Fort Hamilton

Fort Hamilton in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn — the most un-Army duty station in the entire Department of Defense, a place so unlikely that soldiers at Fort Polk would weep if they knew it existed. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge is literally on post, connecting Brooklyn to Staten Island in a way that makes your morning run feel like a Nike commercial. Your AOR is all of New York City — the five boroughs, 8 million people, and every parade, dignitary visit, and ceremonial event that happens in the greatest city on Earth. The BAH is astronomical and still won't cover a parking spot in Manhattan, a studio in Park Slope, or a one-bedroom anywhere your civilian friends would consider livable. Soldiers here have the same commute as Goldman Sachs analysts, arguably a better pizza situation (Di Fara's, L&B Spumoni Gardens, and every dollar slice in existence are in your AOR), and the most surreal military experience imaginable: doing PT overlooking the Statue of Liberty, then getting on the subway in uniform while a guy in a Spider-Man costume plays saxophone. Everyone at every other post hates you.