I am living in on post housing at Ft Wainwright and I have been thinking about the inevitability of break up this coming spring and this will be my first spring here. I have a basement with one escape window and concrete walls. There is a sump pump but most of the floor is dead level. I am going to get pallets for the boxes that are in the basement but I am wondering if there is a way I can prevent water from getting in in the first place.

One of my coworkers said to shovel the snow at least four feet away from the window as that is where most of the water comes in. I am wondering what you guys have found to minimize water intrusion.

Me either.  I'd ask the housing guys to see if it is even an issue.  Only place I've heard of flooding was out near the flood channel or by the rivers.

Post housing so Ft Wainwright not Base housing on Eileson. Aside from that if 1980's is old then yes. I can also see on the wall where water has ran down from the window in the past.

Put your ammo on pallets, let sump pump do its job. remember to FULLY insure your collection of antique fur coats, and water soluiable bronies for their collectable value... and DONT put them on pallets...

I live on north fort. From your description, my basement is set up similar to yours. I've had a lake in my backyard with the water just below my basement window with nary a leak or a hint of moisture in/on the basement walls.   Call the housing folks and see if there is a history of such leaks in your house.  If you are truly worried, then go with the pallet idea.

2 winters so far in FWA post housing, basement has been bone dry each year,  they built those houses pretty well

its a non issue. Basically all the yards are graded away from the structure ( as it should be ) when it starts to melt the water will run AWAY from the house. Break up is usually a very slow process anyways its not like everything melts in 3 hours and you have lakes everywhere. They also do ALOT of snow and hardppack removal just before breakup to minimize melting.

I'm just asking this because one of my coworkers who lived on post had a "lake" develop in his back yard too and ended up with about a quarter inch of standing water in his basement. Not much but enough to ruin a lot of stuff.

What neighborhood on post?