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Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive April 2004: What is Military Base Housing?
I honestly have no idea what this is or what it looks like. I realize it's housing funded by the military, but is it a whole block of homes? Is it a group of apartment buildings? What is 'base'? Are they generally nice homes? Small homes? Large homes? Just really curious!!
It really depends on the base/post what kind of housing it is and how nice it is. A "Base" is what the Air Force calls its installations. Like Peterson Air Force Base is where my dh is officially stationed. A "Post" is usually what the Army calls its installations (we were once stationed at Ft. George G. Meade--refered to as "post"--dh was in a tiny Air Force office there) It also depends on wether or not it's officer or enlisted housing. (officer housing tends to be nicer) It's really like any other neighborhood, it's just on a military instalition. They have single homes, duplexes (what we had in Montana), town houses (what we had in Maine, Panama and Maryland) and fourplexes (my brother lived in one in Lousinia--two on bottom, two on top). All the ones we've ever lived in have been nice (although in Panama they were small--3 bedroom was only about 900 square feet). Our house in Montana was by far the nicest we lived in on base. It was about 1200 square feet (finished--full unfinished basement), all hard wood floor and attached garage. I know when we were stationed at Ft. Meade in Maryland years ago when we first got married we rented off post because the housing there was what was considered "sub-standard" and people still got partial housing allowance to live there. They were townhouses that had nails holding tiles down, paint peeling off the walls, etc. I don't think they're still there now and I don't know if the Army still has any like that. The way it works is if you decide to live off base (if you're eligiable--single lower ranking people usually have to live in the dorms) the military pays you what's called BAH or Basic Allowence for Housing. Sometimes it covers your rent/mortgage, sometimes it doesn't. If it doesn't, you have to pay the difference. If you choose to live in base housing, you don't get that money, but you don't have a house payment/rent. There's been talk for years that the military may change that (pay everyone BAH and charge people rent that live on base), but nothing has come of that-yet. We'll have to wait and see. My dh has been in the Air Force for 19 years this summer and we've been married 12 (this past Feb). This is the first time we've bought a home. We've always lived on base until this assaingment. Here we rented for a year and then bought. SOOOO, anyway, you asked. I hope I answered any questions you may have had. The military is a different world and sometimes it's hard for "civilians" to understand.
I use to live on base housing and it all depends on the base you are at and which house you get put in. But I think Cat explained it the best...its differnt everywhere you go. I personal didnt like the house we were put into but now we own our own so I dont have to worry about it.
The base housing on the two military installations that we have lived on was very nice to me. They were very spacious, with self-help or maintenance available for repairs/problems. We live in a 4 bedroom now, which gives each of our boys their own room. The last base house we lived in (the one that caught fire) even had an extra living room which we made our office, as well as a HUGE internal storage room that we made into a playroom for the kids. I love living on base. It's closer to my dh's work, and it's much cheaper than living off base and you get more than your moneys worth.
So, they look like normal houses on normal streets in normal neighborhoods then? Is there anything that would give it away that it's military? Or it just looks totally suburban and typical?
They look like normal houses on normal streets on normal neighborhoods. The houses on a street typically look similar, though not exactly alike. Everything looks pretty normal around here, LOL
Oh, and don't feel obnoxious or ignorant, I didn't know anything at all about things like this when my dh joined the military.
Sorry to post again, but I was just wondering what sparked your interest?
Amy, I'm not sure what sparked my interest tonight! Truthfully I've wondered all along since posts from you and Crystal, and when you moved and described getting a four bedroom this time around....I just began wondering exactly what military housing was! So I finally posted.
I can chime in here as a military wife of a higher ranking officer. My DH is a Lt. Col. and we have lived on Army posts or have been in lots of houses on post when we lived off post. My DH is a Reservists so, though we have only lived on two posts, he has traveled a lot and we have seen lots of post houses. Here on Ft. Lewis, a very few Majors, most Lt. Col., and all Col. and above live in brick colonial houses of at least four bedrooms. These houses have full basements, screened porches off the living rooms and master bedrooms, a maid quarters (and, no, no one has maids anymore, so these become the guest rooms or another bedroom), large country kitchens, hardwood floors throughout, lovely stairwells with banisters that overlook the entry hallway, lovely multipaned windows throughout, huge master suite, double garages in the back on the alley, nice lawns on front and a sidewalk that runs through the neighborhood. Really, really lovely homes and neighborhoods. Now, in Germany, it was another story all together. First, if you were a
Kate, the higher ranking people's houses are seperate from the lower ranking. We have a term in the military; RHIP--it means Rank Has It's Privilages. They get bigger, better houses with bigger yards, etc.
I have a good friend that has lived on base for the past 10 years.
I cannot account for other posts, as we have only lived on two installations.
