8 Reasons Why I Love Living on a Military Base
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In March of this year, we officially moved onto Robins Air Force Base. We moved from our small apartment to a beautiful duplex on base so we could have more room for our expanding family. It’s been seven months now and I still love living here! I’ve realized I love living on a military base and wanted to share the reasons why.
8 Reasons to Live on a Military Base:
1. It’s Safe
I love that I can take the baby for walks or go for a run, and not have to worry about someone bothering me. There is also less crime. Having to show a military ID at the gate makes me safe in knowing that anyone who should not be on base isn’t. I know that there still can be some problems living on a military base as far as crime and such, but it is definitely a lot better than living off base. I can rest easy at night knowing that my house and family are safe.
See Also: The Pros and Cons of Living on a Military Base
2. It’s Convenient
Everything is right around the corner from me. I have the commissary for grocery shopping, the BX for almost anything else I might need, a gas station right up the road, and even a thrift shop! What more could you ask for?
3. It’s Beautiful
I live right across the street from a beautiful lake. I get to watch the sun set and rise over that lake and it is absolutely breathtaking at times. There are tons of paths to walk, hike, and bike on, places to camp during the summer. There is a lot of wildlife too. It really is beautiful no matter what the season is.
4. It’s Friendly
I love being able to know my neighbors and know that they are there to help if I need it. I may not know everyone on my street, but I know that if I needed help someone would be there in a minute. It’s also fun sharing all the things we get, especially food. My neighbors and I are constantly passing on things we have baked or made to each other.
5. It’s Cheap
I think we got a pretty good deal. We got a pretty big 3-bedroom house. We only pay $1,000 a month and that includes water and electricity. When you are in the military it’s hard to buy a house because you know you will be moving around a lot. Living on a military base helps us not to have to worry about that!
6. Sonic Booms
When the planes travel back and forth overhead sometimes they break the sound barrier. When they do, it creates a huge sonic boom, which can be heard all over the city. Although the sonic booms sometimes scare me half to death, I love them because it reminds of me of the freedom our spouses are fighting for.
7. The Star-Spangled Banner
Every day at 5 pm the Star-Spangled Banner is played all over the base for all to hear. If you are driving you must stop, if you are walking you must stop and face the flag. I love this because it is another reminder of what those past and present have done for our country.
8. A Good Place to Raise Children
The base is a perfect place to raise children, because like I said before it is safe. There are lots of parks and playgrounds to play on, and lots of other military children to play with.
How about YOU? Do you live on a military base? What do you like about it?
We don't live on base, and I'm not sure if we ever will. Mr. Wookie grew up living on base if the availability/quality was there. My favorite place his mother lived was the old turn-of-the-century homes in Bangor, WA. They were gorgeous. But she did swing herself into O-6 housing while still an O-5. Props.
In Pt. Mugu, CA, on base housing is very limited and not our style of living (kinda outdated). Plus, we like to blend into the community. But we don't have kids, so I understand the perks of having no worry about Johnny Child-Stalker taking your kids while living on base. I DO get that notion. I understand that one completely. 🙂
I guess we make up for it by living in a gated complex. I can run around our neighborhood, where the the only thing I worry about is stepping in dog poo. Plus, Mr. Wookie can leave his physical place of work behind…and come home and work more. 🙂 He's the new guy in town, lots to do.
That sounds like a wonderful place to live!!
we have only lived on post once. at first it was really secure and it was wonderful. then the teenagers kind of took over and I could not even let my kids outside. Then the army became privatized and so we ended up spending over a hundred a month on electric. we looked at housing on post here but it was too small for our family. if you only had 2 children it would have been perfect but was not great for us.
We don't live on base, but those are definitely some nice things! I'd love the security. However, the base here is on a different island, and it just feels grungy on that island. We opted to live about 25 minutes from base in a much prettier town, but I do wonder how much money we could save by living on base. :]
I loved living on our previous base! The housing was great.. it was well maintained and updated. I felt safe while my husband was away, and I loved that all my neighbors were fellow Seabee wives that knew exactly what I was going through.
This base.. not so much. We pay a little more than $1,000 and I honestly have no idea what it goes towards because the housing is a dump. Every time we use our stove/oven we have to open our windows because of a horrible gas smell.. we have called the housing about it numerous times and they still have not fixed it! It freaks me out since I'm pregnant and Lord knows what I'm inhaling while cooking! We hoping to move out in town before the winter.
We live on base at Ft. Leavenworth, and one of the big reasons for choosing to live on post is safety. With three prisons around us, can you blame us?
We love it here on base except for the housing isn't very well insulated, so during the heat we can't keep it cool enough and same with when it is cold. The kitchen is huge, which is what drew me to the house. I love the safety as well. The only other drawback is that it is a pain to get people on base if we want to entertain and they don't have an id, but we still do. 🙂
I love living on post! Our house isn't pretty. At all. But the homes that are within our BAH all look dated as well…I love only having to drive 2 seconds to wherever it is I need to go. I also LOVE that since we are on post my husband usually gets to come home on his lunch break :))
I'm thrilled yo love living on base. I did to, but please don't take the safety for granted. It is safer then some places off base, but there is crime, murders, stockers, breakins, vandelizim (sp). I the fact that you show an i.d. at the gate doesn't do much considering this is a mostly civilian contracted base. Which means, that not may coming on and off are military, and even then that doesn't make them saints. We had some vandelisim issue when we lived on base(teenangers) and there it just made me realize though I loved all the things yo listed, that you still need to lock your doors, and be aware. Yet, it was good to us for the 4 1/2 years we lived on base and I so miss the neighbors we had there.
Jonathan – thank you for your service to your country. My family and our church pray for all the soldiers, their families, and their safe return.
Kathryn – neat post! (I linked here from Jhen's blog). My wife was an Air Force daughter, so she traveled a lot, and spend time on bases. Had some great experiences.
I looked at some of your book reviews. Would you consider reviewing mine here? I would send you a complimentary copy if you wouild consider it. Here is a link that has information about it: http://warrenbaldwinbiblefountain.blogspot.com/search/label/Roaring%20Lions
This link is not on my main blog. My main blog, Family Fountain, is for families, and is here: http://www.warrenbaldwin.blogspot.com.
Thanks.
Warren
Whether we live on or off post is mostly a matter of economics for us. I have lived on post in VA, GA, CO and Germany and I had great experiences for the most part. The housing can be nice, but it can also be old or look great but put up quickly and poorly, CO and VA respectively. We lived on post in Germany because we like to keep our home warm and oil and electric is expensive on the economy. We live in South Korea and the housing is terrible… so now and I love the freedom and quality of life that living in a downtown high rise affords us without coming out of pocket.
Hello! I know you wrote this a while ago but I was wondering g if you are still at Robins. We moved here almost a year ago and we are loving it so far!
Hi Kendra,
No, we moved about a year and half ago. We lived there 6 years though so if you have any questions about the area or the base, just let me know! 🙂