If you have orders to Hawaii, the first thing you want is a map in your head. The army bases in Hawaii sit on two islands, and they do not all do the same job. Some are troop posts. One is a hospital. Two are mostly housing. A few are training land where nobody lives.
This guide walks through each installation, then spends real time on the part that decides your whole move: where your family will live. PCS stands for Permanent Change of Station, the military's term for a move to a new duty station.
Every Army Installation in Hawaii, at a Glance
U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, or USAG Hawaii, serves close to 100,000 Soldiers, civilians and family members. Its four main installations are Fort Shafter, Schofield Barracks, Tripler Army Medical Center and Wheeler Army Airfield. The garrison headquarters sits at Wheeler, about 20 miles from Honolulu.
Beyond those four, the Army holds several smaller properties on Oahu and two sites on Hawaii Island.
| Installation | Where it is | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Schofield Barracks | Central Oahu, near Wahiawa | Main troop post; home of the 25th Infantry Division |
| Wheeler Army Airfield | Central Oahu, next to Schofield | Army aviation; USAG Hawaii headquarters |
| Fort Shafter | Honolulu | Headquarters of U.S. Army Pacific |
| Tripler Army Medical Center | Above Moanalua, Honolulu | The Army's medical center for the Pacific |
| Aliamanu Military Reservation | Between Honolulu and Pearl Harbor | Family housing and community services |
| Helemano Military Reservation | North of Schofield Barracks | Family housing and support facilities |
| Fort DeRussy | Waikiki | Recreation and morale site, not a duty post |
| Pililaau Army Recreation Center | Waianae, west Oahu | Beach cottages for service members and families |
| Kahuku Training Area | North Oahu | Maneuver and helicopter training land; no housing |
| Pohakuloa Training Area | Hawaii Island | Large live-fire and maneuver training area |
| Kilauea Military Camp | Hawaii Island | Recreation site near Hawaii Volcanoes National Park |
The Army's Oahu footprint, grouped by mission. Source: U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii.
What the Army Bases in Hawaii Do Day to Day
Schofield Barracks
Schofield sits in central Oahu near Wahiawa, ringed by the Waianae and Koolau mountains. It is the Army's main troop installation in the state and the home of the 25th Infantry Division. If your orders name a line unit, this is almost certainly where you are headed. We cover the arrival details in our PCS to Schofield Barracks guide.
Wheeler Army Airfield
Wheeler is a short drive from Schofield and handles Army aviation. It is also where USAG Hawaii is headquartered, which means a lot of garrison business gets done there even if you never fly.
Fort Shafter
Fort Shafter sits in Honolulu and is the headquarters of U.S. Army Pacific. Other major commands in the islands include the 8th Theater Sustainment Command, the 18th Medical Command, the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command and the 311th Signal Command. The 9th Mission Support Command, an Army Reserve headquarters, is at Fort Shafter Flats. You can see the full list on the garrison's tenant units page.
Tripler Army Medical Center
Tripler is the coral-pink hospital you can see from the H-1 freeway. It is the Army's medical center for the Pacific region and a duty station in its own right for medical personnel.
The smaller Oahu properties
Aliamanu Military Reservation, usually called AMR, and Helemano Military Reservation, or HMR, are mostly housing rather than mission work. Fort DeRussy in Waikiki and the Pililaau Army Recreation Center in Waianae are recreation sites. None of these show up on orders as a duty station, but several will show up on your housing options.
The training areas
Kahuku Training Area on north Oahu is ground maneuver and helicopter training land. Pohakuloa Training Area, or PTA, sits on Hawaii Island between Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and Hualalai. PTA covers about 133,000 acres and has its own garrison, and units from every service train there. Neither place is somewhere families live, but if you are in a maneuver unit you will spend nights at both.
For the other branches in the islands, see our overview of what military bases are in Hawaii.
Where Army Families Actually Live
This is the decision that shapes your tour. You have three real options, and each one has a catch.
On post with Island Palm Communities
Army family housing on Oahu is privatized and run by Island Palm Communities, or IPC, under the Residential Communities Initiative. The Army Housing Office is at 344 Heard Avenue, Building 556, Schofield Barracks, reachable at 808-787-7700. Details are on the garrison's housing page.
IPC runs about 7,910 homes across two regions. The north region covers Schofield Barracks, Wheeler and Helemano. The south region covers Fort Shafter, Tripler, AMR and Red Hill. There is normally a waitlist on every category. Waits for enlisted families have run from immediate to about a month, while officer housing can take up to the 60-day limit on Temporary Lodging Allowance. Peak season is June through August, per MilitaryINSTALLATIONS.
On post, you give up your Basic Allowance for Housing, or BAH, and the rent is covered. That trade is simple and predictable, which is why many first-tour families take it.
Renting off post
Off-post rentals give you more choice of neighborhood and school. They also cost more up front. Expect the first month's rent plus a deposit equal to another month, and expect utilities to be billed separately. Homes in Hawaii are generally smaller than what you left on the mainland, so ask the housing office what to ship and what to store before your movers pack you out. If you are bringing animals, read our guide to a PCS to Hawaii with pets early, because the quarantine rules have long lead times.
Buying on Oahu
Buying here is a different animal than buying near a mainland post. In July 2026, the median resale price for a single-family home on Oahu was $1,224,500, up 13.9 percent from a year earlier. The median condo resale was $504,500. Single-family homes spent a median of 14 days on the market, and a third of them still closed under $1 million, according to the Honolulu Board of REALTORS July 2026 market report.