Cat, we had TOTALLY different answers as far as the gate question. At Ft Hood and here at Ft Polk, we never had to call to the gate or go to the gate to let a civilian on base. The gate guard soldiers just required a valid ID and gave them a temporary pass (24 hours) and they were required to keep that pass on their dashboard when parked. Prior to 9/11 at Ft Hood, there was NO gate where people were checked. It was just wide open. There WERE gate "shacks" at each entrance, but they were RARELY manned, unless the president or some other special individual was going to be on post.
You guys are so sweet! I'm still confused as to 'base' and 'post' and the difference there. Now, this 'base'....it has a whole world on it?? Shopping centers and hospital and doctor's office, dentist office, police station, library....???? Really?? What else?? Can civilians go to these places? Can they buy things from them? What about schools...are there base schools? If not, do public buses come onto base and pick kids up and take them to school? This is all so fascinating!!
ROFL Kate, it is kind of exciting to be able to tell a civilian about the military.
Go to
Here's how we lived in Germany    
My post housing on Ft. Hood was quite old, and I lived in a duplex. I wasn't impressed by the upkeep, but then again, they are slowly remodeling each old area on Ft. Hood. We had some flooding/mold problems, and some roaches that came through the drains, both of which were the worst part of base housing. We did have 2 bedrooms, and a decent size yard. Amy's Ft. Hood housing was quite new, so it was much nicer, but sometimes I wonder if the people who made the floor plans had half a brain. For instance, some houses had virtually no storage space, which is kind of important for military families!! All in all it was nice, but by all accounts post housing areas are total soap operas. If people can't find something to gossip about (which is not hard to do) they will make stuff up. Privacy is a lost cause here. You also see a lot of unsupervised kids, like Amy was talking about. Amy... remember those 2 kids out back of my quarters? Where the mom was passed out in the house? Just awful!!! All said, I do miss some aspects of military life, not enough to convince Nate to go back in though!!
Crystal, about the unsupervised kids issue, it is about 50 times WORSE here! I swear to you. It is insane! I am *this* close to calling CPS on this one lady. She has a bunch of very young children. They are constantly outside, only wearing a diaper, the diaper is sagging so low because it needs to be changed desperately. They are always walking all over her car on the roof and trunk - 2 and 3 year olds mind you! If they are not doing that, then they are in everyone else's yard on their swings, kids' play equipment or playing with other kids' toys. She sits outside with them sometimes, and they often stay up outside until midnight or later even on weekdays with the kids having fun, screaming, laughing, and generally being loud and obnoxious while the rest of the neighborhood is trying to get some sleep. These kids have been playing and jumping on our swing out front many times. Mike tells them they have to get off and they just look at him, they don't get off. We can't even solicit the help of their mother because she is in her house doing Lord knows what! It's ridiculous! Mark my words, I am calling the police or CPS VERY soon. Ugh!
Well here in England we live in base housing-off base! WE actually live about 30 minutes from the base and we share our development with the british community. We have a beautiful townhouse in a beautiful neighborhood. We were very lucky. It does depend on what base! I like that we have a self help store to do things in your house and repair things, even replace light bulbs and its all free!! The kids here are fairly good, compared to other places we have seen! I would probably not live in base housing back in the states but over seas it is very helpful and much cheaper usually! Don't feel silly for asking all these questions cuz i am a military wife and i am still learning, lol!
Right now we live in housing with 1 joining neighbor, is that a duplex? The house is 25 years old and our housing area is supposed to be for Staff and Officer, hower they have torn down one of the housing units that they call low rank housing so right now it is a mixed community. I believe this is the only mixed community on the base. And it is waiting to be torn down as well. They rest of the housing units are really nice and since they have redone a lot of them lower rank housing and are just as nice as the Staff and Officer housing. In some cases nicer, so it really does depend on the base and where they are as far as remodeling. I think we have close to 10 or 11 housing communities that belong to this base. Some are apartment complexes, some are single houses, some are multiplex, some are duplex. It all depends on your rank, dependents and what area there is a unit available as to where you are placed.
Kate, if it's Army it's a post. If it's Air Force it's a base. Don't ask me why. lol
Hmmmmm...okay, so a base is actually a whole CITY?? Is it TRULY a city, such as, is Ft. Hood the name of a city? Is it like 'I live in Ft. Hood, Texas' or is it 'I live ON Ft. Hood IN Dallas, Texas'? I know Ft. Hood isn't in Dallas, but I have no idea WHERE it is, so I just chose any Texas city.
Bea, those Ft. Monroe ones in Virginia....those are apartments, correct? If those are single family homes, they're mansions!
Kate, most bases do have their own zip codes. Like when we lived in Maryland our address was "Andrews AFB, MD 20762" (or something, can't remember the exact zip). Most would say "I live ON Andrews AFB (or whatever)." They are usually on the edge of a city or town, but not really IN the city/town. Like Peterson AFB is on the south-east side of Colorado Spring, The USAF Academy is on the north side of town, Shriver AFB is on the east side of town and Ft. Carson is on the south side.
