Naval Air Stations, your experiences...

[batteryguy4]

hey Everyone,

I'm beginning the application process for Naval Aviation soon. I was hoping people could share their thoughts and/or experiences on various naval air stations they've been stationed at.

As far as I know, these are the active ones:

Pensacola
Whitting
Kingsville
Meridian
Corpus Christi
Jacksonville
Norfolk
Oceana
North Island
Lemoore
Point Mugu
Fallon
Whidbey Island
(add any I left out)

My father flew H-3s/H-60s out of North Island, so I'm quite familiar with it. Other than that, I hate to admit I haven't been to any of the others. Next week I'm visiting Lemoore b/c my best friend is an LS in the RAG there.

Thanks.

 

[STARFlight145]

Not a Naval Aviator yet, but I selected 1390 and my dad flew 60B's and flew out of North Island, Mayport, FL and Pax River, MA. What do you want to know in particular?

 

[cfam]

My suggestion, skip lemoore, not much to see there. I did NFO flight school at Pensacola for 2ish yrs and I'm now at Whidbey. Any questions in particular?

 

[villanelle]

You've left off anything OCONUS. Is that intentional?

 

[BusyBee604]

???

My suggestion, skip lemoore, not much to see there.

1. Upon w*at experience do you base t*is statement? :icon_trou

2, Only t*e best fricken' "pointy nose flyin'" in t*e USN.:hot_anima

3. Best flyin' WX, most modern aviation facility, *ousing, etc. in t*e Navy.

4. Gr8 place to raise kids, rural life style, reasonable real estate costs.

5. *ome base of CAPT Mike Estocin, KIA MO*, and many of t*e finest Warriors in Naval *istory!

Based on a total of 9 years, off & on, DIFOT outta good ol' "NAS Reemorse", loved it! Questions? :bigeyes_1
BzB :sleep_125

 

[Morgan81]

No experience OCONUS, but here's my $.02 which probably isn't worth half of that.

Pensacola - Pretty nice. Get a place out the back gate and go to the beach as much as humanly possible.

Whitting - Never been there, but it's so close to Pensacola its practically the same thing.

Kingsville - Flying: Awesome, living in town...notsomuch. The two places that all the studs usually end up living in make for a college-like feel to the entire experience - just add jet fuel. I had a blast but not everyone shares that sentiment. Go to Austin as much as possible.

Meridian - See comments for Krock. I wasn't there, but I've heard living there is the same.

Corpus Christi - Island life is good for Primary. Either that or live close to base near Ocean drive. Again, the locals will make you hate life at times, but your cohorts make life awesome. Same advice for Austin.

Jacksonville - My personal favorite actually. Never stationed there, just spent a crapload of dets there. Weather: awesome, Women: beautiful, Flying: what I've done there was easy. The town is super spread out so I've heard people complain about how going out is a pain in the ass if you don't live by the beach, which if you do, makes for a longer commute to work, but whatever I really enjoy the place.

Norfolk - I like it overall. I don't like driving here, AT ALL. People are insane and the city was NOT designed for cars and the base needs to get rid of a few boats to 1) improve traffic every morning and 2) cut down on the SWO population. It's been cold up here for way too long, but I've heard summer is a great thing by the beach. It's the largest Naval base on this planet so good luck changing some women's minds about us not being complete scumbags but whatever. So far, so good.

Oceana - Less traffic then Norfolk but so close so it's similar overall.

North Island - #@%$^ing awesome, but you WILL go broke. From rent to bars, money won't last long for me at least. TON of traffic at times. Oh, and you won't forget you're in a military town.

Lemoore - I enjoyed this place when I was there for the VERY small amount of time, maybe my opinion would change over time. The flying part beats the Virginia Beach / Norfolk monster HANDS DOWN. You can drive to San Fran, Yosemite and a bunch of other places.

Point Mugu - Never been to base, but spent some time in Malibu and yes please. I am ready to sell my first born to go there.

Fallon - As exciting as the middle of Nevada sounds, but hard to be stationed at since only one or two squadrons are based there. You will be there on det though. Never been all the way out there, but Reno was disappointing except that Tailhook is there every year. Other then that, not much reason in my mind to go there.

Whidbey Island - Again, never been to base proper but the Pacific NW is pretty cool. I loved Seattle and from what I've heard its about a 2ish hour drive there and that don't suck.


Bottom line, there are better places to live (San Diego and Jacksonville excluded), but what we do and your peers make up for the shitty surroundings. Every place is what you make of it. I lived in the ass-crack of this country for near three years (South Texas) and had a blast so if you can have fun there, you can have fun anywhere. That and what you fly has a huge impact on your life outside the flight suit, i.e. if you're flying jets, you won't have time to look around so who cares where you are. Other commands will leave you with much more time on your hands.

 

[Swanee]

A lot of people don't like the Hampton Roads VA area. I think it's one of the best places that I've lived. True I'd rather gouge my eyes out than have to drive the 64 bridge/tunnel everyday. However the access to recreational stuff is pretty awesome. The sailing/boating community is huge and the Chesapeake Bay is one of the best places to enjoy the water. The beaches in Va Beach are okay, but if you drive an hour south you have the Outer Banks, which are pretty sweet. Yorktown and Williamsburg are 45 mins or so North. DC is within a days trip if you don't mind a bit of a drive. The area is a major stop for concerts and theater on the national circuit level.

Other than the traffic, it's not a bad place to live at all.

