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Aviano is a geographically seperated base. For the civillians it is a pain. The school, library, and community center is in one area, a gym and home fuels in another, and the commissary, bx, main gym and post office, are in another area. Traffic is heavy during morning and late afternoon hours and mid day. Nothing is open on the economy from typically 12-3. This is NOT a family friendly base. Parents can't bring their children to dental appointments with them and the youth center's drop in care is not a garunteed spot for your child the day you need it AND if you miss your appointment your spouse gets written up. The only thing outside the Youth centers activities (monthly fee or session fee), ITT, and Outdoor Rec are the base pool which is ONLY open during summer months, and the bowling alley which is quite small. There are things to do on the economy which is great when the exchange rate is decent but it also means that you must have a basic understanding of Italian. There is a high DUI rate here (not a big surprise) and so base wide curfews and gate checks are often put in place to try to discourage it. This base absolutely sucks for anyone in Security Forces. Overall organization and communication also not great. The pros of the base are that the location is excellent. 20 mins to skiing, 1.5 hours to the beach, 2 hours to amusement parks and water parks. Venice is 1.5 hours by train. Verona is a day trip, as is Milan and Nove. Rome is easy by train or driving. Germany is eight hours north of us driving and Paris is eight hours by train. Cheap flights to most of europe.
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