Ok, Ft. Hood is the post near Killeen, TX. Ft. Hood has it's own zip code, post office, police (military police) etc. So if you live ON Post, you live in Ft. Hood. If you live in Killeen or one of the surrounding cities, and are a soldier, you are stationed at Ft. Hood. Make sense? And yes, you must be married to live together on post, there is a waiting list for eligible families, the soldiers who are stationed here have jobs on post, usually exactly what they would be doing in wartime. Example, my ex works on the Avenger missile systems. When in Iraq he worked on them to maintain them for battle if needed. He also pulled guard duty, and various other tasks. Here on post, he has a motor pool where he works on the systems to maintain them for training. Then they go out to the field for a week or whatever time frame, train out there, come home and fix the stuff they broke. It's funny if you really think about it. Others, like Nate, can't really perform their MOS (assigned job) He was infantry, so his job was to fight. He was a gunner for the commander, so he would be in the field a LOT more, and did more deployments. When not in the field, he would fill in on other tasks around the post. (Mind you, I'm a little less clear about what he did everyday since I didn't know him then) Then there are people who work in finance, supply, the hospital, etc.
Crystal's right. My dh work in Supply. In Iraq he supplied the troops with what they needed, signed out high valued items and signed them back in, etc. He also pulled guard and other duties. Here on post he is in charge of the supply room for his unit and does the same exact thing here. Just like military installations are like one little world, it takes service members working in different areas to make it all work just as it does in the civilian world.
Kate, where do you live?
When we lived at both Patrick AFB and
Here in Washington, Ft. Lewis and Mcchord Airforce Base are right next door. The whole military communitee is HUGE!!! Huge hospital, commissary, etc.!!! Parks, clubs, and even a lake with boat rentals. Amazing and very spoiling.
Are you close to Fort Lewis, Mary. DH had command of the Port Of Seattle, and we lived in Kirkland.
Kate, I am completely clueless too when it comes to military life! Thanks for asking the questions that i have always wondered about!
The following is something that I read long ago. It touched something deep inside my heart. I think it captures much of what it meant to be the wife of a soldier during the thirty years I had that calling. I hope it also helps you to understand a little of what it means to be a military spouse. Paraphrased from Debby Guisti © I am a military wife - a member of that sisterhood of women who have had the courage to watch their men go into battle, and the strength to survive until their return. Our sorority knows no rank, for we earn our membership with a marriage license, traveling over miles, or over nations to begin a new life with our military husbands. Within days, we turn a barren, echoing building into a home, and though our quarters are inevitably white-walled and unpapered, we decorate with the treasures of our travels, for we shop the markets of the globe. Using hammer and nail, we tack our pictures to the wall, and our roots to the floor as firmly as if we had lived there for a lifetime. We hold a family together by the bootstraps, and raise the best of "brats," instilling in them the motto, "Home is togetherness", whether motel, or guest house, apartment or duplex. As military wives we soon realize that the only good in "Good-bye" is the "Hello again." For as salesmen for freedom, our husbands are often on the road, at sea, or in the sky, leaving us behind for a week, a month, an assignment. During separations we guard the home front, existing until the homecoming. Unlike our civilian counterparts, we measure time, not by years, but by tours - married at Knox, a baby born at Portsmouth, a special anniversary at Yorktown, a promotion in McDill. We plant trees, and never see them grow tall, work on projects completed long after our departure, and enhance our community for the betterment of those who come after us. We leave a part of ourselves at every stop. Through experience, we have learned to pack a suitcase, a car or hold baggage, and live indefinitely from the contents within: and though our fingers are sore from the patches we have sewn, and the silver we have shined, our hands are always ready to help those around us. Women of peace, we pray for a world in harmony, for the flag that leads our men into battle, will also blanket them in death. Yet we are an optimistic group, thinking of the good, and forgetting the bad, cherishing yesterday, while anticipating tomorrow. Never rich by monetary standards, our hearts are overflowing with a wealth of experiences common only to those united by the special tradition of military life. We pass on this legacy to every military bride, welcoming her with outstretched arms, with love and friendship, from one sister to another, sharing in the bounty of our unique, fulfilling military way of life.
Wow, Bea, what a lovely essay! I may have run out of questions!!!! Thanks to ALL who responded and painted me such pictures. I had NO idea it was a little town/community with actual highways and stoplights and hospitals and stores and such.
Bea,
We lived in Navy housing when DSH was stationed in Va 86-94.We lived near Little Creek...Port Lyaut..cannt remember the spelling. We had a 3 bedroom townhouse...it was HOME for 6yrs...we loved it then DSH retired and we moved home to Fl and now we have home of OUR own (5yrs now)..We also live in Navy house when DSH was stationed at NAS Kingsville Tx (82-85) (DSD2 was born here) This housing was older. We had a 2 bedroom apt, we lived on the bottom floor and had neighbors across the hall.
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