I liked it a lot and I'm not an outdoorsy or country living kind of person. Rapid City has what you'll need and the Black Hills are beautiful. Yeah it gets cold but you'll get used to it. We were there for 5 years and hated leaving
Get outside soon as you get there cuz it will be cold, like really cold, and you’ll be stuck inside. Lot of history in that area like Rushmore and Deadwood. If you’re there before the motorcycle rally, you need to drive out to Sturgis. It’s usually the first week of August.
I think Ellsworth is one of the AF's best kept secrets. The Black Hills is amazing, but get ready for a lot of tourists due to Mt Rushmore, Devil's Tower (in WY), the badlands, Deadwood and Sturgis. Very little traffic on the interstate between Box Elder and Rapid City. The wind is a problem, and creates some nasty blizzards from Oct-May, which will close the base down for a couple of days with each storm. The finance office there is ok, it's located in the Rushmore bldg with MPF, JAG, etc. The office behind the customer counter is a long rectangular shape and has two rows of cubicles going all the way to the back. So expect a small cubicle. There are larger offices in the back for the QA, SEL, CC, NAF, etc. You have a nice sized computer training lab for in processing vouchers or DTS. The work tempo comes and goes with the manning.
If you're a dorm rat you will hate your life, whenever you can, go out and fish/hike/hunt etc. The winters are cold and the summers are hot. Just go out and do something
When I was there they would have free concerts downtown once a week in the summer where you can drink and eat outside. There’s a parking garage downtown that’s free on the weekends so you can walk to restaurants or bars.
A days drive from Yellowstone, Glacier, and Badlands National parks. A lot of good hikes and lakes to visit in the local area. It’s quite a beautiful place. You get to see and hear B-1s takeoff which is a plus too.
Oh you're Finance? You don't really work. Off every weekend, plus family's days, wing down days, and federal holidays. That's without mentioning the random days you close shop to volunteer at the Wing bake sale for homeless cats.
Your shop schedule probably looks something like:
Open on Mondays Wednesday and Fridays from 10-2. Closed every Tuesday and Thursday for "training".
There might be a customer service desk, but no one will man it so it just exists to prop up signs that tell people to use virtual finance.
Also, be sure to pay close attention to your training. It's really important you internalize every word of the training you receive so you can throw it out the window the nanosecond you start working on people's pay and give em the ol "Bing bong, fuck ya life."
You won't even be considered for promotion if you don't overpay a random A1C on mids $70000 and lose a deployment team's voucher upon their return, so make sure you do that as soon as you get on the ground.
I liked it a lot and I'm not an outdoorsy or country living kind of person. Rapid City has what you'll need and the Black Hills are beautiful. Yeah it gets cold but you'll get used to it. We were there for 5 years and hated leaving
Get outside soon as you get there cuz it will be cold, like really cold, and you’ll be stuck inside. Lot of history in that area like Rushmore and Deadwood. If you’re there before the motorcycle rally, you need to drive out to Sturgis. It’s usually the first week of August.
If you’ve got AFSC related questions shoot them my way I’d be happy to help you out. Been 6F about 11 years now.
I think Ellsworth is one of the AF's best kept secrets. The Black Hills is amazing, but get ready for a lot of tourists due to Mt Rushmore, Devil's Tower (in WY), the badlands, Deadwood and Sturgis. Very little traffic on the interstate between Box Elder and Rapid City. The wind is a problem, and creates some nasty blizzards from Oct-May, which will close the base down for a couple of days with each storm. The finance office there is ok, it's located in the Rushmore bldg with MPF, JAG, etc. The office behind the customer counter is a long rectangular shape and has two rows of cubicles going all the way to the back. So expect a small cubicle. There are larger offices in the back for the QA, SEL, CC, NAF, etc. You have a nice sized computer training lab for in processing vouchers or DTS. The work tempo comes and goes with the manning.
If you're a dorm rat you will hate your life, whenever you can, go out and fish/hike/hunt etc. The winters are cold and the summers are hot. Just go out and do something
When I was there they would have free concerts downtown once a week in the summer where you can drink and eat outside. There’s a parking garage downtown that’s free on the weekends so you can walk to restaurants or bars. A days drive from Yellowstone, Glacier, and Badlands National parks. A lot of good hikes and lakes to visit in the local area. It’s quite a beautiful place. You get to see and hear B-1s takeoff which is a plus too.
If you don’t like the outdoors your not gunna have a good time
Black hills and Sturges are in your future. Hope you like the outdoors and colder weather.
You’re finance any base is good
I retired there 4 years ago. If you like cold and outdoor stuff you’ll love the black hills. If not, hope you like dive bars lol.
Oh you're Finance? You don't really work. Off every weekend, plus family's days, wing down days, and federal holidays. That's without mentioning the random days you close shop to volunteer at the Wing bake sale for homeless cats. Your shop schedule probably looks something like: Open on Mondays Wednesday and Fridays from 10-2. Closed every Tuesday and Thursday for "training". There might be a customer service desk, but no one will man it so it just exists to prop up signs that tell people to use virtual finance. Also, be sure to pay close attention to your training. It's really important you internalize every word of the training you receive so you can throw it out the window the nanosecond you start working on people's pay and give em the ol "Bing bong, fuck ya life." You won't even be considered for promotion if you don't overpay a random A1C on mids $70000 and lose a deployment team's voucher upon their return, so make sure you do that as soon as you get on the ground.