Opinions of a few AF bases/surrounding areas

crimsonclint

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Without getting into the nitty gritty; my family will be requesting an EFMP reassignment to the states from Turkey. After some research, we have decided to simply shoot for the 6 bases that employ the medical specialist my wife requires at the on base medical facility.

The bases:
Andrews AFB, MD
Travis AFB, CA
Nellis AFB, NV
Eglin AFB, FL
Keesler AFB, MS
Joint-Base Elmendorf-Richardson, AK

Any insight on the local housing situations, entertainment, travel opps or even just the base facilities would be greatly appreciated. A few things about each are obvious so we are looking for potential nuggets from people who have spent substantial time at any one of these places. Thanks in advance!
 

ssj4sadie

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I'm surprised Lackland isn't on your list. Between WHASC and SAMC I would have thought they have everything covered.


Edit: What is your AFSC?
 
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crimsonclint

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I'm surprised Lackland isn't on your list. Between WHASC and SAMC I would have thought they have everything covered.


Edit: What is your AFSC?

I see that BAMC has the services she needs so we will need to consider that option as well. In my original search I only considered Lackland. Thank you, we are actually pretty familiar with SA too.
 

ssj4sadie

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No big deal. I don't have any answers to your questions about those bases. But I would avoid a few of them based on my AFSC.
 

jerrad

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I was at Eglin for about 10 months.
I enjoyed the area. You're right next to destin so you basically have 99% of anything you'd need. The base housing seemed a little old but it wasn't bad from what I saw.

The gym was nice and had a pretty decent trail. DFAC was awesome IMO.
 

Adower

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Travis AFB. I am not in the military but my dad was and I grew up there. I have friends that are stationed there. It is one of the nicest AFB's. Also the SF bay area and tahoe are 1-1 1/2 hour either way.
 

truefiveo

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You will hate Andrews if you hate traffic.
The overall base is just unattractive always undergoing construction all over.
The ECPs are a wreck during morning rush hour traffic because you have to share Allentown Rd with every other government worker who are trying to access Penn Ave to get to work downtown.

Keesler is just as prone to floods and hurricane damage as New Orleans.
 

broke7

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I have been at Elmendorf for about 12 years now between combined assignments, and will probably retire here.

I was at Eglin for 3, and couldnt wait to leave. Unless your into just doing beach related activities its a pretty boring a lame place to me, wouldnt want to live or raise a family there.

To me Elmo has a WAYYY higher quality of life than any other base I have been at. You get payed decently here for BAH offbase. Awesome hospital on base. Awesome hospitals offbase (wife is a pediatric nurse) and works at one of them. Excellent schools, etc.

Besides not being able to lay on a beach and tan Alaska has the best of everything the outdoors, and a city has to offer. There is a reason why Alaska is on about everyone's bucket list to visit. You have the opportunity to live there and experience it daily.....and get payed a decent chunk while doing it.

Short of an earth ending quake (1964), and some cold winters its a killer place to live.
 
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speedsun

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Been at Hurlburt for 5 years. I feel its pretty legit. Fort Walton can be sorta ghetto but Eglin does have new base housing that was just recently built. Niceville is a nice area to live and Crestview is sorta ghetto redneck but really cheap. I live in Navarre since its closer to Hurlburt.

But attractions are Destin/Pensacola. Buy a boat or some jet skis and enjoy going to crab island every weekend for fun.
 

mjohns930

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I have been at Travis AFB for 7 years. I don't like California as a whole but it is a great area to be as far as stuff to do and things to see. You are a few hours from all kinds of places: Tahoe, Yosemite, SF, Sacramento, the ocean, Reno to name just a few. Sacramento Raceway and Infenion (or whatever it's called now) are also close if you are into that. Vegas is a 7-8 hour drive or a 1 hour flight on Southwest for usually about $99 out of Oakland.

Local off base housing is nice, and a lot of the on base housing has been redone so it is pretty good too. Your BAH with dependents will more than cover most houses off base, or a mortgage if you buy something. There are plenty of houses close to base.

I don't care for the hospital for a few reasons. It is a big training hospital...so that is a big turn off to me. Also, on my last deployment a few of us came home with some problems and the hospital just didn't seem know how to handle it. It was like they hadn't dealt with anyone with a TBI or PTSD.

Base facilities are pretty good as well. The gym is nice and some of it is being redone right now. The BX is nothing like Ramstein, but it's decent, although I only use it for big purchases to save on taxes if the prices are competitive. I don't shop at the commissary. Outdoor recreation always has stuff to do, just depends on what you like. Cheap/free lift tickets to Tahoe are nice.

If you want to know anything else about the area just ask.
 
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SVT4ME

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Retired out of Nellis and still a local. Around the base it's pretty crappy. But vegas has everything any big city has plus what gaming brings. The shows and entertainment is off the hook. We have Hoover dam, lake mead, Red Rock/Valley of Fire parks. You can ski 30 minutes away at Mount Charleston and LV Motorspeedyway has a Nascar/Indy event with some drag racing stuff. Gaming and the bases are the main industry which could be an issue. The weather is really hot in the summer with 9 months of perfect weather. Overall good for a younger crowd.
 

Jebadias

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I've spent a significant amount of the last decade at various schools on CBC Gulfport, just down the road from Keesler. I can't speak for Keesler AFB itself but the surrounding area is nice, economy is a bit depressed, winters are great, summers are hot and humid as it gets, people are friendly (mostly), not a built up urban area but it sits right between Mobile and New Orleans. I hope this helps some.
 

crimsonclint

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Thanks a ton for all of the replies! I can say that we made the decision to rank Nellis first due to having very close friends there. The rest of the bases were ranked as follows:
Elmendorf
Travis
Lackland
Keesler
Eglin
then Andrews last. I'll post after they review our package and give us an answer.
Thanks again everyone!
 

NEp8ntballer

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late to the party but Travis is amazing compared to Beale which is where I'm at now. If you like good beer you'll be in heaven. SF is really close and the base is nice. with it being an AMC base you can hop on Space A to a ton of places.

Keesler isn't too shabby except for being an AETC base. I'm not a fan of that area of the US in general but overall it isn't a bad base. Lots of gambling to do at the casinos. On base housingm the BX and he commissary are nice since they had to rebuild all of it after Katrina. Off base housing isn't too bad. I lived in D'Iberville while I was there and it wasn't a bad location. The only thing that sucks is not a lot of apartments have garage spaces so my car sat outside.
 
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Bullitt 3309

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I can only speak for Lackland, but in my opinion you can't beat BAMC for the medical side of things. This is the school house for DOD Medicine, your wife would get the best here. As far as the area, cost of living is cheap,your BAH will go along ways. With the Joint Base San Antonio, you would have an easier time getting a slot here as well. Good Luck.

MSgt Retired 2010
 
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crimsonclint

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Been a while but felt it couldn't hurt to update with the base we got. We are headed to Davis-Monthan, wasn't on the list but I'm cool with it. Any useful info out there is always appreciated.
Driving from Alabama to Arizona in the Cobra should be a good time.
 

ssj4sadie

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Been a while but felt it couldn't hurt to update with the base we got. We are headed to Davis-Monthan, wasn't on the list but I'm cool with it. Any useful info out there is always appreciated.
Driving from Alabama to Arizona in the Cobra should be a good time.

When you headed out? I've got a house to rent... I would recommend Cobb Realty for your hosting needs. He is a retired Command CMSgt and they seem to do right by military folk.
 

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