White Sands Missile Range

White Sands is the Army's largest overland missile range — 3,200 square miles of New Mexico desert that's been the backdrop for some of the most significant weapons tests in human history, including the Trinity test, where the first nuclear weapon was detonated on July 16, 1945, which means the ground itself has a more impressive (and terrifying) service record than you will ever achieve. Las Cruces is nearby with excellent green chile (the Hatch chile debate starts here and never ends), NMSU students, and a cost of living that makes your BAH feel generous. White Sands National Park is literally otherworldly — rolling white gypsum dunes for miles that look like God's screensaver, and sunset photography here will make your Instagram followers think you're on another planet. Your commute occasionally crosses an active missile range, which means sometimes you're just late to work because rockets. That's a real excuse here, and your supervisor accepts it, which is the most White Sands thing imaginable. The missile testing mission is joint and interservice — Army, Navy, Air Force all fire things downrange here — and the scientists have the same vibe as the ones at Dugway: quietly brilliant, deeply focused, and unable to tell you what they do at parties.