t like the fact that my husband is in the field for 5 days at a time. This is our first base, so I can?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t compare it to other bases, but all-in-all I like the base and the town.


comments (0)   Post comment

Chasity says:
August 8, 2010 at 10:44 pm

We pcs?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢d from Malmstrom in May. We were there for 5 years and we?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re starting to miss it already. The schools are excellent and the locals embrace the military. If your kids love soccer as much as ours does they have an awesome soccer club and their fields are across from the base. You can check out their info at http://www.gfecsc.com.

We took our dogs to see Dr. Norton at Best Friends Animal Hospital(425 Smelter Ave NE Great Falls, MT 59404-1927(406) 453-2200) which is down the street from Walmart. We boarded them at http://www.flpetresort.com and they give a military discount. We took all three dogs to Dog Gone Cut pet grooming and they can be reached at 406) 216-3199.

[School Info under School Tab] [Hospital Info under Medical Tab]

Just like every base it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s all what you make of it. If you get out of your house and explore and meet people you might enjoy yourself. If you stay cooped inside all the time of course you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re going to be miserable. Not one of our favorite assignments but it was good for our kids.


comments (1)   Post comment

susanna says:
August 8, 2010 at 7:24 am

+Information on Employment: http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/ +Main Website for Malmstrom AFB: http://www.malmstrom.af.mil +Anything about Great Falls: http://www.greatfallsmt.net/

It can be a hard base for people that are not used to smaller cities or having a place to visit quickly. Great Falls is the closest city, closest bigger city is 90 miles away and it is really not that big.

This is what I read about the area, seems that even though Great Falls lives very much off Malmstrom AFB, there might be a bit of animosity. I am not sure, to which extend this is true:

But, you will run into Montanan?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s that are hard fast, die hard, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìWe don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t want your kind here.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Just keeping up with the ilk. Please read the ?¢‚Ǩ?ìWe don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t want others in our area?¢‚Ǩ¬ù . We own Montana and don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t want other folks to experience this. Stay away. Get the hell out! Tell them

In Great Falls there is not much shopping if someone is used to a mall. We have a mall and it is getting better. But they do not have very many big name stores. There is a Target, Walmart, Shopko, and Kmart as well,there is a Sams Club. In town there are a lot of parks that you can take the kids to or just walk around. Plus you can walk along the rivers edge trail that goes all through town. It is a great place to go walking, biking, or running. If you like art there are lots of art gallaries and museams. And if you like the outdoors you are about 30 minutes from the mountains. And in the winter there are two ski resorts close by.

Pet Boarding:
Big Sky Animal Med Center is nice, but more pricey than some. They are close to outside of back gate?¢‚Ǩ¬¶their # is 406-761-8387. There is also Weona Kennel right outside front gate. Kind of a shabby place, but the lady who owns it and takes care of the animals is really sweet and good to the animals. Their # is 406-453-4946. We had good experiences with both.


comments (0)   Post comment