 

[batteryguy4]

Interesting so far. cfam, what do you think of Whidbey? Can you give more details? I like the idea of living in the northwest, and I think I would totally dig the prowler/growler mission. I'm currently an engineer right now, so I like the added technical aspect of it. As far as virginia goes, I have virtually no experience. I've lived in CA/AZ my whole life (minus short stint in AK) and always ask people about it when I have the chance. From the replies to this post, it sounds like some people like it, some people hate it. Anyway, I'm interested in hearing more from anyone who wants to put in their 2 cents...

thanks guys

 

[batteryguy4]

Starflight, so you know about Pax River? What's it like around there? Any hiking opportunities nearby?

 

[phrogpilot73]

Pax River, MA.

Pax River is in Maryland, not Massachusetts. (Maryland is MD)

 

[The Chief]

.... Pax River? What's it like around there? Any hiking opportunities nearby?

Appalachian trail access is about 120 miles WNW of Pax River. From Maine to Georgia, over 2,000 miles, longest in the US. From near sea level in New York to over 6,000 feet in Tennessee, spectacular. Friends have done the whole length, typically in 5 day stints.

The C&O canal tow path is 60 miles west, stretches from Georgetown DC to Ohio, about 110 miles. Think part of the tow path is in pretty bad shape right now but still very nice, easy hiking.

Footnote: Add China Lake, CA to that list. Technically the Naval Air Warfare Station. In the high desert, a beautiful area, in my opinion. Super flying weather, 365.

 

[jollygreen07]

You forgot Tinker AFB in Oklahoma....

It's very scenic if you like tornadoes, blizzards, massive hail, freezing rain and wildfires. In the same week.

(Mostly kidding)

On the up-side: the property is cheap as dirt.

 

[scoolbubba]

Southern MD doesn't have much in the way of hiking, more trail walks. Western MD has great hiking. Trade your standard issue SMIB for some appalachian folk and you're in business.

 

[MIDNJAC]

Not sure if you are planning on going aviation, but if you are, these are things that really aren't worth you worry about. You will go to Pensacola, then on to Corpus, Whiting or Vance at the discretion of the student control staff. After that, your performance in primary and needs of the Navy will be the deciding factors on where you go next, whether you personally agree with them or not. Following advanced, it becomes an even bigger crapshoot as to where you will head for the FRS. After that, you have next to no choice whatsoever. Cliffs Notes: learn to go with the flow.....more often than not, the Navy will be *telling* you where you are going, vice you choosing. Go to each place with as open of a mind as you can, and enjoy what there is to enjoy, and bitch with your classmattes about the crappy parts of life wherever you end up. Not really worth thinking about too much........pretty much anywhere you go in the Navy (short of San Diego or Norfolk) is going to be a regression if you are a city type. But there are cool things about each place that I have lived thus far in my career, so that is really what is worth remembering.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Pensacola - Did most of my growin' up here (6th grade through HS), plus 18-ish months in the TRACOM and three years as an instructor, and my daughter was born there. Everyone in Naval Air has been through P'cola and most everyone I know either really loved it or utterly loathed it. Beaches are spectacular, some fun night life if you're not expecting big-city clubbing and don't mind the girls all having more tattoos than you. They've cleaned up downtown a LOT since my boyhood, and there's a lot of new development out the back gate toward Perdido Key, but the rest is pretty dumpy. No bigger cities nearby (Mobile doesn't count, really, and Nawlins and Tallahassee are 2+ hours away). That said, I like it there. The base is a going concern, with pretty nice facilities, mostly new or renovated since Hurricane Ivan smacked the place.
Whiting - Outer Pensacola. Same-same
Kingsville - Passed through on out-ins, wasn't impressed, but I hear the flying's good.
Meridian - Ditto.
Corpus Christi - Pensacola with different ethnic cuisine and slightly different rednecks. If you liked P'cola, you'll like CC. If you didn't, you REALLY won't like CC.
Jacksonville - Lived there a year, loved it. Lots to do, and very pleasant living if you're in the right part of town. Base is big with good facilities and there's money in Maritime Patrol & Reconnaissance these days.
Norfolk - Did the E-2 RAG and my fleet tour there, drilling there now as a SELRES. Hated it. All the big-city problems (crime, traffic, batshit drivers, high prices) without big-city amenities. It's the Detroit of the east coast. The base is run by Shoes and aviators are tolerated only barely.
Oceana - Personally, I found VB a very different animal than Norfolk. Not a lot better, but not quite so damn depressing. NASO is a much better base than Norfolk, for a lot of reasons. In general, NASes are much nicer than Shoe bases. By way of evidence, I invite you also to compare/contrast NASNI with 32nd St, K-Bay with Pearl, Whidbey with Bremerton, JAX with Mayport, etc and so on.
North Island - Was stationed at 32nd Street as a Shoe, so my experiences with NASNI were for NEX runs and schools. The base seemed pretty nice and San Diego is an amazing place to live...even as a Shoe, I enjoyed it there.
Lemoore - Never been. Been told by West Coast fighter dudes that it's the only thing that sucks about being a West Coast fighter dude.
Point Mugu - Been there for schools. It's the anti-Norfolk; sleepy, tiny base on a beautiful setting. Some people in Oxnard don't even know there's a Navy base there. Easy drive down to Malibu and LA. Expensive to live there - it's Cali prices.
Fallon - Great place to go for Air Wing. Go fly all day, everyone's at the O Club after you're done, stumble back to your Q room, repeat. Living there would seem to be a challenge, especially with a family. Not much to do, on-base or off. I've known some outdoorsy types who loved it.
Whidbey Island - Never been. I've been told it rains.

You left off K-Bay Hawaii (P-3's and some helos, plus Marines) and Mayport (helo city).

Having said all that: QOL in the places you are likely to end up is one factor, but only one, and not the most important one. I hated Norfolk, but I had an amazingly good squadron.