The flying is actually better than Oceana- we have the Fallon ranges, the R-2508, W283/285, and the Lemoore MOA all in easy reach. Low levels through the mountains are a thing, and the weather permits flying almost every day (including foggy season, we have fewer weather cnx than Oceana). In Oceana, everything is exclusive use (except 1 A/B) which is nice until you can't get it scheduled or you launch late. The transit times to airspace are the same or longer, and there are no live ranges within easy reach of the base. Not to say the flying at Oceana is bad, but those are very real limitations that we don't have our here. If your argument is that Lemoore isn't great training in comparison to Oceana, I would counter that you aren't doing it right.
That being said...
Lemoore is the base the Navy forgot. Not only is it in the armpit where the CA coastal elites stick things they like to pretend don't exist, but there are 1,000 little things that make life suck more than it should here. We lack parts, personnel, and support to do many basic functions and generate up-aircraft. The "care factor" on the base leaves much to be desired when it comes to everything from public works and PSD to having a reasonable number of places to eat (unless you really like Subway every day). Cell service is absolute shit on base. BAH doesn't keep up with real housing costs in town. Utility rates are horrendous. The base gates manage to have traffic backups, despite there being nobody here. Parking is atrocious. The AC goes out in our hangar weekly, and takes days to get fixed, only to break again a couple of days later. At least three days a week, I walk into my garage and look for the dead rodent, only to go to work and realize that's just how the "air" smells today. Someone in my house always has a cough or sinus issues, sometimes all of us do. My wife has already had to get a daily and rescue inhaler, despite no issues with asthma or wheezing prior to moving here.
While not all of this is the Navy's fault, and it's obviously impossible to polish the turd into an Oceana or a Miramar, there could be a lot less "suck" in Lemoore for only a modest investment (or less) on the Navy's part.
I thought somebody may something like this.
1) I agree with your entire second large paragraph. Don't forget that it's in the middle of nowhere. It looks and smells like shit.
2) Here are my arguments why Lemoore is a shitty place to fly:
-R-2508 sucks. It is not exclusive use. There are tons of interlopers. The altitude is usually capped at too low an altitude for some of our training (sometimes you can get it higher). The airspace is not big enough for our more sophisticated missions. No supersonic. No chaff/flares (I know there are exceptions to the expendables. Those exceptions are rarely used, if ever).
-W-283 is good. It has the dimensions we want. Can go supersonic. Good on the chaff/flares. The downside: it's the only one of its kind. Nobody on the west coast uses the other warning areas which means thats it. I've seen scheduling it become a nightmare since everybody wants the ONE good airspace. Also, there is no SAR det organic to Monterey. Sure you can coordinate with Lemoore SAR for that (with varying degrees of luck). But if you can't, well, get your drysuit ready.
-Lemoore MOA. Awesome idea. Terrible execution. I don't know what happens more frequently, an interloper causing your fight to prematuerly end (or more dangerously, almost have a terrible outcome), or Showtime coming up on PRI to give you a nuisance radio call while you're in the flats.
-Fallon. Good luck getting range space when AWF or SFARP is in town. Also, it's kind of far away.
I've flown very little in Oceana, and I know there are legitimate complaints there and some things about Lemoore may seem better. However, whenever I here somebody say "the flying is so great in Lemoore #westcoastbestcoast" I want to cringe. At least say "the flying is better than Oceana, but it's still not good."
Maybe I'm spoiled because I went to the FRS at Miramar. W-291 is 5 minutes west (exclusive use, instrumented range, full up). El Centro is 10 minutes east (live, intert, strafe, etc.). R-2301W over Yuma is useable (instrumented, full up, red air right there, etc.). Navy SAR is in town. The aircraft carriers are in town. THAT is the perspective I had going to Lemoore with. The flying in Lemoore, while scenic (and the Sidewinder is fun), is very disappointing.